How 'bout them Pens?!?! I have to say that I was incredibly freaked out last night, but it was a good game and watching it on the big screen made it so much better. LETS GO PENS!!! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as always comments are greatly appreciated.
Fifty-Nine
“Good morning baby, it’s time to get up.”
She rolled over in bed and looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t wanna get up.”
“Babe, you’re the coach you have to be there, and it’s going to take twenty minutes to get there.”
“Fine,” she sat up and kissed Jordan’s cheek before going to the bathroom to get ready. “I kind of feel bad for making it so the kids can’t have gym class.
“Well I’m sure that they’ll be fine with Penguins’ training camp happening in their gym. And we are going to get them out of class later this year.”
“True, is Scotty ready?”
“In the living room with Nik.”
After grabbing a pack of Pop-tarts from the kitchen the Staals made their way to the car and twenty minutes later pulled into the upper parking lot at St. Sebastian’s. Miriya picked up a bag full of tennis balls form the trunk of her car and walked and in hand with Jordan to the school gym. Most of the team had arrived around eight forty-five and sat on the bleachers awaiting instructions. Nine o’clock came and Miriya did a head count to make sure that everyone was there, “We’re missing someone, but who?”
The door flew open and in ran Colby short of breath, “I’m so sorry I’m late coach. Traffic was horrible.”
“It’s alright Colbs sit down, but let this be a lesson to you all. Lateness does not sit well with me, if you are told to be somewhere at nine o’clock get there by eight forty-five. Colbs, you will have to run sprints later for being late.” Colby nodded as some of the rookies looked nervous. “Okay, have you guys ever heard of butt-ball?” At this some of the guys smiled while others looked confused. “It involves one of these,” she pointed to the huge wall along the side of the gym, “One of these,” she held up a tennis ball, “and one of these,” she turned around and shook her ass causing a lot of the guys to let out catcalls. “Thank you boys. Now to help me explain the rules are two people I used to work with, my friend Matt and best friend Ryan.” Both men came down from the stage and hugged Miriya, Ryan holding her longer than Matt. “Thanks for coming.”
“You know I wouldn’t miss hanging out with my best friend, especially when it’s for a mass game of butt-ball.”
The three friends demonstrated things that could happen during game play so that they team would understand.
“Coach are you gonna play?” Geno asked after the rules were explained.
“You think I would miss playing with my boys?” The team laughed at this. “I can watch you guys from a competitive level.”
Ryan threw the ball first, a high bounce that went to a cluster of rookies. “Catch it,” Miriya yelled. Eric Michaels made a snag with his right hand. He was about to threw after switching the ball to his left hand when Miriya spoke up, “You have to throw with the hand you catch it with.”
“Aw coach.”
“Come on Ric,” most of the guys urged him to throw the ball.
Balls were bobbled, throws missed the wall, guys ran, and lives were lost. “That’s three for you Eats, you’re done.” Miriya said with a smile and Mark made his way to the bleachers as play continued.
In the end it came down to Ryan, Matt, Jordan, Sid, Brooks, and Miriya. “Go Coach!” The guys said from the bleachers. Brooks threw, Jordan bobbled, Miriya got a hold of it and whipped it at his back before he got to the wall. “Sorry babe, that’s three.” Next she got Brooks out after he bobbled it, then Sid and Matt. It was down to Ryan and Miriya, they were both ready.
Ryan had the ball and threw, with a dive Miriya made an amazing catch. She was slow to get up which caused the guys to get up from the bleachers. “Staalsy, you okay?” Nik asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Ryan can you give me a hand?” Being very careful not to lose the ball Miriya got back to her feet. She threw, caught, Ryan threw, Miriya bobbled it but somehow made it to the wall it time, because Ryan missed he had to run but was hit before he made it. “Good game Miriya, you finally beat me.”
“Good game. Boys help me in thanking Ryan and Matt for taking the time to come out and help.” Everyone applauded as Miriya gave both Ryan and Matt a hug. “Thank you.”
“Yep, let me know when we’re doing movie night.”
“Okay Ry, see ya.” Once Matt and Ryan had left Miriya made her way to the center of the gym. “Good job today boys, you did better than I thought you would. Go home and enjoy the rest of your day, but be at the arena ready to practice at ten tomorrow.” She looked at her phone to see that it was almost one. “All of the kids should be done with recess so you shouldn’t have a hard time getting out of here. See you all in the morning.”
Everyone got up and quickly left, talking amongst themselves. “Jordan you wanna go with Nik since I have to stay here with Colby?”
“Sure, hey Nik wait up. Bye baby, bye Colbs.” He kissed her lips, her check gently, and then headed to the door.
“Alright coach I’m ready, sprints you said?”
“Yeah, one the far line,” she said walking to the line herself.
“What are you doing?”
“Well I need to stay in shape and since all I’m going to be doing all season is standing behind the bench I’m going to do sprints with you,” she said with a smile.
They did sprints for about twenty minutes, said their good-byes and went their separate ways. Miriya made it home in fifteen minutes to find Nik and Jordan showered and watching TV with Scott in the living room. “Hey boys, I mean hey Nik, hey Jordan.”
“Sup coach, I mean Miriya.”
“Whoa Nik you haven’t called me Miriya in a long time,” she said with a laugh. “But I’m gonna shower, find something to eat, and feed Scott.” She made her way up the half flight of steps to her room and took a short but relaxing shower. She threw on a pair of RBK shorts and an old Guins t-shirt before making her way to the kitchen. There she found Jordan with a sandwich, plate of chips and a glass of Pepsi. “Aw baby thank you, I love you so much,” she threw her arms around him.
“I love you too, how you feeling since the game?”
“I got a nice bruise of my leg but other than that I’m okay. How ‘bout you?”
“My back’s kind of sore,” he said with a grin.
“I’m sorry baby; I just get really into the game.” When she was done eating she fed Scott and put him down for a nap. Nik had gone to hang out with Erin and Sam which left Miriya and Jordan with the house to themselves. Jordan came into the living room from the kitchen and sat down on the floor in front of Miriya. She instinctively began to massage his back causing a wide grin to come to his face.
“So what do you have planned for today?” he asked.
“Absolutely nothing, oh shit I don’t have anything to wear to the first game and it’s in two days.”
“Well, when was the last time you hung out with Cassie and Michelle?” he paused. “And not with the guys, just the three of you?”
“Really I can’t remember.”
“When you’re done you should call them and got get some work clothes.”
“Okay,” she said running her hand down his arm and taking his hand. She led him to the bedroom where he quickly ditched his shirt and jumped onto the bed. Before she started again she noticed the tennis ball sized bruise. “Aw baby, I really hurt you, I’m sorry.” She gently kissed the bruise and began to work his tense muscles. After about fifteen minutes his breathing had evened out and she knew that he was asleep. She gently kissed his cheek and slid off the bed trying not to wake him. After calling her best friends she quickly wrote down a note and put it on the bedside table.
Hope you have a good sleep babe. I’m with Cass and Chelle and Scotty is with us. I’m not sure when Nik will be home but I’m sure you guys can handle dinner on your own.
I love you baby, see you tonight.
Miriya.
Taking Scott from his crib after changing into a pair of jeans and a random RBK hat she made her way to the car. Because it was relatively close the girls chose to meet at Ross Park Mall.
“Hey Mir, you ready for the game in two days?” Michelle asked.
“I don’t know, I know it’s only pre-season but I’m still really nervous.
“Miriya come on, you’ve been watching hockey for twenty-four years, you know everything there is to know. You’ll be fine.”
“Thanks Cass, let’s go find some clothes.” They walked through the mall for an hour finding about five outfits and trying them on. “Okay, what do you think of this for Saturday’s game?” Miriya asked walking out of the changing room in a pair of black dress pants and a three-quarter sleeve, light blue blouse.
“The Devils aren’t going to be able to concentrate on the puck,” Michelle stated with a smile. “You look amazing.”
"So I’ll get the pants and a few other blouses. Now I need to pick out which of these suits look good, or more importantly fit.”
In total Miriya ended up with three suits, two other pairs of dress pants and five blouses. Once they had paid for the outfits they made their way to the food court. “Chinese?” Cassie asked.
“Sounds good to me,” Miriya looked over at the line at the Chinese place. “Scott’s starting to get fussy, can you guys get me something so I can feed him?”
“No problem, general Tso’s right?” Michelle asked.
Miriya nodded and went to the bathroom so she wouldn’t disturb anyone. Scott ate quickly and they made it back to the table just as Michelle and Cassie were getting back with the food. When they had finished eating they helped Miriya with her bags, and then went their separate ways. “Hey baby,” Jordan said when she walked in the front door. “Get anything good today?”
“Yeah, can you get the last two bags from my trunk?”
“Hey babe what are you doing?” Jordan asked later that night.
“Just looking at pictures from when Scott was born.”
“Can I join you?” She nodded and patted the spot on the couch next to her. She turned back to the beginning of the album and the first picture was of Miriya, her hair still a mess, holding her newborn son. There was a picture of Miriya kissing his cheek, one of Jordan and Scott, and every member of the team had their own picture. When they got to the picture of Hal Miriya stopped.
“Aw Hal, my Harold Priestly Gill III, I’m sad I don’t get to coach him.” She stared at the picture in which you could barely see Scott, Hal was so tall. “I miss my teddy bear.”
“I miss him too. Oh, are you making the first cuts tomorrow?”
“Yep, I’m pretty sure you’re gonna make the team,” she said with a smile.
The next morning Miriya woke up and made breakfast while she waited for the rest of the family to wake up. Just as she was walking into the living room with Scotty, Nik and Jordan stumbled in too.
“Morning baby, breakfast is on the table. I’m going in early to finish thinking about whose getting cut.”
“Okay baby, I’ll see you at the arena in about an hour.” He kissed her cheek before she made her way to the door.
All of the boys pulled into the parking lot, including Jordan and Nik in his brand new black Porsche. “I love your new car,” a girl who looked to be about nineteen said. “It’s sexy, just like you.” Jordan couldn’t help but giggle at this while he walked towards the entrance. “Oh my god I made Jordan Staal giggle,” she said to anyone who would listen. Jordan rolled his eyes, but of course the girl didn’t see. “Hi Nik.” Nik waved causing the girl to freak out even more.
