#scheduling error

When you arrived at the arena, Carter had nearly fallen asleep on your shoulder. Chuckling softly, you rolled your shoulder to get his attention. Carter jolted a little, whacking his head against your chin. You both cursed softly. You heard Morgan chuckle and Joel scoff.

“‘M sorry,” Carter mumbled, stretching as best he could in the confines of his car. “I didn’t really sleep last night. I was too worried about you.” Blushing, Carter focused his attention out the window on the other side of the car. 

You felt your heartache at those words. The fact that Carter was watching out for you was heartwarming. Grabbing his jaw, you brought his head over to face you. You saw the blush creep along his face as you thumbed his cheek. Before you could kiss him, your door swung open and startled both of you.

“Way to be a cockblock, Farabee,” Carter said, glaring at Joel.

Joel chuckled. “Cockblock implies sex. If sex was going to happen in the back of your car in the parking garage of the practice arena… well. I’m glad I stopped it.”

You huffed, rolling your eyes at Joel. Morgan giggled from the front seat, unbuckling his seatbelt. 

“I’ll grab the wheelchair,” Morgan said, stepping out of the car. “Is Joel going to lift (Y/N) again? Or would Carter want to do it this time?”

Morgan unlocked the trunk, leaning in to grab the wheelchair. A moment later, he cursed. You, Carter, and Joel looked over your shoulders.

“You okay, Morgan?” Carter asked, stretching again. 

When you heard his back pop, part of you felt envious. You wanted desperately to feel that sensation again. To feel the rush of electricity flow through your nerve endings as you popped a cramped joint back into place. Unfortunately, a drunk driver had taken that away from you. Now, you had to suffer from the possibility that the fleeting feelings you got today when Carter and Joel touched you could quite possibly be the only feelings you ever felt in your lower half ever again. 

“Yeah, fine, fine,” Morgan said, closing the trunk with a thunk. “I whacked my head on the trunk latch.”

Joel scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Do you need to go to the training staff? Wouldn’t want you to have a concussion.”

Morgan appeared beside Joel a moment later pushing your wheelchair. “This coming from the guy who cried the last time he had sex.”

Turning red, Joel hastily walked toward the arena with an embarrassed look on his face. Morgan rolled his eyes, chuckling. Carter blinked, looking in the direction Joel had hurried off in and then back to Morgan. You noticed the cogs turning in Carter’s head; the same cogs were turning in your head.

Morgan locked the wheels on your wheelchair before leaning over you and unbuckling your seatbelt. You smiled at him, patting him on the chest. A look of pride washed across Morgan’s face as he scooped you out of your seat.

“Morgan?” You asked, still in his arms.

Yes, (Y/N)?” Morgan replied, slipping you into your wheelchair.

“Are you and Joel…?” You motioned between you and Carter, hoping that got the point across.

It seemed to have the desired effect because Morgan’s face turned eleven shades of scarlet and he stumbled a little with your final placement in your wheelchair. He mumbled an apology as he shifted you to sit properly. You smiled, squeezing his wrist. Carter appeared at that moment, squeezing Morgan’s shoulder as he closed the car door.

Morgan exhaled through his nostrils, glancing between you and Carter. He leaned against the car, putting his hands in his pockets. He cast his head down, looking at his feet as he kicked around a pebble.

“Yes,” Morgan whispered, looking back at you and Carter. His face was frightened, one on the brink of tears.

“Oh, sweetie,” you said, grabbing his wrists and rubbing circles into them.

“We won’t tell anyone,” Carter said. He smiled sincerely at Morgan. Morgan smiled back, taking his hands from your grip to wipe his eyes.

Morgan opened his mouth to reply but quickly snapped it shut when Kevin, Travis, and Nolan walked by. Nolan and Kevin kept walking, talking to each other; Travis stopped, raising an eyebrow. He walked over after a moment, motioning a circle around Morgan’s face. 

“You don’t seem happy,” he said. “Is everything okay?”

“Joel and I are dating and I’m scared about people finding out,” Morgan blurted before bringing his hands to cover his mouth. His eyes turned glassy with tears as he pushed Carter and Travis out of the way to run toward the arena.

Travis blinked, holding up a finger and leaving his mouth agape. He looked between you and Carter, face comically confused. You and Carter both shrugged, Carter going so far as to pat Travis on the shoulder.

“If he doesn’t want me to tell anyone, I won’t,” Travis said after a moment of palpable silence. The three of you started making your way toward the arena, Travis still looking confused. “That secret is his and Joel’s to let out of the bag.”

Carter hummed, smiling at Travis. You nodded along, thanking Travis when he held the door for you. You bid the boys farewell, Carter leaning down and kissing you as was his ritual before practice. 

You were left sitting in the lobby as the boys walked away; you never knew where you were supposed to go while you waited for practice to officially start. Your wheelchair jostled, making you jump a little. When you looked over, Ryanne was standing there. She was holding two coffees, one of which she offered to you.

“(Y/N), I had time to stop for coffee,” she smiled as you took the cup from her. “Claude didn’t want one today, so I decided to get one for you instead. Chai latte with vanilla, right?”

Nodding, you took a drink. It was still warm as you swallowed it. You made a satisfying sound and smiled at Ryanne. “Thank you! This is wonderful, Ryanne.” You raised the cup in salute.

Smiling, Ryanne raised her own cup in salute. “You’re welcome, hun. Carter beams about you so I thought I’d treat you today.”

You felt a blush creep across your body. Ryanne chuckled when she noticed the red tint rising on your face. She raised her cup in salute again, taking a drink.

“He really does love you, (Y/N),” she said as soon as she was done drinking. You cast a shy glance at Ryanne. “He’s talked about how caring for you has brought him a deeper appreciation for people with disabilities. He’s mentioned wanting to marry you and start a family with you. He’s said he’d love kids but it can be dogs instead if that’s more practical.”

Your entire face was ablaze with feeling; what made you the happiest was the butterfly sensation that had settled in your stomach. You grabbed Ryanne’s hand, squeezing it. She tilted her head, resting her coffee cup on the arm of your wheelchair.

“I…” you trailed off, squeezing your eyelids shut. You didn’t want to cry in the middle of the practice arena. Though, if you did end up crying, Ryanne was one of the few people besides Carter you were completely comfortable crying in front of. “I can feel butterflies in my stomach.”

Ryanne squeezed her coffee cup which caused some coffee to dribble out. It dribbled onto your pant leg. You cast her a sideways glance to which she gave you an apologetic look. 

“I’m—“ Ryanne started, moving backward toward the concession stand for a napkin.

“Don’t,” you said, holding your hand up. “I can barely feel the heat of the coffee.”

A soft smile spread across Ryanne’s face as she planted her feet back into the floor. She cupped the top of your hand with her free hand, squeezing graciously. You took a sip of your coffee, casting Ryanne a soft expression with your eyes the entire time. 

“When’s your next appointment? Dr. Owen needs to know all of this,” Ryanne said, squeezing your hand once more before moving her hand away.

“A couple of weeks. Carter was going to see if he could make one sooner because this was happening this morning, too.”

“Nonsense, (Y/N),” Ryanne scoffed, reaching into her purse. “You and Carter have enough to worry about. Let me change the appointment. What kind of wife of the captain would I be if I didn’t help the team when they needed it?”

Taking another drink of your coffee, you felt a mixture of warmth and butterflies spread in your stomach. It felt amazing to be loved by people that really only had to affiliate with Carter. You smiled at Ryanne as she stepped aside to call Dr. Owen.

While Ryanne was on the phone, you sat and contemplated what she had said about Carter. You already knew he loved you but apparently not the extent at which he did. Carter had never mentioned to you about wanting to marry you; then again, you had been having feelings about wanting to marry him and hadn’t mentioned them to him meaning you couldn’t hold that against him. There was also a part of you that was wanting to start a family with him and you were on board with either the children or dog option; both at the same time even appealed to you. 

“(Y/N)?” Ryanne’s voice snapped you out of whatever trance-like state you had been in. You took a sip of coffee, pleased that it was still somewhat warm. “Dr. Owen said she could squeeze you in tomorrow at noon. We don’t have a game tomorrow, so I can get Vigneault to excuse Carter from training.”

Nodding, you took another sip of coffee. Peeling at the label on the cup, you looked at Ryanne. “Did you mean what you said?” 

“About Carter being able to be excused from training?” Ryanne tilted her head, looking at you with a little confusion. “Yeah, why? Vigneault knows how much you mean to Carter. He’d let him out of anything for you.”

You felt your stomach swoop, heart quickening in pace. “I meant about Carter saying he loves me and wants to start a family with me.”

Ryanne’s expression softened. She rubbed the back of your shoulder, smiling lightly.

“Of course, (Y/N),” she said. “Carter gushes about you more than Claude gushes about the baby.” She grabbed your hand, placing it on her stomach. You felt the baby kick your hand, causing you to jolt a little in surprise. Ryanne chuckled. “Yeah, he’s feisty.”

You gave Ryanne a fond look before you finished drinking your coffee. You thanked her again for the coffee before you wheeled yourself to the garbage can to throw the cup out. Ryanne smiled at you as she walked to sit in her usual alcove.

Left sitting in the lobby by yourself again, you sighed. You now had the information that Carter wanted to marry you and start a family with you rattling around in your brain. It was rattling alongside the information that you wanted to do the same with him. 

You heard a shrill whistle cut through the air. Sighing again, you packed that information away for later. Having an internal crisis could wait.

Carter kept sneaking you glances between shots on net. He would make a save or two and then look over at you with a smile on his face. Each time, you would smile at him but viciously point back at the ice to tell him to focus. 

During the breakaway drills, Carter made some spectacular saves. You beat on the glass in front of you and cheered in a show of solidarity. A few of the guys looked in your direction. Kevin smiled, giving you a thumbs up. Shayne turned to Ivan, bringing his glove up to block his mouth. When Shayne dropped his glove, he and Ivan were laughing which made your stomach sink sharply. Shayne skated over a moment later and leaned on his stick.

“You know,” Shayne said, motioning his head toward Carter. Carter had just made another fantastic save on a shot Sanheim made from the left-wing boards. “The team has a bet going about how long it takes Carter to propose.”

You felt your throat go dry and your face heat up. “Ghost…” you choked out, coughing at the end to try to fix the awkward feeling in your throat.

“The prize is something special,” Shayne smiled and winked at you before he skated back to join the rest of the guys. 

You say there, head swimming with emotions. The only thing that brought you back to your senses was a puck slamming into the glass right in front of your face. You jolted, shaking the haziness out of your head. When you regained complete composure, you saw Joel looking sheepishly in your direction. Shaking your head, you rolled your eyes at him. 

For the rest of the practice, you tried to focus your attention solely on the drills the guys were doing and the missteps they were taking. You knew that Carter liked it when you were able to point out the flaws and what your opinions were on how to fix them. Even though you tried your best to do that, your mind kept trying to wander to what Shayne had said. You kept imagining various places Carter would get down on one knee, holding a ring and ask you to marry him. 

Another puck slamming into the glass brought you out of your fantasy land. This time, Brian was standing there holding his glove up in salute. You raised your hand in salute, sheepishly smiling. 

“Hey, (Y/N), is everything okay?” Brian asked, leaning against his stick. He flipped his mask up, allowing you to see the concern on his face. 

You had grown incredibly close to Brian because he had taken Carter under his goaltending wing. You knew everything you said to Brian was confidential and not even Carter knew half of the stuff you had divulged to Brian. Sighing, you fiddled with your hands before looking at Brian.

“Ghost said you guys have a bet about when Carter is going to propose,” you said.

Brian smiled, placing his blocker on the glass. You brought your hand up, placing it against his blocker. Brian pressed the glass lightly before retracting his hand. 

“Not exactly,” Brian said, putting his blocker back on the knob of his stick. “I don’t want to ruin anything but I will say that the team has been pooling together some money for a surprise for you two.”

You felt your stomach swoop with both anticipation and anxiousness. You nodded at Brian as he skated to have his turn at the drills. A moment later, Carter was standing where Brian had been. You lit up significantly, pressing your hand to the glass. Carter smiled, slotting his blocker against your hand. You both pressed in on the glass at the same time causing it to shake. You both giggled as you retracted your hands. 

Shayne caught your glance; he was vehemently shaking his head and pinching his lips together. You nodded, focusing your attention back to Carter. 

“What were you nodding at?” Carter asked, lifting his mask. His face was fond yet somewhat confused. 

“Ghost made a stupid face behind you,” you said, waving your hand dismissively to Carter’s left.

Looking over his shoulder, Carter stuck his tongue out at Shayne, giving him a stupid face. Shayne handed his stick to Ivan before using his fingers to make a Joker-esque smile with the corners of his mouth. 

You and Carter laughed as you focused your attention back to each other. 

“Vigneault excused me from the team training session tomorrow,” Carter said, placing his glove against the glass. You splayed your hand on the glass over the top of the glove, pressing softly. “He told me Ryanne managed to get you an appointment with Dr. Owen tomorrow afternoon.”

Nodding you dropped your hand to your lap. “Yeah. She wanted to pitch in and help because the team deserves help sometimes. She brought me my favourite coffee, too.”

Carter glanced toward the alcove Ryanne always sat in. She appeared to be deep in conversation with Claude and Brian. 

“(Y/N), I’m glad everyone is being positive about what happened,” Carter said, glancing back at you. “I’m not sure how I’d handle it if my partner—the love of my life, really—was faced with negativity from my closest friends.”

Your heart hammered in your chest and you felt your stomach swoop for what felt like the millionth time today. 

“Love…I’m the love of your life?” You whispered only wanting Carter to hear you. Bringing your hand up, you splayed it across the glass. 

Carter nodded, placing his glove against the glass. His smile was completely genuine when you looked at his face; his eyes were pure and sincere.

A whistle cut through the air, breaking the moment. Carter looked over his shoulder; when he looked back, his face had fallen.

“Somebody must’ve fucked up royally,” he said, dropping his glove from the glass. “They’re lining up for bag skates. Send positive thoughts my way. I don’t feel like dropping dead today.”

You wiggled your hands in front of you and chanted some gibberish. “There. Positive vibes sent.”

Carter pressed on the glass, making it shake roughly. “You’re a dork.” Skating away, Carter looked over his shoulder. “I love you, (Y/N)!)”

That statement echoed through the building. Everyone on the ice stopped from where they had been lining up to look toward you and Carter. Not seeming phased, Carter blew you a kiss. 

Normally, you would feel embarrassed that something so publicly affectionate had happened. After the realization you had in the car on the way to practice, you felt a sense of pride this time. Your body felt warm and gooey from knowing Carter loved you enough to scream his love for you while he was at practice with his entire hockey team. 

When you focused back on the ice, you noticed that everyone was still looking at you. You felt somewhat scrutinized but still proud of Carter’s confidence and declaration. 

Another whistle echoed through the building, grabbing the attention of everyone. As the guys lined up, you wheeled yourself to Ryanne’s alcove. She smiled and waved when she saw you, dropping some of the cheese sauce from her nachos on her shirt. 

You chuckled as you wheeled up beside her. Ryanne sheepishly smiled, wiping the mess up with a napkin.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I’ve been craving nachos like mad.”

You raised your hands in surrender. “No judgement from me. I’ve never been pregnant but I understand that pregnancy cravings are insane.”

Ryanne smiled before shovelling more nachos into her mouth. Some cheese sauce oozed down her chin and all you could do was roll your eyes and chuckle. Taking her thumb, Ryanne wiped away the excess cheese; she quickly slurped the cheese from her appendage. You made a stupid face at the grotesque sound and felt chills travel as far down your back as they were able.

“I heard Carter say that he loves you,” Ryanne said after gulping some of her pop.

“I think Sidney Crosby heard him,” you stated, feeling your face heat up. 

You heard the pop fizz beside you before Ryanne took another drink. She hiccuped before screwing the lid back on. 

“Fair enough,” she hiccuped again, covering her mouth with her fist. 

After a moment, Ryanne burped rather loudly. You looked at her, abject horror in your eyes. She brought her hand up, covering her mouth as quickly as she could. Her face turned bubblegum pink as she shrunk in her seat. 

“I didn’t mean—“ Ryanne was cut off by another loud burp. She brought her hand up to her face again, covering her eyes this time. 

“Ryanne, it’s fine,” you reached over and rubbed her back. You heard her sigh as she shifted in the seat. “You’re pregnant. Your hormones are all over the place. I can’t expect you to have as much control as m—“

You dropped your hand from Ryanne’s back, instead choosing to wring them along your pant legs. Ryanne smiled sympathetically. 

“Oh, hun,” Ryanne said, leaning over to wrap you in a hug. 

Tears pricked the corners of your eyes. You didn’t care what you had said to yourself earlier. You needed to cry. Dropping your head onto Ryanne’s shoulder you cried softly. 

It felt like an eternity before you felt comfortable enough to lift your head and pull back from Ryanne. She had a loving look on her face while she sympathetically squeezed both of your shoulders.

“It takes time, (Y/N),” she said, brushing some hairs that had stuck to your forehead away. “We’re all here for you and Carter. We’re the Flyers; everyone here is a formation. If one of us breaks formation, all of us break formation.”

You smiled, leaning over to hug Ryanne again. Ryanne hugged back, applying gentle pressure. You jolted when you felt sensation travel up your back. Leaning away from you, Ryanne had a look of confusion on her face.

“Is something wrong?” She asked.

You shook your head, allowing tears to stream down your face.