Danielle
She’d thought about texting the WAG group chat, but she didn’t want the news to leak. And while they’re nice enough, she still isn’t sure of her place in the hierarchy. She’s the Captain’s girl, but she’s also the newest addition. She doesn’t want to ruffle feathers.
Harper also hasn’t seen Andy since he left in August, so she thinks that an extended Thanksgiving break is warranted in this situation. She’s been asking constantly since the day after he’d gone.
Like a family.
“Does he know we’re coming?” she asks.
“It’s a surprise for him, too,” Danielle says, voice soft as Harper climbs in her lap. “We’re staying for almost twelve days.”
“Twelve days?” Harper asks, eyes gone wide. “That’s a long time.”
“Uncle Jet got us tickets to all of Andy’s games,” Danielle says as their boarding group gets called. He helps Harper get all of her stuff, and then they head to their plane .
They land at around three, and a driver picks them up and takes them to Andrew’s house.
He had told her the night before that he would be at PNC all day for Game Day coverage, and it makes it easy for them to drop their stuff off.
Roscoe loses his mind when he sees Harper walk through the door, and Danielle helps Harper find the room that Andrew had showed her last time she was here.
“This is my room?” Harper asks, eyes wide as she looks around at the light purple room. It’s easily double the size of her room at Danielle’s house, and has been stocked with every possible book and toy a six-year-old could want.
And, to really sweeten the deal, Roscoe has a bed in the corner to sleep with her if he wants.
“All yours, Sparrow,” Danielle says, setting Harper’s suitcase down. “I was thinking we get pizza before we go to the rink?”
“Y-E-S, YES!” Harper says, excited, before she throws her arms around Danielle’s neck quickly, and takes off to explore her room.
“My room is at the end of the hallway, okay?” Danielle asks .
Harper climbs onto her bed and pulls a pillow toward her. “Are you sharing with Andy?”
The kid has the audacity to wiggle her eyebrows.
Danielle laughs, crossing the room to ruffle Harper’s hair. “I am.”
“How come you get to have a sleep over in his room but I don’t?” Harper asks.
“You get your own room, which is way cooler,” Danielle says, “and Andy smells bad.”
Harper giggles, falling back into the mountain of pillows on her bed, she closes her eyes and yawns.
“Do you want to take a little nap before the pizza gets here?” Danielle asks. Harper nods, not opening her eyes. “Alright, Sparrow.”
She pulls the throw blanket over Harper, and Roscoe jumps up onto the bed next to her.
A driver that Jet had arranged for them picks them up at six, driving them to PNC and showing them where to go.
She and Harper had both changed into jerseys with Andy’s name and number on the back.
Jet had bought Harper hers, and Danielle, of course, had already had one.
Jet had reassured her that ‘there’s nothing better for a player than seeing his girl with his name on her back’, and Danielle thinks ‘Fisher’ is a better last name than hers, anyway.
She just hopes his reaction to seeing them is a little bit better than last time she’d been in Raleigh. They’ve moved on at this point, but maybe she should have told him they were coming.
When they get inside PNC Arena, Harper holds her hand tightly and they navigate up an escalator and down a hallway, then down a set of stairs to their seats. They’re about fifteen rows back from the bench, on the opposite side of the ice so the likelihood of Andy spotting them is slim to none.
Jet had really pulled out all the stops for these tickets, and Danielle couldn’t be more excited to be back at a hockey game. It’s electric, and she feels her heart racing as the team intros start playing on the screen and they show them walking down the tunnel to the ice.
The arena loses their minds when the team bursts onto the ice, skating laps at high-speed before coming to a stop at their bench, and climbing over the boards.
“Should we take a picture for Andy?” Danielle asks Harper, grinning as her daughter jumps up and down, cheering when they show Andy on the screen. Harper turns to her and pulls a goofy face while Danielle takes a selfie of them.
“We look silly, momma!” Harper says, laughing. “Let’s take a good one.”
Harper hugs around Danielle’s neck and smiles as they take another picture, the ‘C’s stitched onto their left chest in full view.
Danielle used to watch games when Jet played, but she had never paid attention to anyone other than Jet. She certainly never paid attention to number thirty-four with the ‘C’ on his chest, but now she can’t take her eyes off of him.
He makes hockey look easy. He makes it look beautiful. He makes it look like there is no place he’d rather be than on the ice. She’s always known that, deep down, but getting to see him do what he loves in person, again?
There’s nothing sexier than that, and she finds her heart racing for a reason other than the rush of the game.
They win 3-2, and Danielle holds Harper’s hand, navigating back down the stairs and through tunnels towards the Friends and Family area once both teams have cleared the ice.
“How do you know where everything is, momma?” Harper asks, looking up at Danielle as she flashes their passes at security.
“Remember in October when you stayed with Uncle Jet and Aunt Ainsley?” she asks, stepping past security and pulling Harper to the side so she can help her tie her shoe. “I came to see Andy for a couple of days.”
“Without me?” Harper’s eyes go wide.
“I’m sorry, Sparrow,” she says, finishing tying and standing back up, “I had some things to talk to Andy about. Grown-up things. It wouldn’t have been very fun for you.”
She stops where she and Harper should be the first people that Andy sees coming out of the tunnel. Some of the team’s girlfriends and wives wave to her, brows furrowed, but smiling as she keeps Harper close.
“Hey Danielle!” one of them, who she recognizes as Marcia, calls to her. She’s dating one of the goalies. Another girl, who Danielle knows is Mikhail Petrov’s girlfriend, also waves .
“Hey!” she says back, smiling. “This is my daughter, Harper.”
“We’re here to surprise Andy!” Harper says, bouncing up and down on her toes in excitement.
There are more curious eyes on them, but she can’t find it in herself to care as her heart starts to race and she pulls her phone out of her pocket to text Andrew.
Danielle: see you soon ;)
She sends it with the two selfies of she and Harper in the stands attached to it, and waits.
“He’s coming soon, right?” Harper asks, still bouncing up and down on her toes. Danielle has her in front of her, making sure that she can see everyone.
“Any minute now, I promise,” Danielle says, heart practically beating out of her chest as she watches the tunnel.
Every doubt of him being upset that they came is wiped from her mind when she sees Andrew barreling out of the tunnel, in an official team quarter-zip and black sweats. He’s freshly showered, and it looks like they pulled an Alternate Captain for the press room tonight.
He scans over faces quickly before landing on her. His eyes immediately go soft, as if he can’t believe that Danielle and Harper are actually here, a few feet away from him.
Danielle offers him a small wave.
“Andy!” Harper yells, breaking free from Danielle. She takes off toward him as quick as her legs will carry her.
“Harper!” he says, happily, smile splitting his face as he crouches to catch her in his arms. She throws her arms around his neck and he stands, spinning her around and kissing her forehead before heading to Danielle.
He sets Harper down once he reaches her, and Harper grabs a hold of his sweatpants, as if he’ll disappear the minute she lets go.
“Hey,” she says, hugging around his waist. She doesn’t even get another word out before he kisses her.
“Hey,” he replies, grinning as he pulls away. “What are you doing here?”
“Surprising the Captain.” Danielle says, smile to match his on her face. “We’re here until next week. I checked your schedule and know your next two games are here.”
“You’re coming to all of the games this week?” Andy asks, his eyes wide. “And spending the holiday here?”
“My parents were okay with us missing Thanksgiving this year,” Danielle shrugs, “and Erick is working, so we won’t really have much time with family. I wanted us to spend it with you. Plus, I know how to make a turkey. So, if anyone on your team is around they can come over.”
Andy hooks an arm around her waist and pulls her close, kissing her quickly. It doesn’t stop the jeers from some of his team, but Danielle just laughs and waves them away.
“Thanksgiving at Fisher’s!” Petrov yells. His girlfriend glares at him. “Or not.”
“Woah,” Danielle whispers, “what’s up with her?”
“She found out that he’s been going to my friend Catalina’s restaurant on the regular,” Andy says, shaking his head, “there’s a whole history there. I’ll tell you later. ”
“I expect full details,” Danielle says, “you know I’m a sucker for gossip.”
Andy rolls his eyes. “How did you get tickets without me knowing? How’d you get tickets without the wives knowing?”
“Jet pulled some strings with some people he’s still in touch with,” Danielle says, smiling up at him. “And I didn’t tell anyone but him I was coming. I’m in the group chat, but I’m not in the group chat, if you know what I mean.”
“I get it,” Andy laughs, scooping Harper back up into his arms like she weighs nothing. She leans her head on his shoulder, hugging around his neck.
“The fact that the team’s management is so whipped for JT is astounding,” Danielle says, “I told him I wanted tickets, and all he had to do was snap his fingers and they were in my mailbox with passes.”
“When did you get in?”
She hooks her arm around his waist as he guides her out the back doors of the arena to the parking lot.
“We landed at three,” she says “and we dropped our stuff off at your house and had dinner before coming right here. ”
“I was wondering why my security system alerted me someone was at the house,” he says, softening his tone. Harper has fallen asleep on his shoulder. “She must have had a busy day.”
“I pulled her from school to get to the airport on time,” Danielle says, “her teacher practically shoved us out the door.”
“Is she a fan?”
“Hockey mom,” Danielle says, grinning. “Her sons were a couple of years behind us in school, but they played for the high school team with Jet.”
“I’ll have to send her a personal thank-you,” Andy says, laying Harper down in the back seat of his truck, careful not to wake her. “I missed my girls.”
“It might not be a good idea,” Danielle says, teasing. “They’re Boston and Buffalo fans. I don’t know how they would take a rival Captain’s thank you.”
“No one is ever too old to have a change of heart,” Andrew deadpans. He stands to his full height, hooking an arm around Danielle’s waist and pulling her close.
“When Harper figured out we were coming to see you, she cried,” Danielle says, waiting for him to get her door before climbing into the truck herself .
“I’m glad you’re here,” he says, once he’s in the truck. He leans over the center console and kisses her quickly before starting it. “And not just because I missed you.”
“What other reason could you possibly have?” she teases. He takes her hand, navigating out of the lot with one hand on the wheel and she thinks she’s never seen anything hotter in her entire life.
“I need to have a serious conversation with you,” he says, glancing over at her. “I’ve been kind of playing around with the idea, and I mentioned it to JT a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted your thoughts first.”
“Uh…. Okay?” she asks, confused. It’s too early for the marriage conversation, right? Or is it? It’s only been a few months, but she’s heard of people getting married quicker. Is that what he’s on about?
“What would you think about me retiring at the end of the season?”
Oh, she was so off.
She almost sighs with relief, because she had wanted to date him a little longer to see how their lives would work together. But, retiring? That seems a little unexpected, especially since he’s still young and could have at least three more years of playing ahead of him .
“Why would you retire?” she asks, turning in her seat so she can look at him while he drives. She’s quiet so she doesn’t wake Harper, and so he doesn’t get distracted.
He lets out a sigh that says ‘I’m ninety years old and have seen some things’ as he takes an exit off the highway.
“I don’t know how much longer hockey is going to be for me,” he says, “we have a shot at the Stanley Cup again, but I want to retire when I have some of my sanity left, and before I lose any teeth.”
She waits, sensing more.
“Plus, I’m already kind of old,” he says, shrugging. “In the NHL at least. My team’s average age is twenty-nine. Even if I have a year or two left in me, is it worth staying when I have more important things in my life now?”
“It literally sounds insane when you say that thirty-three is old ,” she says, shaking her head.
“It is!” he says, laughing. “We have like, three guys on the team older than me, but the rest are younger by at least four years. I’m old, D, geriatric, even.”
“Dramatic, is more like it. ”
“How dare you,” he says in his best Lucius Malfoy voice. “I am as undramatic as a person can be.”
“The first day you met me, you lost your balance on a ladder and knocked an entire stack of books over.”
“And yet, you fell for me ,” he says, “see what I did there? That’s role-reversal in its purest form.”
“I don’t think that’s accurate,” she says, rolling her eyes fondly. He presses his lips to the back of her hand, pulling up to his front gate and rolling down the window.
“Where would we even live?” she asks as he punches in the code.
“Lake Placid? Raleigh? A cardboard box downtown? I don’t care, as long as it’s with you.” He replies, as if it’s that simple.
She squeezes his hand three times, he squeezes back three.