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The Eaton Centre was bustling with people when Jack and Mitch arrived. It was a Saturday morning, so neither were entirely surprised by that. More people went out shopping on the weekends because more people had free time to do so. All the same, Jack grabbed his boyfriend’s hand and dragged him through the crowds of people. That went on for what felt like an eternity before they finally stopped in front of the store they had come to visit–Build-A-Bear.
“Finally,” Jack said, looking at Mitch with a smile. “I didn’t think we’d ever make it through the crowds.”
Rolling his eyes, Mitch playfully pushed Jack’s shoulder and chuckled. “Over-dramatic much?”
All Jack did was shrug, quirk one corner of his mouth up, and ruffle some of Mitch’s hair. Mitch almost immediately stuck out his tongue at his boyfriend as he went about situating his hair back to an acceptable presentation. Jack chuckled and guided Mitch into the store when he was finished.
Mitch admired the walls of unstuffed teddy bears; it had been a long time since he had been in a Build-A-Bear and it appeared that the collection of teddy bears had grown. Jack nudged Mitch, pulling him out of his trance-like admiration of the teddy bears. Drawing his attention toward Jack, Mitch saw his boyfriend pointing in the direction of an unstuffed teddy bear that looked like Carlton. Rolling his eyes again, Mitch sought revenge for earlier and ruffled Jack’s hair. Jack shook his head, chuckling with a smirk on his lips as he fixed his hair.
“You can get Carlton if you want,” Mitch said. “I want the strawberry-scented bunny over there.”
Mitch pointed toward the shelf that had the unstuffed bunnies on display, the label with strawberry decals visible above them.
Jack nodded before he kissed Mitch on the cheek. “Meet me by the register when you’re ready to pay.”
Smirking, Mitch leaned up ever so slightly and directed his lips to Jack’s ear.
“Since you threw caution to the wind already,” Mitch said, placing a kiss to both Jack’s earlobe and his cheek, “I might as well do the same.”
When Mitch stepped back, Jack had his head tilted in what Mitch thought was confusion. Mitch sensed that Jack needed a little bit of help, so he gestured his hand broadly in front of him. A look of recognition washed across Jack’s face when he followed Mitch’s hand toward their left and saw another person standing there.
“ Fuck . Sorry. Forgot where we were for a second.”
Mitch grabbed his boyfriend’s wrists, soothing his thumbs across the pulse points. Jack relaxed a little at that, to which Mitch smiled. When Mitch dropped Jack’s wrists, he had a fond look on his face.
“It’s okay, Jack. It means a lot to me that I mean enough to you to make you forget your surroundings to the point where you kiss me in public.”
Jack smiled softly at Mitch’s words. His eyes appeared to be a little glossy, though Mitch decided not to comment on it. It would be better for both of them if they kept that conversation away from the prying eyes and ears of the public.
Jack leaned over and hugged Mitch. Mitch hung his head down, nestling it against Jack’s collarbone. When Jack brought his hands to Mitch’s lower back and rubbed soothingly for a couple of seconds, Mitch smiled and hummed. In turn, he felt Jack huff a sharp breath against the back of his neck. Mitch turned his head a little, focusing his attention on the exposed skin of Jack’s neck. Mitch was able to suck the pulse point a few times before Jack hastily stepped back.
“Let’s… let’s… uh…” Jack stammered, rubbing a hand down his face and taking a deep breath. “Let’s… um… Let’s get those teddy bears.”
“Yes. Let’s. It would suck if we didn’t,” Mitch said, smirking.
“Oh, fuck off, you tease.”
Mitch gave a devilish smirk before walking away without another word. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw Jack glaring at him incredulously and shaking his head. Focusing his attention forward again, Mitch smiled.
When Mitch reached the shelf with the unstuffed bunnies, he glanced around the store for his boyfriend. Unsurprisingly, he saw Jack by the shelf with the unstuffed Carltons. Mitch smiled when Jack caught his gaze; Jack smiled back, waving the arm of the unstuffed Carlton he was holding. Mitch chuckled, waving his hand in return.
Turning his attention back to the shelf in front of him, Mitch grabbed one of the bunnies. He discreetly sniffed the bunny, hoping it would smell like strawberries. Much to his delight, it did.
“Are you ready to use the machine?”
Mitch startled a little at the voice. Looking in the direction the voice had come from, he saw an employee standing there, her hands cupped in front of her.
“Yes but I have a question,” Mitch said.
“Ask away!” The employee smiled, her face conveying a look of readiness for whatever Mitch was about to ask her.
“Do you record the message before or after you put the stuffing inside?”
“Before. Follow me and I’ll take you to record it.”
Mitch smiled as he followed the employee through the store. When they arrived at a little workbench in the back corner of the store, Mitch placed the bunny on top of it. The employee reached into a drawer and handed him a heart-shaped voice box a moment later.
“Just press that button,” she motioned to the smaller heart underneath the speaker, “and say whatever it is you want to say.”
Mitch nodded. A thickness had suddenly formed in his throat. He knew what he wanted to say but he had suddenly become nervous. Swallowing and taking a deep breath to collect himself, Mitch pressed the button.
The words came out a lot easier than Mitch had thought they would. When he was done speaking, he released the button and heaved a sigh of relief. He handed the employee the voice box and gave her a nervous smile.
“Do you think he’ll like it,” Mitch asked, biting his bottom lip.
The employee nodded, smiling widely. “Of course!”
With that, she motioned for Mitch to follow her toward the stuffing machine. Grabbing the bunny from the bench, Mitch did just that.
The employee took Mitch to the side of the machine where a tube was shooting fabric shapes up and down.
“Reach your hand in there,” she said, pointing at the tube, “and grab any two that you want.”
Nodding, Mitch reached inside. When he pulled his hand out, he had a star and a heart. The employee beamed as she grabbed them from him.
“Kiss this one and think of one of your biggest wishes.” She held the star up.
Mitch took only a moment to decide what that wish was. He used to think his biggest wish was to win the Stanley Cup. Ever since he had met and started dating Jack, his biggest wish was to have a family with him one day. He was beyond grateful for Jack for showing him that there was more to his life than being Mitchell Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jack showed him that he was Mitchell Marner, a human being first and foremost.
Leaning over, Mitch pressed a soft kiss to the star. The employee smiled as she put it into the bunny.
Holding up the heart, she smiled wider. “Think about someone you love before you kiss this one.”
That was, again, a quick decision. Jack was the first person that came to mind when someone asked Mitch who he loved. Jack helped liven up the locker room when he first arrived, which was part of the reason Mitch was drawn to him. When they started talking more, Mitch was drawn to Jack's love of animals and his goofy personality. From the minute they started dating, Jack had been nothing but kind and caring toward Mitch. He helped Mitch cope with tough losses because he understood what tough losses felt like. Maybe more so, seeing as he was a goalie. He was everything and more that Mitch was looking for in a partner. He completed Mitch. Made Mitch feel happy. Jack was his rock and Mitch loved him for it.
Thinking of Jack, Mitch pressed a soft kiss to the heart. "I love you, Jack."
The employee smiled fondly at Mitch as she placed the heart into the bunny.
She took the bunny from Mitch and carefully stuffed it. She placed the voice-box inside before zipping it up and handing it back to Mitch.
“The outfits are by the register,” she said, smiling. "I hope everything works out. Good luck!”
“Thank you,” Mitch said, blushing and squeezing the bunny tightly against his chest. The employee nodded as she walked away.
Mitch made his way to the register, stopping to select an outfit for the bunny. Among the outfit options were teddy bear sized Maple Leafs jerseys. When he saw a Jack Campbell jersey, he jumped at the opportunity to have the bunny wear that; he even selected a pair of hockey skates for the bunny to wear as shoes.
When Mitch made it to the register, Jack was already in line. Mitch stood beside his boyfriend, receiving no protest from the people waiting behind him.
“Babe! Hi,” Jack said. He gave Mitch a soft kiss, either forgetting about their surroundings or just not caring. Humming softly, Mitch smiled into the kiss. When Jack pulled back, he motioned to the bunny his boyfriend was holding. “A Leafs jersey? Nice!”
Mitch turned the bunny around to show Jack the name and number. Jack's face peppered itself with a soft blush. Mitch chuckled and kissed his boyfriend's cheek.
It was their turn to pay next so Jack wasn’t able to respond. Instead, he took the bunny from Mitch and handed it and Carlton to the cashier.
The cashier smiled at them. “Are we getting birth certificates for these two today?”
Jack looked at Mitch; Mitch nodded. “Please.”
Mitch held Jack’s hand while he talked with the cashier about the semantics of the birth certificates. When Mitch was asked for the name of the bunny, he looked at Jack and gave him a soft smile before responding with: “Her name is Soupy.”
He felt Jack squeeze his hand while he continued to focus his attention on the cashier. Mitch squeezed back; he wanted Jack to know that he appreciated him.
When everything was settled with the birth certificates and Jack had paid for the teddy bears, they walked to a bench outside of the store, teddy bears and bag with the birth certificates in hand.
“I have a surprise for you,” Jack said after they sat down.
“Do you now?” Mitch raised an eyebrow and smiled questioningly.
Jack placed the bag on the ground at his feet before he handed Carlton to Mitch. “Press the button on his hand.”
Tilting his head, Mitch placed Soupy in between them on the bench before he pressed the button.
“Will you marry me, Mitchell?”
Mitch quickly glanced at Jack; he had produced a ring from somewhere and was displaying it for Mitch to see. Placing Carlton in his lap, Mitch grabbed Soupy and pressed the button on her hand.
“Will you marry me, Jack?”
Placing Soupy back on the bench, Mitch reached into his pocket and produced a ring. Jack blinked at Mitch; Mitch blinked at Jack. After a moment of silence, they burst out laughing.
As soon as they calmed down, Jack slid his ring onto Mitch's finger and Mitch slid his ring onto Jack's finger. They kissed for a moment to seal the deal, deciding public eyes be damned because if Jack was brave enough to propose in public, then they could kiss if they wanted to.
When they pulled apart, Jack was smiling and so was Mitch. Jack ran a loving hand along Mitch's cheek. Mitch grabbed it and soothed his thumb across the pulse point. Jack hummed and leaned toward Mitch.
“I have one thing to say about this,” Jack said, grabbing Mitch's hands and interlacing their fingers.
“What would that be," Mitch replied, linking one of his ankles around one of Jack's.
“Great minds think alike.”