Chapter Twenty-Nine

"You didn't tell them?" Amber pushed Sid into the wall. "Seriously! Do you want them to hate me? What's wrong with you?"

"I didn't know how… I didn't think it would be the first thing we talked about," Sid shrugged. "I'm sorry… I thought you would win them over before I told them that."

"Fat chance of that now! You're mom hates me!"

"She doesn't hate you… she just… hates the idea of you…" Sid offered, as if that somehow made it better.

"Oh, well then, I guess I should be relieved…" Amber added sarcastically, pushing Sid again.

"Hey, come on, it'll be fine…"

"Yeah right!" Amber shook her head. She knew damn well that things weren't going to be fine. She saw that look in Trina's eyes… and then the whole neighbourhood heard her scream his name across the front yard.

"Come on," Sid offered, grabbing her hand. "You'll win over my dad… we'll go show him the house, we'll talk about hockey, he'll see how perfect you are for me and then he'll work on my mom. It'll all work out."

"What if it doesn't? What if I don't win over your dad?"

"You will. And it doesn't matter anyway. I have made my decision… what they say, doesn't matter to me…" Sid took her face in his hands and softly kissed her.

"Don't do that, don't be all sweet… I'm mad at you…" Amber murmured with her eyes shut, leaning into Sid for another kiss.

"You're not very good at being mad a me…" Sid whispered, kissing her softly again.

"I have a feeling I am going to get a lot of practice…" Amber shook her head.

"Yeah probably…"

-.-

Troy watched and listened as his son and his companion showed him around the house. A lot of changes were taking place in his son's life, all at the same time, and he was worried that Sid wasn't going to be able to handle them. Sid wasn't exactly the most adaptable guy, never really handled change well and always had a meticulously set schedule. When things veered off schedule, Sid didn't usually do well. With the new arena, new house and now a girl thrown in the mix, Troy was worried about the up coming season. He knew that last season was possibly the best of Sid's career, even though it hadn't exactly ended the way he wanted. He wanted his son to be able to build off that success and stay focused… something that didn't seem likely now. He was used to his son talking about nothing but hockey but since Troy had arrived in Pittsburgh the topic had yet to come up. He had talked about the house, the arena, Amber this and Amber that, a couple of stories from the summer, an endorsement deal but no hockey… it was more then a little concerning.

Sure he could understand where the distraction was coming from. Amber was pretty, something he would have found himself turning his head for in his day - his son had certainly chosen well. Nice face, good body, great rack and she seemed fairly intelligent. Sid had mentioned that she had worked for Hockey Canada when he had been back home, so it seemed like she met all criteria for a good fit. It was just poor timing really.

"Then we had talked about fixing the windows in this room, I know Mom really likes this room, so…" Sid explained to his dad, pointing out the window to the backyard. Troy watched as his son narrowed his eyes, focusing on something he clearly didn't like out the window. "Can you excuse me for a minute? I'm going to go check with Vinnie…"

Sid disappeared out of the room, leaving Troy alone with Amber.

"So… tell me, Sid wasn't really clear, how did you two meet?"

"Umm… we met at the Olympic training camp, last year… and then we worked together through the Olympics…"

"Oh, right he did mention that… Why were you there, again?"

"I handled the teams scheduling and a couple other tasks… assistant to the manager."

"Well then, I should apologize. I am sure Sid's schedule was far from easy to handle."

"Yeah… it was a bit of a challenge. I am sure his schedule for this year is going to be far worse. The meetings, the endorsement obligations, I still don't know his team schedule. He's kind of easing me into it. Not sure if it's because he doesn't want to loose me as a girlfriend or a manager," Amber laughed.

"A manager? You are going to be his manager?" Troy asked, trying to contain his shock but clearly not doing a good enough job.

"Oh fuck… he didn't tell you that either?" Amber's looked at Troy, her eyes as wide as plates. "Seriously, what is his problem?"

"I'm sure he was going to… I'm sure he was going to tell me in his own way," He was upset, he couldn't hide it. He had been his son's manager his whole life. That had been his whole concentration since Sid was old enough to skate and now he was being replaced by some girl… just like that. "I'm sure he'll explain when he comes back in…"

Troy left the small sitting room and wandered around the large open space, which was designated as a family room that would soon be full of furniture and bustling with people. It was currently filled with contractor's tools and boxes of hardwood floors, waiting to be installed. He just needed a minute to breath before facing his son. After all that he had scarified for his son, all he expected was to be treated with some respect, was that really too much to ask for?

Sid walked in the back door. "Now I understand why it's taking them so long. We were here for what, 10 minutes? and I watched them take two breaks… like, is it unreasonable for me to expect that they will actually do a little work in a day?"

Troy nodded in agreement, not trusting himself to say anything just yet.

"Did you talk to Amber? Where is she? What do you think of her?"

"She seems perfect for you…"

"Really? You think so?" Sid could barely contain his excitement. "I mean, I think so too, so I am glad that someone agrees… It hasn't exactly been easy…"

"What dating her or hiring her as your manager?"

"What? How did you…?"

"She mentioned it… when were you going to say something?" Troy asked, trying to mask his emotions.

"I was going to talk to you… I've had some pressure from the league and from Pat to hire a real manager…"

"And you think she is a real manager?"

"Well she has experience with it and with my schedule and she knows the league and a lot of guys wives are their managers, so I just thought it made sense…"

"Wife?" Troy asked in shock.

"Or girlfriends, whatever Dad, that's not the point…" Sid quickly covered up his slip of the tongue. "And you know, Moms always complaining that you are never home and now with Taylor heading off to school, she's going to be alone and she isn't going to deal with that well, so now you can spend more time with her…" Troy listened as his son continued to list all the reasons why Amber made more sense then him, but it didn't stop him from being upset.

"We should have talked about this before you made such a big decision…" Troy offered to his son.

"Like I should have talked about Amber moving in here?" Sid asked. "I can make my own decisions… I don't need you and Mom to hold my hand through life…"

"I know that… but you're our son and we worry… we are allowed to worry."

"You don't need to worry. I've got this one figured out. I am sorry I didn't tell you about her but I was going to… I just kinda wanted you and mom to like her first."

"Well, I look forward to getting to know her but is there anything else you need to tell us about her? I don't know if we can handle another blow..." Troy asked.

-.-

Amber walked slowly behind Troy and Sid as they climbed back into the Range Rover to head back for dinner. Troy hadn't said anything to her since leaving the sitting room. Sid barely had either, but that suited her just fine. Not telling her dad about her as his manager was the second screw up of the day, both of which left her in awkward positions. "One family member left to piss off and I'll be done for the day and I can bury my head in the sand," Amber thought to herself. The idea of heading back to Montreal, and hiding from the whole situation, was all to appealing right now.

Amber sat quietly in the back seat as Sid drove back to the Lemieux's. He pulled up into the drive way and his dad jumped out of the car quickly, excusing himself to go and check on Trina. Amber climbed out slowly, carefully avoiding the looks from the group of teenagers standing around the shooting area just off of the driveway. Sid appeared at the side of the car and offered her his hand in assistance out of the car. Amber shook her head and climbed out on her own.

"Listen, I know you're pissed and I am sorry… again… I didn't want to tell him just yet…"

"You should have told me that… If I had known, I wouldn't have said anything!" Amber glared at him. "I swear, I think you are trying to make this difficult!"

"I'm not… I'm just… an idiot… and I am not used to having to worry about anyone else… if I didn't tell my parents something, it only ever affected me. I'll get better, it's just a pretty steep learning curve here," Sid pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her. "I am so unbelievably sorry… I'll make it up to you."

"At this rate, you aren't going to have enough hours in the day to make things up to me…" Amber sighed and leaned her forehead on Sid's shoulder

Sid smiled and kissed the top of her head. "The good thing is that my dad seems to like you…"

"Really that's not quite the vibe I got…"

"He said he is looking forward to getting to know you better," Sid offered. "So now there is just my sister… and I don't have any secrets from her, so I think we are clear and free…"

"Oh yeah, teenage girls are so easy to win over…" Amber moaned.

"She's not that bad…"

"She has been glaring at me since I got out of the car…"

"Oh… well good luck with that then," Sid laughed and jumped back. "I'll be inside looking for the first aid kit… and a cloth to clean up the blood."

"Funny! Nice try Crosby!" Amber grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. "Maybe if I stand really still, she won't be able to see me… that's how teenage girls work, right?"

"I think that a T-Rex…"

"Damn, there goes that plan…"

-.-

"So is she just going to stand there?" Taylor asked Stephanie, staring across the yard at her brother and his girlfriend.

"I dunno… she has clearly seen us," Stephanie leaned on her hockey stick and watched as Sid teased Amber by the car. She rolled her eyes as Amber reached for him and pulled him back to her. She was playing the innocent little girl part quite well, and Steph knew it would only be a matter of time till Sid saw through it. A number of her friends had crazy crushes on Sid, so she had seen almost every act possible as they tried to get his attention. Thank God he was either too smart or too dense to fall for it. Steph had always seen Sid as her older brother, and had a hard time seeing what all the screaming girls saw in him. Maybe it was because she knew how anal he was, or how bad he smelt after a work out but there was certainly no crushing on him from her stand point.

Steph watched as Amber bit down on the corner of her lip and looked up at Sid with the seductive look so many puck bunnies had used on him before. She couldn't believe he was falling for it.

"Maybe she put a spell on him or something…" Steph offered to Taylor, as she rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Seriously, I'm glad we didn't have dinner already or I would be pucking up perfectly good food," Taylor replied. It was hard for her to watch her brother playing lovey dovey in the parking lot. This was certainly not a side of him she knew.

"Oh crap, they're coming…" Steph said under the breath, while turning her eyes away from Sid practically pulling Amber towards them.

"I don't like her already…"

"Tru dat," Steph laughed. "He is delusional if he thinks we are going to play nice."

"Hey ladies," Sid greeted them as he approached the waiting teenagers. "We figured it was easier for you to stare Amber down, if we were a little closer…"

"What are you talking about? We weren't staring…" Taylor argued, looking a Stephanie and innocently shrugging.

"Righttttttt…" Sid glared at his sister. Taylor glared right back and she wasn't going to back down anytime soon.

"Anyways, I'm going to head inside and check on mom… you three play nice…" Sid explained, dropping Amber's hand and backing up while dealing with protests and quiet swears from her.

Amber slowly turned around and faced the smirks on the faces of the girls in front of her.

"Nice guy you got there… dumping you out here with us…" Steph pointed out, chuckling to herself.

"Oh yeah," Amber nodded, anxiously crossing her arms in front of her chest. "He will definitely hear about it later…"

"Do you play hockey?" Taylor asked, exchanging knowing looks with her partner in crime.

"A bit…" Amber admitted.

"Well grab a stick, we can play a bit of one on one… we should warn you, we are pretty good…" Steph offered, pointing to a rack of sticks near the edge of the yard.

"Yeah, I hear you are both going to be at Shattock this fall… that's pretty exciting," Amber asked innocently enough, while walking over to the rack of sticks. "Must be nice for you to have someone you know, going into a new school?"

"Yeah, I guess," Taylor shrugged, watching Amber ponder over what stick to use. She thought her brother was slow. Taylor exchanged another look with Steph, as Amber picked one stick, tested the flex and then put it back, opting for another.

"Found one you like, yet?" Steph asked impatiently.

"Yeah, this one will do," Amber agreed, finally making her decision.

Amber walked onto the concrete slab and put her stick on the ground. Taylor backed up into the net and Steph passed Amber the puck, a little harder then she probably should have and maybe a little less aimed at the stick and more at her body then she should have.

Amber stopped the puck from hitting her body with a quick block with the shaft of the stick and looked up at the young girl in front of her. Steph shrugged and offered up a fake apology. "So, it's going to be like that…" Amber thought to herself. She had dealt with enough junior hockey players trying to prove themselves to recognize the aggressive move Steph has just made. She could tell that this was their way of testing her - their logic being if she could play hockey, she would be good enough. Amber couldn't believe that she was going to have to play this game but she knew that if she took the mature approach and walked away now, she would never win them over. So she grabbed the puck at the end of the stick and shot.

-.-

Sid watched nervously from the window. He watched as Steph took a cheap shot at Amber but luckily Amber's stick was in the way and it didn't hit her. He couldn't decide if the stick was just in the right place or if Amber had actually moved the stick to block the shot. He had never actually seen Amber play, or even asked if she could. He had a hard time imagining that someone who grew up beside the Talbot household couldn't play hockey but he was nervous anyway. He also knew he was going to be in trouble for leaving Amber out there but he was going to have to deal with that later.

Austin walked up behind him and glanced out the window, trying to see what Sid was staring at. "What are you watching?"

Sid pointed at the shooting area.

"Can she play?" Austin asked, now fixated on the scene in front of him.

"I don't know… I guess we will find out…"

"I doubt they will go easy on her…" Austin added.

"Yeah, I know…"

Sid continued to stare as Amber finally started moving the puck on her stick. From what he could see, she seemed to have pretty good handling… maybe this wouldn't end so badly.

"Holy CRAP! Did you see that?" Austin exclaimed. Sid's jaw dropped as he watched Amber take a slap shot at his sister. Taylor was clearly not expecting that, as the boys watched as she looked behind herself for the puck. The puck had flown through the air and went top shelf, usually Taylor's strongest side.

"What are you guys watching?" Nathalie and Troy walked into the room.

"Ambers GOOD!" Austin bounced towards his mom, pulling her towards the window.

"Oh yeah?" Nathalie looked over at Sid, her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah…" Sid said, still in shock but beaming with pride. "Yeah, she just got Taylor on her left side…"

"Shut up!" Troy said eagerly, peering out the window.

The girls had resumed playing, one on one, Amber vs. Steph. Amber poked the puck out from between Steph's legs and grabbed the puck, spinning around and shooting a backhander, five hole on Taylor. Amber then won the ensuing face off and slapped home another one timer form the right side, going right past Taylor's blocker and in. The small crowd that had gathered by the window to watch, all cheered when the puck hit the back of the net.

Sid exchanged a knowing smile with Nathalie. "She's done it… she's won you dad and your sister…" Nathalie said softly to him, patting him on the back. Sid nodded and smiled, as he watched his dad, eagerly trying to get closer to the window for a better look. "Thank God," he whispered back to her.