fire & ice

BIOGRAPHY !

Nothing was known about the birth of a young baby boy relinquished to a hospital in San Diego in the middle of a gruelling gusty day in October—perhaps ending up in the arms of a young nurse was some sort of indication of his later life, but on that fateful day the biggest question was making sure he was safe. He was named Nicholas—after the nurse that first laid eyes on him. After getting the clear from the hospital, Nico was sent to a local foster home. Being eighteen months when he was adopted by the Mackenzie's, he does not have any memories of his time at the foster home, but he was well taken care of by the family.

Nico was never a perfect kid, but he was loved greatly by his parents. Like many children his age, he was very curious about the world around him. His parents were supportive of him—which helped cultivate a positive relationship among him and his siblings. Nico was proud to be the older brother, to make sure they were all safe and happy. He was enthused to be the head duckling on the motley crew that was his siblings. While he was never the perfect child, he was healthy and happy—and that's all his parents could ask for him.

He got into hockey when he was eight and quickly fell in love with the spot. Introduced by a friend when he was over at their house after school, Nico loved how quick and messy the sport could be—while also enjoying the cool air of an ice rink. Nico expected his parents to say no, but they both agreed to let him play, signing him up to play with a local league. Even at a young age, he worked hard to develop his skills on the ice—and eventually took his travel league to the championships. By the time he reached high school, his entire life was taken up by hockey, being part of both his high school team and a local travel team. He gained the attention of scouts from all over the country.

Despite professional teams sending offers, Nico decided that he'd rather go to college and hone his skills before joining any professional team—hoping that it would help hone his skills. He went off to play for Boston College and major in sports management. School had never been his strong suit, but he'd always tried to succeed in everything that he tried. It took a little bit of an adjustment, but after the first year at college, Nico started flourishing. His grades may not have been all passing, but he did well enough. The plan was to graduate and hopefully get drafted into a minor or professional league. Until junior year, Nico got into a really bad incident on the ice that left him with three broken ribs and a shattered arm.

While Nico wanted to get better and get back to playing hockey as soon as possible, he did decide to take his recovery seriously, but he was in a lot of pain. Though he rested, the recovery was starting to get too slow. When he was eventually dropped from his college team, Nico heard about an experimental procedure that could help him with recovery and lost without hockey, he tried it. It helped, but it was still going to be a long process to recovery. Nico struggled with both the pain and depression, so he turned to pills to help with his recovery, knowing if there was any chance he could return to hockey he would.

After two years of struggling with addiction and still feeling like he had no prospects of a steady job, Nico was twenty four and felt like he was at his all time low. He made his way back to Aurora Bay and his family. Although he'd always been close to them, it was weird being back because he'd wanted to be independent and he'd been keeping them at a distance—not necessarily avoiding them, but not telling them anything either. When he came back it was clear that he was not in a good place. He wanted to keep the worst from those he cared about—and in doing so, he destroyed his own health. He knew that he wanted to be a good role model for his siblings and felt like a failure, so he quietly checked himself into rehab.

Nico worked on a more holistic way to manage the pain in his shoulder and ribs and slowly began to let his family in again, especially when his dad was diagnosed with cancer. Nico had enough to deal with on his own, but he wanted to be there for his family. He made sure to be there for every one of his sibling's events, every soccer game Sage played, everything his younger siblings did. Nico knew that there was tension with some of his family members, but he damn sure was going to do his best to be there for them when it mattered the most.

After his dad's diagnosis, Nico decided that he didn't want to rely on his family's money anymore, got a job at the bookstore while he worked to become a paramedic. The medical field, while he knew could be potentially difficult as a recovering addict, was important to him after the issues he had as well as his dad. He's been working as a paramedic for the past five years and loves it. He's in a much better place than he was even two years ago. There's a part of him that misses the thrill of hockey and he's been toying with the idea of coaching a team around Aurora Bay.

HEADCANONS !

To be written

CONNECTION IDEAS !