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One of Scott’s new favourite things since publicly coming out to the world and kissing his boyfriend after winning the Stanley Cup was the family dinners he had with Kip and Kip’s parents at their home in Brooklyn. It had been a long time since he had been to a real family dinner. Shure, some of his teammates had invited him over for dinner, but it never felt like it did at Grady's.
This time, George had made lasagna with caesar salad and garlic bread, which had quickly become one of Scott’s favourite meals. He had just gotten back from a 10 day road trip and he got to spend the whole morning with his boyfriend before heading over to Brooklyn for dinner. And since he just got back from a rather successful away game stretch, he knew it was just a matter of time before George would ask him how it went.
Surely enough, once everyone was seated around the table and plates were starting to be filled, it came.
“So Scott, how do you think the season’s shaping up so far,” George asked as he passed the salad bowl over to Kip, who accepted it with a groan.
“Ugh, Dad! You promised no hockey talk at the table,” he complained,serving himself before adding some salad to Scott’s plate as well.
Margaret smiled apologetically at Scott as she nudged her husband, “He’s right dear, you did promise.”
Scott smiled, “I don’t mind, George. Really.” He didn’t. Honestly. He actually loved when George would ask him about hockey. He never had someone who asked him questions about it that wanted a genuine answer. Who wasn’t looking for a soundbite or quote for whatever media outlet they worked for. He could say it wasn’t going too well, and George would just hug him and say “You’ll get them, next time son.”
“I mind!” Kip smacked the table, nearly knocking over his water glass in the process. Scott knew that that wasn’t necessarily true either. But ever since Scott brought Kip down on the ice and kissed him, Kip had been the recipient of too many hockey questions himself, and wanted to discuss anything else, other than how his masters was going.
George flashed Kip a teasing grin that Scott couldn’t quite read. He watched George shake his head and laugh at his son “You didn’t always mind,” he said casually before taking another bite of lasagna.
Scott would’ve assumed George just meant at the start of their relationship when Kip, seemingly to those close to him, had a new interest out of nowhere. But the blush blooming on his boyfriend’s face told him this was something else. He shot Kip a questioning look, “Really? When were you into hockey?”
Kip suddenly became very interested in the mostly untouched food on his plate. “Never! My father is a liar.”
“Christopher! Don’t be mean to your father,” Margaret scolded just as fast as Kip deflected. Oh yeah. There was definitely some sort of inside joke going on here.
Kip rolled his eyes at his mother. He crossed his arms like he did when he was a kid trying to be taken seriously. It almost made Scott laugh, by how cute he looked. Damn his boyfriend was cute.
George gently sat his fork down on his plate, glancing over at Scott before his eyes landed on his son.
“Kip,” he started gently, but the tease in his voice was obvious. Kip wasn’t looking at his dad, instead just stared at his plate more, “Do you remember when you were sixteen and you had a crush on that boy in the Gillette ad from your mother’s magazine?”
Scott almost choked on his water. Kip had a crush on a model?
“What does that have to do with hockey?” Kip was clearly getting annoyed by the subject, but now Scott had to admit that he was curious. It wasn’t a secret that athletes had sponsorship and brand deals. Hell, even Scott had a few. One of them was even Gillette. His first brand deal was with Gillette, actually.
“Lots of guys have brand deals, babe.”
Kip shot Scott a look that said Stop encouraging this. Scott ignored it, which he may pay for later.
“You know, I have a brand deal with Gillette,” he supplied. Kigh sighed heavily next to him. “I know. I admire your ads on my subway route.”
“Not the first time you admired Scott’s ads,” George said across the table, smiling at the couple. “Oh Georgie,” Margaret exasperated.
Not the first time… OH! Scott bit his lip to avoid laughing and just watched his boyfriend to see how long it would take for Kip to catch on.
Scott would always say that Kip was the smartest person he ever met, so he wasn’t sure if Kip wasn’t catching on or playing dumb. Either way, the red burning his ears made him look even more adorable.
Kip finally looked up at his dad then, “What do you mean ‘not the first time’? What are you saying Dad?”
George didn’t answer his son’s questions. Instead, he got up and went to the living room, grabbed something off the coffee table and came back, handing Kip the item (an opened magazine).
“You found that magazine?”
George laughed, “I was surprised it wasn’t under your mattress anymore.”
Scott raised a brow at that. “Under your mattress?” He tried (and failed) to not sound incredibly smug about that. And Kip, oh sweet Kip, still hadn’t pieced it all together yet.
Kip jabbed a finger at Scott’s chest. “I don’t have to answer to you!”
Scott couldn’t hold his laughter anymore, which only further irritated his boyfriend.
“What is so funny?” he demanded and Scott took the magazine and held it up beside him. “Kip, babe.That’s me.”
Kip’s face went through ten different expressions in the span of 5 seconds. Scott thought steam would blow out of his ears at any moment as his boyfriend was malfunctioning. Scott put the ad and took pity on him, kissing him. “I’m flattered, truly. I thought I looked stupid in this ad. With the long wild hair and barely existing stubble.” Kip hadn’t responded yet, so Scott just kept rambling. “I was like 19? When I did this. It was fresh off of my Cadler win and… what?” Kip now stared at Scott in pure disbelief.
“That’s you?” Scott’s not sure he had ever seen Kip this at a loss of words. He nodded, “Yeah, that’s me.”
Kip looked at Scott and then… laughed. Like, actually laughed. Scott watched, gaging Kip’s reaction. After Kip caught his breath again, he shook his head and smiled.
“So what you’re saying is I never stood a chance?”
Scott smiled and kissed him, “You know what they say, the best a man can get.”