The Hockey Boy

Chapter 20

TY

December 25

I was officially beginning to panic.

I had been in the mall for an hour already, and I still had no idea what to get Easton. I was starting to think that I'd have to return home empty-handed so I'd have time to get ready before my family showed up.

I walked around the mall, passing many, many stores as I went, before I finally decided to go into a little sports shop. I thought that maybe I could find a sports-themed present that would be up to par for my... whatever Easton was to me.

That was another issue. I didn't know if Easton and I were a "thing" yet, so I wasn't sure what type of present I should get him. Was I supposed to buy him a general present like a gift card, or was I supposed to get him something more personal? I had no clue what I was doing, so I thought maybe being somewhere a little more within my element would help.

Then, as I was walking around in the store, a great idea hit me. The present I was going to get Easton was pretty small, but I thought that it would have a big impact, especially part two of the present.

I left the sports store and the mall all together. I knew that I'd have to get home soon if I wanted to be ready in time for when my family came, but I knew that my next and final stop would be a quick one. I got in my pick-up and headed in the direction of Total Hockey.

***

Easton

"What the heck am I supposed to get my girlfriend that isn't really my girlfriend yet?" I asked myself out loud as I walked into the Mall of America.

I walked through the mall aimlessly before my eye caught a display of stuffed animals outside of Build-A-Bear Workshop. The display showed a myriad of different animals including reindeer, bears, dogs, and cats. One animal in particular happened to catch my eye. It was Nordy, the mascot of the Wild. I laughed to myself, then went inside of the store. Despite the odd looks I got from some people, I managed to get out of Build-A-Bear Workshop with a stuffed Nordy.

As I began walking around the mall again, I tried to think of something that would go with the stuffed Nordy perfectly. Then, all of a sudden, I came up with the perfect present, well, presents, to give Ty. I already had two of the three presents in my possession, so I started walking towards the store that I would get the third from. Before I entered the store, I stopped. I knew that this third present was risky, and I wasn't sure if I should get it or not. I took a deep breath, weighing my options. I could leave the mall now and not risk it, or I could get this present and bring Ty's and my "relationship" to a whole new level.

After a few minutes of debating, I entered the jewelry store.

***

Ty

It was almost nine-thirty, and I was finally ready. My family always dresses nice-casual on Christmas Day, so I was wearing a cute "ugly" Christmas sweater with snowflakes and reindeer. I paired my red sweater with black leggings and brown Uggs.

Easton's present was sitting in the corner of my room, unwrapped. I knew that his present would be pretty hard to wrap, so I decided to leave it unwrapped.

There was a knock on my door. "Ty, Grandma and Grandpa Brady are here. I hope you're ready," my mom said.

"I'm ready. I'll be right out," I replied. I fixed my long, straight hair one last time before leaving my room.

"Ty, we've missed you!" Grandma said before pulling me into a hug.

"I've missed you, too," I replied as I hugged her back. Then I went over and hugged my grandpa. "Grandpa, I haven't seen you in ages! How have you been?"

"Oh, I'm good. So, Ty, I hear you have a new boyfriend," my grandpa said mischieviously, winking at me.

"Oh, Jeffery, don't be nosy," my grandmother scolded.

"Oh, fine. We are going to meet this boy later though, right, Ty?"

"Yes, Grandpa, Easton's coming over soon, but he's not my boyfriend," I explained.

"Okay, if you say so," Grandpa said, unconvinced. "Bev, let's go put the presents under the tree in the living room."

"Okay, we'll talk to you and your boyfriend later," my grandma winked as she and Grandpa headed for the living room. Over the next ten minutes, my dad's two sisters and brother and their families arrived at my house.

We were all sitting in my living room when the doorbell rang. "I'll go see who it is," I said, already knowing who was behind the door.

"Merry Christmas, Ty," smiled Easton when I opened the door.

"Merry Christmas, Easton," I replied, smiling back at him. "Dang, you cleaned up nicely." Easton was wearing an aqua blue sweater over a white dress shirt with the top button open. He was wearing khakis and loafers, too. The whole outfit made him look absolutely amazing.

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," he smirked, eyeing me over.

"Stop checking me out, Easton, it's disgusting," I said in an overly girly voice.

"Well, then quit drooling over me," he sassed in reply.

"I'm not the one that's drooling."

"Oh, really?" he questioned jokingly.

"Yeah," I tried to say confidently, knowing I had already lost the battle. "Oh, just come on into the living room. My family really wants to meet you."

"Really?" Easton asked earnestly.

"Yeah, Grandpa was even asking about you earlier, and I'm sure my uncle Danny wants to meet you," I said, leading Easton to the living room. "I'm just going to warn you, though, you'll probably feel like a criminal getting interrogated or something for a while until my family gets to know you. They can be a bit much at times."

"I know the feeling. My family's pretty loud, too," Easton smiled.

"Hey, everybody, this is Easton West," I announced as I walked into the living room, Easton trailing behind me.

"So this is the famous Easton Ty told us about," Grandpa smiled before shaking Easton's hand.

"It's good to meet you, sir," Easton said formally.

"Sir," Grandpa laughed. "Call me Jeff, son."

"All right, Jeff," Easton laughed. One by one, Easton shook the hands of pretty much all my relatives. My dad and uncle were practically drooling when they shook Easton's hand.

"It's awesome to meet you, Mr. Brady," said Easton when he shook Danny's hand.

"Seriously, boy, just call all of us by our first names. You don't need to be so formal here," laughed Danny.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make a good first impression," Easton said sheepishly as he began to blush.

"No need to be sorry, Easton," Grandma said. "You've made a great first impression. Ty's found herself a nice gentleman."

"Grandma," I groaned.

"What?" she said. "You two basically look like you're dating, so you might as well come out and say it!" All of my family burst out laughing while Easton and I stood in the living room, blushing. Easton and I sat down next to each other on a couch and visited with my family for a while.

Finally, it was time for Christmas lunch. Easton and I sat down at a table full of some of my older cousins and aunts. "Mmm, this is really good," Easton said as he took his first bite of food.

"Easton, don't talk with your mouth full. It's rude," I jokingly scolded. Easton just rolled his eyes and continued to eat.

"So, Easton, I hear you're a pretty good hockey player," my eighteen-year-old cousin Mark said.

"Pretty good? Mark, he's amazing," I emphasized.

"You think I'm an amazing hockey player?" Easton asked me.

"Well, not as good as me, but you're pretty good," I smiled.

"Now who's the arrogant one?" Easton questioned, and I smacked his shoulder. The whole time Easton and I were squabbling, Mark just sat there looking annoyed. Mark, my aunt Jenny's son, lived in Duluth, and he played hockey like most of my family. He was a pretty good hockey player, but he wasn't nearly as good as me. Mark has always disliked me, and I have always thought that he was just jealous of my hockey skills.

"Ty, do you and the guys think you can win the state title this year?" Jenny asked.

"Definitely," I confidently replied.

"You know, Mark's team is pretty good this year. Maybe you guys will meet in the state tournament."

"Maybe we will," I said. I thought about that for a moment and decided that it would be pretty fun to be able to pummel my annoying cousin. I really, really hoped that Mark and his team would make it to state as well as my own team.

After lunch, it was time to open presents. In my family, everyone that hadn't graduated from high school yet was considered a kid, meaning that the aunts and uncles still bought them presents. This was my last year as a kid in my family, and that made me a little sad.

Starting with the youngest kid, we would all open presents one at a time until we were done. Then the adults would open their presents. I would be last of the kids to open my first present, since I was three months older than Mark.

Some of my younger cousins started sorting the presents while the rest of us sat in a circle around the living room. Easton sat next to me looking kind-of awkward.

"Are you all right?" I whispered to him.

"Yeah, I'm good. Why?"

"You just look kind-of awkward," I told him.

"Well, I just feel kind-of like I'm intruding, you know? I feel out of place, like I don't belong here," he explained.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "If I had known you'd feel awkward I wouldn't have invited you. My family totally loves you, if that helps."

"Really? I thought they were just being nice," Easton said, seeming surprised at what I had said. "Mark seems to hate me."

"Of course they love you! Oh, and don't mind Mark. He's just cranky all the time. Have you seen my dad and uncle? They practically drool every time they look at you."

"I feel much better now. Thanks, Ty," Easton smiled, taking my hand.

"No problem," I replied with a smile, gripping his hand tighter.

"You two are too cute!" my other aunt, Heidi, exclaimed. Easton and I started blushing again, but we continued to hold hands.

I looked down at the pile of presents in front of me and smiled. Easton seemed to notice what I was looking at and said, "Greedy now, are we?"

"Oh, shut up. You'll be staring at your own pile in no time," I replied, gesturing to a small pile of presents that were Easton's.

"I got presents?" Easton asked, finally seeing his pile of presents.

"Yeah, my family all decided to get you presents even though you aren't really a "kid"," I explained.

"That was really nice of them," Easton smiled gratefully. "They didn't have to get me presents."

"They didn't want you to feel left out," I explained. For the next hour or so, my family opened presents. Every now and then, someone would open a white elephant gift and we would all laugh. Everyone about died of laughter when Mark and Easton unwrapped matching, hot pink boxers. Their faces almost turned the color of the underwear.

Over the next few hours, my family played board games, talked, and ate leftovers for supper. Finally, at about nine o' clock, my family started to head home.

"It was really nice to meet you. You are a fine young man," Grandma said before hugging Easton.

"It was nice to meet you, too, Bev," Easton smiled in reply. After we had finished opening presents, Easton seemed to relax around my family, and I could tell that he liked my family. Well, except for Mark. No one really liked Mark.

After all my family had left, I said, "Hey, before you go, I have a present for you."

"I have a present for you, too," Easton replied. "I'll go get it. It's in my car."

"Okay, meet me in my room. It's up the stairs, second door on the right," I instructed.

"Okay. I'll be up in a few minutes," he said before leaving my house. I went up to my room to wait for Easton.

A few minutes later, I heard a knock on my door. "Come in," I said, and Easton came into my room.

"So this is the famous Ty Brady's room," he said grandly.

"Yeah, it's not too special, but I like it," I said nonchalantly.

"I think it's nice."

"Glad you think so," I replied. Then an awkward silence came between us.

"So, um, here's your present," Easton said awkwardly, handing me a shiny blue gift bag.

I opened the gift and smiled, "It's a stuffed Nordy! Did you really go into Build-A-Bear Workshop and make me a Nordy?"

"I got a lot of strange looks, but yeah, I did," Easton said as he ran his hand through his hair.

"This is too cute. You're the best," I smiled.

"Look in Nordy's mouth," Easton suggested mysteriously with a half-smile.

I looked in the wild animal's mouth and found a small, velvet box. I raised an eyebrow at Easton, then opened the box. Inside of the box, there was a necklace with a silver 'E' charm. The charm was covered in diamonds. As soon as I saw the necklace, my jaw dropped. "Easton, this must've..."

"Okay, I know that giving you the necklace was a big step, and I wasn't really sure if I was ready to take that step, but now I realize that I am. I really like you, Ty, and I want to make it official. Will you be my girlfriend?" Easton rushed out nervously.

"Oh, Easton," I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him, enveloping him in a hug.

"I'll take that as a yes?" he asked unsurely.

"A definite yes," I said before kissing his cheek. "Can you put the necklace on for me?"

"Definitely," he said smoothly. It took him a while, but he finally got the necklace clasped around my neck. "I hope you like it."

"It's absolutely beautiful," I gushed.

"Still not as beautiful as you," Easton complimented, and I gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"I have to give you my present," I said with an excited smile.

"I have another present for you, too," Easton added.

"Another one, really? I feel kind-of bad now. My present isn't that big," I said glumly.

"The size of the present doesn't matter, Ty. It's the thought that counts," Easton said gently.

I grabbed the present from the corner of my room and brought it to Easton at the same time he brought my last present over. When we saw each other's gifts, we both burst out laughing. We had gotten each other the same thing: a hockey stick.

"This is too funny," I laughed.

"You've got that right," he laughed with me.

"Okay, so I know you're pretty stubborn about using Easton hockey sticks, but I was hoping that you'd try a Bauer just for me," I explained, holding the Bauer out to him. He took the hockey stick I was holding me and handed me the one he had been holding.

"And I know you are in love with Bauers, but I really, really want you to try an Easton. It's one of my own sticks. I grabbed it from my cubby in the locker room this morning. I know you think Eastons are crap, but I would love it if you'd try one," Easton said.

"I was lying when I said Eastons were crap," I said sheepishly. "I've tried them before, but I've never liked them as much as I've liked Bauers. I'm willing to try them again for you, though."

"I'm glad. Most of the guys on the team use Eastons, you know," Easton said.

"I know. I'm just stubborn, but you already know that."

"I do, I really do," he laughed, and I hit him in the arm with the Easton hockey stick. "Hey, hey, hey, just don't hit the face again, okay? I don't want the team thinking I'm a total sissy."

"I won't do that again, I promise," I vowed, setting the hockey stick on my bed. "I'm sorry I didn't get you anything other than the Bauer, but I was hoping this would make up for it." With that, I wrapped my arms around Easton's neck and kissed him. He set his hockey stick next to mine before wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close.

"Merry Christmas, Ty," Easton whispered after we pulled away.

"Merry Christmas, Easton," I whispered back before his lips met mine once more.