God Bless The Broken Road (Jonathan Toews)

Wanted

Jonathan

"Where are you going" Patrick asks as I head to the door.

"I was going to pick up lunch and hang out with Maisie" I say and he perks up.

"Can I come too" he asks, just a little too happy. He loved chilling with Maisie and Jackson, and I don't blame him, they're both really fun to be around. But alone time in that household is rare. She keeps herself busy and I was hoping to catch some me and her time today.

"You came last time" I say crossing my arms.

"Yeah but Jackson and I didn't even get to finish Wall-E" he complains.

"You guys have watched that movie about a thousand times already. We'll make a group thing some other day. She's having a rough time and I would like to be alone with her" I try.

"Oh, okay. Well give my best to them" he says before turning back to the tv. I drive over to her place after getting flowers and some food for us. She had a huge test tomorrow and had to study so she didn't work tonight. I knock on the door and Nicole answers with a big smile.

"You shouldn't have" she jokes grabbing at the flowers and I move them away from her.

"I didn't... these are for Maisie" I laugh.

"I know, come on in" she says moving out the doorway and into the apartment. Jack was in the kitchen trying to learn how to stick handle. Patrick might have got him a little stick and training puck to work with. If I didn't know any better I would think that he's his dad. Despite what many people would think, he's actually pretty good with kids. Jack doesn't even look up from the ball when I came in, he was real focused.

"Mae! Your... whatever you two are is here" Nicole screams and Maisie appears.

"Hey" she says kissing my cheek and I hand her the flowers. She takes them and takes a big whiff before thanking me and placing them in a vase.

"Hey" I reply trying to shake this feeling I feel every time she touches me. She's so gentle yet drives me completely insane. I can't put into words what that girl does to me, all I knew was that I loved it.

"I brought pizza" I announce and Jack's little head pops up from behind the dining room table.

"Pizza" he asks and we all laugh.

"Yeah buddy, pizza. Let's get you cleaned up and ready for dinner" Mae says.

"Can Jonny help too" he asks and she turns to me.

"You would have to ask him" she replies and he makes his way over to me.

"Can you help me get ready for dinner" he asks messing with his fingers. Must be a family thing.

"Of course little man" I say picking him up and placing him on my shoulders. We go to the bathroom and I help him wash his hands. Maisie says we have to do it to a whole song so we sing Poker Face and wash up as she watched from the doorway. After drying him up he made me wash my hands then we were ready for dinner. We all take our places around the table and grab a slice to eat. I've learned that every time they eat together Maisie asks how everyone says we're and it helps a lot with dinner conversations.

"How was practice today" Maisie asks me.

"Good. I'm ready to get this season started" I admit. Preseason was fine and all but the home opener was soon and I wanted them to come to it so bad. I know she has school and work but she needs a break and I wanted to help her in any way possible.

"When can we go watch Jonny play mommy" Jackson asks. I turn to her and she smiles at me. Such a beautiful sight.

"I don't know. That's a good question" she replies.

"How about October 13th? That's the home opener. Then you can meet the team and see the first home game of the season" I suggest.

"I'll have to check my schedule, but I think we can do that" she admits. I wanted to jump up and down like a little kid who just found out they're going to Disney world, but I don't. Not yet at least. We finish up eating and she returns to her room to finish studying while Jackson and Nicole played in the living room. I wasn't sure what Nicole was to them but she was great with Jackson and was always home to take care of him when Maisie couldn't.

"Are you seriously coming to the game" I ask spinning around in her desk chair as she chilled on the bed with all her books. The thing about her is that hated hand outs, that's why I was so surprised she took me up on my offer. It took me a week for her to even accept flowers.

"Were you going to take no as an answer" she laughs and I shrug.

"No, but I was prepared to pull all the stops. Talk to your boss, your professor or whoever else I needed to" I admit.

"Why are you trying so hard" she asks seriously, putting her pencil down.

"Because I really like you, and Jackson too. I want to know that you're happy and I had something to do with it. I want you to accept the kindness you deserve. I want you to know you're more than just Jacksons mentor, you're an amazing girl and you should get nice things. Why is it so hard for you to accept that I like you" I counter.

"I don't know. Because you're this huge figure in a sports town who doesn't have to do any of this for me. I've gone my whole life without any sort of affection shown towards me, it's just new I guess. My own parents aren't trying as hard as you are and they're not the future of the NHL. It's just... hard. I don't know what to think anymore. Lately all I do is think about you and how great you've been for us this past month. Always helping look out for Jackson and making sure he's happy. Bringing me sweet things though I keep telling you I don't want it, even though I do. It's weird to receive for once instead of being the one giving. I've never been... wanted by someone. It's just weird I guess" she shrugs.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I can't promise a lot but I can promise that. What you have, your aspirations and determination and pure love, love I hope I can have one day" I whisper.

"You're getting there" she smiles and I feel my heart skip. I go out and let her study while I played with Jackson so Nicole could take a shower.

"Is mommy happy" he asks as he played with a Patrick Kane doll Kaner bought him. Seriously so conceited.

"I don't know" I say. It's hard to say.

"You make her happy" he replies.

"And how do you know that" I wonder.

"Because she told me" he shrugs and I stop playing. That was enough to know I shouldn't give up on... whatever this is. Ever.