Chapter 373: Danny XXXVII—The Plan

Joe had promised to take care of Cecile but this was ridiculous, Dan thought looking at that bench and seeing those two laughing with each other as if they were blood relatives or, or something closer. Dan grit his teeth into his mouth guard, it’s not that he wasn’t happy that Cecile already had two goals which was a helluva lot more than he had now, it’s just that… Dan’s chest wheezed, he knew it, no way in hell he could leave this game with no goals and Cecile to josh him over it. Oh God the last thing he needed was to have her with a newfound love for hockey, asking him after games, well why couldn’t you score that goal there?

Debbie looked at him with wide, angry, worried eyes and she blatantly asked him to make things better. Guilt and elated protective instincts blossomed in Dan looking at Mrs. Sakic and he realized that although Joe had more than delivered on his promise concerning Cecile, Dan hadn’t with Debbie. Dan squinted down the ice, looked at Patrick’s net, then he looked back at the women and it hit him. Michele’s eyes were calm, amused, and pale and then he looked back at Patty. The plan formed neatly in his mind and he felt like a veteran amongst rookies as he delivered his plan.

“Oh that’s silly!” Michele exclaimed with a giggle that cut him to his marrow. “It’s too simple; no one would ever fall for that.” She didn’t even look impressed in the slightest and Dan really didn’t know why that bothered him.

“Well do you have anything better in mind?” Dan snapped and he felt his cheeks redden. He felt stupid now, his plan did feel childish and simple, and he felt oafish for losing his temper suddenly at a charity game of all things!

“Hey it sounds great to me,” Debbie grinned, “I can’t wait to put it in action.”

And Dan’s world suddenly brightened again. How could it not when Mrs. Sakic gives you a stamp of trust and approval? “Be ready, next shift we’re gonna make it happen.”

“Unless you don’t think you can do it?” Dan whispered into Michele’s ear.

Michele giggled and looked at him, a face sparkling with girlish glee. “And why wouldn’t I want to do anything that you’ve thought up? It’s a wonderful plan, Daniel; let us see it work yes?”

He couldn’t tell if she still teased him or not so he hated the defensive tone in his voice. “Hey, it’s just for one goal, it’s not like I think it’d work every time, I just think it’s worth a shot.”

Michele half grinned. “It’s wonderful.” She looked at the ice and Dan looked at her profile, at the sweat that glistened on the side of her throat and cheeks, and he felt something deep inside, something not very nice. He frowned. Something different that what he felt at the touch and taste of Cecile, with her he just wanted to confirm love for her. But now, he wanted something different looking at Michele, he had a phantom taste on his tongue, salty and almost carnivorous.

The next line out was Mike Keane with Josefina and Peter, Jo’s dream of a “red head” sandwich indeed realized. Dan leaned forward watching with interest how little and afraid the Better Half in the defensive paring looked, compared to the tall, willowy confidence displayed by Jo as she dodged a half hearted check from a Team Burgundy goon and instead of passing the puck to Peter she flicked it to Keane. Within the moment, Keaner chucked the puck at Patty who swiped at it and missed. Another goal, another light the crowd cheered, but not as loudly. Dan grinned as Patty shook his head in disgust. Either the crowd didn’t care for Patty being scored on, or they didn’t care as much after the excitement of a girl scoring, or they were a little disenchanted with all the goals, or all of the above.

“Hey they’re pretty hockey savvy crowd eh? Who says we don’t have good fans!” Adam Foote said. “They want to see some actual goaltending; they’re tired of all these stinking goals.”

Dan nodded. “Yup seems that way. But we’re gonna give em some more offense, right ladies?”

“Damn straight!” Debbie crowed picking up her stick and shaking it a little.

Dan’s heart stopped for a moment when his turn on the ice came up again. At each side he had the wife of his veteran teammates; they were treasures in his keep. They counted on him and his silly plan and he had to deliver. He wanted to dash forward with the puck after the face off and then he remembered that they couldn’t possibly skate as fast as he could.

None of that mattered however, because they were matched against Scott Parker and Rob Blake and a feisty Rory. Most of their time on the ice got spent in the neutral zone scrambling and pushing for control of the puck. The hardest thing for Danny and he assumed for all of the men on the ice had to be that the women were seemed to be so energized and aggressive, but there was no way for them to really hold them completely in check. What kind of disaster would ensue if someone actually laid a heavy check on one of these girls?

“Oh I’m dying,” Michele gasped. “When do we…” She couldn’t even finish it before doubling over and breathing.

Dan grinned. “It’s off the ice for us.”

“Oh shoot me!” Debbie groaned as they tumbled into the bench. “Really, my legs are mush!”

“Eh just think of it as heavy cardio,” Josefina grinned. “It’s good for us.”

“Slow death, that’s not good for us…” Another wife moaned. “Oh this better be shrinking my ass I swear! It wasn’t this hard in practice!”

“Hang in there munchkin,” Keaner grinned.

“Oh look there’s the power couple again,” Josefina muttered.

Danny looked onto the ice and saw that Joe and Cecile had made their return both of them skating in stride, no doubt Sakic slowing it down for her, and looking as if they owned the rink. Of course no one made a real move to hinder Joe or Cecile, and the two scrambled in and out amongst the players, Dan noticed Cecile hung on the outskirts with her stick on the ice waiting for a puck. Smart girl, he leaned over the bench and watched her with fascination.

Never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine he would see her in hockey gear, playing a game. And he grinned watching her, holding her stick as if it were a baseball bat, tapping it up and down nervously. The puck did indeed squirt free and Cecile pounced it and scampered with it towards the net. She shot it at Aebischer; probably her best shot but not a very hard one and Aebischer easily flipped it away but unfortunately for him right to Joe Sakic. Before anyone could take a breath Joe roofed it and held up his stick for a modest celebration.

The crowd erupted out of elation rather than politeness this time and Danny looked around at the fans. Who wouldn’t for Joe? When he looked back at the ice, however he saw Cecile jump up and squeal and then hug Joe tightly, he patted her back and she pressed her cheek into his chest. Dan grimaced, well on the bright side, it seemed more like a girl hugging her father, right?

“Oh it’s not fair!” Debbie exclaimed. “Danny they both have two goals and, and we’re stuck here with nothing!”

Dan nodded grimly, feeling more keenly than ever the need to show Debbie he knew how to take care of a lady. Two more shifts went by and Modano scored a goal on Patrick, and Dan could see the goalie’s face brighten with frustration from where he sat. He wondered if Patty wore his Smittens today or not. He would imagine that Patty wouldn’t be, the goalie probably assuming that he shouldn’t waste the power of his woolen talisman on a charity game against wives no less. Well so far, Patty could at least say that a girl hadn’t scored on him.

When their next shift came again they were stymied in the neutral zone and Danny really felt useless and irritated as he returned to the bench with a panting wife at each side. Neither one of them said anything to him; they watched the next few shifts not speaking to each other. Still, they cheered loudly when Forsberg, Foote and Muller all scored goals on their shifts.

“Oh I bet Patty was an ass and didn’t wear his Smittens today,” Michele giggled. “What luck if we could only get to him ourselves.”

“You think he’s fit to burst about now?” Debbie asked. “Like if the coach don’t pull him or something, do you think he’ll defect to another charity game in protest?”

Michele squealed she laughed so hard.

And this time, Dan won his face off and he barked for the women to follow him. They made it to the offensive zone, and he could see Patty’s eyes sparking, still competitive and vicious after allowing the goals he had. Two defensemen were back and Dan saw Patrick’s eyes on the puck strung to his stick. “Mimi!” he yelled loudly.

Patrick didn’t blink but Dan made as if he were faking a shot and Michele yelled. “I got the puck!”

And by God it worked. Patrick whether confused or not, slid to his left to face Michele and a shot that she would never make. Danny slipped the puck to Debbie and the captain’s wife didn’t hesitate in burying the biscuit into the empty half of the net.

“HOLY COW!” Debbie howled and her face glowed with radiance and disbelief.

“Merde!” Patrick yelled and he crossed his arms narrowing his eyes at Michele who blew him a kiss and ran to Debbie, hugging her and kissing her cheeks.

“There you go babe, there you go!” Danny barked and he hugged Debbie’s body, frail even in hockey gear and Michele hugged him as well, lightly kissing him on the cheek. Dan felt his cheeks redden and he quickly separated himself from the women, his cheek tickling with her little butterfly lips. He glanced at the other bench to see if Joe or Cecile had noticed that but they merely had smiles on their faces, unperturbed by it all.

“Oh give us more like this!” Debbie grinned. “You’re an angel Danny!”

“Aw,” Danny grinned and he blushed to his ears, trying to think of another plan to score.