The Girl Next Door--Epilogue

Sure enough, Kate went home a couple of days later, and the rest of her summer went well. She kept working at the rink, and Sidney came down to visit, and then helped Kate and her parents move into Kate’s dorm at Pitt at the end of August. Her roommate was a bit shocked to see Sidney Crosby standing in her room (Kate hadn’t told her roommate, Anna, who she was dating), but she got over her star-struck episode quickly, and she and Kate became best friends. Kate’s freshman year went well, and Sidney’s sophomore season in the NHL was unforgettable, as he led the Penguins to the playoffs, as well as winning the Art Ross, Pearson, and Hart trophies. As he negotiated a contract extension that summer, he negotiated with Kate in mind, knowing she wanted to stay in Pittsburgh.
Kate was at the game when Sidney sprained his ankle. It had scared the shit out of her to see him go down and limp towards the runway like he did. She ran to the dressing room as he was pretty much carried down the runway. As she reached the dressing room, she was stopped and told to wait outside. As she waited outside for what seemed to be forever, she got call after call, everyone asking about Sid. “I know nothing,” she told everyone; it killed her that she didn’t know what was wrong. Finally, the team doctor came out and told her he thought it was a high ankle sprain, but they would have to do more tests in the morning. Kate got Sidney to his car, and drove him home. After the press conference he held saying he would be out for about six to eight weeks, Sidney was pretty upset for a few days, and that Friday night he got into a big fight with Kate; it began out of his frustration with being injured and ended with Kate yelling “Screw you!” and slamming the door. After not talking for almost two days (which Kate had spent crying her eyes out, and Sidney had spent moping around the Lemieuxs, not speaking to anyone), Sidney went to Kate’s and apologized for being an asshole, and she apologized for overreacting. It was their biggest argument to date (they had had a few small ones, like any normal couple), but after apologizing, their relationship was even stronger than before, and during his injury, they spent more time together than ever before, because he wasn’t traveling. As much as Kate liked going to and watching games with Sid, it was weird. It was nice to spend so much time together, but Kate wanted him back out there, because she saw how it killed him to not be playing.
Kate went to every single playoff game during the epic 2008 playoffs. She missed some school, but since she still managed to get all A’s (much to her own surprise), her parents didn’t mind. She was there to comfort him when they lost Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, even though she was a mess. She knew it would be the last time the team would play together; the team that had pretty much been a second family to her for so long wouldn’t be back next year. Sidney didn’t want to talk about it, so for a couple days, all Kate did was sit with him, hold his hand, and try to take his mind off of it. Not many words were said for a few days (Kate didn’t know what to say, and neither did Sid), but soon Sidney was chatty again and Kate knew he was okay.
Kate graduated from Pitt a semester early, in December 2009, and right before Christmas, she moved into the house Sidney had bought a few months before; he and Kate had picked it out together. A month and a half after her graduation, she headed to Vancouver with Sidney to watch him play in the Olympics, and watched him lead Team Canada to a medal. In March, she got a job working for NHL.com, writing press releases, as well as editing and writing stories. It was a job that allowed her to work from home, be flexible, and write while she followed Sidney wherever he was, and her articles received a lot of feedback from readers. That June, Kate watched with her parents, Neal and Allison (who were married two years before), the Lemieuxs, and the Crosbys in Mellon Arena as Sidney led the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup in nineteen years. Kate and the Crosbys greeted Sidney as he left the ice with his team, and Sidney ran over to Kate and lifted her off her feet in celebration. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he swung her around before he gave her a huge kiss. Kate had never been happier; she and the others partied with the team (which still included the core group from Sidney’s first few seasons in the NHL) until dawn, when she and Sidney drunkenly rolled into bed.
“I love you,” Sidney whispered in her ear as they pulled the sheets over themselves.
“I love you too,” Kate replied, giving him a kiss.
“Marry me, Katie,” he whispered.
Kate couldn’t respond; this had totally caught her off-guard. “We’re drunk,” she replied after she got over the shock. “If you’re serious, ask me when we wake up.”
*****
Kate woke up a few hours later to Sidney brushing the hair off her face, and a slight headache as well.
“Hey,” he gently said as he gave her a kiss.
“Hey,” Kate replied.
A minute later, Sidney asked, “Do you remember last night?”
“Oh yeah, the whole you winning the Stanley Cup thing?”
“After that.”
“Getting drunk?” Kate asked, toying with him, knowing exactly what he meant.
“You smartass. What I said to you when we got into bed.”
“I remember,” Kate whispered.
“I was, well I am, serious. Kate, I love you. I’ve loved you since the minute I saw you.” He sat up and opened the drawer in his nightstand, and grabbed something. Kate sat up too; she knew what was coming.
“I can’t imagine my life without you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, Kate, I’m serious. Will you marry me?” He flipped open the small jewelry box to reveal a gorgeous engagement ring.
“Yes!” Kate responded to the question she had known would come for a long time. She pulled Sidney’s body towards her and kissed him. After their long kiss, Sidney took the ring out of the box and placed it on Kate’s ring finger. They started kissing again, and both of them laid back down on the bed, but a minute later Sidney stopped.
“We have to get going,” Sidney said with disappointment in his voice. “We have to take the team picture soon.”
“Boo,” Kate replied, laughing, and taking another glance at her ring, which she absolutely loved.
“But we’ll pick this up later?”
“Well, obviously,” Kate laughed. “I think this,” indicating her ring, “means that we will.”
He gave her another kiss, and got out of bed, and Kate followed. Troy, Trina, and Taylor had all gone out, so they were alone in the house. They both got ready, and headed out, knowing they would be answering a ton of questions today, but that didn’t matter. They were both the happiest they had ever been, and today, even though it would probably seem endless, it would go down as the best day of their lives…so far.