Chapter Text
Coming up, a preview of the Torino Olympics as Shaun “the Flying Tomato” White looks for gold in the halfpipe, Bode Miller draws controversy off the slopes, and the men’s hockey team looks to compete in their first Olympic tournament without Henry Jennings since Lillehammer in ’94.
“Do you regret it at all?”
“What?”
“Commenting instead of being in the middle of it. I mean, most hockey players stick around until they’re about forty, right? You would have had five years or so left.”
“It turned into a job a long time ago.” In truth it had never really been about ‘the love of the game’ for me. I got into hockey at first because it was the only thing my Dad wanted to do with me, and then after they left it was because I needed the team, and then it turned into a way to make sure I was known for something other than being the collateral damage of a spy scandal back in the ‘80s. I’d done as much as I could do to make sure of that when the lockout happened. I followed Kellie to Washington when she got a Supreme Court clerkship, and my mother died the same year. Even though Kellie was working insane hours, I realized that I’d miss going to sleep next to her every night if I went back on the road. I would get distracted, and my performance would never be what it had been before. It was better to go out on top, holding up the Stanley Cup at the end of my last game, than go back and gradually decline into a has-been. “Besides, Kellie and I want to start a family fairly quickly.”
“You do, that’s great!”
“Not, like, right away,” Kellie assured Stan, “but a year or two out.”
Matthew’s daughter Madison came into the living room. “Mom says dinner’s almost ready.” We followed her into the kitchen for a dinner of lasagna – a Christmas Eve tradition for the Beemans. Madison sat next to Kellie.
“Can I see your ring?”
“Sure, sweetie,”
“How come you didn’t get me a ring that big?” Matthew’s wife Ann asked.
“Because you married a high school music teacher and not a hockey player.”
After dinner, the kids opened one present each and we all watched Elf, Madison’s favorite. The next morning, Kellie and I woke up early for the drive from Philadelphia to her parents in North Carolina, arriving at about 4:00 in the afternoon. The arrangement enabled us to avoid going to church with them and to get there after Kellie’s nieces and nephews had grown bored with their first round of presents and would be more appreciative of the wrapped video games Kellie was holding. Her father, Ronnie, answered the door. “Kellie! Glad you finally made it.”
“Merry Christmas, Daddy. Do we have time to take our bags up before dinner?”
“Of course. Your mother’s fixed up your old room for you, and Henry will be in the FROG with Colton.” Colton was the oldest nephew at 13. He lived in Charlotte where Kellie’s brother-in-law worked for Bank of America and her sister Amy kept busy chasing after her four kids. Kellie’s other sister, Lynn, had married the son of the proprietor of the local auto parts store and stayed in their hometown, so they would drive home after dinner. I dropped my suitcase off in the FROG and came back downstairs just as Kellie was handing out the presents. The light from the tree caught her ring, and her mother Lara noticed the ring for the first time.
“Kellie, is that what I think it is.?”
“Yes, momma. Do you like…” Kellie was interrupted by a scream from her mother, which brought Lynn and Amy’s husbands Ernest and Scott running in from the back porch.
“What’s the matter?” Scott yelled.
Oblivious to the alarm she’d caused, Lara showed Scott and Ernest Kellie’s hand. “Isn’t it just gorgeous?”
“Hot damn! Little Nikita finally popped the question.”
“We’ve only been together three years, Ernest, and…oh, Henry! Mom was just showing everyone the ring.”
“I heard.”
“How much did that set you back?” Ernest asked. “I mean, I know they say three month’s salary, but last I heard you was retired, boy.”
“I do a little bit of commentary, and…” actually, between the weekly talk show I co-hosted, my salary at Princeton, and royalties from Jennings NHL Pro, I was making more than I would if I were still playing.
“Henry’s a math professor at Princeton now,” Lara informed her least-favorite son-in-law, “they’re giving him…what was it Kellie?”
“The Fields Medal.”
“What’s that?” Scott and Amy’s middle daughter Chelsey asked.
“It’s a prize they give out for being good at math.”
Chelsey affixed me with a disappointed look. “You’re a grown-up and they still make you do math?”
“They don’t make me,” I explained, “I like math. I’m sort of like a math teacher for older kids.” Grad students, really, but that seemed like an unnecessary amount of explanation for a seven-year-old.
“You like math! Are you crazy?”
“Chelsey, why don’t you play the new video game that Henry and Aunt Kellie got you?” Amy turned back to me. “I’m sorry about her, she’s…”
“In full agreement with every sportswriter in the Bay area.”
“But you like your new job?”
“It’s great. The off season’s twice as long, and I get knocked over by 250-pound bruisers from Trois-Rivieres half as often.”
“So you’re thinking a summer wedding?”
“June. Henry was able to book the Princeton University Chapel the week after exams.”
“Did you hear that, Ronnie? They booked the Princeton University Chapel.”
“You could have the wedding here,” Ronnie groused. The venue selection had been something of an olive branch, so that he could say it was a church wedding, but he didn’t seem inclined to take it.
“It’ll be easier for people to get to Princeton,” Kellie explained, “my work colleagues, Henry’s high school friends, some people from D.C. are coming up.”
“Well, I guess if it makes things easier for your ‘work friends’ it doesn’t matter if your mother and I have to drive eight hours.” Ronnie looked at me as though he were sizing me up. “I don’t know how they do things in San Jose or Russia, but here in Owensboro it’s traditional to ask a young lady’s father for her hand in marriage.”
I tried to respond as though it were a normal conversation and not a threat. “We didn’t want to be too traditional with the proposal.”
“Henry took me to Jersey Boys,” Kellie interjected, “and we walked past Rockefeller Center on the way home. He pulled out the ring right there in front of the ice rink, you know where that statue is?”
“Oh, that’s lovely, dear.” Lara was making a fuss now, trying to placate Ronnie. It worked well enough, and we were all able to enjoy her Christmas dinner. Amy and Scott took their four-year-old twins up to bed around 10:30, which Ernest and Lynn took as their cue to leave. Their son Ryan took his time collecting his presents, so they were just getting ready to walk out the door when Amy and Scott came back downstairs, and the four of us walked them to their car.
Scott waited until Ernest and Lynn had disappeared down the street and then produced a flask. “Anybody else want a nip before we have to go inside and deal with Ronnie again.”
“Scott…”
“Honey, he was a pretty big dick to Henry.” Scott gave me the flask and I took a swig.
“Mmmm…fireball. You know this brings me back to college.”
“Don’t worry too much about Daddy. He just doesn’t like not being in control of things, but momma’ll smooth things over for you. She’s so proud of you Kelli.”
By the time we got inside, Amy had decided that it was time for Colton and Chelsey to go to bed. Since I was sharing a room with Colton, I went to bed myself to avoid waking him up later in the evening.