Harry Who?

When an NHL team wins the Stanley cup, each player on the team get’s their own ‘day with the cup’ over the off season. In mid August, it was finally Scott’s day with the cup and I was freaking out I was so excited! Luckily I did not have a game that day (though I’m sure my boss would have given me the day off) so I had got to spend a couple days at home with Scott and my parents.

I was finally okay with Harry owning the Riveters. Not just because I could probably ask to take a game off whenever (though really it’s probably up to my coach, not Harry), but because things were actually improving in the league. I had joked earlier that Harry might attract more attention to the NWHL, and he actually has, while still remaining our anonymous owner. Perhaps it wasn’t him, but his manager Jeff, who arranged for a couple of his ‘friends’ (other celebrities) who like hockey to attend a game. So far it hasn’t been anyone major, but turnout has improved at games.

Actually, the one person we were all excited to see was our teammate Amanda Kessel’s brother Phil Kessel, another hockey player, who also plays on my brother’s team the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was kind enough to bring the Stanley cup to one of our games, and that was a pretty big deal for us. However, I then got to spend an entire day with the cup back home in Ottawa a few weeks later.

There was a big party planned in the ice arena Scott and I played hockey in when we were younger. All of our old hockey buddies and their families came out to congratulate Scott and have a chance to touch the Stanley cup. After his entrance with the cup, Scott handed it to me. I was a little surprised, but I did not hesitate to lift the trophy over my head and give it a kiss, like the team does the night they win the championship. They say it weighs 35 pounds except when you’re lifting it over your head. It truly is quite heavy, and I think I would have embarrassed myself had I not been spending all those extra hours at the gym lately. Scott later explained to me that he presented the cup to me, before we put it on display for people to take pictures with, because it had always been our dream to play in the NHL and win the Stanley cup, and now ‘we’ had done it.

“Maybe the Riveters will win the Isobel cup,” he suggested, hopefully not joking. Since there were only four teams in the NWHL, we had a 25% chance of winning it. However, the way we had been playing lately, it seemed like our chances were much less than that. Playoffs were still a month away, so we had time to turn things around.

By the time the season ended, Harry would just be finishing up filming Dunkirk, and then heading off to Jamaica. He wanted me to come with him, but what would I do? Hang out on the beach? Partake in some ‘extracurricular’ Jamaican activities? Probably not the second one (though I would try it if offered), but could I actually just hang out on the beach and chill for two months while Harry worked on his album? Maybe I’ll get a job, or do something productive like learning a new language.

I pushed these thoughts out of my head and tried to enjoy the party. As the night wound down, Scott and I left with some of our high school friends to get a drink (many drinks, actually), and we stayed out pretty late.

“It’s crazy to think it’s been almost seven months since we were last here and you convinced me to get back into hockey again.” I smiled at Scott. “Now look where we are.”

“And it’s been seven months since you admitted to mom and dad you were dating Harry, and it took nearly that long for us to get to meet him,” Scott reminded me.

“Ugh, you know he’s busy,” I rolled my eyes and looked back into my empty glass, contemplating if I should have another.

“That’s not what he said when he surprised us with a trip to see you play in your first game.”

“Oh really? Then what did he say?” I asked as I signaled the bartender for another drink.

“That he was dying to meet us, and you had put off calling mom and dad for months.” Scott answered.

“Yeah, well, he would say that to impress his girlfriend's parents, right?” I shrugged.

“He said he took the month of January off, that would have been the perfect time, considering you had spent Christmas with his family.”

“Yeah, probably,” I agreed, and watched the bartender eagerly as he mixed my drink.

“So?” Scott turned to face me.

“So, what? I didn’t think that was a good time to introduce him to you guys.” Okay, this should probably be my last drink so I don’t accidentally say something I don’t mean.

“Were you embarrassed?” Scott asked.

“No, I know he wouldn’t care that I grew up in a small house in the suburbs of Ottawa with normal parents. Mom might show off a lot of embarrassing baby pictures, like the one where she accidentally put you in a dress and me in your outfit for Aunt Shelly’s wedding.” We both laughed at the memory of hearing that story told at nearly every family gathering. “Though that’s probably more embarrassing for you than me.”

“Eh, we were only a couple months old, we looked the same.” Scott shrugged. “But what I really meant was, were you embarrassed to introduce us to him?”

Oh. I hadn’t thought of it like that. Was I? I looked back at my drink and took another sip while I processed this. Yes, this should definitely be my last drink of the night. Actually, the one before this should have been my last…

“Not embarrassed, but...I don’t know. I’m really bad at showing my feelings toward people, you know that. Maybe it’s because that one time mom accidentally dressed me as a boy, I got stuck with that inability to express myself all men inherently have,” I joked. “I just wasn’t 100% sure he and I were on the same page for a long time. And then he shows off this tattoo he got for me, and invites me to live with him...and I kinda realized we felt the same way about each other. I had been trying to tell myself that we were just having fun, and if that it ended after a month or so, that it would be okay, because neither of us were that serious. But it wasn’t true, and when he said he loved me, I realized the lie I had been telling myself was exactly that: a lie. I realized I loved him too, and I didn’t know what to do about it.” I quickly finished my drink and hoped that maybe I hadn’t said all of that out loud, but Scott (wise older brother Scott) had a response to it.

“I get that, I totally understand that. You just didn’t want to get hurt. I think that’s totally normal, especially after how things ended with Glen.” He stopped and I looked over at him to see if he was done.

“That’s normal?” I cocked my head and waited for him to laugh at me, or something, but he just nodded.

“Yeah. You know how nervous I was when Vivian and I first started dating,” Scott smiled bashfully. “I thought for sure she’d dump me as soon as hockey season was over, because that’s happened a couple times.”

I nodded. I remembered Scott’s ‘hockey season’ girlfriends. In the fall they dated a star football player, in the winter they dated (a somewhat okay) hockey player, and in the spring they dated a star baseball player. I’m not sure who they dated in the summer. A hot lifeguard?

“But Viv stuck around, and we’ve been together ever since.”

“That’s probably because you got the ‘girl emotions’ from wearing that dress as a baby,” I teased, and he laughed.

“Maybe, but I actually, uh,” he looked around the now emptying bar. “I’ve been thinking of asking her to marry me.”

My head whipped around to look at him so fast I got dizzy. “Really?!?!” I didn’t think he would joke about something like that, so I don’t know why I asked.

He nodded. “I haven’t told anyone, so keep this quiet.” He added.

“Not even mom?” I raised my eyebrows.

He laughed. “No, if I told her I think the whole town would know. You know how she is with stuff like that. However, I do need to get that ring from her.”

“Grandma Marie’s ring,” I said quietly, and recalled the memory of our mom showing us that beautiful ring my grandmother had left to her when she died. She explained that one day, Scott would find a lovely young lady to give it to. Then she paused and looked at me, and said, ‘or, you might?’ Scott and I both laughed, and knew my mom was trying to be progressive by not pushing heterosexual stereotypes on us. However, being a female hockey player and not overly feminine, people at school often wondered if I perhaps leaned the other way.

“You know,” I continued. “Today would have been a great day to pop the question. Right in front of the Stanley cup, with all our friends and family there.”

“Yeah, I didn’t really plan that far ahead, though,” Scott grimaced. “Besides, I’d rather do it somewhere more private, just the two of us.”

That got my brain headed down a track I didn’t even know existed. I wondered if Anne had been saving her mother’s engagement ring for Harry, whenever he was finally ready to settle down. “Stop it!” I shook my head and tried to push those invasive thoughts away.

“What?” Scott asked.

“Nothing, talking to myself.” I sighed and squeezed my eyes shut. I tried to clear my head, but that image of Harry with some vintage ring that’d been in his family for generations kept bombarding my brain. ‘Nah, he’d probably buy some huge-ass diamond ring.’ “I’m ready to go home,” I said to Scott, and stood up to pay our tab.

“I got it,” Scott tried to stop me.

“You take care of the Uber, I got the drinks. Besides, you’re going to have a wedding to pay for soon,” I added quietly.

“Shh,” Scott shushed me and got out his phone to get an Uber.

I was somehow inexplicably happy for my brother. I knew she would say yes; they were prefect for eachother!

Notes