For New Year's Eve, we stayed in with the family wanting to enjoy every moment before everyone had to leave. The party was dampened by the Penguins' loss to New Jersey but we still had a good time. The next day, we drove everyone to the airport and sent them on their way. Exhausted but happy, we stop at Vero and Marc-Andre's on our way home. Vero wants to show off the necklace that Marc-Andre gave her for Christmas and he wants to show off his new entertainment system to Sidney.
Vero and I are sitting at the kitchen table enjoying a glass of wine while the boys are in the family room playing with toys. "Sounds like you had a wonderful first Christmas with the family." Vero says. I can't keep the smile off of my face. "We really did and, you need to promise me you'll keep this confidential" I wait for her to agree and then show her my left hand. She squeals and grabs my hand. "He proposed? Sidney proposed? The ring is gorgeous!" Marc-Andre and Sidney come into the kitchen and he turns to Sidney "tu lui as demandé de se marier toi mon ami?" Sidney smiles at him "yep." Marc-Andre hugs Sidney and then comes to me and hugs me. Vero comes back to the table with a bottle of Moet and four glasses. "We need to celebrate." Marc-Andre opens the wine and pours four glasses. "Pour une vie longue et heureuse ensemble." We all drink and Vero and I begin to talk about weddings. She's already deep into planning her own this July and has lots of ideas for me. To continue the celebration, we order in dinner and enjoy a wonderful evening with friends.
On our drive home, we're silent but it's a content silence. I need to ask "are you excited to be able to work out next week?" He smiles "it's the next step. I think we've made the right decision to see how I react to the workouts. We can then determine if a second opinion is needed." I'm not so sure but I don't have an alternative yet so I agree. Sidney has his plan to work out for the next week. The Penguins are playing at home against the Rangers, Devils then Ottawa before they travel to Washington. It looks like everyone is going to be at home for a while.
Everyone's holiday buzz leaves quickly as the Penguins lose all three games at home. That's a four game losing streak. I've never experienced anything like this before. The guys all seem angry, Sidney feels guilty and I feel helpless. Then it goes from bad to worse. Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune publishes an article claiming that players on the Penguins believe Sidney is symptom free and should be playing, should be replaced as their captain, should be seen more around the arena like Kris is while recovering from his concussion and that Sidney's father is angry with the Penguins management over the way his son has been mistreated. Sidney, who stays as far away as possible from the internet, actually read the article on line and promptly threw his laptop across the room where it smashed into many pieces.
I'm smart enough to let him be when he storms out of the house. I clean up the pieces of the computer and then make two calls. First, I call Troy to make sure that he's read the article and knows that Sidney has read it too. Second, and I thought about this one for more than a few minutes, I call Mario, again to make sure that he's read the article and knows that Sidney has read it too. Mario asks if I've called Troy and then tells me that I did the right thing calling him. I sit at home watching nothing much on television and waiting for Sidney to return home. I keep flashing back to the last time he stormed out of the house and didn't come home all night. I know that this is a very different situation but I still go there anyway. I'm once again sitting alone waiting to see if Sidney comes home.
At some point I must have fallen asleep because I wake up with my head on Sidney's lap and he's watching a game. I look up at him; "hi" I tell him. He looks calmer than when he left. "Hi" he tells me back. "You called my dad and Mario." I look at his face again trying to determine if he's mad. He doesn't look angry with me. "Yeah, I did. I don't know what to do for you when these hockey things come up. I just don't have the experience so I called your dad. This time I also called Mario. I figured that if it's about the captaincy of his team then he should know what's going on." He's still staring at the TV and I just can't read his face. I don't know if he's glad I did it or mad. "Thank you" he says very simply and softly. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. "You're welcome" I tell him. Sidney continues "I met with Mario and Dan. I'm going on the road trip with the team; Washington, Florida and Tampa Bay. The reporter sited three sources but the guys are saying its crap. It's all crap but we decided that, since I am going to try skating again, I'm going to do it with the team. Also, we need to end this losing streak and if I can help by being there then that's what I'm going to do." I sit up and climb onto his lap. Taking his face in both of my hands, I kiss him deeply. "You are a good man and a good captain to that team. They know that and regardless of being on the ice, in the game or in the press box, you are their captain and their leader. Everyone knows that Sidney; everyone who matters." I kiss him again and he hugs me close to him. "Oh, by the way, you need a new laptop."
Going on the road trip was a good idea. The guys were surprised but happy to see me on the plane. We lost to Washington, 1-0, which still sucked but being in Florida is great. Dan decides we need to do some team building. First, we had a regular practice in the morning. I joined the team for the second half of the practice, non-contact of course, and was stunned when I stepped on the ice. Everyone has a white or black taped "C" on their sweater. In fact, I'm the only one without a "C." I laugh when I see Geno who, instead of a "C," has a "K" for the Russian word for captain on his sweater. We don't talk about it of course but I'm incredibly moved. After practice, we go back to the hotel and the beach has been closed off for us. There are two volleyball nets set up and a huge spread for lunch. While we eat, Dan tells us what we're up to this afternoon. It's a tournament; a little friendly competition among teammates. Ok course telling that to a group of professional athletes is like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
The games are heated to be conservative. There is actually an all-out war. The coaches have formed their own team so it's every player's goal to spike the ball into Kadar's face. The weather is beautiful. When we're not playing, we either cheer or jeer the other teams or swim. With the support shown this morning with the "C" and the tournament this afternoon, I can feel the tension leaving every person on the team. We are coming together to achieve a goal. We are chirping good naturedly at each other. We are laughing and having fun. It's been a great afternoon which we end with a BBQ on the beach. After the BBQ, most of us go back to our rooms. I say good night to Duper and Flower in the hall, grab a shower and then turn the TV onto Sports Centre.
Looking at the time, I realize it isn't too late to call Angelia. She answers the phone after the first ring. "Hi babe, how are you?" I ask her. "Great, miss you though. How's it going down there? Bet the weather is beautiful." "It is gorgeous. Did you hear what the guys did this morning?" I can hear the smile in her voice when she answers me "yes, Sidney that was such a wonderful thing for them to do for you. There's even video on the Pens site of it. I thought you looked adorable when you saw them and got so embarrassed." I chuckle "it was a really great thing for them to do. We had a great afternoon too; volleyball tournament on the beach followed by a BBQ. The team really loosened up. I think it's going to be a great game tomorrow." I hear some shuffling. "What are you doing?" "Sorry Sidney, I was just putting my book on the nightstand along with my glasses." I can picture her now, in our bed, wearing my Pens shirt with her glasses on.
"So you're in bed then. What are you wearing?" She laughs. "No, really, what are you wearing." She clears her throat and says "I'm wearing your Pens tee shirt." I knew it. I can see her lying there. "I wish I was there with you babe." "I wish you were too. So, come on, tell me what you're wearing." I chuckle and look down. "Just got out of the shower so I'm wearing a towel." I hear her gasp softly into the phone and an idea begins to take form. "Are you wearing anything under that shirt?" She hesitates "no, not a thing." I groan "you're really trying to kill me, aren't you? Will you do something for me?" Again she hesitates then says "what do you want me to do?" Oh, this is definitely going to be fun. "I want you to slide your free hand up under your shirt and touch your breasts for me. You love it when I touch your breasts, circling your nipples and making them pucker for me." I hear rustling and know she's doing it. "Touch one and then the other. Think of me there, lightly running my fingertips over you nipples. Have they puckered for me?" I wait a moment until she very slowly and softly says "yes." I shift to get more comfortable on the bed.
"Tell me what you're doing babe?" There is a pause and then she says "I'm running my finger and thumb around my nipple just like you do. I love when you touch me like that; I feel it deep inside me." I begin to stroke myself through my towel. "Where deep inside you do you feel it? Tell me babe." She sighs and tells me "I feel myself getting wet and I get wetter and wetter the more you touch me." I get rid of the towel now and take myself in hand. I can see her touching herself for me. "Thinking about you touching yourself for me is making me so hard. Would you do something else for me?" I hear a breathy "yes." I smile. "Move your free hand lower now. Take two fingers and slip them inside to get wet. Tell me how wet you are." I hear more rustling. "I'm so wet for you Sidney. I love how you touch me to make me wet. I love the way you slip your fingers in and out of me." God, I'm now rock hard. "Slip those wet fingers up now over your clit. Slide them around for me just like I do with my tongue. Lightly slide those wet fingers around and around. Tease your clit for me baby." I hear her moan into the phone and could cum right there and then but she's not ready yet, getting closer, but not yet.
"You love when I do that to you, don't you baby? I slide my tongue around your clit and tease it. You beg me for more but I keep on teasing you. Tell me how much you need me to touch you." I hear her moan again. "Oh Sidney, I'm desperate for you to touch me. I need to feel you inside me. I need you to fill me." I grimace and try to hold on until she's ready. "Now slip your fingers inside again. First use one and swirl it around at the entrance for me. Are you doing it?" I wait. "Yes" is her breathy reply. "Ok, now use two fingers. Keep moving them around and around baby. I love touching you like that with my tongue. I have my whole face buried in you, breathing you in and playing with you with my tongue. Tell me how you're feeling baby. Tell me what I'm doing to you." She moans again "I love it when you slide your tongue deep inside me and then pull it half way out. You tease me by running it around and around my entrance and make me beg." "Beg for what babe. Slide your fingers over your clit and tell me what you're begging for me to do." Now she cries out "fuck me, I need you to fuck me." God, I can't hold on anymore. "Keep rubbing for me babe. I want you to cum for me." I can hear that she's getting close. She's moaning and crying out. I stroke faster and faster. She gives a loud moan and let myself go.
I use the towel to clean up my mess and pick up the phone that dropped on the bed beside me. "Are you there Angel?" "Mmmm" is all I hear. I chuckle at that; looks like she's still there. "Angelia, are you still there?" "Yep, I'm still here. Wow." I chuckle again "yeah wow. I've never done that before." Now she chuckles "me either, but I'm seeing a very expensive cell bill in our future." She sighs "I miss you so much. I think I've been spoiled having you around so much." I yawn and say "Me too babe. I'm sorry but I need to get some sleep. I'm skating again with the team tomorrow." "Shit, I meant to ask how your skate went but you sidetracked me." Wow, I managed to get her off of thinking about my head. "It went really well. I'm still having motion issues with drills but it feels so great to be out there."
"Sidney, have you given anymore thought to the conversation we had with your folks and Mario?" I pause then say "yeah. I've been thinking a lot about it and especially what you said. I think we should get a second opinion but who? We're getting another one because we don't fully trust the current doctors so we can't ask them who to go to?" She pauses for a few moments "Honey, I've been doing research since before Barbados and I think it's more than a concussion. I don't know enough about the brain or the spine to make a diagnosis but I think there's a doctor in LA that you should see. He's a neurological spine specialist named Robert Bray. He's done a lot of work with football players who have concussions but are not improving with typical treatments. It might not just be a concussion." I hadn't thought of that and now that she brings it up, she may be right. "Ok, send me the information on this doctor and I'll call Mario. I want him to know before I call any other doctor." She's completely silent. "Angelia, are you there?" "Oh, sorry, I was nodding but I guess you can't see that over the phone, huh?" She can always make me laugh. "Let's find out if this is more than a concussion." I don't know if I'm hoping it is or it isn't.
