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“You think he’s ready?” Patrick asked, staring down at the plate in his hands and the dinosaur shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches sitting on top of it.
Sidney’s gaze was locked on the picture in his hands, dog-eared and faded from the years it had spent in his wallet.
“It was his decision.” He replied quietly, stroking his thumb fondly over the image.
“He’s been seventeen for all of three days, is it really a decision we should have let him make?” Patrick asked, setting the plate down and hopping up on the barstool that neighbored his husband’s. Gently he hooked his ankle around Sid’s, before reaching out and pulling the picture from the brunette’s grasp, setting it aside to earn his full attention.
“We fought the league for a year and a half to make sure he was eligible for the draft. He sat right next to us, hunched over those conference tables night after night, with his homework and drivers ed manual right next to all the handbooks and printed regulations when he could have been out partying or playing video games.” Sidney reasoned, twining their fingers together and giving Pat’s a reassuring squeeze.
“That’s my point.” Patrick worried his lower lip between his teeth, uncertainty clouding his eyes. “Maybe he should’ve been out partying, maybe he should have taken more time for video games and movies and friends…”
Sid quirked an eyebrow upward, a small smile pulling at his lips.
“His friends were at the rink, he went and saw 29 Jump Street at least seven times, and he’s unlocked every track on every Mario Kart ever released.”
Sighing quietly he leaned forward, pulling Patrick to him until their foreheads rested comfortably against one another. “He’s going to be fine.” Sid promised, catching the blonde’s lips in a brief kiss that still managed to snatch his breath away.
“Hopefully I’ll be better than fine.”
Sid heard Patrick’s breath hitch, his gaze already resting on their oldest son.
Landon was leaning in the doorway, sea green eyes bright above his splash of freckles, layers of unruly dark blonde curls laying against his forehead.
His sweats were a little bit too big, just enough to hang loosely from his shoulders and hips. While he might have been a bit biased, Sid was positive that the black and gold highlighted his eldest like black and red never could.
“Coming back in one piece is all I’m asking for.” Patrick insisted, popping off his stool, plate in hand. He passed it off to Landon before reaching up and smoothing back a few stray strands that were hanging in the boy’s eyes. Patrick had always been more of the father hen, some dormant paternal instinct bursting to life with the force of a nuclear bomb, triggered by their baby’s first cry.
“Daaad.” Landon whined, pulling away from Patrick’s fussing and running a hand through his hair to restore it to all of its sheepdog like glory. Huffing quietly, he flopped down onto the stool opposite of Sidney’s, biting off the head of one of his sandwich dinos as he went. For a moment Landon just munched away happily, oblivious to the two pairs of eyes that were settled on him.
“Keep your mouth guard in your mouth.” Sidney warned, unable to bite back on the instinct.
“Keep your head up.” Patrick added, settling his hand in the dark blonde curls and massaging his scalp without the teen protesting.
“Dads.” Landon glanced up, setting the tail end of his last dino down to catch his fathers’ gazes. “I’m gonna be fine, you said so yourself.” He added, coaxing a smile out of them both.
“Easy big guy, they’re just nervous, it’s a big day for them too.” Beau grinned wide and easy as he ambled into the room, blonde hair cropped short, and a C bolded on chest of his jersey. Sometime in the past few of years he’d managed to fill out, lean muscle and a smattering of scars and tattoos. He hooked an arm around Landon’s neck and gave him a lasting noogie before snatching up the tail of his dinosaur and popping it in his mouth while the teen was too busy squawking indignantly and trying to flatten his unruly mane.
“Biggest day, watching little one leave nest.” Olli added, smirking over Beau’s shoulder, the A sitting where it had always belonged.
The newspapers had already coined them the ‘Golden Trio,’ an article that Sidney had pressed in a scrapbook somewhere.
“But you can’t exactly leave the nest in sweats man, gotta go get your wings on.” Beau reminded him gently, double checking the clock hanging on the far side of the room.
Landon eased off his stool, glancing at the clock to check for himself. His captain was right, he really did have to get to the room to suit out.
“Go on kiddo.” Pat smiled, pulling Sid close and offering up the most encouraging smile he could muster.
Sid nodded his agreement, giving a little wave to send him off.
Landon returned the gesture before turning to go, Olli hip checking him into Beau who threw his arm around the teen’s shoulders.
The door had barely shut behind the trio before they were swinging back open, Landon barreling into them, one arm clutching each of his fathers around the middle, his face nestled into the crack where Sid and Pat’s shoulders were squeezed together.
Sid uttered a quiet ‘oof’ at the impact, swaying a bit back on his heels before Patrick managed to steady them.
“I’m gonna make you proud.” Landon promised, voice muffled by the fabric of their suits.
Patrick glanced over his blonde curls, and met Sid’s slightly teary eyes with a quivering grin.
“You already have baby.” Sid whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of Landon’s head.
“You’ve made us the proudest parents alive.” Patrick agreed, the two of them returning their bear hug as best they could with only one arm each.
Landon gave them one last squeeze and then he was gone again, disappearing behind the double doors that Sidney had passed through countless times before.
-----
The owners box was overflowing with parents, sisters, a slew of retired Pens and Hawks, as well as their children and wives. It was chaos between the nachos and drink passing and chatter.
Sid made his way to the front row of seats, sidling up next to Mario, who’s only change over the years was a single streak of gray through his thick black hair.
“You ready for this?” Mario asked, eyes bright with a passion that Sid had always admired.
“That’s what I should be asking you old man, that’s gonna be your grandson down there.” Sid shot back, taking the older man’s elbow to the ribs in stride.
Gradually the bedlam slowed and people drifted toward seats, though no one really sat. The entire box was on its feet when the loud speaker crackled to life. They roared with each name called, saving just a little bit for the one name that could come last.
Ladies and gentlemen, please help me in welcoming the newest member of our Penguins family...one of his father’s jerseys is retired in Chicago, the other in these very rafters...the one, the only, Landon Crosby-Kane.
Consol erupted in a singular roar as a string bean seventeen year old darted out onto the ice. His face, set firm with determination, mouth guard hanging half out of his mouth.
Sidney’s heart hammered away in his chest, threatening to leap from it as he tracked Landon doing half laps around the warm up zone, taking the occasional shot on Tomas Vokoun Jr. Beside him, he felt Patrick reach out and take his hand, squeezing until it hurt.
With the players announced, warm up done, and the anthems sung, there was only one thing left to do.
-----
Landon skated into the opening faceoff with his pulse racing, and the roar of the crowd pounding in his ears. He could feel Beau hovering to his right, Georges to his left, with Olli and Hannigan behind him.
Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he trained his eyes on the puck, hunched over and ready to go.
The moment it started to drop, he was gone.
Dropping it back to Beau he dashed around the Islander in front of him, feeling the recoil as Beau fed the puck back to him from the boards and it found his tape. Then he was driving for home, up the center, between two orange and blue jerseys, spinning around a third, and shooting for the twine.
-----
Sidney felt his breath catch, watching his son barrel through traffic.
He threw in a spinorama around a lingering defensemen, causing Pat’s already painful grip to cut off the little circulation that remained in his hand. Sucking in a breath, Sid found himself squeezing back.
The buzzer sang and the crowd erupted.
You best believe it folks. His first shift, in his first game, and Lightning Landon has his first ever NHL goal!
Geno was slapping his back and Flower was screaming in his ear. Sharp had Jonny around the middle, hoisting him up and bouncing around like weren’t forty something year old men. Taylor had her arms thrown around her sisters in law, while the grandparent Lemieuxs, Crosbys, and Kanes tried to find a balance between cheering and crying.
All Sidney could do was stare as Landon lifted his arm from the crush of bodies that had tackled him into a hug, pointing straight at the owner’s box, his beautiful smile splashed across the jumbotron.
He didn’t even realize he was crying until Pat’s thumb was swiping over his cheek, his husband beaming at him with tears of his own.
“Eighty-eight looks pretty good out there in black and gold, don’t ya think?” Sid asked, voice wobbling.
“Yeah, must be something in his genes.” Pat replied, pulling Sid in for a kiss that ended up plastered all over the next day’s newspapers, just below a huge shot of Landon standing tall at center ice, his mouth guard still out of place.
The headline read, Like Fathers, Like Son.