41. Gabriel #2
“Doing that,” Emma grumbles, since she’s clearly going through it as well. She’s now sporting this cute little baby bump at seventeen weeks.
“I can’t believe you’re getting married to my brother in just two months.” Aubrey smiles and leans in, reaching across to Emma as she does the same to take her hand.
We’ve all been helping out wherever we can with wedding details, since Em’s already crazy busy as it is.
And planning a wedding with only five months to go on is really not easy.
Luckily, we know Emma pretty well, so making decisions for her isn’t a super hard task.
And whatever we aren’t certain about, we make sure to ask before taking any liberties.
Brides don’t usually appreciate it when others get involved with the planning, but Emma practically throws tasks our way.
We actually have dress fittings next week, which Em and Morg are really worried about.
Since they seem to be growing at rapid speed and are afraid that they won’t fit in their dresses when the time comes.
“I know! I can’t wait to call you, my sister.” She looks back to the ice with a dreamy sigh, eyes following Greyson. “Who knew this is where we’d end up? Getting married where we fell in love, just one short year later.”
“I told you it would. Just like I told him on Christmas morning up on the hills,” Aubrey tells her softly.
Emma’s gaze turns back to hers with a gratified smile. “You did.”
We refocus on the ice from there just as the anthem starts, and then it’s game time. By the end of first period, we’re ahead by two points, while Buffalo still sits at zero.
I’m still not a pro at this sport and don’t know the names of every pass or block, but I’ve gotten a little better at following the puck and understanding what position does what. I only started watching hockey a year ago, give a girl a break.
By third period, we’re now at four-to-one, and that’s only because Buffalo got lucky. When their centerman and two wingers came at Gabe, it was like watching a battle to the death. I couldn’t even tell who had the puck, because Gabe was blocking every shot coming at him on repeat.
Until he was sprawled out on the ground right before the net, continuing to dodge every attempt with Noah and the other Griffins defenseman trying to regain control of the puck.
But with one last well-placed shot from the Buffalo’s right-winger by the side of the goal, it went flying over Gabe’s shoulder.
Hitting the bar with a loud ping before falling behind him, scoring them their first goal of the night.
Gabe gets back to his skates, shaking out his head a bit. I can see the frustration radiating through his caged mask. I know he takes every opponent goal to heart as if he’s personally responsible for letting them score.
It’s even worse when they lose a game; he beats himself up over it. Noah says it’s just a natural goalie thing to feel more pressure than the rest of them.
Gabe lifts his mask above his head, picks up his water bottle over the net, and squirts a huge amount into his mouth. Then some all over his sweaty face, before putting it back down and replacing his mask properly.
He gets back into position just as the puck drops, and Silas sends it off to Clay. He takes it down the ice toward Buffalo’s net but smacks it back to Silas just as he’s pushed into the boards by their defenseman.
Buffalo’s centerman manages to reclaim the puck and skates off with it like a bolt of lightning, while the whole team chases after him. Noah blocks the centerman by smashing into him, the puck springing free right as their right-winger nabs it.
He raises his stick, firing a shot at Gabe, but Gabe deflects it to the left with his blocker. The left-winger picks it up, striking another shot to the net, but Gabe sees it coming too and catches it with his catcher right before it passes the line.
The whistle blows and the play stops, starting up again quickly, this time our men keeping the puck and making it over to the other end of the ice within seconds.
When I look over at our empty end, except for Gabe, who stays by his little house for the night, I find him moving around on his skates.
He goes from one side to the other and shakes his booty out on the spot.
“What the heck is he doing?” I narrow my eyes, trying to make sense of what he’s up to.
Cecilia looks over and starts laughing. “He’s dancing.”
“Jesus, he really is a goofball.” I shake my head and giggle.
I keep my eyes on him for a few more seconds as he makes a quick spin, jumps on his skates, and shakes out his hips some more.
My laugh gets deeper as I watch the big, massive man really getting into it while his team tries to get one final goal in.
If I thought my boys were huge before, they’re simply enormous with all their gear on. Certainly, Gabe with his huge pads.
The shouts in the arena grow louder as the timer on the clock runs down. I turn back to the play in time to see the final goal happen. Greyson passes to Silas, who then sends it back to Noah when he notices he’s trapped.
Noah sails it off to an open Clay and Clay doesn’t waste a second to shoot it through the goalie’s five-hole just as he goes to close it. But it makes it in, the buzzer sounds one second before the time runs out, and cheers erupt all over the arena.
Clay raises his stick and points it toward Morgan, sending her a kiss with his gloved hand just as he’s tackled by all his teammates. Gabe leaves his post, skating over to them and wanting to join the celebration.