AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hey guys. This is probably the second or third to last chapter of this story. Sorry it's so long. And I don't know exactly how close Tiffany's is to FAO Schwarz. But hey, the Ducks rollerbladed over 50 miles to round everyone up in D2. So don't go calling me geographically challenged :).
A NEW LIFE – CHAPTER EIGHT – THANKSGIVING IN NEW YORK
"Yow! Sure is cold out here." Gordon commented to his teammate, Michael Lemieux.
"And windy." Michael pulled his jacket closer around him and stepped onto the team bus. "Is it always cold like this?"
"Got me." Gordon said. "Never been to New York City before."
Michael and Gordon took a seat near the front of the bus. "I can't believe they had us play a game the day before Thanksgiving." Michael said. "Usually Charlotte and Michelle and I spend Thanksgiving vacation with Charlotte's parents in Michigan."
"What are you doing this year?" Gordon asked.
"Heading out tomorrow, right after we get home." Michael said. "What about you and Kaley?"
"We'll probably end up going out." Gordon said. "Unless she wants to eat grilled cheese for Thanksgiving dinner."
"She's a kid, Gordo, that would probably be fine with her." Michael said.
"Good point." Gordon said. "Man, this would be a whole lot easier if I'd just get married."
"What's the rush?" Michael asked.
"What's the rush?" Gordon repeated. "Mikey, I'm almost thirty-one years old!"
"So?" Michael shrugged. "My brother was thirty-four when he got married."
"Did he already have a kid to take care of?" Gordon asked. "And a career that made him jump all over the country?"
Michael sighed. "I see your point." He said.
Gordon glanced out the window right as the bus passed Tiffany's Jewelers. "I've got it." He breathed.
"Got what?" Michael asked.
"Oh, uh, nothing." Gordon said. "Hey, Mikey, when's our next game out here?"
"I think the fifteenth of December. Why?" Michael asked.
"Just curious." Gordon said. Oh, yes. This is just too perfect.
Gordon's mind was going a mile a minute by the time the Waves reached the hotel. This is the best. I can sneak out to Tiffany's next time we're out here, get the ring, and give it to Casey for Christmas. It's perfect.
Nobody knew it except for the Ducks and Gordon, but Gordon thought Casey Conway was God's gift to the world. He'd fallen for her during his stint with the Ducks, and he loved her son Charlie like his own. Gordon knew Casey would make a fine mother for Kaley.
When Gordon and Michael reached the Lemieuxs' hotel room, they found Kaley playing Go Fish with Michael's daughter Michelle. Michael's wife, Charlotte, sat feeding their six-month-old son Nicholas.
"Hey kids." Michael said.
"Go fish, Michelle." Kaley said. "Hi! How'd everything go?"
"We won." Gordon announced proudly. "Three to two. Scored the last two goals right as third period was winding down."
"All right!" Michelle said. "Go Waves!"
"Come on, Kaley." Gordon said. "Time to go."
"But Dad!" Kaley protested.
"Just one more game, please?" Michelle begged.
Michael looked down at the cards. "I'd quit now, Kaley." He said. "You're winning."
"Kaley, we have an early flight tomorrow." Gordon said. "Come on, we need to sleep."
"Oh, all right." Kaley grumbled. "Thanks for the game, Michelle."
"Anytime, Kaley." Michelle grinned.
Brrrrrring!
The jangling phone yanked Gordon out of a sound sleep. What the heck? He reached over and picked up the phone. "H'lo?"
"Bombay, this is Davis." Davis' voice said on the other end.
"Davis, what is this about?" Gordon asked. "It's five-thirty!"
"Our flight's been cancelled." Davis said. "The weather's wretched."
"It is?" Gordon asked.
"Yeah!" Davis said. "Been snowing for the past two hours and not supposed to stop till late tonight. We're taking the first plane out Friday morning."
"Snow?" Gordon asked.
"Yeah, snow!" Davis said. "Ya know, fluffy white stuff that comes out of the sky in the winter?"
Gordon was becoming annoyed with his coach. "Yeah, yeah, I know what snow is. Thanks for calling. Now let me get some sleep."
"Certainly." Davis said.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Coach." Gordon added.
"Yeah, you too, Bombay." Davis said.
The conversation had woken Kaley up. "What's going on?" She yawned.
"We're stuck here for the day." Gordon said, getting out of bed. "Apparently it's…good golly!" He gasped, looking out the window.
"What?" Kaley asked.
"Snowing." Gordon said. "Wow, look at it!"
"Snow!" Kaley said. "Wow, cool! I'm gonna go tell Michelle!"
"Kaley!" Gordon called to his daughter's retreating form. "Stop! The Lemieuxs probably aren't awake-"
Right as Kaley entered the hallway, the Lemieuxs' door burst open and a very excited Michelle jumped into the hallway. "Kaley! It's snowing!" She squealed.
"Hey, kids, quiet down!" Michael admonished, following Michelle into the hallway. "The humans are trying to sleep!"
Kaley and Michelle ran down the hall to get a better look at the snow. "Goodness, you'd think they'd never seen snow before." Charlotte yawned, coming out of the room.
"Kaley never has." Gordon said. "Well, not real snow, anyway." He glanced at his watch. Not even six, but apparently they were up for the day. There would be no getting Kaley and Michelle back to bed now.
"Dear, we have a dilemma." Charlotte said, squeezing Michael's shoulder.
"And it is?" Michael asked.
"We didn't pack for two days." Charlotte said. "None of us have clothes for today."
"Oh." Michael said, biting his lip. "I never thought of that."
"Thought of what?" Michelle asked as she and Kaley ran back from the window.
"We don't have enough clothes." Charlotte said.
"So? Let's go shopping!" Michelle said.
"No way." Kaley said firmly. She hated shopping.
"Well…we have no option." Michael said.
"Darling, there's nowhere in this whole city that will accommodate a Lemieux budget." Charlotte said.
"Or a Bombay budget." Gordon put in.
"But there's a Bradlee's right up the street!" Michelle said.
"Things are expensive in New York, Kaley." Gordon explained.
"Why?" Kaley asked.
"Because they're in New York." Gordon said.
"That's not a reason." Kaley said.
Gordon was beginning to get annoyed. "All right, all right." He said. "Look, let's…make do with what we have, and if we see a place that will fit our budgets, then maybe we'll go in and buy something. OK?"
Half an hour later, dressed in combinations of their pajamas and clothes from the day before, The Bombays and the Lemieuxs were out on the very chilly, snowy streets of New York.
"Christmas stuff? Already?" Kaley asked.
"It's just Thanksgiving!" Michelle said.
"They start early around here." Charlotte explained.
"Hey, look!" Kaley said. "FAO Schwarz! The world's biggest toy store! Can we stop?"
"I guess so." Michael said. "It'll be warmer than hanging around out here, anyway."
Gordon looked down the street. Tiffany's. "Hey, uh, you guys go in." He said. "I've got an errand to run."
Kaley and the Lemieuxs looked a bit puzzled, but nodded.
"Hey, Michelle, check this out!" Kaley called to her friend.
Michelle walked over to look at the toy Kaley was holding. "Wow." She said. "He sure is cute."
"And big." Kaley said. "How can you sleep with a stuffed animal this big? He'd take up half the bed."
"I dunno." Michelle said. "Hey, where'd your dad go, anyhow?"
"Who knows?" Kaley shrugged. "I'm not gonna ask."
Gordon exited Tiffany's and pulled his jacket closer around him. He opened the small black velvet box in his hand and smiled at the ring that peeked out at him. A simple diamond solitaire perched on a gold band. Casey was going to love it.
"Dad!" Hearing his daughter's voice, Gordon snapped the box closed and stuffed it in his pocket. "Hey, Dad!" Kaley ran up to him.
"Hi sweetie." Gordon said. "See anything in FAO Schwarz?"
"Too much." Michelle said. "Toy overload. Where you been, anyway?"
"Around." Gordon said, hoping they would see that was all he would give them and move on.
"Um, OK." Michael said. "Where to now?"
After a nice, albeit chilly day wandering around New York, the Bombays and the Lemieuxs needed to decide where to have dinner. Every restaurant in the city seemed to be closed, packed, or too expensive.
"Look!" Michelle said. "There's TGI Friday's!"
"For Thanksgiving dinner?" Michael asked. "They won't have turkey there, honey."
"So?" Michelle asked. "Every place that does have turkey is closed."
"Dear, we really need to stop for awhile." Charlotte said. "I need to give Nicholas his bottle, and it's cold out here."
Michael looked at Gordon, who shrugged. "Well, all right." Michael said.
"We do need to stop." Gordon said.
TGI Friday's turned out to be expensive, but the food wasn't all that bad. And the restaurant was heated, a necessity for Kaley.
"You need thicker blood, Kaley." Michelle teased as the waiter brought their food.
"Brrr." Kaley shivered, wrapping her hands around her mug of hot chocolate."
"Please tell me there's actual snow in Baltimore." Michael said.
"Sometimes." Kaley said. "Not very often, though. And it never stayed around very long."
"Hm." Charlotte said as she observed the food around the table. "No turkey, huh?"
Kaley held up one of her chicken fingers and grinned. "Chicken fingers. That's close."
"Well, this is certainly a unique Thanksgiving." Michael said. "Snow, in New York, eating chicken fingers."
Kaley took a bite. "Mm, they're good too." She said. "Much better than turkey."
"To be a kid again, huh?" Michael laughed.
"Mm-hm." Gordon said thoughtfully. In a year, Casey, Kaley, Charlie, and I will be sitting around the table. He slipped his hand into his pocket and fingered the box that held Casey's ring. I just hope she says yes.