Chapter 7

That night Kirsty arrived. The first night we just chilled in the house and the second night I had arranged for her to come down after work to meet the boys – we all went out for tea and Kirsty and Geno hit it off immediately, they talked for hours and it was like no one else was even there.

When I was working Kirsty amused herself mostly by meeting Geno when he himself was not working. I kept having to remind them on separate occasions that Kirsty would be flying back to the UK soon but it was clear to me and many others that they were meant to be and one way or another they would find a way to be together, it meant a lot to me to see 2 of my closest friends so happy together.

And soon enough that month was over and Kirsty was gone, I have asked her to move over and Mario has told her that he will arrange a job for her if she does decide to move.

We are now half way through the season and it is nearing Christmas, we are top of the league with a couple of games in hand, so far it is promising to be another good season.

I am becoming known throughout the NHL and have had a formal proposition asking me to do the training for the All Stars Game – what a feeling that is! I must be doing something right to be asked to train the best of the best!!

I am not sure what I am doing on Christmas day yet, it is beginning to look like I will be spending it all alone as my family are unable to get over for it due to bad weather conditions and I cannot go back to Scotland as I do not have enough time off from the team until the summer.

We get a lot of snow in Pittsburgh so for a few months my BMW convertible has turned into a BMW 4 x 4.

Ring, ring… “Hello” I hear myself answer.

“Hi Gill, its Mario, it has just occurred to my wife and I that at the moment you will be spending Christmas alone, we are having Sidney and his family over to our house would you care to join us? We have run it by them and Mr and Mrs Crosby would love to meet you and of course Sid is more than happy for you to be there.” Mario announces as if he had been reading my mind.

“Thank you Mario that would be nice”, I was a bit concerned about spending Christmas alone and was suddenly looking forward to spending it with Sidney.

Christmas morning when I woke up I had a text message from each one of the boys wishing me a Merry Christmas, my family all phoned me and so did Kirsty. Kirsty wanted to tell me that she has agreed to accept mine and Mario’s offer. She is going to come and stay! I was over the moon, what a brilliant Christmas present although I know that what has swayed her decision is the fact that she will be able to be with Geno.

I unwrapped my little pile of presents.

I then went for a shower and made sure I had a bag of presents for everyone that would be at the Lemieux household and then jumped into my 4 x 4 and headed for Mario’s.

What a wonderful day – such a nice family feeling and the meal was delicious. Christmas in the US is so much different to the UK but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sidney and I even ended up curled up on the sofa at the end of the night once all the family games had been played. It was nice sitting next to him feeling his heart beating against my back and the warmth of his strong arms around me.

That night I went home with some hope that maybe he did know I existed and that maybe my feelings were not wasted after all.

Next day it was back to training as normal but the office was closed so I got to relax again for a few days, we have a couple of games away and then the office reopens so I am looking forward to being away with the boys before the normal routine starts again.