Chapter Forty Three

Sid watched as Colby had to be helped off the dance floor. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain to Burke that his best defensive forward potentially just separated his shoulder trying to break dance. It was probably a good thing that Colby hurt himself, because Max wanted to go next and he would definitely have hurt himself. Hopefully, seeing that would knock some sense into him.

Sid looked across the room, as Amber placed herself between Max and the dance floor. He couldn't help but laugh as she threw her arms out to block him. Like usual Max backed down to her protests as Sid made his way over to where they were standing.

"Max, I wouldn't test her… not today," Sid warning, wrapping her arms around Amber's waist.

"I'm not going to try it… I mean, I could totally do better then Army... but because, see that shiny thing over there?" Max pointed over to the corner of the room to where the Stanley Cup sat on a cloth covered table, as if it was the guest of honour. "I want another one of those… and lets face it, you can't get it without me!"

Sid laughed, "That's right buddy, we can't!"

Yet again, Max had proven that his five year contract was worth it, as he scored the game winning goal in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals again, securing the Penguins their forth coveted trophy.

"But believe it or not, and I know this is hard for everyone to believe… that's not the reason we are here today," Sid laughed. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to dance with my wife."

Sid put his hand out to Amber, who placed her hand in his, while bending over to sweep the several layers of her wedding dress to the side. Sid pulled her out onto the dance floor, as the DJ switched to a slower paced song, one Sid could actually keep up to. As he swept her up into his arms, he couldn't help the giant stupid grin on his face – the same big dumb smile that he had on his face while he stood at the top of the aisle, waiting for Amber to emerge right before she took his breath away walking towards him. Everyone had teased him about it but he didn't care. He had worked hard to get to where we was and he wasn't going to make any apologies for taking a minute out to celebrate it – especially this.

"So, having fun yet?" He asked, as he pulled her close.

"Quite frankly, I am glad its almost over…" Amber admitted. "It's been a long day…"

"It's been a long week…" Sid sighed, recalling the festivities of not only the wedding but the Stanley Cup festivities and his birthday.

"Its been a long year…" Amber corrected him.

"But worth it…" Sid smiled and kissed her, lingering on her lips. He could hear the cat calls behind him as some of his teammates called out.

"Mmmm…" She moaned, enjoying the kiss and ignoring the apes behind her. "That's because you didn't have to plan a wedding…"

"Hey! I tried to help…"

"You did, you did… you picked the day… and then changed it last minute… that was certainly helpful…"

"August 8th… I'll never forget it!"

"Don't try and tell me that's why you did it!" Amber poked him in the chest. "You wanted the cup here and you know it!"

"It's a nice addition to the room, don't you think?" Sid added thoughtfully, then laughed, knowing full well that he was going to get a smack for it, as he coiled away from her as she smacked his shoulder.

"So when do we get to leave?" Amber asked, changing the subject.

"Soon enough… why? In a hurry to do something?" He whispered suggestively into her ear.

Amber smiled up at him, with a little nod.

"Oh god… I'll go check with the MC how much more we have before we can make our great escape… want some more champagne?" Sid asked, escorting her to the side of the dance floor.

"No thanks," Amber shook her head.

"Really? Have you even had any tonight? I didn't spend $300 on a bottle for you not to get any…" Sid protested, looking around for a waiter.

"Sid… I, um… can't have any champagne…"

"What? Why not?" Sid asked, totally oblivious and still have looking for someone to bring drinks to his bride.

"Well... because I hear its bad for the baby…" Amber explained with a sheepish smile.

Sid whipped his head around and looked at her. "What?" he choked out.

"I'm pregnant…" Amber whispered to him with a soft smile.

It didn't take Sid long to compute what she had said or long after that to have her in his arms, spinning her around. Amber giggled, as he spun her and held her tightly against him.

"When did you find out?" Sid asked excitedly. "You didn't say anything…"

"I know, I'm sorry… I found out a couple days ago, but just wanted to get through all this without any extra stress," Amber explained.

"How pregnant are you? I mean how far along…" Sid asked, placing his hands on her stomach, which currently was located beneath layers of the finest satin on the market.

"Eight weeks… oh, I guess nine now… still a couple of weeks before we should tell –"

"I AM HAVING A BABY!" Sid turned to his buddies and screamed at the top of his lungs. He lunged for his friends, who all excitedly surrounded him.

"So much for that…" Amber breathed, before joining the round of celebrations, being surrounded by people congratulating her, hugging her and touching her stomach. 'Ugh, the infamous stomach touching,' she moaned in her head, looking around for a way out of the crowd. She soon found her escape path, and started moving through the crowd of people that had formed around her and Sid, all offering their congratulations. As she slipped out of the crowd, she was blocked by a familiar chest.

"I hear congratulations is in order?" Max smiled at her, extending his arms to her.

Amber nodded and stepped into his arms.

"I am soooo happy for you," Max leaned back and made eye contact. "I mean that. You deserve this and I just wanted to say how sorry I am for - "

"Stop!" Amber insisted, putting her hand over his mouth. "It's in the past. Just leave it there and move forward."

"You're right… after all, I'm going to be an uncle…"

"The best uncle…"

"An uncle that makes sure his nephew never turns into a guy like me…"

"Oh, you're not so bad… And besides, what if it's a girl?"

"Then I'm the uncle that makes sure his niece NEVER goes out with a guy like me…"

"Damn straight!" Amber laughed and pushed past him. Max watched her walk away, her white dress trailing behind her and he felt a pain in his heart. Not the same pain that he had felt before, the jealous or angry pain but a new pain, a pain of longing, not for her really but for even a fraction of what Sid and her had.

Max's head turned as one of Amber's friends, the one with the great rack, walked past - her tight little dress hugging every curve. Maybe he could see if it would be with her… it was a start anyway.

-fin-

*I know this probably isn't the ending most were expecting but i have thought long and hard about how, or if, i should expose Max's secret and determined that it was a secret that nobody would ever confess to, ever. Please tell me what you think of my first ever fan fiction!