CHAPTER 1:
ESME
I don't know why the first practice of the season is always such a disaster. Every year we go through the same routine. The night before, we pull out all of the pylons, pucks, water bottles, first aid kit, etcetera. Somehow, we always manage to forget something. This year, it's the large, wipe-off diagram of the ice surface. Carlisle couldn't find it. I specifically remembered putting it somewhere safe at the end of last season for the express purpose that we wouldn't forget where we put it. But here we were, again, just over an hour before the time of the scheduled practice, ripping the house apart looking for it.
"Any luck, sweetheart?"
"None."
I heard an exasperated sigh escape his lips as I turned the corner in the kitchen to find my normally unflappable husband running his hands roughly through his blonde hair.
"I don't know Esme, are you sure we didn't lose it at the end of last season? I can't think of a single other place to look."
The unmistakable sound of a hockey stick scraping over tile reached my ear from the front foyer, immediately followed by the soft thud of a tennis ball connecting with a wall.
"Jasper! You better not be whacking a ball around inside this house!"
The grumbled reply from our ten year-old son sounded something like "damn supersonic hearing." His scuffling footsteps gave me the impression that he was chasing the ball wherever it had rolled off to.
"Hey!" a surprised-sounding Jasper shouted, "I found it!"
"What's that?" his father called from the study where he was apparently head first into the storage closet.
"The white board. It's here behind the couch in the living room!"
Well, of course. Now I remembered putting it there. I didn't for the life of me remember why I thought that would be a good place to store it.
"Oh, great! Grab it and toss it in the back of my truck, we've got to move to get there on time." Carlisle was already striding quickly toward the front door. Jasper flashed through the hallway, slipping out the door just as his father pulled open the door. His blonde curls bouncing around his head. I grabbed my purse and keys from the entryway table and locked the door, joining them in the shiny new silver SUV.
CARLISLE
The first practice had gone rather well. I was really pleased with the team I had picked this year. I got a few of the kids back from last year's team. I had coached some of them for several years, there were some kids I had known from past seasons who had been on other teams, and a couple of kids I had picked up from house league based on their efforts at the open try-outs.
Of course, my nephew Edward was also on the team. He and Jasper had played together since Timbits hockey. Having them both on the same team was a welcome gift. They didn't even have to look up during a play to know where the other would be. They just knew. I once again mentally thanked whoever put in the protected players clause. As long as my brother-in-law was on my bench, I could protect Edward and keep him on our team.
I had tried out various line combinations today, to try and see if I could put together three really strong ones. Of course, Jazz and Edward were together, but finding a third for them was always tricky. I was going over my notes in the corner of the changeroom while the boys were getting changed when I felt the mood in the room shift.
I looked up to see that the door to the locker room stood partially open and a young girl whom I recognized as one of the new players' younger sister had poked her head into the room and was apparently trying to locate her brother amongst the bags and equipment that was lying around the room. The boys had started to show off in front of her. The posing and posturing in the already cramped room ramped up exponentially.
"Bella, honey, do you know the rules? No siblings are allowed in the dressing room."
Her dark hoodie was up and covered most of her face already, but now she pulled at it to hide herself even deeper under its shadow as I noticed her cheeks begin to turn a hot pink colour.
"I know, I know, sorry, but Mom made me come in to tell Em he's gotta move it or we're gonna be late! I'm going now!" The dressing room door banged shut as she abruptly ducked back out of the room.
Emmett broke off his conversation with Edward and started shoving the rest of his equipment into his bag. "Coach," he asked me while crouched on the floor struggling to zip up his bag, "Can you give Edward our number so he can call me? We're gonna try and get together during the week for some shinny, but I gotta run before Mom pops a gasket!" He shrugged sheepishly at the rest of the kids before scrambling out the door. As requested, I passed along the phone number and turned my attention back to my notes.
~*ATR*~
Practices had been going smoothly and I had most of the defence pairings and lines settled. I ended up putting the new kid, Emmett, as centre with Edward and Jazz as his wings. The three of them had become thick as thieves since they were all addicted to hockey and the PS3. They spent almost all of their free time in our basement or outside playing street hockey in the front yard or swimming in the backyard.
On the ice, they were almost unstoppable. Emmett was solid on his feet, had fast hands and sharp reflexes. I was really looking forward to the first couple of exhibition games we had scheduled.
Between work, hockey, social gatherings, and life in general, the summer seemed to have just flown by. The first game of the new season was in just a few weeks and I had been trying to get the team and their families together for some bonding time. Jasper and Edward really wanted to go paintballing, but I wasn't sure how that would go over with some of the families so we decided on a pool party in our backyard.
It was the last weekend of August and Esme was in full entertainment director and party coordinator mode. I caught flashes of her honey-coloured hair as she spun around and sped from area to area out in the yard making sure everything was set the way she wanted it. As I walked further out on the back deck, I watched her over in the toddler area where she had set up a shallow pool with various nozzles and gizmos that shot water in gentle streams for the little ones to play in.
The entire yard had been converted into a carnival atmosphere. There were various games and craft areas set out, along with several comfy seating areas to relax in out of the direct sunlight.
Esme and her sister Elizabeth had arranged for a catering company to handle the food so that we would all be free to mingle with the other parents during the afternoon, instead of being in the kitchen or chained to the grill. Elizabeth and her two Edwards (Sr. and Jr.) arrived about an hour before the scheduled party start time to help with any last minute details. Jasper and Edward had disappeared into the house immediately while the adults double-checked all of the arrangements and then settled onto the patio furniture and waited for the guests to arrive.
~*ATR*~
The yard was steadily filling before Jazzy and Edward came back outside and started running around with the other boys from the team and some of their brothers. They were organizing a game called Manhunt as I passed by them heading towards some of the further tables, pulling a wheeled cooler behind me to offer drinks to the families seated there. I tried desperately not to roll my eyes as I listed to one of the parents who prefaced every conversation with the phrase "I know I'm no hockey expert…" following by a lecture on the issues with my line selections, length of shifts or whatever the topic of complaint was for that conversation. This time it was about my methods of encouraging the team from the bench. Apparently, I needed to "be more vocal".
A group of the boys had just raced past me toward the back gate when I heard the obvious sounds of a collision of two bodies followed by a loud yelp. I spun on my heel to see Edward lying face down on top of Emmett's sister Bella who was flat on her back just inside the entry to the yard. Edward lifted his head up and froze. Bella's arms lay flat on the ground beside her, her eyes wide as saucers and her face was slowing turning a colour that was quickly approaching almost purple as I lightly jogged over to them.
"DUDE!", Emmett boomed, "Get the heck OFF of my sister!"
Edward blinked then scrambled up offering Bella his hand to help her up. "So sorry, didn't see you!" he mumbled while staring fixedly at his shoes.
Bella sucked in a breath through clenched teeth and the colour of her face retreated to a harsh pink. "No problem. I'm always falling or getting knocked down. Regular day for me." She reached up to grab his hand while Emmett reached out and grabbed her other hand. I watched Edward as his eyes nearly popped out of his head and Bella immediately snatched her hand out of his to grab Emmett now with both hands. She righted herself and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up over her head as she wobbled over to a nearby chair while cradling the hand she had snatched from Edward's as though it were injured. I made my way over to her slowly watching her carefully as her breathing still hadn't returned to normal.
"Bella," I asked as I knelt down beside her chair, "Do you want me to look at your hand? Did you hurt it when Edward knocked you down?"
"Um, no. It's, uh, okay Dr. Cullen. I'm okay, just a bit shook up. No biggie." She looked at me with brown eyes that were still wide open and glazed over. I nodded and stood stepping back toward Edward who was still standing in the same spot as if frozen to the ground. Curiously, he was also cradling the hand he had offered Bella.
"Edward?" I looked down to his hand, then back to his face, cocking my head to the side in a silent question.
"Oh, no, it's….fine?" It was more of a question than a statement. He looked over to Emmett and smiled at him hesitantly.
Emmett shook his head and muttered, "Jeez man, she's klutzy enough. Doesn't need you to dang near squish her." Then the group of boys that had been standing awkwardly off to the side of the yard began to wander off toward the poolhouse to change into their swimsuits after Jasper hastily suggested they make their way to the pool for a game of Marco Polo.