God Bless The Broken Road (Jonathan Toews)

Five Years

Maisie

I sit under the warm Chicago sun feeling the rays beat down on my exposed skin. I have a Cubs hat to protect my face and sun glasses allowing me to see what's going on. The Cubs tank top was perfect for this abnormally warm September day and my phone sticks out of my jean shorts. I sit a few rows up behind the third base dugout in the same seat I did five years ago to this date. The Cubs were playing the Pirates as there was a lot of celebrating to do before the game even started. Today marks five years since Jon and Jackson and I's paths met in these very seats we sit in now. Jon usually does this for us on the anniversary but five years is long in hockey terms, this one seems a bit sweeter. While we were here to celebrate us we were also celebrating the Blackhawks and their cup win.

Jon takes the field with the cup on the mound as everyone cheers extra loud. As much as I love my cubbies, this was the only trophy they've seen here in a really really really long time, so people were excited to see it. He throws out the first pitch and does a lot better than the first time this day five years ago. It probably helps that Patrick isn't in his ear chirping him. He and the trophy come off the field and the game starts.

"Excuse me miss, this sounds really weird but I met your son earlier and caught your glance. I've been watching you for a while now and decided that I would to get to to know you. I think you're exquisite and I would regret not talking to you, mind if I join you" Jon smiles pointing to the open seat next to me.

"You're lucky because my son doesn't usually talk to strangers, especially men. And if he's taken a liking to you then you must be special" I tease back. He sits next to me and we talk about our memories from this day and these seats.

"I was so fucking nervous to talk to you. If Jackson didn't call me out I probably would have sat through this whole game by myself and watched you, never saying a word" he admits.

"Well I'm glad you came to talk to us. I think it worked out pretty well" I smirk.

"Me too" he agrees. As the day goes on I relax and enjoy the game. I listen to Jackson talk about the rules and fun facts while Sam counters with some history. There was plenty of it around here at Wrigley. We eat our hot dogs and I laugh as Everly tries to eat the hot dog whole. Sometimes shoveling food down your throat isn't the way to go, but you couldn't tell her that. Everyone's attention was on her just like she believed it was supposed to be.

"Small bites baby girl. Here you go" Jon says breaking off a small piece and handing it to her. She nibbles on it and he cleans her up. The Cubs have a video montage made up for the Hawks of their playoff run and a lot of cool moments from the cup final. Some of my pictures end up in there and that's pretty cool that all these people will see it. Seventeen seconds is such a trademark around here and I love it. Goes to show has fast things can change.

"Do you think the Hawks will keep up with winning" I ask Jon.

"Hard to say. It's the salary cap era, we can only afford so much. But going into any season or game I can't have the mindset that it might not happen, then I might as well go home. I always believe in our team, even when we're down one with two minutes left in a clinching game. There's never a doubt in my mind that my team can pull something off" he admits.

"Do you think the Cubs will ever get that way" I ask and he laughs.

"That's a bet I'm not willing to make. Nothing is impossible, they can't go on without winning forever. All these curses and goats gotta go away sometime. I don't know when, but it'll happen. And when it does they'll probably have a core like ours to keep together for a long time. They have a good farm system, they'll get there eventually" he claims.

"God I hope so, I would like to be alive when they win the World Series" I joke.

"Heard that before" he teases and I hit his chest. Jackson and Sam start yelling and I look around for something. No cotton candy or players near us.

"Uh oh" Jon chuckles. I look to the video board and see that we were on the kiss cam. I smirk and grab his face before planting a huge kiss on his lips. Jackson makes gagging sounds and Sam lets out a awww. He's been reading a lot of romance novels, can you blame him? As the game passes I notice the kids getting more and more hyper and question why I got them cotton candy. And while Everly's speech is getting better she just repeats a bunch of words she hears and not in a actual sentence. The girl loves to talk but never says anything I understand. Then there's Mason who is unbothered by most things, maybe he should spend less time with Jon. He's got the whole Captain serious thing going on and it was actually really cute. I have a picture of him scolding with Jon making the same face right beside him, it's hilarious.

Finally we get to the ninth inning and the game comes to a end. I pack my stuff and take a good look at where we were. Here represented probably the most important date and time of my life. It looked so different yet just the same. Jon still looks really good and really adorable and Jackson is still my little boy. Always will be. But now we have Sam and Mason and Evie and everything seemed to have fallen into place. Five years ago if you were to tell me that this is what my life would be like five years from then I would have laughed in your face. But look at me, look at us. We've been through so much and I feel like we're just getting started.