I don't know how it happened, but it was actually somewhat quiet in the house, even with all the hockey players in the living room. I walk through the dark room, over various bodies and beer bottles before coming to the chair that Sid was sitting in. He smiled up at me and I plopped down into his lap. He kisses my cheek before reaching in front of me to grab a handful of popcorn from the bowl in my lap. I laugh quietly as I lean back against him.
"Shut it Ace, you're going to make us miss the good part!" Army calls from the couch before stuffing a piece of pizza in his mouth. Out of all the hockey players, I couldn't understand how that guy could eat so much but still be so skinny.
I stick my tongue out at him before turning my attention back to Transformers 2. The guys had decided to test Sid's TV out in it's new home, just to make sure it worked the same. So that meant I had 10 hockey players my living room sipping beer and eating everything in sight as they watched the movie.
The door suddenly burst open causing everyone to turn around and look. In walks Jordan his eyes wide but he has a huge grin on his face.
"Well..." I speak up.
"It's a boy!" he says grinning wider if that's even possible.
"Yeah Staalzy" "Way to go Staalzy" "Congrats man!" can be heard all around the room as the guys all jump up to congratulate their team mate.
I smile and jump off Sid's lap.
"Aww... Jordan that's awesome congratulations," I smile giving him a hug.
"Thanks Ace, for everything. I don't know what would have happened if..." he says looking down at me.
"But everything did turn out ok, and now you have a son on the way," I smile up at him.
"Yeah I do," he grins giving me another hug.
"So the Staal genes go on, eh? Doesn't Eric have a son?" Colby asks.
"Yup," Jordan grins.
After many congratulations, the guys begin to settle back down in front of the movie, insisting that they had to start it over because Staalzy hadn't been there when the started. I swear sometimes they acted like they were 5 year old. But I wasn't about to argue, it was a good movie. So I just sit back down on Sid's lap and watch the movie.
I look around the room and Tanger catches my eye. He was sprawled out on the floor, using Sam as a pillow. Now granted all the guys got along with my dogs and the dogs got along with them, but Kris and Sam had been close to inseparable all night. It seemed like Sam was always following him and Kris didn't seem to mind. I turn back to watching the movie but keep my eye on those two the rest of the night.
After the movie all the guys stay for a little bit to help clean up... Captain's orders. I walk into the kitchen with a few cans of soda in hand when I spot Marc Andre and Kris carrying on a conversation in French as they clean off the counter. Maybe I should ask him... I think putting all the cans in the recycling bin.
"Umm... Kris? I hate to interrupt but can I talk to you for a minute," I ask.
"Sure Ace," he says looking at me curiously.
"I guess, I'll just..." Marc says looking extremely awkward.
"Flower you can stay, it's nothing that private," I laugh.
"That's ok. I'll just go see if there is anything left in the living room," he shrugs heading out of the kitchen.
"So, what's up?" Kris asks.
"Well... I noticed that Sam has been hanging around you a lot tonight. And Kris I put him up for adoption," I say biting my lip and looking at him.
"Caitlin you're going to have to give me more than that," he says looking at me curiously.
"Kris, I was wondering... well..." I hesitate.
"Spit it out Ace, I don't bite," he says a smile dancing in his eyes.
"Would you, maybe, like to adopt Sam?" I ask looking up at him and biting my lip nervously.
He looks at me stunned for moment and then his hand brushes through his hair and then to rub the back of his neck.
"Caitlin... I don't know... I mean I wasn't exactly looking for a dog... but..." he says hesitating.
"Kris, I know you didn't really expect this and you don't have to take him, I just thought I would offer. Sam is a good dog and he's ready to be adopted and he apparently likes you. When you go for road trips I would be happy to take him, that way you wouldn't have to board him. Just, you don't have to answer now, I just wanted to ask. Let the idea roll around in your head and tell me when your ready," I shrug.
"Alright, I'll think about it," he says nodding and looking down at the Rottweiler laying by the table.
"That's all I ask," I smile giving him a hug and walk back into the living room.
After all the guys leave and I let the dogs out, Sid and I head up to bed.
"So I talked to Tanger today," I say from the bed, calling into the bathroom where Sid was brushing his teeth.
"Bout what?" he asks after spitting the tooth paste in the sink.
"I ... well, I asked him if he wanted to adopt Sam," I say looking up at him.
"Why Tanger?" Sid says coming in the room looking at me surprised.
"He and Sam seemed to really clicked tonight, and..."I begin.
"And you told him Sam could stay here when we're on road trips," he says with a chuckle.
"How did you know?"I ask looking at him stunned as he slides into bed.
"Because my dear, I know you. It's similar to the Koda situation," he says pulling me close.
"I guess... but I knew Sam was leaving since I got him. And he does need someone who can keep him on track," I say snuggling into him.
"And what better person to keep him on track then you," he smiles down at me.
"Well... yeah," I shrug with a smile, "I guess that sound kinda selfish huh?"
"A little, but I know that you are probably the best thing for Sam, but this way he can be adopted and still get your training, so it may be for the best," he shrugs.
"You think so?" I ask him.
"Mmmhmm," he mumbles, I look up to see that his eyes are closed.
"Are you falling asleep?"
"Mmmmhmmm," he mumbles not opening his eyes but a small smile on his face.
"Night Sid," I laugh rolling over to turn off the light and then snuggling back into him, giving into sleep myself.
The next day the boys had practice and then a game in the Burgh. I had left around 9:30 and had a long day of sessions and paper work ahead of me. The boys had practice at 11:00 until 2:00. But I couldn't see myself being home until at least 7:00... it was going to be a long day.
Around 10:30, I was bent over some paperwork with the dogs all lounging in my office. I had my office door open that looked out into the lobby and to Mary's desk. I heard the door open and though a prospective client must have come in when I heard a gasp.
"Oh my God, you're Kris Letang!" I hear Mary say rather loudly and I pick my head up to look out into the lobby... good thing we didn't have any people around.
"Umm... yeah I am. I was wondering if I could maybe see Caitlin?" he says smiling shyly at Mary, while rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Ummm... yeah... yeah sure..." Mary says staring at him star struck before realizing she is suppose to be doing her job. She hurriedly picks up the phone and fumbles it until it almost drops. I figure now it's time for me to step in.
"That's ok, I got it from here Mary. What's up Tanger?"I smile walking into the room from my office, a few of the dogs following me.
"Ace!" he says looking up with a look of relief, "Umm... I was wondering if I could talk to you about Sam?"
"Sure, we can talk in my office," I smile pointing the way.
He nods and walks toward my office.
"Can you...?" Mary whispers to me.
"Get you an autograph? Yes. A date? No," I smile out her.
"Well, at least it's one out of two," she grins at me.
I roll my eyes with a laugh and follow Kris into my office.
"So this is where you work," he smiles looking at my walls decorated with various pictures. There were various pictures of dogs I had trained, some of which were like Sam, in that I had trained them and put them up for adoption. My favorite picture in the whole room though was placed right over the couch. It was the picture that Sid have given me for Christmas of all of my dogs in hockey jerseys. I really love that picture.
"Yup this is it," I smile.
"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" he asks suddenly concerned.
"Nope I don't have another session until 11:00. So what's up?" I ask.
"Well... I have been thinking and I have some questions?" he says in that adorable french Canadian accent.
"Ok, like what?"
"You said you would take him when I went on away games?"
"Yes."
"So he would be with me in the off season and when I was here?"
"Yeah."
"What about exercise needs?"
"Well... he'd need a daily walk, he'd probably make a pretty good jogging partner. He's already leash trained of course. He likes to play tug of war and fetch. He'd be a good dog to keep you in shape."
"Ok. What about how he acts around people and other dogs?"
"Well, right now he is ok, but he used to be in a really bad place. But just having him when you were gone would be helpful to him. I'm not going to lie to you Kris, taking on a dog is a big responsibility. But I'll be here if you need help, and Sam is a good dog. He likes to please."
He lets out a sigh and looks to Sam sleeping on the floor by his feet.
"And he seems to have a special connection to you Kris. That's rare," I smile quietly.
"Yeah..." he smiles still looking at Sam, "Alright, I'll take him."
"Really? Your sure?" I ask him.
"Yeah, I'm sure," he smiles at me.
"Ok," I smile back, "When do you want him?"
"Well we're home for two days before we have a game..." he begins.
"How about I drop him off after practice tomorrow... I already have most of the stuff you'll need and I provide the first bag of food," I smile.
"Caitlin you don't have to do that... I can..." he begins looking at me.
"Tanger I do that for all the dogs I put up for adoption. It's easier that way," I laugh.
"Alright," he smiles, then looks at his watch, "Oh shit, I have to go or I'm going to be late for practice."
He gets up after giving Sam a quick pat on the head.
"Oh, and Kris?" I ask before he leaves.
"Yeah Ace?"
"My receptionist has a crush on you can you give her your autograph?" I ask with a smile.
"Anything for you Ace," he laughs walking out of my office.
I watch as he walks over to the desk and says something to Mary who's eyes go wide. She fumbles around looking for a pen and a piece of paper to write on. I watch as she hands it to Kris, still stunned. He smiles and writes something, giving her his autograph.
"Thhhanks," Mary manages to get out.
"Sure thing," Kris smiles and walks toward the door.
"See ya later Tanger!" I call.
"Bye Ace. And if I'm late..." he smiles from the door.
"Just tell the Captain where you were," I laugh.
He smiles as he walks out the door.
Later
I open the door and basically fall into the living room. I was so tired! Sidney had been sitting on the couch watching a Habs game when he looks up upon my entrance.
"Hey you're home late. How was work?" he asks from the couch.
"Long," I manage to mumble out as I shrug my jacket off, "I don't suppose you made anything for dinner?"
"Actually the guys and I went out to eat when you said you weren't going to be home. But I brought you something from Primanti Brothers."
"I knew I loved you for a reason," I sigh walking into the kitchen and straight to the fridge.
I open the take out box to find a beautifully crafted turkey and cheese sandwich, which of course had fries, coleslaw, and tomato on it, in Primanti fashion. The only thing bad about this was that cold fries suck, but I was so hungry I couldn't have cared less. I pop it in the microwave as I hear Sid enter the kitchen. He comes up behind me snaking his arms around my waist. I sigh contently and lean into his broad chest.
"I'm tired," I say, my eyes closed.
"It's 9:00. Why were you there so late?" he asks quietly.
"There was a lot of work that needed done. But now I'm caught up on paper work and the rest of my week should go pretty easily, thank God," I sigh almost falling asleep leaning against him, but the beep of the microwave immediately awakens me.
I pull out of his arms and grab the sandwich out of the microwave. I lean against the counter as I take a huge bit out of the monstrous sandwich.
"Hungry much?" he asks with a chuckle.
"Starved!" I manage to mumble after swallowing my food and before taking another bite.
"Why don't you sit down and eat?" he asks.
I hold up my finger signaling for him to wait until I swallow. I swallow and walk toward the refrigerator, taking out a bottle of water.
"Because if I sit down, I'm not going to be able to get back up and the dogs still need to be fed and let out."
He nods his head in understanding, knowing that I never fed the dogs before I fed myself, unless it was really late.
"So how was practice?"
"Ok, I guess. There is more and more talk about coach doing a bad job though. And I think the pressure is starting to get to him," Sid sighs.
"You guys are just in a funk, you'll snap out of it," I shrug before starting the other half of my sandwich. I don't think I had ever eaten a Primanti sandwich so quickly before, but I hadn't eaten since 1:00. And even then it wasn't much.
"Well, it be nice if we snapped out of it soon, cause the media is getting really annoying," he sighs.
"I know, but football season is over and you guys are more exciting then the Pirates."
"Oh, come on. They're getting better," he smiles.
"That's not saying much," I smirk.
A few minutes later, there is nothing left from my sandwich. I brush my hands off and gulp down some more water. I guess I'm a little dehydrated too.
"Did you even taste that sandwich?" Sid asks with a laugh as I put my plate in the dishwasher and get the dog bowls in the corner.
"I told you I was hungry," I say with a smile as I pull the dog food container out of the cupboard. The sound of kibble hitting the metal sides of the dog bowls signals the dogs and they all come tearing into the room to be fed. I scoop out portions for each dog and put a little water in with food in each bowl. After getting everyone lined up and sitting, I sit the bowls down in front of each dog. I step away and they watch me eagerly. Sometimes I called each dog to signal them to eat, just to make them work for their food. But they were probably just as hungry as me so I released them from their stay at one time.
I yawn as I watch them gobble down their food. I return to the kitchen why they eat, trying to find something to busy myself to keep me awake for a little while longer. The only thing I can think of is wiping off the counters and table with a wet dish rag.
"What are you doing?!" Sid says coming into the kitchen to throw something away.
"Busying myself so I will stay awake," I answer with a yawn.
"And why would you want to stay awake, just go to bed. You look tired," he shrugs.
"Thanks. Because I need to let the dogs out for the last time tonight before I head to bed and I have to wait a little while after they eat or Flash is going to be waking me up much earlier."
"Just go to bed, I'll let the dogs out," he says coming over to me.
"Really?" I say looking up at him in admiration.
"Yes really. Go to bed, I want to see who wins the game," he says kissing my forehead.
"Well if you insist," I say trying to suppress a yawn with little success.
"I insist. Now go, I'll be up when the game is over," he smiles giving me a slight nudge to the door way.
"Thanks Sid. What would I do with out you?" I sigh dramatically with a grin on my face.
"Hopefully we'll never have to find out," I hear him say quietly as I walk up the steps.
I get ready for bed and within seconds of my head making contact with the pillow, I'm out.
The next day I go to work early yet again because I had a session beginning at 9:30. However, my day was not going to be as long. My last session was at 1:00 and I was going to meet Kris at his house after practice.
I sat in my office at 2:40, waiting for Kris to call and tell me practice was over. Mary had already left and I was getting a jump start on some of the paper work when my phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey Ace. Practice just ended, is now a good time?"
"Yup sure. just give me directions and we'll be right over," I smile into the phone.
I pull out a pencil and paper, writing down the direction's to Kris's house as he told them to me.
After hanging up, I lock up the office and hop in my jeep. I had everything I needed in the car with me and Sam and Bran had come to work with me so I could go straight there.
I find Tanger's house more easily than I thought I would. It was a modern looking house, with an arched entry way. I open the back of the jeep so that the two dogs can hop out. The three of us walk up to the door and ring the door bell. I knew he was home because his car was in the driveway. A few moments later the door opens to reveal Mr. Letang himself. His shaggy dark hair hidden under a baseball cap and he had on a tshirt that said something in French.
"Hey Ace!" he greets with a crooked grin.
'This hockey team I swear could not look any better,' I think to myself.
"Tanger. Are you ready?"I reply with a smirk.
"Umm... is there a test?"he asks looking very confused.
"Yes! You mean you didn't study?!"I ask sarcastically.
"Very funny," he says rolling his eyes as he bends down to pet Sam and Bran.
"No, I figured we'd walk around a little bit so you could get a feel for him," I shrug.
"Alright. So it's like driving a car," he smiles.
"Sure, I've never put it that way... but yeah I guess it is," I laugh. "Well, here you go!" I say handing Sam's leash to him.
He takes it without hesitation and with a grin.
"So...um... where do we go?" he asks.
"I dunno. Just walk up the road a little bit," I shrug again.
"Ok," he says. He was like a little boy getting his first puppy. You could tell he was excited and he started walking with Sam toward the road. Sam bounced along happily by his side. Bran and I followed from his other side.
"So, how was practice?"
"Ok, we worked on the power play today so I was at the blue line a lot."
"Who was your partner?"
"Well, Sarge was when we did the power play. But coach put me with Gill a lot today."
"Wow you haven't played with Gill in awhile. Coach must really be mixing up those lines," I say looking over at him in surprise, "We could probably turn around now."
We turn after reaching the end of the road and begin to head back to his house.
"Yeah, he's really been feeling the heat from the media. With us losing and all that. I mean he tries not to but like, you just can't help it," he says getting ahead of himself a little bit his accent coming out a little stronger.
"That's understandable. You've all been under a lot of pressure lately, but you will do well," I smile as we turn back into the drive way and walk to my car.
"Alright, so now what?" he asks.
"Well, I have some of Sam's stuff to get out of the car. And then we can head into the house and he can check out his new domain. And then sadly I have to bother you with some adoption papers that need signed," I say opening the hatch on the jeep.
Kris showed Sam and I around his house. There wasn't much color on the walls but you could tell he had some help decorating. My favorite part of his house was the kitchen. It was a big kitchen with gorgeous tileing, an island, and a beautiful gas stove. I looked around, thinking of all the things I could make in that kitchen and all the utencils I could shop for.
After drooling over the kitchen and seeing the rest of the house, we sat down to fill out the paperwork.
"Alright, last signiture. In signing this you agree to take care of Sam, feed him, all the essentials of life," I say skimming over some of the paper, this stuff was boring and redundant, "Ok that's it, Sam's all yours."
I get up and get my coat from by the door and call Bran to me.
"Great, thanks Caitlin," he smiles giving me a hug.
"No, thank you Kris," I laugh. "Come here Sammy."
The rottweiler trots over to my side his stubby tail wagging.
"Now you be a good boy for Kris. He's going to take good care of you and we'll all come visit I promise," I sigh giving the dog a hug. It was always hard to see a dog get adopted, not as hard as Koda, but still. Sam had lived with me for a few months and I would definitely miss him around the house. But I also knew I would see him a lot as long as Kris stayed in Pittsburgh, plus he and Kris were a good match. So I wasn't as sad to see him go, but I'd still miss him.
"Alright, I have to get home. If you need anything Tanger or have any questions that pop into your head just call me."
"Will do Ace," he smiles, "See you later."
"See ya, Bye Sam," I smile walking out the door to see Sam get a very confused look on his face as to why I was leaving. But then Kris patted his head and he was immediatley fine, looking up at his new owner with his tongue hanging out in a kind of smile.
I get into the car with Bran and wipe a tear from my eye.
"Well Bran, let's go home," I sigh looking over at my partner. His icy blue eyes try to comprehend what I was saying, like he was trying to translate my words into dog language.
I smirk and pet him quickly before turning on the car and driving home. I walk through the door and I'm greeted by the rest of the dogs. I look around and can't find Sid anywhere. I walk up the stairs to the bedroom and find him sprawled out on the bed taking a nap.
'Good idea,' I think with a smile. I walk over to the bed and lay down next to him, the feeling of being a little sleepy just hitting me. I hear him inhale quietly waking up a little bit as I lay down and he pulls me next to him, burrying his head in my neck and kissing my shoulder before we both drift off to sleep again.
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