My Girl (Jonathan Toews)

30

Alexis

As I continue to recover from my small procedure, for the first time in my life I was able to settle down. I could stay at home with my sister and my boyfriend and have a lot of fun watching mindless tv and making cookies and taking naps. I can see my life from a perspective that wasn't going so fast and actually enjoy it for once. Although I prefer the high life, this one isn't that bad either. It was a nice change of pace after having the craziest eight months of my life.

"What are we doing today sissy" Kimberly wonders as we chill out on the couch. I was a lot more mobile now than I was right after the procedure, but I was still not allowed to do anything crazy. It was at least another week or two before I get on the ice but I don't have to wear that crazy brace anymore and I can get around the house without crutches. But if I want to leave I have to take them with me, just in case.

"Well I have physical therapy for my knee around 10 then how about we go to the beach" I say and she perks up.

"We're going swimming" she asks and I nod.

"Yeah. We can do a little picnic and you and Jonny can mess around in the lake" I promise. I couldn't get in with my incisions being fresh, but relaxing at the beach can't hurt me.

"Did someone say picnic" Jonathan asks as he comes into the living room. He was doing home workouts in the spare and decided to join us in the living room now that he's all sweaty and smelly.

"I did. I was telling Kimmy that once I'm done with physical therapy we can have lunch on the beach" I explain and he smiles really big.

"I'm gonna go get my swim suit right now" he claims and I just shake my head. He's such a kid sometimes.

So he and Kimmy get ready and I go to physical therapy. I do that for about a hour and I was already up and walking on my own. We do some light weightlifting and walking before I was set free.

I grab my boyfriend and my sister and we head to the beach. Kimberly runs right to the water and starts to mess around. I sit on the side because I still had a open wound and didn't really want to get into the lake just yet. So Jon joins me as we watch Kimberly mess around a few feet in front of us.

"So what what are your plans for the summer" he wonders.

"I don't know. Some training, I would love to take Kimberly somewhere nice. She's never been on a vacation, never swam in the ocean or wore one of those fancy beach hats. I never got to show her that there's so much to this world than we know, than we'll ever know" I explain.

"Well I have my day with the cup pretty soon but after that I don't have anything to do. Why don't we go somewhere for like a week to get away from training and hockey and the hardship of life? We can just sit on the beach all day and watch for shooting stars all night" he suggests making me smile.

"I would love to. But I don't know if I can afford that" I insist.

"Seriously" he asks me and I look at him weird. "I can more than pay for you guys."

"I don't want our relationship to be you just handing things to my sister and I. You're not my caretaker. You're my boyfriend and Kimberly's best friend, I don't want you to feel like we can't support ourselves" I say.

"I think the world of you Alexis. I think you are one of the strongest and bravest people out there. I know that you can support yourself, I don't doubt it. But I want to make memories with you and your sister and frolic on the beach and try new foods. And I want to do it all with you. It could cost $20 or $20,000, I don't care. I want to remember summers like this for the rest of my life and the only summer worth remembering is the ones with you in it. So please, let me pay for this and we can have a fun week away from all the talks of money and responsibility. We can have fun together and just be you and I for once. You can't put a price on that" he claims.

"I just don't want you to think I'm using you for money or to go places" I defend.

"You aren't capable of doing stuff like that. I know you better than I know anyone and I know that your motives are pure and your heart is true. We want the same things and I would really like to do them together. Starting with a nice trip somewhere" he insists.

"Where are we gonna go" I ask as he smirks at me.

"Let's go to Greece" he says and my eyes go big.

"Why do you want to go there" I wonder.

"I've heard nothing but the nicest things about that place. It's got a beach and culture and places where we can grow. Plus no one will ever recognize us other there" he explains. He did have some pretty good points.

"Well it looks like I'm gonna have a pretty colorful passport" I say.

"Looks like it" he smiles.

Eventually it's time to apply some more sun screen so I corral Kimberly over to apply some to her bare skin. She drinks her water and eats some snacks before dusting herself off to get in the water again. This time Jon goes with her and they play around. They try to make a sand castle and it didn't work out that well but that's okay, they still had a lot of fun. Eventually it starts to get late and I know we need to get back home. So I dry Kimberly off and get her into her little shorts and a t shirt before packing up. I pack up the rest of our stuff too and we head back home. I was too tired from being in the sun all day to cook dinner so I pop a pizza in the oven. Kimmy and Jon wash up from the beach and I clean up a little around the house. It was almost like we were this little family, and I'm so lucky to be a part of it.