Chapter 26

Holy crap, so I got back tonight and freaked out because I have so much to catch up on. I was able to read people's updates while I was away but only had the internet on my phone so it was impossible to update (who wants to text an entire update?) and harder to comment on the fabulous chapters people were putting out like crazy. First off, can we please talk about how incredible Jay and Kristina's stories are right now? Both of you had me on edge and I know I looked like a fool reading your stories by the pool because I am emotionally involved with both stories and freak out anytime something big happens to the characters. So because I couldn't comment and you both updated like maniacs, this is my kudos to you for both being so freaking amazing at what you do (I hope you guys see this!). Anyway, I was really excited to get this chapter out because I had writing withdrawl all week which was slightly painful because I have so many ideas for this story and another story that I'm pretty sure I'm going to start writing soon against my better judgement because I also go back to school soon (yikes). I love everything that everyone updated with this week and thanks to everyone who joined my story this week- that was surprising and awesome and I love you guys!

One last thing before the story- everyone needs to listen to Charlotte Sometimes' album "Waves and the Both of Us" because it's amazing and I read that someone (I can't remember who) likes Frou Frou too ("Breathe In" is one of my favorite songs ever) and this CD reminds me of Frou Frou. It's really good girl music for many, many reasons. Give it a try!

Max's POV:

Everything was perfect and I really couldn't imagine introducing the woman that I loved to my family going any less perfectly. They already loved her after only knowing her for an hour and my brothers had approved immediately. I knew that she would like my parents and over the course of lunch, she had become more and more relaxed, able to be herself like I had hoped that she would feel comfortable doing. She was even going out for drinks with them before the game while I napped and was handling everything like this was no big deal- like we had been dating forever.
"What are you so smiley about?" Sid asked coming over to my stall where I was dressing for the game. He could say whatever he wanted and it wasn't going to bring me down. Things were finally going my way.

"Lizzy's with my family right now and it's going great." Sid knew how important this weekend was because he had known my family and I for years. We were both big on staying close to our families, no matter the status of our careers.
"Really? That's great" Sid said beaming. "Are they coming to the game?"
I nodded wondering if they were already here sitting in the seats or not. I had gotten them a patch of tickets facing our bench in the arena. I wanted to be able to look up and see them there without turning around and looking incredibly obvious.

"That's great, man" Sid said again taping up his stick and going through all of his stuperstitous motions. I had to start focusing on the game too but it was hard knowing that she was out there with my family alone and getting to know them better. I knew she would do great but she would probably be nervous and I sort of felt bad for just throwing her to them. At lunch she had gotten a small taste of my family's big personality but she definitely hadn't seen my brothers in action- especially when they had beer and hockey like they would tonight.
"Snap out of it man. You have to focus on the game tonight and Eliza later, okay?" Sid had his intense game face on and was looking at me like he would slap me if he had to just to make me focus. Sid was always a good person to talk to until game time and then nothing else mattered. Clearly he felt that way now and I knew I would get my ass chewed out if I was distracted on the ice. Besides with Eliza and my family watching, I definitely had to play well or never hear the end of it.

Eliza's POV:

So far everything was going well. I had made it through one period of the game with Max's family sans Max and I hadn't done or said anything stupid. That part was relatively easy though because his family was so warm and amazing. Who knew that meeting the parents was so easy?

Lucy kept me occupied most of the game with conversation as she asked me different questions about my own family and my job. Max's oldest brother Frank was married to a lawyer and expecting their first baby so Lucy, as she had instructed me to call her, asked a lot of questions about what I had studied in school and what I did now for the team. She reminded me a lot of my Mom because she never pried when she asked questions but somehow you wound up spilling your life story to her anyway.

"I'm sorry about your father, dear" she said reaching over to hold my hand. I hadn't come out and told her about him dying directly so I assumed that Max had mentioned it to her. The fact that she had so openly offered her own understanding and was holding my hand so nicely almost made me want to cry. Even though Max could be one of the most frustrating people that I had ever known, it was easy to see where his intense moments of kindness and understanding came from.

I squeezed her hand back back appreciating the gesture. "Thanks, it's getting better now because I have my family and Max." She nodded understandingly before turning her attention back to the game. I spotted Max skating around in quick circles on the ice looking almost like a vulture as he searched for the puck. His eyes were narrowed in concentration and I could see the outline of his fu man chu through his helmet giving him an almost cartoon-like appearance. A year ago he would never be the type of guy that I was attracted to but now it was like a 180 had occurred on my preferences. Everything that would have been unattractive on anyone else was drop dead sexy on Max and I found that even his pushy and outgoing personality was good for me.

I could practically see his eyes light up and I knew that he had spotted the puck as he raced towards it cutting off a defensive player and pushing his way to the net. Before I could blink the puck was in with the team and Max's family going crazy all around me. All of the sudden both Frank and Will were giving me smacking kisses on my lips and passing me around while all three Talbot men yelled in french to each other while Lucy looked slightly more composed and clapped along instead a smile plastered on her round face.

"Oh boys, put her down" Lucy said smiling at the blush that had erupted on my cheeks. I watched Max skate around in celebration and back over to the bench where he grabbed some water. His eyes looked up and found mine in the crowds both of us grinning like fools at each other. He pointed at me and then at the net quickly and I knew that he meant that he had scored the goal for me. Mr. Talbot clamped a giant hand down on my back and pulled me into his side still excited about the goal.

"You're good luck, girl" he gave me one more pat on the back and I fought to keep my balance. I was not a twig of a girl but he was built like a boulder and twice as strong and his friendly pats could knock anyone over. Even though I was clutching the seat in front of me to stay upright, I took his comment to mean that I had his approval and that the family overall liked me.



Max's goal seemed to have lit a match under all of the players asses because the final period was quickly wrapped up with Jordan scoring the final goal with thirty seconds to spare. I led the Talbots downstairs to where Max had instructed me to go and paused outside of the locker room thinking that we should be polite and wait until all of the guys were cleaned up and dressed. Instead Frank and Will burst into the doors with one of them dragging me along with them as they pushed through to get to Max. Clearly none of the Talbots are shy.

I tried not to drool in front of his family as I watched Max pull pads off standing bare chested in only his spandex and gym shorts. His face lit up when he saw us and clapped both of his brothers on the back as they congratulated him for the win and the goal. I smiled content to stand back and watch them interact excitedly in french. It was obvious how close the three of them were and how alike they all were. One Talbot was entertaining enough but three Talbots was a handful.
"Hey" Max smiled slyly pulling me over to stand in front of him. "Did you like my goal?" he asked still looking coy.
"It was okay" I shrugged deciding to play along and deflate his ego a bit. He knew that his goal was kickass but he had millions of adoring fans, he didn't need me to kiss his ass. He grinned knowing that I was teasing and pinched my butt making me squeal and hit him on the shoulder.
"Seriously? Just okay?" He was pouting now and I barely noticed that his parents had joined us to stand around in a semi circle.

"You two are disgusting. Seriously- look at what a sap he is now." I looked away from Max to see that Kris Letang had joined our little group and was talking to the Talbots leaving Max and I alone for a second.

"You can stop pouting" I laughed taking in his hopeful expression. I gave him a quick kiss to make up for it but didn't want to go overboard in front of his family no matter how distracting Max's lips were.

"So give me a few minutes to get showered and changed. Then we can get out of here and head over to my parents, is that okay?" he asked removing the rest of his padding and packing it away for the travel crew. The rest of the team was heading back tonight with a rare day off tomorrow and Max and I would be staying for the rest of the weekend with an early flight out on Monday morning where we would both be going our separate ways to work all over again.

I nodded and let him go get ready while I waited with his family. True to his word, Max was showered and dressed again in a few minutes grabbing my hand and leading me out of the arena with him. Max and I still had to head back to the hotel to pack our things so that we could check out.

"So did you have a good time?" We hopped out of the car and Max gave the keys to the valet letting him know that we would only be a minute.

"Yeah, I really like your family" I said slipping my hand into his as we stepped into the elevator. It was the same elevator from earlier and I almost blushed just thinking about the kiss. "I'm glad I came this weekend."

He looked over smiling hugely at me looking almost surprised. I guess he hadn't expected me to be so calm about all of this. "Good" he said pecking me on the cheek and letting his lips linger against my jaw. "You'll get to meet a lot more of my family tomorrow and my sisters and a bunch of other people will be coming over for Sunday dinner." He said this so nonchalantly that I almost didn't register what he had said. There were more Talbots? How many other was a 'bunch'? It wasn't as if I was unused to large families since I came from a particularly nosy and large family but this was different. This was the man that I loved and his family. I would also be meeting his sisters-in-laws and everyone knows that the women of a family are always more protective than men are.

"Hey, what's that frown for?" Max asked picking up both of our bags and pausing in front of me.

"Nothing" I lied checking the room one more time for anything we might have left behind. Soon he was distracted at the concierge and I let the subject drop and plastered a big old smile on my face instead. This was Max's weekend and I needed to keep my insecurities in check for his sake.

On the way over to his family home, Max pointed out different places he used to go as a kid all the while rubbing the back of my hand soothingly. I looked over to watch him while he drove. It was late and his face was illuminated by the street lamps as we got deeper and deeper into suburbia outside of Montreal. He was telling me about his school and different spots around town while I watched him and scratched the hair on the base of his neck. I was about to doze off listening to his low voice when the car stopped in front of a small but brightly lit home.

"We're here" he said leaning over to give me a kiss and unbuckle the seat belt for me. It reminded me of one of the first times he did that for me when I wasn't even sure if I liked him. Now we were sitting in front of his house in Montreal doing the family thing only a few months later.

The Talbots' home was adorable with a big porch and every imaginable light on inside.

"Ma, we're here!" Max called out leading me and our luggage into the small foyer. It was a small house but obviously well loved and well cared for with pictures of the family on every available surface. Lucy appeared from the kitchen giving us both hugs and kisses like she hadn't seen us only a short hour ago.

"Are you two hungry? Maxime I know you're hungry" she said winking and taking coats from us. She called out to Serge in french who rumbled in from the living room where the TV was blaring loudly. He clapped me on the back again in greeting and I grabbed Max's arm to stay upright while Max and I shared an amused look.

"Actually Ma, I think we're both tired. Do you mind if we just go up to bed?" Max was already subtly edging me over towards the stairs while Lucy nodded.

"Just make sure he's up at a reasonable time in the morning Eliza" Lucy called out to us saying goodnight. I followed Max up the stairs as he led me into a dark room.

"Was this your room?" I asked taking in the hockey posters and faded bedspread. It looked like a teenager's room and I could easily imagine a youthful Max sleeping and dreaming here. When I looked up and saw a bikini clad girl on a beach poster above the bed, I knew for sure that this was his room.

"Really Max? You still need that above the bed" I teased pointing to the poster.

"What? It's sentimental" he argued drawing me against him and kissing my jaw softly. His hands slid down my back rubbing the part that always made me lose my mind.

"Come on, lets go to bed" I said sliding out of his reach and hauling my bag onto the bed to dig for my pajamas. It was so cold in Canada that unfortunately Max had to deal with my uglier flannel pajamas that he claimed to like but I knew he was lying. What man liked flannel pajamas? We both changed and climbed into the small bed adjusting so that we could lay comfortably and not fall off. I couldn't help but giggle as Max shifted around trying to find a comfortable spot. I'm sure we looked ridiculous both struggling to stay on the bed and in the end settled into a spooning position on our sides.

"This isn't working" I laughed feeling his arm tighten around my waist.

"What are you talking about? We've got plenty of room" he joked his hand gently rubbing over my stomach. He was normally pretty handsy but as his hand trailed up to rest beneath my breast, I knew what he was doing.

"Max, we can't" I said stopping his wandering hand. His lips were already against the back of my neck, a sure sign of what he was interested in doing.

"Why not?" he moaned hovering over me.

"We're in your parents house!" I laughed at how disappointed he looked. There was no way that we would be having sex in his parents house. Who knew how thin the walls were and I couldn't risk something embarrassing happening my first weekend here.

"But I'll be gone all week" he groaned still looking pathetic and flopping onto his back. As much as I wanted to, I didn't know if we could be quiet enough. Then again...

"Promise we'll be quiet" I said leaning down to plant a kiss over the pulse on his neck. I felt his pulse pick up and he rolled over me, pinning me to the mattress.

"You're the one who needs to be quiet" he growled nudging the flannel up my torso. I shivered already starting to fall into the haze only Max was capable of inducing.

Afterwards I laid on the tiny bed listening to Max's even breathing. As we made love Max had repeated that he loved me too caught up to notice what he was saying. I knew that I was this close to saying it back to him but still unsure about the timing of it all. Was there ever a good time to say something like that though? I mean, Max had practically screamed it at me in a fight the first time but I was hoping that I could muster up enough courage to say it in a more loving manner the first time I said it back to him. An "I love you too" just insincere- like I was only saying it back because that's what people do. Someone says 'I love you' and the normal response is always 'I love you to.'" I didn't know what I was going to do but as I laid there in his arms, I knew that he deserved to hear it soon especially after putting himself out there for me so many times. I just had to wait for the right moment and make it really special.

Note: I'm making the weekend spent in Montreal a three part thing so the last one will be coming asap (probably Saturday). It's not over yet! Also, sorry I didn't re-read what I wrote- hopefully it's readable because I'm too tired to go back over it.