She gestures toward the ice. The arena. The noise.
I follow her gaze across the rink where Gabriel glides through warm-ups, focused and controlled in a way that still surprises me sometimes.
“I think so. It’s different now that I’m watching Gabriel instead of just my brother. Totally different vibe for me,” I admit.
The truth is more complicated.
I used to sit in arenas like this as Mason’s sister. Someone visiting the team world from the outside.
Now I’m sitting as a wife.
With Gabriel’s daughter beside me.
With his name on the back of half the jerseys in the arena.
And somehow… it’s starting to feel normal now.
It feels right.
Maddie cups her hands around her mouth and shouts toward the ice.
“GO DADDY!”
Several nearby fans turn and grin.
“Looks like he has a fan club,” one of them says.
“He does,” I reply.
Maddie nods firmly. “I’m the president.”
We stand for the National Anthem and then I say to Maddie, "Here we go! Game time!"
The puck drops.
The game starts fast.
Skates carving across ice.
Sticks snapping passes back and forth.
The crowd reacting to every hit and near shot.
Maddie yells constantly.
“GO DADDY!”
“SHOOT!”
“NO THAT WAY!”
Annabelle laughs beside me.
“She’s coaching now.”
“She’s very involved,” I say.
On the ice Gabriel cuts across the neutral zone and sends a clean pass to a teammate.
