42. Derek
“C’mon… Come to Mama,” I whisper, my eyes are like an eagle, sharp and unmoving as I track the puck across the ice. We’ve gone into overtime, tying three-three. Sweat beads at my temples; it’s hot, and my legs are aching, but I can’t break focus.
Not now, not ever.
My girls and family are here to support me. Everyone, including my cousins, flew to Saint Louis for this. We need to win; there’s no other option.
Blake is a cannon on the ice with Jace working overtime to taunt the other team whilst keeping his eye on the puck and our center.
The boys are moving fast, but my eyes are locked on the prize, prepared for whatever happens next.
I take a deep breath, feeling my surroundings.
They’re coming my way, battling for dominance of the puck.
The Oregon Panthers’ center shoots the puck toward my goal, but miscalculates, sending it to the backboard.
In an instant, I leave my net. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.
I’m like a piston, slamming my stick against the puck and shooting it back down the ice toward Blake.
He moves like a well-oiled machine, skating circles around Oregon before reeling back and slap-shotting the puck clean into their goal.
The arena goes silent. No one dares to move an inch as the puck lands inside. The red of the goal light goes off, and the buzzer rings.
My eyes find her in the crowd, her blonde locks bouncing as she jumps, the smile on her face bright. My daughter stands right next to her atop a seat, wearing a matching jersey, cheering as the team pours onto the ice. I’m in the middle of the fray as sticks and helmets litter the air and the ice.
The guys, my team, all cheer as we win the greatest accomplishment in college hockey.
When I roll out of the last press conference and interview with Blake, Jace, and our coaches. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders when I see my girls at the end of the hall waiting for me.
Georgia kisses me like a woman on a mission, full of passion. I’m smiling in the kiss before full-on grinning when she smiles at me.
She immediately goes into the spiel she’s been practicing on FaceTime for the past week, holding her fist up to her mouth like an interviewer. Her beautiful green eyes glint under the lights as she says, “Derek Perez, you have just won the Frozen Four. What are you going to do now?”
I pause, taking a moment for dramatic effect, my eyes locked on hers as I say, “I’m taking my girls to WishWorld!”
What was supposed to be a family trip between Georgia, Delilah, and me has quickly become a family and friends pre-graduation and post Frozen Four vacation.
Blake, Jace, Ryan, and I stand behind the girls like a bunch of duds as they run around WishWorld, wreaking absolute havoc on the park.
My hands are filled to the brim with toys and stuffed animals that both Delilah and Georgia decided they had to have right now, because what if the major conglomerate sold out of Princess North crowns before we left the park?
“Papá, we need to get marshmallow delights!” My daughter yells at the top of her lungs as we pass a mobile food stand. She’s eaten fifteen times since we walked into the park five hours ago.
“How about we lay off the sugar? You just ate a cookie about thirty minutes ago.” I say, patting her hair as she frowns.
When her large eyes plead with Georgia, my wife immediately reflects that look back to me.
I can say no to my kid, but Georgia’s a different story.
Five minutes later, I’m standing next to the stand, holding everything as both Georgia and Delilah scarf down their snacks.
The rest of the gang is around here somewhere, but since Delilah is on the shorter scale, and she’s not able to get on the high-stakes rides that they’re getting on.
Both of the girls are donning the park's signature Starries atop their heads, courtesy of the StarCourt gift shop at the front of the park. I somehow got roped into wearing the ridiculous stars after about an hour here.
Georgia and Delilah are like two kids in a candy store. Only one is an adult who’s had three drinks with her girls and is now hyped up on sugar, while the other has been eating sugar since she woke up this morning.
They’re literally buzzing with adrenaline by the time we get off our last ride of the night, and I’m seriously considering kicking Blake’s ass for getting them each a cupcake the size of their heads because if Cleo gets a cupcake, then everyone gets a cupcake, apparently.
But it never stops there; it started with ice cream. Ice cream slowly turned into two churros, two churros became three ice pops, and now I’ve lost track of how much sugar they’ve ingested in less than a workday.
And that’s not to mention the actual food they’ve eaten.
By the end of the night, I’m sure that both bathrooms in our hotel room will be occupied for the foreseeable future.
With a humorous sigh, I plop down on one of the park benches and look up at the sky. Delilah is off roaming the park with everyone else after they decided that Georgia and I needed time alone.
She comes over; her Starries tilted sideways as she plops down next to me, and the smile she gives me takes my breath away every single time.
“You know, there’s one thing we haven’t done before we leave the park tonight…” she says with a teasing tone as she looks up at me, her puppy dogs in full effect.
I’m not one of God’s strongest soldiers—I fold for her instantly.
“What do you want to do, darlin’?”
She pauses, pretending to think for a moment with her finger on her chin, and as if a lightbulb went off in her head, she pops up with her pointer finger in the air as if to say, “Aha!”
“We haven’t taken pictures in the photo booth, can we?”
Nodding, I stand and grab her hand, pulling her up with me.
“Your wish is my command.”
We set off for the nearest photo booth, according to the map of the park on her phone. Georgia leads the way, her hair billowing in the wind as she steers us about a six-minute walk to the other end of the park.
“It’s righttttt… there!” she exclaims.
I pause, tilting my head down to look at her and sigh.
“I thought you said it was close!”
She waves me off. “Psh… no! I said that I wonder if it’s closed.”
Laughing her off, I follow behind her into the booth. I take a seat and smile when she plops down on my lap and holds out her hand for my card. Chuckling softly, I remind her, “You’ve had my wallet all day.”
“Oh, right!” She laughs at herself, pulling the wallet from her tiny shoulder bag and tapping my card on the reader before putting it back in her bag.
I watch as she picks the design for our photos. It’s cute how focused she is on picking the perfect picture frame for us.
“Pictures will begin in five…” the machine announces.
Georgia’s eyes widen as she looks between the camera and me before she grins. “Make a silly face!”
In an instant, I pull my arm around her body and stretch my smile with both of my pointer fingers while looking at her through the monitor. Georgia puckers her lips like a fish, squeezing her cheeks with her index finger and thumb as she crosses her eyes.
It takes everything in me not to laugh as she makes tiny noises, imitating a duck.
When the pictures snap, she immediately stares down the camera like an axe murderer.
“Are we supposed to do serious faces?” I question, grimacing and showing my teeth as she giggles, breaking character to point at the screen.
“Yes! Scowl, now!” she yelps, scowling at the screen, but my eyes are locked on her.
When the picture shows on the screen, she pauses, her eyes going round at the edges.
“You weren’t… You weren’t looking at the camera, silly.” She says, her voice rising in pitch as I smile at her, grasping her chin.
“Have I ever told you how much I love you?”
She smiles instantly, “Yes.”
“Good.”
I pull her in for a kiss, completely disregarding the camera as our lips lock.
Our mouths move in a slow, languid dance.
I can taste the sweet marshmallow flavoring on her tongue as it tangles with mine.
Her fingers go from cupping my jaw to tangling in the strands of my hair, and when she tugs at it, I groan.
“Take me home?” she asks with a heavy breath as I press another quick kiss to her lips.
“I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.”