Spiderman, Kids and Explanations

I walked to the player’s benches where Max and Jordan were sitting. They nodded for me to come as they talked. I walked closer to them as Jordan smiled. “Hey Brooke.”

I forced a small smile. “Hey Jordan.”

“I heard about what Geno did,” he said grinning. “And let me just say you two would have adorable Russian babies.”

I shot him a look. “And let me just say you’re going to get my foot shoved up somewhere you don’t want to.”

He was taken aback by this comment as he looked at Max who merely shrugged. “Sorry Brooke. I didn’t mean it.”

I shook my head. “No I’m sorry, I’m just not feeling well.”

Max put his arm around my shoulder. “Aw come on Brooke cheer up. Look at all these happy children whose lives haven’t been completely ruined or tormented yet. You can make them smile.” He shot me a huge smile.

I had to let out a small laugh at his attempt to cheer me up. “Don’t worry, I’ll put on my happy face.”

“Good.” He looked in front of him to where all the players, parents, and children were starting to come out. “Looks like they’re coming in. We’ve got to go greet them, but we’ll be back,” he finished as he got up to adjust the collar of his sweater and headed off with Jordan.

I heard footsteps behind me as Peyton walked up and slowly sat next to me. “Hey.” She played with the loose strings on her shirt, avoiding eye contact.

I sighed. “Hey.”

She looked up at me with regretful eyes. “Brooke I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything of what I said. I shouldn’t have said any of that. I had no right to and I was completely wrong and-”

“You weren’t wrong.” I interrupted.

She gave me a confused look. “What?”

I shook my head. “You weren’t wrong. You were right. About everything. I’m too scared to do anything, but I just cant. You just have to understand that I can’t do things as easily as you can,” I explained.

She nodded patting my leg. “I know. I’m sorry. I promise I’ll never bring it up again.”

I smiled thankfully as she looked ahead smirking. I followed her gaze, my eyes landing on Sidney who was talking to Pascal Dupuis, holding his little girl. He nodded looking over everyone who was there, his eyes catching mine. He smiled and waved slightly. I returned the gesture looking back at Peyton who was grinning. “Don’t.” I merely said.

“I said nothing,” she argued shrugging her left shoulder. She got up fixing her ponytail and blue sweater. “I’m going to go find Max. I’ll leave you to your thoughts.” She smiled walking away.

I looked at my shoes swinging my legs back and forth on the bench. I had become so focused I didn’t notice the big shadow hovering over me until he spoke. “Hey.”

I looked up to see Sidney smiling down at me. I smiled in return. “Hey.” I got up walking out of the benches and leaning against them. Sidney stood by them resting his hand on them.

“How are you?” he asked still looking around the kids pouring in as well as the camera crew setting up.

I nodded. “I’m good. You?”

“I’m fine as well,” he shrugged.

“Fine not good?” I asked.

He smiled. “Ok, I’m good”

“Good not great?”

Again he smiled. “Ok great.”

“Great not wonderful?”

He continued to play along. “Wonderful.”

“Wonderful not fantastic?”

This time he couldn’t help but laugh as we I joined in. A man coming to whisper something in his ear interrupted us. “Sorry, but I have to go do an interview. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be here.” I watched him go off and be placed in front of a camera.

I didn’t hear the man’s question but I heard Sidney’s response. “Yeah, definitely. It’s great to be doing this. We always try to get the fans involved and especially children. I know as a child I would have loved to spend a day with my idol and that’s what we’re trying to do with these kids. They get the chance to spend a day with their favorite players and ask them questions and just hang out. It’s not as serious an environment during a game or during practice. We get to have fun and enjoy ourselves.”

I smiled to myself hearing his response. “Hi.” Marc called beside me.

I turned to smile at him. “Hi Marc.”

“Glad you could make it. You know there are a lot of kids here. You could help Sidney entertain them,” he smiled looking at me.

“You and Max have to stop this. I mean it.” I said seriously staring at him.

“Uh oh. You got her mad now too?” Max said from behind Marc coming to stand next to him.

He sighed putting his hands on his backwards cap. “Oh no. I think so. I’m sorry.”

“No, I was just telling Marc how you two need to stop trying to intervene in his and my life. Sidney and I aren’t going to happen,” I argued crossing my arms.

Max scoffed. “You think we’re doing this for you and him?” I raised my eyebrow at him. “Ok, maybe we are. But just give the guy a chance I mean he’s alone most of the time. He needs someone. And regardless whether or not you like him. Just talk to him. He seems to really open up to you. We may see him everyday but he rarely opens up to anyone, but he has with you. Just be a friend to the guy. At least do that.” He gave me a pleading look.

I frowned. “And trust me, he’s just as sad as you are about you two not having the chance of ever going out,” Marc said checking to make sure Sidney was still being interviewed.

I shook my head trying to catch what Marc had just said. “I’m sorry what did you just say?”

He nodded. “He also has the idea in his head that you wont ever go out with him.”

Max shook his head waving his hands a bit. “Look just forget about this whole dating thing.
Just try to be his friend. He needs some, especially ones who actually care to listen to him. Can you do that?”

“I can be his friend,” I answered. I moved my attention over my shoulder looking at Sidney. Being interviewed, he seemed so serious and used to it. He was constantly asked all these questions, most of them the same and all about hockey or his playing. He was never asked anything normal. No wonder some think he’s uninteresting. No one has ever taken the time to try and hear him out about anything. All he needed was someone to be there. Listen. Did he want me to be the one to listen?

I shook the oncoming thoughts from my mind and back at Max and Marc who were talking about something else. They looked back at me noticing my seriousness. “Are you ok?” Marc asked.

I smiled softly giving him a thumbs up, a gesture that cause him to slightly laugh and Max smile. “Well we need to go hang out with the kids, but feel free to talk to anyone. Don’t be shy.” They both waved and walked away, leaving me alone once again.

I looked around at all the children with their parents being introduced to the players. One pair of parents and their little boy were being introduced to Kris Letang. He politely smiled and shook the parents and little boy’s hand. The boy turned around to show him his oversized Letang jersey and grinned toothlessly at him.

Another pair was being introduced to Tyler Kennedy and Eric Goddard. Across the ice was Matt Cooke with his children fooling around.

“Hey sorry about that,” Sidney called from behind me.

I looked up and waved my hand in the air. “Oh, it’s no big deal. Marc and Max were keeping me company.”

He looked around and behind to see no one there. “If you say so.”

“No they really were they came over to talk but then they left. I wasn’t imagining it, I swear,” I smiled.

He grinned, which caught me off guard. “It’s ok I believe you.” he put his hands in his pockets and looked at all the children. There was a little boy who kept staring at him and wouldn’t stop staring. He looked back at me and smiled apologetically.

I laughed at how sincere he looked. “It’s ok, you go. I’ll be here.”

He smiled, as I looked around at all the children having fun and playing with their favorite players. Parents were having conversations with each other or some of the older players. I sighed stretching my arms above my head and leaning against the benches once more when I noticed Pascal walking towards me with his girl and little boy in walking next to him.

“Hey there, are you Brooke?” he asked grabbing his children so they wouldn’t wander away.

I nodded and lifted a hand to the back of the neck. “I am.”

He stuck out his hand and smiled. “I’m Pascal. Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”

I raised my eyebrows up at him. “Wow really?”

He nodded. “Yea a lot from Sidney and from Marc, Max, and Jordan. They seem to really like you.”

“Well that’s very nice of you to say. I hope they speak only good things,” I joked laughing.

He laughed as well. “Oh it’s all good. Especially Sidney. He’s always saying how sweet and funny you are.”

A tiny smirk grew on my face just as Sidney came back. “Hey sorry about that. Oh I see you’ve met Dupper.”

We both nodded. “Yeah, I was just informing Brooke here about how fond you’ve all grown to her. Although I have to say, they didn’t mention how short you were, no offence.”

I sighed. “It’s ok. You guys are just way too tall.”

He and Sidney both laughed. “Well I’ll see you guys around. Say bye guys.” Both children waved goodbye as the held Pascal’s hand.

I turned back to Sidney. “So did you make that little boy happy?”

He shrugged smiling. “I hope so. He seemed happy enough that I went over there.”

“That’s nice. Wouldn’t want to disappoint a child. They’re just too adorable,” I replied.

He let out a small laugh when a hand appeared on his shoulder. Behind him was Craig Adams. “Hey Sidney.”

“What’s up?”

He shrugged holding his little girl in his arm and using his free hand to hold his sons. He let out and held his hand out to me. “Nice to meet you I’m Craig.”

I took his hand and smiled. “Likewise, I’m Brooke.”

“Would you guys mind doing me a huge favor?” he asked.

Sidney and I looked at each other and shrugged. “No problem what is it?” asked Sidney.

“I have to go meet some of the kids but I have no one to leave mine with. Would you mind looking after them while I go with the other kids?”

Sidney looked hesitant for a moment before nodding politely. “Uh sure that’s fine.”

Craig looked back at me. “Really?”

I shook my head a bit. “Of course. It’s fine.”

Almost immediately Craig let go of his son’s hand who went stomping over to hold on to Sidney’s leg and handed me his little girl. He smiled again before jogging over to a couple of parents and their children.

I carried Craig’s little girl in my right arm as I fixed her little pink sweater. The little boy
attached to his leg was tugging on Sidney’s jeans. “I’m Reese.” He said, sort of slurred looking up at him through his hat, which was pulled almost over his eyes.

Sidney’s mouth tugged to one side. “Hi Reese. How are you?”

He smiled toothily. “Good Sid. Are you sad you lost last game with Rangers?”

“Heh, well yeah a little bit. But that just means we have to work harder,” he said tugging on his cap.

“You need to score more goals,” he told him smiling hugely afterwards.

That caused both Sidney and I to throw our heads back in laughter loud enough that people around started staring. “I need to score more goals?”

He nodded. “Yea. A lot more,” he replied in an adorable voice scratching his tiny stomach.

“Ok, I’ll work on that,” Sidney managed to answer still laughing slightly.

I smiled looking at Craig’s daughter admiring her smooth, soft, blonde hair and trying to flatten the strays. “Don’t you love kids?” I asked jokingly.

He lifted up a hand rubbing his chin. “I kind of do. I’m just not sure they feel the same way.
I’m not very entertaining,” he looked down at Reese who kept tugging on his jeans so he would do something. “As you can see.”

I had to laugh at his insecurity about children. “Aw, you just need to be more comfortable. What would you do if he was your child? How would you make him have fun?”

“I honestly don’t know,” he told me. “Are you good with kids?”

I held the little girl in my arms and bounced her up to get a better grip. I grinned at Sidney. “Are you kidding me? I love kids!”

He half smiled and let out a small sigh. “Well I’m open to any advice.”

I nodded. “Ok.” I looked down at Reese and held out my hand. “Hi Reese. I’m Brooke.”

The little boy took my hand and smiled. “Hi.”

“Reese? Do you want to have some fun?”

He nodded eagerly already jumping up and down.

“Alright, but first I have to ask,” I said seriously. “Do you like superheroes?”

“I love superheroes!”

I gasped dramatically. “Me too! Who’s your favorite superman or batman?”

He shook his head. “I love Spiderman!”

Again I gasped. “No way! That’s my favorite too! He’s super cool!” I looked at Sidney who smiled confusingly as I nodded to him. “Well how would you like to pretend to be Spiderman for a day?”

The little by gasped and clapped happily. “Really?”

I nodded smiling. “I can’t pick you up but you see this big guy here? He can! He can carry you and you can pretend to fly and shoot spiderwebs from your hands! You can pretend you’re flying as high as you want. How cool does that sound?”

He bounced continuously. “I want to do that!”

“Well then let’s do it!” I motioned to Sidney who nodded and picked Reese up. He placed his hands under him, one on his stomach and the other on his legs. He picked him up as high as he could and looked at me. I nodded to him to turn him around. Reese let out a shriek of laughs and excitement. I gave Sidney a signal to pace back and forth and turn him around.

“Faster!” Sidney spun him faster and moved him back and forth.

“Come on Reese! You’re Spiderman! Your spideysense is tingling! You have to save the world what do you do to get to people? You shoot spiderwebs! Go!”

He folded his hands into the spiderweb shooting position and made noises as he moved his hands to pretend he was shooting. We laughed hysterically and made everyone turn to stare at us. This continued on for a while until we all stopped laughing. I had to catch my breath. After a few minutes we all went back to normal and Sidney put him down.

I had my laughter under control as I tickled the little girl. Sidney was chatting with Reese about Spiderman when my eyes wandered over to a few of the guys. Jordan, Max and Marc. Jordan made a heart shape with his hands, grinning while Marc smirked and Max placed his hands over his heart smiling looking up. I ignored their gestures and returned my attention back to Sidney.

Craig came back almost out of breath. “Thank you guys so much. I owe you. Were they good?”

“Extremely.” We both smiled. I handed Reese back his daughter and he pulled Reese back to him. They waved goodbye to us as Reese began yelling of how much fun he had and laughed telling his father.

I giggled lightly and smirked at Sidney. “See? Don’t you love children now?”

He half grinned. “Yea I think I do.”

“Now you can tell your future wife that you love kids!” I laughed.

He half shrugged. “Yea when I get a wife,” he voice sounded unconvincing and almost
uninterested.

I pulled down my sweater and cleared my throat. “Or you can just tell a date that you love kids,” I half joked, trying to make light of the conversation.

He shook his head. “There’s not a lot of time for dating for me.”

I tilted my head to the side. “So you don’t date at all?”

He took in a deep breath and looked in front of him at all the other conversations going on. “I guess I see no point in it.”

“What do you mean?”

He twisted his mouth, thinking, before responding. “I mean I see no pointing in dating someone when I would barely spend any time with them. I’m always practicing, doing interviews or on the road. I wouldn’t have any spare time to devote myself to a girlfriend. I’m constantly traveling and have a crazy schedule and the media goes crazy most of the time.”

I sighed. “What if the girl’s really amazing?”

“It would make it even worse. I would be horrible for putting a girl through that. She wouldn’t deserve being put through everything I have to go through. Especially when I rarely see her.”

“So you’re just going to be alone the rest of your life?” I asked, my tone growing more serious.

“It’s not like I want to. There’s just no way I can make a girl give up her life just because of mine. She’d have to sacrifice most of her life just for my career. That’d be selfish of me to make someone do that, when I’d give up nothing.”

I crossed my arms staring intently at his saddening face. “Wow, do you eve do anything for yourself?” I asked, my voice sounding judgmental and almost condescending. “Sidney, that’s the point of having a relationship. It’s giving up things, finding a balance between both your lives. You may not always like, but you do it if you really and truly care about the person.” I sighed. “Your whole life has been devoted to hockey. That’s been your entire life. You’ve given up friends, a childhood and still have little time to yourself. Your days are organized when you don’t even have a chance to be alone and just think. Don’t you think you’re entitled to an ounce of selfishness at least once?”

He stared down at the ice, not saying anything. I started to feel guilty for saying everything I said and grew uncomfortable. Had I said too much? Did I make him even angrier?

He finally inhaled deeply and looked up. “That day I made the goal in the Olympics or when we won the Stanley Cup. I had never felt better. Me feeling that way is my selfishness. I know that no one can ever feel the way I do. Everyone supports me and cheers for our team. Whenever we win a game and feel excited for the next one to come, that’s when I know it’s all worth it.”

The normal reaction of being impressed and endeared with his well said, and precise answer was gone. I was furious. He showed everyone out there he didn’t mind his life one bit. He looked past the criticizers and cruel hatred from others. He didn’t care about not having a personal life. Why? The wins. The game. It more then made up for it.

I had managed to keep my emotions quiet and composed myself. I looked down, arms still crossed and feeling almost relaxed. I sighed looking back up at him. I opened my mouth to say something when Peyton interrupted.

“Hey are you ready to go? I don’t want to leave you here alone and I have to shower and get ready to go out with Max,” she finished checking her phone looking up at me.

I stared at her, her question trying to register in my mind. I slowly nodded. “Yea I’ll be right there.”

She nodded. “Kay, I’ll be waiting outside.” She turned around and headed towards the exit.

I let out a breath of air still not having moved. I moved forward, not leaning against the benches anymore. “Bye Sidney.”

He nodded not smiling. “Bye Brooke.”

I started to walk before turning around and staring at him. “No one deserves to be alone. Even you.” I let out a small, sarcastic laugh and spoke seriously. “Especially you. You’ll find someone. Someone,” I paused, sighing. “Someone who will give up the world to be with you. To see you happy. To give you everything that’s been missing.”

He didn’t look up, but spoke in a low tone. “How do you know?”

I shrugged. “I just do.”

He looked up, serious as I walked away before he opened his mouth to say anything else.