by Kat Mizera
Coach Barnett, his wife Andra, Dom and Cody had all flown in for the service and they were staying close as well. Sergei seemed oblivious, somewhat zombie-like as he tried to talk to everyone who’d come. Pictures of Tatiana were on easels around the room and Sergei carefully avoided them, as though just looking at her was too painful for him to endure.
“I’m worried about him,” Brad said under his breath. “I know he’s grieving, but I’ve never seen him like this.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to leave him,” Toli admitted. “I can stay for a little while, perhaps, but my shoulder is healing well and the doctors say I’ll be ready for hockey by the end of October. I don’t know what to do.”
“If I could get him on the team, I would,” Brad said. “I just don’t know where we’d put him. We’d have to get rid of somebody and we’ve already done all the off-season trades we were interested in.”
“You could trade me,” Cody chuckled. “Suze would be really excited to move back to Boston.” The sarcasm dripped from his voice and Brad laughed.
“You’re not taking my grandchildren anywhere,” he said. “So shut up.”
“I know you’re worried about him,” Andra said quietly. “But I think you staying here will hinder rather than help. You’ll be a crutch and by taking care of Nikolai, he won’t have to function. Especially if he doesn’t go back to hockey immediately. My suggestion would be to force him to get back on his feet. Self-preservation will take over. It’s only been a few weeks, so right now he’s still allowed to be off-kilter. Now that there’s been a service—a formal goodbye—I think he’ll turn a corner.”
“I hope so,” Toli sighed. “I’ve never seen him like this.”
“We’re going to get him drunk tonight,” Dom said firmly, glancing at Tessa. “Do you mind taking care of the kids while we do a guys’ night?”
“Absolutely not,” she nodded. “I’m in first trimester hell anyway—by 9:00 my eyes are closing.”
“You’re incubating a Petrov,” Toli teased, kissing her. “It takes a lot of energy to create perfection.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay, let’s see how you feel when there’s no dinner at night and you’re doing your own laundry.”
He chuckled. “I did all of that before I met you, sweetheart. I’ll survive.”
The gathering was over in a couple of hours and a group of them headed to Sergei’s house, which was now overflowing with flowers, baskets of fruit, cheese, wine and candy, and casseroles and desserts of every flavor. Every kitchen counter was covered as well as the dining room and parts of the living room. Tessa and Andra worked on getting some of it put away while the kids napped and the guys gathered in the living room. Sergei paced restlessly until Brad approached him.
“Son, what can we do?”
Sergei shook his head. “Nothing. The love of my life is gone and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’ve got this little person in the other room who needs me but all I can think about is how he’s not even going to remember her. It fucking sucks.”
“It takes time, Sergei. I didn’t think I’d ever get over losing my son, but eventually the pain becomes a dull ache and, if you surround yourself with love and family and happiness, you get through every day. Sometimes you even forget for a little while.”
Sergei sighed. “The only love I have now is my son. My family is far away and I don’t think I know what happiness is without her.”
“Get back to hockey, Sergei. Being physical with your body and focusing on your career will be good for you.”
“Maybe.”
“Is it too early to start drinking?” Dom asked casually, holding up two beers.
“Never!” Toli took one from him.
“I guess not.” Sergei took the other.
“I’ll get more,” Brad said, heading for the kitchen.
An hour later, the men were definitely tipsy and an epic Xbox competition was going on. Though Brad had never played in his life, he fumbled through pretending to know what he was doing, making Sergei laugh at his ineptness. Toli hadn’t played in a while so he allowed his brother to beat him while Dom and Cody gave him a run for his money.
“Don’t you two have families?” Brad grumbled as Dom and Cody fought to the bitter end, shouting and cursing at each other.
“Well, yeah,” Cody laughed. “But sometimes there’s nothing else to do in hotels and we play on our computers. It’s not Xbox, but it’s similar, so we keep our skills honed.”
Brad rolled his eyes. “Maybe you all need drills at night.”
Dom stuck his tongue out at him. “Yeah, okay, Coach. We’ll run drills at 1:00 a.m. so we can be fresh for practice at 10:00.”
Brad arched his brows. “You’d better be asleep at 1:00 a.m., not playing games!”
“The only other option at 1:00 a.m.,” Cody said patiently, “is women. I think that would be a much bigger problem than gaming.”
They laughed and joked, and Sergei seemed to relax for the first time, though his eyes got heavy after a six-pack of beer. When he fell asleep on the sofa, gaming controller in his hand, the other men quietly slipped out and into the kitchen.
“I’m going to talk to Lonnie,” Brad said. “Maybe we can find a way to get him to Vegas. It can’t be immediately, but maybe after the new year. There are a couple of guys we could let go. Matt Forbes is a pain in my ass and his numbers are low.” He mentioned a few others and talk soon turned to the upcoming season and the beginning of training camp. They didn’t even notice when Sergei ambled in, after a two-hour nap, and was standing in the doorway listening.
“I miss this,” he said suddenly, startling them.
“You’re up!” Dom grinned. “Come sit down.”
“What do you miss?” Brad asked, meeting the younger man’s gaze.
“Playing with you guys.” He glanced at his brother. “I know you’ve talked about how much you love playing in Vegas, and I just figured it was because it was a good team. Now I see that it’s because it’s this team, with these guys, this coach. It’s a lot like what we had in college, you know? Except with money.”
Cody chuckled. “It’s better than college, my friend. It’s the best damn job in the world and I play with some of the best people I know.”
“But the money is pretty fantastic,” Dom added.
“I wish I was there with you guys,” Sergei admitted.
“Talk to your agent,” Brad said quietly. “I can’t make it happen right now, but we can work on it for the second half of the season. If you want to come to Vegas, though, you can’t slack off. You need to have a hell of a season so I can justify asking for you and trading someone else. You know how complicated this is.”
“I don’t have anything to do except work out and play hockey,” he said. “I have Nikolai, of course, but I’m going to figure that out. I’ll find a nanny so I can focus on hockey. I think the best place for me is with my brothers.” He looked from Dom to Cody to Toli.
“I’ll do my best, son,” Brad said carefully. “But I can’t promise.”
“I know.” Sergei nodded. “And I appreciate it. I appreciate all of you—for being there for me, for coming to the service, and for the years of friendship. Not a lot of men have friends like you.”
“We’re not just friends,” Cody said softly. “We’re family. And this is what family does.”
“Thank you.” Sergei swallowed hard. “Knowing you’re there for me is what’s gotten me through the last few weeks.”
“No matter where we are, we’re only a flight away.” Dom put a hand on his shoulder. “You know that.”
There was a moment of silence until Andra stuck her head in. “Anyone hungry? There is a ton of food.”
“I could eat,” Sergei said, nodding. “I’m starving.”
“I’m always starving,” Dom muttered.
“Then get out of the kitchen so we can make this happen. I heard a certain old man I know got his ass kicked at Call of Duty,” she murmu
red. “It might be time for a rematch?”
“Old man?” Brad scowled.
“That’s what I heard,” she shrugged.
“Rematch,” Cody nodded. “Absolutely. I love kicking my coach’s ass.”
Brad eyed him. “You realize I determine your practice schedule?”
Dom pretended to swallow nervously and nudged Cody with his elbow. “Shut up, man.”
“You’re not my coach,” Sergei shrugged.
“Not yet,” Brad pointed out.
“Shit.” Sergei grimaced.
“Damn skippy.” Brad huffed into the living room, a look of mock determination on his face.
“We’re so gonna kick his ass again,” Toli whispered, following.
“Oh, yeah,” Cody nodded.
“Damn skippy.” Sergei smiled for the first time in weeks.
Toli had been wondering how to bring up what had happened in Russia to Anton, but it seemed like there had been too much going on. Today he was driving him to tryouts for the team in Reno and they had a long time in the car to talk. He just wasn’t sure what to say. Anton wasn’t quite 17 but because he’d gone to private school, he was starting his senior year of high school. It felt like he was so much older than 16 and Toli sometimes forgot that he was still a kid; he felt a little guilty about it.
Glancing over at him, he thought about how to start the conversation and finally just sighed. Anton looked at him with a frown. “You okay, Dad?”
“Yes.” Leave it to Anton to be worried about him, instead of the other way around. “I just wondered how you’re doing after everything that happened this summer. I know you seem okay, but you have to feel something about it all. People got shot, you saw people die…didn’t any of it bother you?”
Anton stared straight ahead, thoughtful as he considered what to say. “I don’t know,” he admitted finally. “When you got shot, I was really scared. I can’t even imagine losing you, Dad—so when you were okay I felt like it was over. I was under the table when Marco got shot and I didn’t see anything except you when we all came up. Then we went to Russia and it was nuts. You and Tessa were fighting, I got kidnapped, and Tatiana…” His voice trailed off and he was momentarily thoughtful again. “I don’t know what to say. I never liked her. She was kind of cold whenever I saw her, and the older I got the more I understood that you and she didn’t have a good relationship. When she showed up in that warehouse and said that she’d always adored me I felt kind of bad, like I’d misjudged her…”
“And then she shot her father and one of his men killed her,” Toli filled in quietly. “It seems like you should talk to someone about what you saw. A therapist maybe. It can’t be healthy for you to witness murder like that and feel nothing.”
Anton shook his head. “Maybe next summer. Right now, I don’t feel anything but relief that we got out of there and that I still have you. I kind of don’t want to talk about it.”
Toli nodded. “I get it, I honestly do, because I feel the same way, but I don’t think it’s healthy at your age. I’m a lot older and I think I can process it better, but for you it had to be scary or disgusting or sad or something?”
“All of that,” Anton admitted. “But I had to tell Mom the story a hundred times on the phone, so right now I just want to start school and think about hockey. I promise, if I start to get freaked out, I’ll call you.”
“By then it will be too late,” Toli said gently. “How about a compromise?”
“Okay.”
“We won’t do anything right now, but your first break—whenever you come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas or whatever, you’ll see someone?”
Anton looked away but nodded. “Okay. I’ll do that.”
“I need your word that you’ll come to me, Anton.” Toli reached over and clasped his shoulder. “I mean it—if you start to have nightmares or find yourself getting easily agitated or you can’t concentrate—you’ll call me.”
“I promise.”
“Okay.” Toli paused and decided not to press it. Anton had agreed to see someone and for now he would let it go. To date, Anton had always been honest with him so he would give him the benefit of the doubt. “So. Between the injury last season and the craziness over the summer, is your head back in the hockey game?”
“Definitely. I worked out with you and Zakk most of the summer, and he, Dom and Cody had me busting my ass the last week. I think I’m ready. I don’t know how good these guys are, but I’ve got your genes—they can’t be that much better than me, can they?”
Toli laughed. “Well, yes and no. I don’t think you should take anything for granted and you’ll need to work as hard as you’ve ever worked to make the team, but yes, I think you have a lot going for you.”
“I’m kind of nervous,” he said after a moment.
“Of course. It’s only natural.”
“What if I choke?”
“You won’t.” Toli smiled. “You’re a Petrov, remember? You stood up to the Russian mafia and told them you weren’t leaving that damn warehouse without me—I think you’ve got this hockey stuff under control, son.”
Anton smiled back. “So, you think there’ll be any girls in Reno?”
Toli chuckled. “For a kid like you? I’m positive of it.”
Epilogue
Six weeks after the wedding, everyone gathered at Tiff and Zakk’s house for the reception Toli had been adamant they would have. Tiff had ordered a cake identical to the one that had been at their original reception, and Brad had brought over all of the gifts that he and Andra had taken home that night and subsequently kept hidden all this time. Tiff and the four bridesmaids that lived in Las Vegas were wearing pale pink summer dresses and the guys agreed to wear matching pink polo shirts. Tiff hadn’t been able to replicate Tessa’s bouquet, but the original florist came up with a cheaper version that was similar and Kate had found the garter she’d been wearing.
Though Erin was still weak and would have to spend most of the party on the couch, she and Drake were there early helping to make sure as many details as possible had been replicated. The house was filled with the same types of flowers and candles, and she’d gotten the music that Tessa had planned to dance to, so there would be a first dance, a bouquet toss and cake cutting. There was even a professional photographer to capture every moment.Although all 350 guests were not invited, the entire Sidewinders team was supposed to be there.
Now five months along, there was no denying Tiff’s pregnancy, though she seemed to carry it all in a round little bump in the front. From behind, you couldn’t even tell she was pregnant, and she’d finally begun to relax and actually enjoy both her pregnancy and the idea that she and Zakk were building a new life together. Watching Toli and Tessa go through their struggle had reminded them that they were still new too, and they needed to make sure they stayed in touch with each other’s needs and feelings. They were talking about going to couples counseling too, but more in a preemptive way. They hadn’t had any issues, but neither had Toli and Tessa, so this had reminded them that nothing good was ever easy.
The guests had all arrived 30 minutes earlier than the newlyweds were supposed to get there because they had no idea what was really going on. Toli and Tessa thought it was just an end-of-summer cookout celebrating the upcoming season and that their close circle of friends would be there. Instead, the team had all pitched in to pay for everything as a belated wedding present for them. They had limos picking up and dropping off guests so that the only cars in the driveway would be Tiff’s Mercedes, Zakk’s truck and Drake and Erin’s SUV.
“They’re here!” Zakk let out a sharp whistle to get everyone’s attention. “I need everyone to back into the family room and we’ll send them in, okay?” With a grin, he ushered everyone into the room and motioned for them to be quiet. There were giggles and laughter as everyone pushed as far back into the room as they could, which was quite a feat considering there were more than 50 people there.
Zakk and Tiff headed to the do
or, opening it with broad smiles.
“Hey!” Tessa looked up with a happy smile, holding Raina’s hand as they walked up the front steps.
“Hello, hello!” Toli was back to his usual jolly self. He wasn’t even wearing his sling anymore, and had been going to rehab for two weeks already. He was determined to be ready for the start of the season in October, even if he wasn’t quite ready for training camp next week.
“Hey, man, good to see you!” Zakk clapped him on the back. “Come on in.”
Zakk and Tiff stayed back as they shut the door, letting Toli and Tessa walk ahead into the main part of the house.
“Surprise!” A chorus of voices yelled out as they rounded the corner and Tessa jumped, nearly stumbling into Toli’s arms.
She burst out laughing and Toli shook his head, looking over at Zakk. “This was not nice!” he said with a chuckle. “You scared my wife!”
“How else were we going to pull off a do-over of your reception?” Tiff asked softly.
“Really?!” Tessa let out a little squeal and hugged her friend tightly. “Thank you—I love you!”
“I love you too!” Tiff whispered. “Come on—let’s go celebrate!”
Bottles of champagne came out and everyone got a glass. Anton, who’d been able to get away from school for just two days, raised his glass once everyone was ready. As the best man, he would have made the speech at the reception, so they’d asked him to do it tonight instead. He let out a sharp whistle that made everyone in the room turn, and he stood up, looking around at the now familiar faces.
“I was supposed to make a speech last month,” he said slowly. “And I never got the chance, but in a way that’s not such a bad thing. I was nervous at the wedding, and even though I’d written a speech, I didn’t know exactly what I was going to say. Tonight, I actually do.