Sensing auras is something I’ve been able to do ever since college. It took a lot of practice and training, but I found a holistic chakra training class near my university in Colorado that changed my life. The instructor there became my mentor, and I have her to thank for the person I am today.
It’s something my peers in college would constantly make fun of me for. You’d think people would grow out of it, but I was always the weird girl who went to chakra training. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me back then. But here, in this moment with Sophia, I’m thankful for every minute I spent learning about mindfulness and auras because it helps me better understand what’s going on with a person. It’s helping me to know that, right now, Sophia is hurting, and she’s angry about it too.
We hold on to each other for so long, it’s not until the buzzer sounds signaling the end of the second period that I realize I’ve been holding Sophia for over ten minutes. The piercing sound causes us both to break apart, but I grab Sophia’s hands, letting her know that I’m still here with her.
“Why doesn’t she love me, Miss Sadie?” The crack in her voice matches the one in my heart. If I knew how, I’d take away all of her pain and carry it myself.
Choosing my words carefully, I choose to defend this horrible woman I don’t even know. I know enough to knowshe’s broken her daughter’s heart, but Sophia deserves to know that she’s loved, even if her mother doesn’t know how to show it. I remember what it’s like to feel this way about my own parents, and I don’t wish that upon anyone.
“Sophia, I don’t know your mom, but I can’t imagine anyone not loving you. You’re kind, funny, and give the best hugs.” Sophia’s lips turn up, hinting at a smile, so I continue, trying like hell to make that smile stick. “I think maybe she just doesn’t knowhowto love you. Maybe no one taught her how. I bet your dad teaches you how to love every day by showing you just how much he loves you, doesn’t he?”
The mention of Niko has Sophia breaking into a real smile for the first time since the start of the second period.Thank god.
“Oh yeah. My daddy loves mesomuch. Even when he’s super tired after work, he comes home and plays with me. He hangs all my pictures in the kitchen. He tells me how special I am every night when he tucks me into bed. He even lets me sleep in his bed when I get scared.”
I’m not surprised one bit to hear Sophia talk so highly of her dad. You can feel the love radiating off him whenever Sophia is near. I make sure to let Sophia know we can all tell how much he loves her too.
“He sounds like the best dad in the whole world.” Sophia nods her head vigorously, so happy and proud to talk about her dad. “When I came to your house on Thanksgiving, I didn’t even know you guys yet, but I could see how much your daddy loved you.”
“How?”
Thoughts of Niko on Thanksgiving flash through my mind. Much to my dismay, Niko didn’t take notice of me once that day. But I get it now. His eyes were locked on Sophia every chance he could get. I know this because my eyes always seemed to find him throughout the day. Hoping maybe his eyes would find mine. I guess I can’t be too mad now, knowingthat his daughter is the center of his universe. It only makes me like him more.
“I could tell because even when he was talking to his teammates or coaches, his eyes were on you and he was smiling. It’s like no matter what was going on, he wanted to be looking at you. That’s how much he loves you.”
Sophia bounces in her seat now, seeming to be much happier than she was five minutes ago when she was thinking about her mom who disappeared on her.
Note to self: If Sophia appears to be sad, just talk about how much her dad loves her.
I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble doing that.
My knees ache when I finally stand to take my seat next to Sophia. It’s so funny to me how kids can go from zero to sixty and back again in such a short period of time.
I’m grateful Sophia can bounce back from such a low moment so quickly, but seeing how devastated she was sits in the back of my mind as the players take the ice for the third period.
I don’t want to bring it up again, but this is definitely something Niko should know about. Thankfully, I told Sophia that we need to tell her dad the important stuff. Hopefully she agrees this is important.
The Bobcats have twenty minutes to figure out how to win this game, and I have twenty minutes to figure out how I’m going to convince a four-year-old we need to tell her dad how and why she was sad today.
This should be a fun third period.
There’s five minutes left in the third period and we’re down 2–1. We need every point we can get going into the playoffs next week. We’ve already clinched our spot, but we’re tied with Detroit in the standings as of right now. If we can figure out a way to tie this game up and secure at least one point, that would be great. A win would be even better.
“Let’s get it going these last five, fellas. Weneeda point today.” There’s a chorus of agreements thrown my way just as one of the Stars’ players takes a tripping penalty down at their end of the ice. Hell yeah. We have to take advantage of this power play and tie the game up.
Coach Ellie steps off the bench and stands down at ice level with the rest of us. “Okay, guys. Balls to wall the next two minutes on this power play. They’ve been pretty aggressive this game during their penalty kill, that means you need to keep your feet moving and support each other all over the ice. Niko, I want your unit out there to start us off. Try running that give-and-go play we’ve been working on out of the corner. Since they’re so aggressive, maybe we can catch them biting and create a two-on-one opportunity down low. Jefferson,make sure you keep your head on a swivel and pop out in front of the net if it works.”
We all respond with, “Yes, Coach,” before lining up for a faceoff in the Stars’ zone. As center, I take a look around to see where the Stars are all lined up and make sure my guys are in the right positions. I point over at Jefferson with my stick and tell him to position himself farther behind me. I’m hoping I can win the draw and he can take control of the puck.
I wait for the Stars’ center to put his stick down first, and as the ref lifts his hand to drop the puck I get my stick in place. If I time it perfectly, I can backhand the puck behind me right where Jefferson is lined up. The ref drops the puck, and just like I’ve practiced a thousand times before, I slap the puck backward to my teammate and we take control.
Coach Ellie was right. The Stars are flying out here and pressuring us left and right. If we can keep control of the puck, hopefully they tire themselves out from being so aggressive and make a mistake.
We cycle the puck down low a few times, the give-and-go play Ellie drew up not working quite yet. Thinking we might have better luck on the other side of the ice, I shoot the puck to Connor on the opposite side of the blue line.
My line works like a well-oiled machine. We all rotate to the far side of the ice and attempt the play on that side. It’s been over a minute of the power play now, meaning we have about sixty more seconds to try to tie this game.
I can sense the Stars’ defenseman getting tired. He’s starting to fall behind as we work another cycle in the corner. Jefferson passes it to me, and I take off around the top of the circle.
