Chapter 89 - They miss you, Nef.

AN: Holy Crap!!! 6 and 0? - I'll take it. Good game boys!

Sasha's POV

The playoffs were starting and Nef is preparing for finals. I see her less as we're both so busy but our time together is better. We've both made a concerted effort to make the most of our time and to communicate more.

Around the time of the trade deadline there was a charity skate event for local children and their families, It was to raise money for youth hockey for underprivileged children in The Washington Metropolitan Area. Just about every member of team, their significant others, and their children attended. I had been concerned about Nef and how she would react to being around children. She'd been avoiding being around other WAGs, the guys, and children since she came back to DC. She'd been avoiding them to the point where the only other person on the team she interacted with was Ovi.

It took a lot for me to convince Nef to go and even then it wasn't because she wanted too. It was because I told her that I needed her. She made it through the event and even realized how much she had missed the guys. There were a couple of times when I almost didn't make it through the event. I would glance over and she her with one of the smaller children and start to wonder whats it would have been like if our child hand lived. I'd start to wonder about Ned as a mom and myself as a dad. I'd gotten so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed Nef approach me.

"We'll try again when we're ready," she said softly in my ear.

Over the course of the event I saw her interacting with the WAGs more. There were a few that knew about the miscarriage because they'd been told by their men but for the most part they were respectful and didn't ask Nef any questions about it. There were a few question about why it had been so long since Nef came to an event but she chalked it up to being busy with school.

"So when are you two getting hitched?" Brooks asked me when Nef went to talk to Jamie, Mike Knuble's wife, and the group of little girls she was leading on the the ice. They couldn't have beenmore than eight years old.

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb, Sash."

"I not know. We move in together after the season end but we make no play for that yet. She say only if she not kill after first few months."

Brooks laughed at that. Nef and knew that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together but we had made no concrete plans for marriage. We'd been asked multiple times by her parents and by my mother since the end of January and the answer was always the same: "No, not yet."

"Well when you get hitched I want an invite."

Brooks skated over to Nef and said "Ewww girls! They have cooties!" I saw her turn and glare at him before chasing after him. Jamie was right behind her telling the littler girls to catch Brooks.Nef was pretty fast on skates and managed to catch up to Brooks and launch herself onto his back, forcing him into a head lock. Jamie came up behind them to pin Brooks' arms.The next thing I saw was the little girls wailing on Brooks' legs.


Nef's POV

WAG me. That's what I said to Sasha when he brought up the charity skate event that was scheduled for a couple of weeks after the trade deadline.As Sasha and I were in a serious, long term relationship their were certain obligations that I needed to fulfill and as of late I had been slacking. Now, Sasha needed me and I had no other choice but to go.

It wasn't all that bad. The event was nice and some of the WAGs told me that they were only obligated to go when it was a family sponsored event and as such it never focused on personal matters. There were other teams in the NHL that forced their start players to interact with the public in ways that caused increasing interest in the players personal life. At this point I was not ready for that. In any regards the Caps didn't do that. With the ever increasing amount of attention and media coverage the team received in recent years management had figured out a way of doing it without exposing too much of the players. Considering what Sasha and I had just experienced I was grateful.

It was a large event with both rinks at Kettler in use. It was open to the general public and most of the youth hockey clubs had representatives their to take donations and to sign up new kids. There was even an equipment donation center where parents could bring the equipment their children had out grown and could potentially pick up new stuff to help ease the cost or replacing equipment.

It was fun. Nearly all of the guys were there and it was amazing to see them act like kids. Most of them weren't too far removed maturity wise but seeing an adult interact with children was just to cute to miss.


Brooks Laich had cornered me earlier, asking why I had disappeared for so long. The guys had made it known that they had missed me. They made it know that they were there for support Brooks had been the guy that I was closest to on the team other than Ovi.

"When you and Sash decide to take the plunge make sure I get my invitation," he said skating away from me.

A little while later I saw him cornering Sasha and assumed he was having the same conversation with Sasha that he had with me.

I was currently on the ice with Jamie Knuble, Mike's wife. we were some of the few that could skate and keep up with the boys. Jamie was pretty cool - we'd never hung out all that much considering the 10 plus year age gap between us. She was however a wealth of knowledge and I ended up talking to her for the majority of the event. She knew about about my miscarriage because Mike had told her. It wasn't awkward and she didn't ask me any questions about it. She was even there to politely dissuade any WAG who got a little too curious.

"Ewww girls! They have cooties!" I heard as Brooks came back to me.

I glared at him before chasing after him. Jamie was right behind me telling the littler girls we'd been skating with to catch Brooks.I was pretty fast on skates and managed to catch up to Brooks and launch myself onto his back, forcing him into a head lock. Most of the coaching staff had a minor panic attack when I jumped on his back. The playoffs were here and no one wanted to be further injured.

Jamie came up behind us and pinned Brooks' arms, while the little girls were wailing on Brooks' legs. There are very few things funnier than a full grown man screaming for mercy while getting beat up by a group of 8 year old girls.

I spent the rest of the event clutching my sides from laughing so hard. These guys were my friends and I'd missed them. As the days and weeks past we moved closer and closer to the place we used to be. Things were a little more normal and the pain was a little less.I had been so afraid of being hurt by what I no longer had that I had missed what I did have. Friends that genuinely cared about my mental and physical well-being. I'd shut out this part of my life with Sasha and slowly we were starting to open up again.