Second Chances

The New Normal

Storm

There's definitely been an emptiness left behind since we lost Kenzie. Saylor, Cassius and Kenzie's parents stayed with Jack on and off for a while, helping him adjust. Once they left, Feyre and I took turns helping him out which we still do. Lily and Rowan have become the best of friends and it reminds me a lot of Jack and Feyre's friendship. Fey really stepped in practically being a mom of two and I can tell that Jack has been super thankful for it. When we travel for our out of city or state hockey games, Saylor or Laura will fly in and stay with Fey to help with both of the kids. Or, her dad and Stacey will help as much as they can which relieves some stress.

It's taken time, but we've all slowly adjust and become accustom to this new normal of ours. When Lily was reaching her different mile stones, it was emotional for all of us because there pivotal moments that we all wished Kenzie was there to witness. We had the funeral a week after she passed away and it was a beautiful celebration of life. Her parents, Jack and Feyre all wrote beautiful speeches and we went to her parents house after for the wake.

If anything this taught all of us to not take anything in life for granted.

~

Four Years Later

Tonight is our championship game, we didn't win last year so we're hoping to this year will be different. We're playing the Rangers which is Jack's old team, my family and theirs will all be there to watch us play. We flew into the city yesterday, but Fey and the kids are staying at her mom's in Ridgewood and they're driving to the stadium tonight. We head to the arena from the hotel and get ready in the locker room. You can feel the adrenaline bouncing off everyone, because it's a big night and we want to win.

Coach walks out of his office and we all gather around as he gives his pep talk. Once he's finished as the team captain, I say a few words as well and then we head out onto the ice to stretch and warm up. You can feel the excitement in the arena, as the stands start to fill and cheer as we come out. I look over behind the penalty box and see my family, I nudge Jack and nod in their direction. Lily waves to him and his face lights up, as he blows her a kiss.

The game starts off intense, no one scores until the end of the first period and Jack already has a foul against him. The rest of the game is back and forth, they score and then we score and the crowd goes wild. I end up getting the next goal and then Jac steals it from them and smacks it across the ice to one of our best scorers, Liam Kingston who then hits it right into the goal. The arena goes crazy between the mixture of cheers and boo's which make us feel good now that we took the lead.

By the end of the last period we're tied now and with only seconds remaining, I take a risk and end up getting the winning goal. The guys crowd around as the buzzer goes off and we cheer and celebrate along with our fans who are all on their feet clapping and screaming for our victory. We won the championship for a second year in a row, the refs announce us as the league winners and present the cup to our team. We take pictures and Coach says a few words before she shake hands with the Rangers. I can't wait to shower and get changed so that we can celebrate with our family we won the Stanley Cup.

We end up going out to dinner at this incredible steakhouse and taking up a private room in the back. Rowan's on my back as we walk in and Lily's holding mine and Jack's hands, the whole restaurant breaks out into claps as we walk through. I stop walking as I'm completely caught off guard and we all stand there and smile. The room cheers and congratulates us on our big win, and I'm not much of a crier but right now I'm fighting back some happy tears.