May 13th, 2009 – Vacation Day #3
We announced our engagement to Drew and Stacy at the bar we had agreed to meet at earlier, garnering hugs, kisses, congratulations and support. They both agreed to stand with us at our outdoor wedding that would be taking place in a vineyard right outside of Rome
Bright and early in the morning Emma and I headed out to the jewelry shops to find our wedding rings. The hardest part was not finding rings our size, but finding something that wasn’t too fancy for Emmy. Of course she wasn’t one to prance around with a big gaudy ring and I couldn’t really blame her. We talked about it and it was already decided that she would not be wearing her engagement ring to work for the simple fact it could easily be ruined.
She found a beautiful simple emerald cut diamond that was a little over a carat. This was actually bigger than I thought she’d go for, but I spotted the ring and drug her over to the case.
“Emmy, what do you think of this one?” I asked as I stared down into the case, looking at the platinum band with two simple grooves that intertwined themselves around the band.
She bounced up against my side and looked down to where I was pointing. “Hmm, I think I actually like that one…a lot,” she said as a smile brightened her face. “And look! I can get the wedding band that matches the intertwined grooves and it has some small diamonds dispersed throughout it. I think they look really pretty together.”
I looked up and nodded to the salesperson and he brought the rings out of the case so that she could try them on. The rings set each other off and they looked beautiful on her long fingers. She just looked over and smiled sweetly at me and pointed to the price tag that stated the set was $10,000 euros.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Are you sure?” she asked through her teeth, holding her funny smile.
“Um, yeah,” I answered, basically saying, “Duh.” “Don’t make me go into the money speech again. Besides, if I run out of money, we can just live off your salary.”
“THWACK!” as she slapped me across the stomach and forced her lips into a straight line to scold me quietly. Of course I smiled inside, still loving the fact that I could push her buttons. I ended up getting the matching wedding band to hers and we both left the store with big smiles of contentment on our faces. After shopping we were back out sight seeing. We wanted to make sure that even though we were getting married, we wouldn’t miss any of the sites we had learned about in our history classes.
Emma couldn’t find Stacy and Drew fast enough to show them her engagement ring. It would be the only day she would be wearing it as my fiancé, so I couldn’t blame her for being excited about it. I was kind of bummed that I wouldn’t be able to call her my fiancé for longer than a day, but it made a lot more sense to be calling her my wife.
My wife. Definitely like the sound of that one…
December 12th, 2009
“Kasyk!” Wagner yelled out as I was walking towards the parking lot to go home. I turned to find him chasing me down as steam poured from his head and mouth on the chilly fall evening.
I stopped walking so he didn’t have to keep running. “Yeah?”
“I think you forgot your keys,” he said breathlessly as he caught up to me with my key ring dangling from his fingers.
“Shit…thanks, I’ve completely lost my mind,” I mumbled as I took the keys from his hands.
“Are you feeling okay?” he asked worriedly. “You look really tired…”
I cut him off by nodding my head and putting my hands up, pleading him to stop. “I’d feel a lot better if people would stop asking me. It makes me feel like I look like the ugliest piece of shit walking the planet at the moment.”
He put his hand on my arm, “You look more beautiful than ever Emma; you are glowing and radiant.”
“You are just saying that,” I whined as I stomped my boot on the cold macadam.
“Since when have you known me to say anything I didn’t mean?”
I stopped to think for a moment, but he was right. As blunt as Wagner could be, he was most likely one of the most honest friends I’ve ever had, besides Patty, of course.
He pulled me into a warm, friendly hug as he whispered, “So do you believe me?”
I pouted a little as I answered, “Yeah, I guess so.”
“I’m just worried about you. You should really think about taking your leave of absence sooner than Christmas. I’m sure it doesn’t make things easy with Patrick on the road and you being home alone, pregnant. Plus, I know you’re busy getting things done around the new house…”
“Did Charlie tell you to talk to me?” I asked as I pulled back, out of his arms.
I watched as he put his hands in his pockets and kicked at the ground like a child that had just been caught doing wrong. “Maybe.”
I threw my hands up in the air and turned in a circle as I began yelling. “Jesus Christ! You guys need to get off it already!!! Yes, I’m pregnant and my husband is a hockey player who is on the road right now and I’m a firefighter, but my doctor says I’m cleared to still drive the trucks and just take things a little easier than normal. I’m fine. Stop harping on me or I will work up until the point this baby drops out onto the pump panel of the engine!”
I watched as Wagner cringed at the last thought as he probably pictured some bloody mess oozing onto the ground, but all I could do was hope that I drove the point home. “Besides,” I went on, “If you are all that worried about me being tired, then by all means stop over at my house and help me get some painting done!”
“Okay. Do you want to work on it tonight?” Wagner asked, looking like an excited puppy.
“Oh good grief, I was just kidding.”
“I don’t care if you were just kidding. I’m not, so what time do you want help?”
“Can you actually paint?”
“Yup.”
“Fine, be over at 7pm and I’ll have dinner there for you,” I said feeling like I was just conned into letting the guys have their own way. They had been harping on me for the last month to come over and help me with the new house, but I kept insisting I didn’t need help. However, it was becoming harder for me to do as many things and I knew I’d never get everything done in time if I didn’t have more help besides the weekend help Stacy gave me and the days that Patty didn’t have games.
“See you at 7!” Wagner yelled out as I turned and walked to my car, shaking my head. I climbed into the H2 that Patty insisted on me driving ever since we found out I was pregnant because he felt I’d be safer in the larger vehicle. I remember arguing with him that I was fine in the Escape, but he would not listen to me and I just finally gave in because in all actuality, I loved driving the gas hog. I turned over the engine, willing it to warm up quickly. As I sat waiting, I took a deep breath and smiled placing my hand protectively over my growing belly while the little one inside kicked me, reminding me that he or she was alive and well.
May 14th, 2009 – Vacation Day #4 – The Wedding in Rome
By 7am, Stacy and I were sitting in the ship’s hair salon getting our hair and make-up done by the really nice staff that volunteered to get into the salon early to take care of me on my big day. We had found two cute dresses to wear for the ceremony while we were out and about last night without the guys. Drew insisted on having a guy’s night out with Patrick so they could celebrate his last night as a bachelor, which meant Stacy and me were taking full advantage of our girl’s night.
Stacy’s dress a short skirted princess cut, strapless dress. It was satin and mocha in color with a thin cream colored sash around the waist. My dress was a replica of hers except that it was cream colored with the mocha sash. The formal wear place on the ship actually had mocha colored tuxes to match for the boys. I couldn’t believe our luck; it was looking more like this was meant to be all along. Stacy and I bought matching strappy heals that would put me at roughly the same height as Patrick and I was already smiling about that fact as I strutted around the store in them.
Stacy of course insisted that she sleep with me that night because of the age old tradition of the bride and groom not sleeping together the night before their wedding. I found it kind of silly, but it was nice to have a girl’s night together.
We ended up doing things I never had done growing up because I never had a best girlfriend. We painted each other’s nails and went out dancing for a bit on the ship’s discothèque. Then before bed we watched a chick flick, falling asleep after we cried our eyes out at the end of it because we were a little tipsy from the yummy Italian wine.
We went to breakfast after getting our hair done and then headed up to my room to get changed into our wedding attire. The cruise ship had two separate luxury cars to transport us, so that we wouldn’t see each other before the ceremony. I felt like I was being treated like a princess as we got into the car with the help of some of the ship’s crew.
It was an old winery with a gorgeous old mansion on the property. A ship photographer snapped what seemed to be a million pictures of Stacy and me as we finished getting ready. One of the ship musicians accompanied us and played acoustic guitar as I walked out onto the patio to the ship’s captain, Drew, and my husband to be. We even had a small audience of vineyard workers and the vineyard owners that had gathered to watch the ceremony. They were all very polite and smiled at me. However, I didn’t really notice all of them because the only person I could see was Patrick, staring straight back at me. Our eyes connected like they were tractor beams, pulling me down the aisle towards him. He looked like my prince charming in his tux, standing straight with his hands folded in front of him. His hair was neatly spiked and he was clean shaven, which always seemed to define his chiseled features even more. I always thought he looked down right sexy dressed up.
Everyone in the wedding party had cream colored kala lilies which also adorned the make shift altar. It was very simple, yet very elegant with the stunning Italian scenery in the background.
She walked out onto the patio and instantly our eyes connected. She looked like an angel. Her dress showed off her long, sexy legs and her breasts were pushed up slightly in the dress, creating a beautiful feminine picture. It reminded me of the night she showed up at the park for the prom, however tonight she looked even more beautiful. My stomach was in my throat as I felt my heart beating in my head. Finally, my dreams were going to come true and our fate would be sealed.
She came up beside me and smiled sweetly as she handed her flowers off to Stacy. The captain told us to join hands and face each other for our vows. I wanted to do nothing more because I just wanted to stare at her forever. The sun made her blonde hair shine like she was an angel. They had tamed her frizzy curls, somehow getting them to form perfect ringlets that framed her beautiful smooth, skinned face that had become golden brown in color from spending so many days on the lake. She had on a shimmery lip gloss that made her lips look like a juicy peach and her eyes were outlined in a shimmery cream colored eye shadow, making her blue eyes glimmer in the sun light.
I barely heard the words from the captain except when he said my name asking me repeat my vows to Emma that I will love and protect her. Tears formed in my eyes as I said the sacred words to her, meaning every single letter that formed the words. She also began tearing up when she spoke the vows, causing my heart to beat a hundred times faster as she slid the ring onto my finger.
When he said I could kiss my bride, I pulled her firmly against me and kissed her so deep and needful that she left out a sigh in my mouth. Our lips finally parted but we couldn’t stop staring at each other as everyone clapped and said their congratulations.
“I love you, Emma,” I whispered as I held her during one of the picture poses we were put into. “Thank you for making this the best day of my life.”
She turned and smiled at me as she joked, “I thought the day you were drafted into the NHL was the best day of your life?”
I laughed as I kissed her on the nose, completely ignoring the photographer. “Yes, I do remember saying that, but this tops it a million times over.”
“Just remember that when you win the Stanley
It turned out when we looked at our photo proofs the next day, our favorite picture was when I kissed her on the nose while she was sitting on my lap, having that conversation.
We celebrated that evening by tromping around and hitting as many bars in Rome
We had our first dance as husband and wife in this crazy discothèque that was right along one of the rivers in the city. It was outdoors and the atmosphere was something like nothing else I had ever experienced.
Metro Station’s Shake It came blaring over the speakers as I yanked her out onto the dance floor.
“You realize our first song as a married couple is about shakin’ our asses?” she yelled happily over the chorus as we jumped around on the dance floor.
“You realize that we have never done anything the correct way? So, why start now?”
“Ah, see that is where you are wrong!”
“Oh? How so?”
“We totally got this right,” she said with a smile that made her eyes sparkle as she pointed back and forth between us.
I stopped bouncing and said, “Heh, yeah, that you are right. And this…” I said as I pulled her close to me and kissed her. It instantly felt like we were the only two in a room of smelly Italians that were drunk and grinding on one another.
I wouldn’t change this for anything in the world.
June 2009
I slammed the door as I came into the cool apartment and dropped my gear bag onto the floor. I walked over to the couch and flopped down next to Patrick who was busy playing NHL 2010 on his PS3. He was in just a pair of running shorts and looking like a hot mess with his uncombed hair.
“Hey Babe!” he said, turning his puckered lips towards me but keeping his eyes on the flat screen.
I kissed him but grabbed his face, making him look at me just to get a rise out of him.
“Aaah!! They just scored on me!”
“Oh, you poor baby. It must be soooo hard to sit here at home and play video games online against Drew.”
“I’m not only playing against Drew; Booth is in on the game too,” he said as I watched his avatar skate around the ice.
“Booth?” I asked as I got up to get myself a glass of cold iced tea. It had been one hell of a day at work and it was un-naturally hot for a June day in Buffalo
“Yup.”
“Didn’t know you still talked to him,” I said with my interest piqued.
“We don’t really talk; I just play against him online. Why? You interested in meeting up with him again?” he asked with a wink and grin.
I pushed him over on the couch as I came back over to sit down. “No, thank you. I don’t need you two thumping chests again.”
He set down the controller and pulled me into a tight hug, kissing me on the cheek. He pulled back and said, “Oh! I almost forgot. Stacy called and said for you to call her when you are ready to work on the scrap book from our cruise. She also said something about making up some kind of collage, outlining our childhood years and such for the wedding. I’m thinking you’ll need to talk to mom for those pictures. All I have to say is noooo naked bathtub pictures!”
I was already giggling about it because I was already thinking of those pictures.
“I’m being serious about that,” Patty said, looking at my intently.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” I mumbled as I attempted to take a sip of my tea but failing miserably because I couldn’t keep my smile away. I ended up with some tea dribbling down my chin, onto my shirt.
“See!! You shouldn’t think of doing mean things like that because it only ends up with bad consequences!” he yelled as he pointed at me, now trying his hardest not to laugh.
“You are such a child!” I yelled back as I set my glass on the coffee table so that I could wipe my face on his shirt. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with two children in the apartment!” I said, laughing as I proceeded to grab at the bottom hem of his t-shirt and wiped my mouth on it.
“I’m a child?! What the hell?! Here you are wiping your face on my shirt…Wait! Stop!” he exclaimed as he pushed me away from his shirt and grabbed my by the shoulders so that I would look at him. “What is this shit about two children in the apartment? Is there something you haven’t told me?” he asked with a confused look on his face.
I sat back and looked at him shyly. I had realized the other day that I was about a week late with my period and decided this morning when I got up to take a pregnancy test. I was so nervous about it that I decided to wait until I got home to break the news. I knew he’d be excited, but I wasn’t 100% sure if I was completely excited about becoming a mother. After growing up with an abusive father, I was terrified I would fail just as bad has he did. I was scared that I wouldn’t be a good enough parent and I was afraid of what they were going to say at the firehouse. I would be the first pregnancy they would have to deal with and I was afraid they wouldn’t let me work.
Patrick snapped me out of my thoughts as he took my hands and looked at me worriedly. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
The tears sprung to my eyes without warning and I began bawling like I never had before. I mumbled on and on about how I wasn’t going to be a good mom and how I didn’t want to lose my job and how I didn’t want to burden him with a having a baby during the hockey season and how it was all my fault.
“Whoa!” he said loudly to get me to shut up for a moment. He had already pulled me against him and was running his fingers comfortingly through my hair. “Emma Kaleta, what would make you think you would not be a good mother? And seriously, why would you think you and our baby would be a burden to me? Good grief! Has this child already taken your brain away from you?” he chuckled at me. “We are gonna have a baby!” he exclaimed as he squeezed me tightly against him, kissing my hair and then my face as he brought it up towards him. “I hope she looks exactly like you!”
I sniffled and asked, “She? It could be a he, you realize.”
“Nah, we are having a girl,” he said plainly, like he knew it was fact.
“And how would you know this?”
“Because, I’ve already dreamed about her.”
“Huh. Well, I guess we will find out in 9 months…”
“Let’s make a wager. If it’s a girl, I get to name her. If it’s a boy, then you get to name him,” he said, smugly.
“Deal,” I said as I put my hand out in between us, making sure he shook on his bet.
1 comment:
Loved it. Their having a baby! Yay!I'm super excited to find out whether it's a boy or a girl. Great Update!
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