47 - Sealed

“So, you wanna go up to Michigan for Christmas?”

Anna stared at Ryan, wide-eyed. She was sitting next to him at the annual Buffalo Sabres Christmas party, at the table with a few stray Sabres and their wives. Ryan patiently awaited Anna’s answer, one he’d been waiting for weeks to receive. It was December 15th, and the only day the NHL would have off was December 25th, Christmas Day. Ryan wanted to take Anna to East Lansing, to introduce Anna to the whole Miller family...and, Anna knew, to set things straight: let them know she was pregnant.

“I mean, if you’d rather go to Pitt-”

“No,” Anna said firmly, not wanting to even hear the word, “Let’s go to Michigan.”

Ryan broke into a smile, “Really?”

Anna smirked a little, “Yes, really...”

Ryan pulled her into a gentle hug, “This is great, Annie. Really.”

So, after the world’s longest road trip (at least, it felt that way to Anna, since she was still peeing like crazy), the dysfunctional couple found themselves driving through the snowy weather on the evening of December 24th, to the town of East Lansing, Michigan. The town when Ryan grew up.

It was around 4:00pm when the GPS started acting up.

“Ryan, it’s saying you missed your turn,” Anna perked up.

“I know,” Ryan replied, pulling from the highway and onto a country road, “Don’t worry.”

Anna did worry, of course. Where was he taking her, she didn’t know. Not knowing things often frustrated and scared her.

The car traveled to a wooded area near a small frozen pond. Ryan put the park in park and unlocked both doors. Anna frowned as he came to her side, offering his hand, “Come on. We’re here.”

“You live in a forest?” Anna joked, stepping into the snow.

“Not exactly,” Ryan said, closing the door behind her, “But, I spent so much time here, you might as well say so.”

Ryan gave Anna his arm, leading her towards the pond. A strange, crooked tree with a giant hole in the front leaned over menacingly. Anna edged away from the ice surface.

“Is it safe?”

“Hmm,” Ryan let Anna go and walked over to the tree, digging through the hole only to find, to Anna’s amazement, a dirty old puck, “Let’s see.” As though skipping rocks, he tossed it out onto the pond, “Yep, it’s solid. Follow me.”

“Are you crazy?” Anna screamed as Ryan bounded onto the ice, sliding on his side, “This could be dangerous!”

Ryan rolled over onto his back, “Come on in, the water’s fine!”

Anna sighed, “Ryan, I’m pregnant.”

“So?”

“So...I’m not coming out there.”

Ryan sat up and cocked his head at her, some of his dark hair peeking out from beneath his blue toque, “Fine, leave me to make snow angels all alone.”

Anna groaned, “Ugh, for shit’s sakes...”

Trudging over the sticks and frozen pussy willows, Anna stepped onto the frozen pond and felt the familiar shift of the ice. She took a breath, feeling like her childhood was coming back to her. Anna herself had played pond hockey with the boys growing up, and it was some of the best memories she held. Letting Ryan hold both her gloved hands, they began to smile as the snow began to fall down.

“This is the place my dad taught me to skate,” Ryan explained, “I was two years old. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

“Instant prodigy, skating like a pro?” Anna guessed.

Ryan chuckled, “Yeah, right. Fell flat on my face.” He shook his head, “Got right up, though. I wanted to learn right away. I was stubborn.”

Anna laughed, “You still are.”

“Touche,” Ryan shrugged, “Well, this place means a lot to me. When Drew was old enough he came out here with Dad and me. We’d play until it was dark. Or until Mum would rush out and call us for dinner. It was great.”

He paused, reaching out to brush a few snowflakes from Anna’s hair. She shivered.

“Anna, I’ve got to ask you something.”

Anna watched a snowflake fall and land on his nose, “Uh, sure.” She was tempted to plant a kiss to make it melt.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you for some time now,” Ryan said, letting go of her, “I want things to work. I mean, I want everything for this baby. I want to be a good father, and I want to provide. I want us to have a family.” Anna felt her stomach jump into her throat as Ryan opened a small box, revealing a diamond ring, “If I do something, I make sure I do it right.”

Ryan dropped to one knee, “Anna Evans, will you marry me?”

She was speechless. Here she was, with the guy she’d had a crush on for two years, carrying his illegitimate child, standing on a frozen hockey pond in the middle of Michigan. In the past few months she’d spent time worrying like crazy, had some amazing nights in his bed, puked her guts out AND lost her best friend. This was all happening so fast, it was such a whirlwind.

But then, Anna thought of Ryan’s upbringing. Dean and Elise were kind, respectable parents. Ryan had been raised to do things the ‘proper’ way, so in his mind, if a baby was made, a marriage had to be created before or after. Anna thought of the disapproval of Ryan’s family upon hearing they were only a couple for the sake of the child, and how Drew would surely use this against her. Despite the success of the Catwalk for Charity, she still wasn’t 100% in his books.

There was too much at risk here. She had to do it.

“Yes.”

Ryan’s lower lip trembled, “Yes?”

Anna nodded, “Yes, Ryan Miller, I will marry you.”

Ryan pressed his lips to Anna, wrapping his arms around her as he engulfed her into a powerful kiss. She felt like melted into him. Ryan’s smile was brighter than any of the snowflakes that were falling, and for a minute, Anna felt like what she was doing was almost genuine.

She only wished those feelings, those emotions, and most of all, those three words, would stop getting in the way. The stupid thing was, she felt like everything would be ok if Ryan felt the same.