It was Christmas and my birthday (yes, I'm a Christmas baby). The night before the boys had had a Christmas party at Doc's and had had a good time. I decided to stay at home and have a few minutes to myself. I read a book and had hot chocolate on Christmas Eve. It was an interesting night.

Christmas Day rolled around and my birthday. I didn't have any plans beyond going to my aunt and uncle's for the annual Christmas dinner and then coming home.

The dinner was good, as usual. My aunt's cooking had always been the best. Buzz and I sat around the table with them and had fun. We left that afternoon and made it back to our dorm in one piece.

I was lounging on Silky's bed as he showered. We still hadn't made anything official. We were still testing the waters. I still stayed in his room at night and no one said anything.

He walked out of the shower and shook his head, sending water flying everywhere. I only shook mine and continued reading the book I had borrowed from Jimmy. He dried off quickly and began pulling on clothing. I couldn't ignore him. He was well built being a hockey player and I didn't mind looking.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

I looked down at my jeans and sweater shirt I was wearing. "Where are we going?"

"The boys wanted to have a get together for Christmas Day."

My eyebrows rose. He was a really bad liar. "Uh-huh. And what do they want to do?"

"I don't know. They wouldn't tell me."

"Probably because you're a bad liar."

He flinched. "That noticeable is it?"

"I've seen people do a better job." I sighed. "Okay. I'll go. Where are we going exactly?"

"Deuces. They want it in a small place."

I didn't ask. I just followed him out the door. We rode in silence on the way to the bar. Something was going on. I could feel it and it had Buzz and Bah written all over it. They were the only two who knew my birthday and that made things worse.

Silky was jittery as we walked into the bar. It was empty and dark except Marco the lights behind the bar. The only thing was it was Christmas. This place was never empty on Christmas. Usually there were many people hoping to drown their sorrows in alcohol. I looked at Silky and hit the lights.

"Surprise!" Everyone jumped up from everywhere. I only smiled, my suspicions having been proven correct.

Buzz came over with a crown. "You put that on me, Buzzy, and I'll rip you a new one."

That got the guys going. He smiled. "Do you like it?"

"This has you and Bah written all over it. What did you do?"

"We made a few calls to Marco and your favorite cake shop. Triple Dutch chocolate cake with blue and red icing." Bah said. "We kept it away from Silky because he's such a very bad liar."

"Yeah, I figured that much out." I caught sight of Mac and made a beeline for him. He was caught off guard at my sudden appearance that he nearly fell over. I pulled something from my coat and tossed it at him. The entire room lost it, including Silky. "I left these at your place, huh?"

"I…uh…wha…" he began stuttering and that made the room howl louder.

"That's funny because the last time I was in your room, you were with a completely different woman. I would remember if I ever did anything with you and frankly, I don't." I leaned in closer so only he could hear. "And between you and me, Silky's already got some of mine that he can look at any time." When I stepped back, he was gawking at me.

"Okay, okay, enough wasting time. Open your presents." Bah grabbed my hand and led me to the center table that was piled high with gifts. He shoved me down in the seat at the head of the table and proceeded to thrust gifts in my face.

There were eleven gifts in all. The boys had gotten together in pairs so there wouldn't be so many (Buzz's idea no doubt). I got a new TV (Baker and Verchota), a new stick (Bah and Pav), new blades (Rizzo and Jack), and there were a lot of others in there that I really didn't care to notice. My favorite was from Buzz. I was a big Tina Turner fan (don't mock me) and when I opened the box from Buzz there stared Tina Turner me in the face. He laughed when I jumped up and hugged him.

Then something caught my attention. Not one gift had Silky's name on it. I looked at him. He was talking to Rizzo. That made me slightly hurt, slightly agitated and slightly confused. Bah, who had a sweet tooth, started cutting into the cake. My cake. I hurried over and in the process of getting the knife away from him, I only succeeded in shoving his face in the cake. I stepped back as he looked at me.

Then ducked as he threw a piece of cake.

It hit Jack in the face.

It was then that I decided that I better move before I got hit with the cake myself. So I took refuge behind the bar and let the cake fly. After a few minutes, Marco joined me. Apparently, it was getting bad out there.

"Minni, where'd you go?" I motioned for Marco to stay quiet and he nodded.

That didn't help. Two sets of arms grabbed me and hauled me over the bar. I looked up into the faces of Bah and Pav. They smiled as sweetly as they could with cake all over their faces before pulling me over to the table.

"You're too clean, Christmas baby." Bah said.

"Bah, I swear if you do anything I will make you live to regret that decision." I warned.

"Oh, I'm not going to be the one to do it."

I looked up just as Buzz slammed cake in my face. I wasn't mad. Well, not much. Do you have any idea how long it takes to get icing out of hair? It takes too damn long. When Bah and Pav let me go, I flew at Buzz. He caught me with a laugh and wrestled me down to the floor.

"You never change." He laughed.

"And you're a jerk." I replied.

We looked at each other as we heaved for air then smiled. He helped me up from the floor. I threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly. I looked around the room at all the smiling faces.

"This has been the best birthday ever. Who would imagine a girl getting to chill with the 1980 Olympic hockey team? Not to mention hotties." Everyone's smiles widened. "But it's been a long day and I'm ready to get some sleep."

"Ah, Silky. No luck for you." Verchota said.

I shook my head. Then Silky said, "At least she's going home with me, Verchota."

At that I gaped. I didn't say anything as I gathered all my gifts and headed out the door. I offered to help clean up but Marco wouldn't hear of it. So me and the boys took the bus. Do you know how funny it is to have twenty-two people walk onto the bus with gifts and cake all over them? It's hysterical. The bus driver just looked at us.

I ran up to my room and figured out a place to put all my new goodies before I jumped in the shower. Now, I told you before that Buzz and I really don't care how much or how little we wear. We draw the line at seeing each other naked in the shower. That stems from the fact that I saw Buzz and an old girlfriend of his in the shower together. That blew the entire thing for me.

He was waiting when I hopped out and threw on some clothes. He knew where I was going so he didn't say anything as he walked in the bathroom. I scaled the next two flights in record time. I didn't even have to knock on the door. Silky and Jack always left it unlocked for me so I just walked in. Silky was standing across the room at the stove. He looked up as I came in and smiled. That's what did it in for me.

I marched over to him, pulled his head down, and kissed him soundly. He tasted of cake and beer. He was surprised at first but then his hands spanned my back and he pulled me closer. I knew what was going on. I was pushing this a little farther than I hoped but I really like Silky and I hoped he felt the same way.

We pulled away and looked at each other. A slow smile came over his face and he leaned down again. I accepted him warmly.

"Hey, Silk, I'm goin…. Yeah, Silky!" We both looked at Jack. He was standing by the door with a huge smile on his face. "Well, I'm going with Rizzo. Don't let me disturb you two. I'll probably be gone all night." He walked out the door.

"This is going to be around to the entire team tomorrow, isn't it?" I asked.

"Probably."

I shrugged. He laughed and came down for more.