Monday, June 27, 2011

Chapter Three: Her Diamonds

"Kris, call the hospital! Tell them we're on our way with her!" I yelled out. Kelsey had either forgotten to take her insulin or used too much of it. She needed some sugar now.

"Jordan, dig in her purse for something with sugar!" I said grabbing her pop off the table. After a few difficult tries I was finally able to get her to swallow some of it. Jordan came running over with a package of twizzlers he had found. Kelsey was finally coming around.

"You guys ready? I just settled the bill, lets get going." Kris said looking a little scared. It wasn't the first time he's seen her go into an insulin shock. The first time was so hard for him.

"Yeah lets go" I said grabbing our purses from the table while Kris and Jordan helped Kelsey get up.

"Here, lets get in the Escalade so we can fit everyone in." Jordan said unlocking it with his beeper.

Kelsey and I got into the back of the suv while Kris and Jordan were up front.

Jordan started up the car, turning up the radio so that it would help Kelsey stay awake.

"Jordy, do you really need to play this awful techno?" Kels mumbled beneath her breath.

"Yes, I definitely do." he said giving Kris a quick high five for their annoying music.

"Don't worry Kels, we'll be at the doctor's soon."

"Thanks sis. I'm sorry I ruined tonight."

"Don't you dare be sorry. We can always go out another night." I smiled giving her a hug.

"Yeah it's not like Tanger needs that cheesecake." Jord chirped in.

"Whatever Staalsy." Kris said rolling his eyes.

"You're always sexy to me, Kris!"

"I love you babe." Kris said leaning back to give Kelsey a kiss.

"Looks like Kels is back!" I yelled out. Next thing you know Kris is crawling in the back with Kelsey and I.

"No sex in my car you two!" Jordan said laughing. I climbed my way up front to sit with Jord.

"Fine!" they yelled from the back.

"Alright, we're here!" Jordan announced pulling into the empty parking lot. We all got out of the car and made our way inside of the hospital. Jordan and I took a seat while Kris and Kelsey went to the receptionist. I knew she would be alright, but I wanted them to make sure her levels were okay. Kelsey has had diabetes for the past ten years, ever since she was eleven. I knew the drill. Luckily, Kelsey was able to see one of the doctors right away. Kris has always helped her with it as well, so he went back to the room with her. Jordan and I waited patiently for those two to come back out. We ended up watching The Big Bang Theory that was playing in the waiting room. We were getting pretty tired just waiting, I ended up putting my head on Jordan's shoulders and almost falling asleep.

"Mar, they're back." Jordan said shaking my shoulder as I saw Kelsey and Kris coming towards us hand in hand.

I jumped up to give her a hug. "So what did they say?!"

"They said my levels were a little low, so they gave me some sugar water to drink. And we're changing the medicine I'm on. Hopefully this will work better."

"We're really glad you're okay" Jordan said getting up to give her a hug as well.

We walked back outside to Jordan's car and on our way to get Kris' car back at Cheesecake Factory.

"Did you show Kris your Halloween costume?"

"What Halloween costume?" Kris said looking confused.

"For the team party, babe."

"OH right! I want to see it!" Kris said with a smirk on his face.

"I'll show you mine, only if you show me yours!"

"Shit."

"Haha poor Tanger!" Jordan said laughing.

"Hey, I wouldn't be laughing. You don't know what I'm going as!" I said smiling.

"Jokes on you, Staalsy!" Kris yelled out.

Before we knew it we were back at Cheesecake Factory.

"Goodnight you twooooooooo!" Jordan and I yelled with the windows down. Kris and Kelsey honked goodbye at us as they were pulling out of the parking spot.

"Wild day, huh babe?" I said grabbing Jordan's hand.

"You got that right." he said giving my hand a kiss.

"Whats going on tomorrow?"

"Well, I was thinking of staying home and working out. I'll just check in with the trainers in the afternoon. I want you to go too." he said with a smile on his face.

"Really?"

"Yeah of course! They can explain everything better to you than I can."

"Maybe I'll even work out with you in the morning!" I said laughing.

"Good, I can use a beautiful work out partner! Kennedy is gross."

"Oh I can imagine. That boy always has some weird stories."

"You're telling me! You don't see him every day!" Jordan said laughing.

We were soon back at our place.

"Home sweet home!" Jordan got out the keys and quickly unlocked the door for us.

"Lets get Colby up here and then we can head to bed." Jordan said giving me a kiss. We walked downstairs to get him, only to find him very excited to see us.

"Come on Colb!" Jordan said unlocking his cage. As soon as Jordan unlocked the cage, Colby went running up the stairs.

"Kitchen or our room?"

"I'm going to say he'll be in the kitchen, with his bowl in his mouth."

"Ehh, I'm going to say he'll be laying in our bed."

"We'll just have to see!"

We walked up the stairs to the main floor of the house. No Colby.

"Looks like I'm the winner!" I yelled out.

"COLBYYYYY!" Jordan screamed for him as he came running down the stairs.

"Cheater." I said picking up Colby. "Daddy always has to win doesn't he?"

"Yes, I do!" Jordan said smiling and taking my hand. "Bed time!"

The three of us made it upstairs where we got ready for bed. I got changed into some pajamas while Jordan put his lounge pants on. We were just about comfortable and put SportsCenter on to relax. Of course Colby had to crawl in between us.

"Colby get down, go in your bed." Jordan said as he picked him up and onto the floor. Colby made his way to his bed that was right beside ours.

"Jord, come back to bed." I said as a big yawn came out.

"I'm coming babe." he said climbing back in to bed. He put his arm around my waist and pulled me in closer to him. I wrapped by leg around his legs as we began kissing.

"Marlee, I love you."

"I love you too, Jord." as I started to kiss him again.


Marlee's pajamas http://www.polyvore.com/marlee/set?id=33734442

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Chapter Two: Yellow

Class got out five minutes as to which the entire class was very excited. This professor never let us out early, let alone on time. I decided to head into the Starbucks across the street to get a Mocha. I had a few friends that still worked there, so it was always good to catch up with them while waiting for my next class to start. Thankfully, there wasn't much of a line at 9am. If I would have went before class, it would have been a whole other story.

"Hey Nat!"

"Hey girl! How have you been? Do you want your usual?"

"I'm great! My usual sounds excellent! Jord got the go for skating!" I said with the slight jump in the air.

"Mar! That is so good! I bet you two are super excited!" Natalie said finishing up my drink.

"We are!! Hey we're heading to Cheesecake factory tonight, you should come!" I said as I swiped my credit card to pay.

"That would be great if I didn't have this damn night class tonight." she said handing me my drink. "How about this weekend?"

"Yeah sure! I'll give you a call later this week."

"Alright see ya later! Have fun in class."

"Oh I'm sure I will. Later girl!" I said making my way to the door. As I was sipping my drink I checked my phone since I noticed it blinking.

1 New Picture Message from Kris.

There Jordan was sitting on the bench with a shit eating grin on his face, lacing up his skates. I couldn't help but smile. I quickly saved the photo onto my phone. Underneath Kris had typed: STAALSY IS BACKKKKKKKKKKK!I decided to text him back and thank him.

Thanks for the great pic!He looks like a kid in a candy store! Please tell me he's taking it easy...........

Walking all the way across campus really sucked, especially since it looked like it was ready to pour. I was almost into class when I got a text back from Kris.

No worries, Mar! They're just letting him skate around. They've been watching him like a hawk.

I texted him back before I shut off my cell for this lecture.
Goodie! I know he'll be whining about it later lol. Thanks bud, see ya tonight.

Lecture for two hours felt like complete death both physically and mentally. Over-fry of the brain and my hands were sore as hell from all the note taking. I couldn't wait to get home to Jordan and make a late lunch for us. The team still had Jordan going to therapy for his foot. Sometimes it was short, others were more vigorous and time consuming. All of his hard work was finally paying off. I was getting ready to start my car when my phone started going off.

Incoming call: Jordan <3

"Hey babe!" He answered sounding like a sugar high kid.

"So how was it?!" I almost yelled out.

"It felt so good!! A little painful, but that's to be expected. Tanger stopped by to watch!"

"I know, the goober sent me a picture! I can't wait to hear all about it at home babe!"

"I can't wait either! The trainers have me doing all these monitored activities to see how my foot held up from skating. I'm not really sure how long I'll be there. Sorry baby, I'll be home as soon as I can."

"Jord, it's fine. I'll go over to Kels' to study and eat. I hope everything goes well! I love you!"

"I love you more beautiful!"

"Bye Jord!"

"Bye Mar! I'll call on my way home."

"Alright, bye!"

I shut the phone and turned my keys in the ignition. Kels was done at class an hour ago. Luckily, her apartment was about ten minutes from campus. Her and Kris were still living apart, but had been house hunting since we came back from Thunder Bay. I pulled into her complex and parked my car. I got into the elevator and made my way up to her floor. There it was 304. I did our secret sister door knock to let her know I was there. We started doing it when we both first started living there.

"MARLEE!"

"KELS! It's finally happening!" I said giving her a huge hug. I fought the urge to just start bursting with tears.

"I told you it would! It just takes a lot of time, well in Jordo's case a string of bad luck." she said hold her arms across to my shoulders. "But look, you two are the strongest people I know. Things can only get better!"

I quickly gave her a hug to show her appreciation. "Thanks sis. Now feed me cause I'm starving." I said starting to laugh.

"Well dig in! I picked up some fruit and sandwiches after class."

"So how was class?" I asked as we sat at the kitchen island digging in the bowl of fruit.

"Crappy. This stupid professor gave us a huge paper that's due right before the team Halloween party."

"That's lame! Holy hell, that's next week!"

"You're telling me! I haven't found a costume for that yet!" Kelsey said pulling out two water bottles from the refrigerator.

"Sucks for youuuuuuu" I said laughing as she whacked me with the bottle.

"Alrighty smarty pants, what are you going as?"

"Top secret." I said making a zipper motion across my lips.

"I bet Jordy knows!!"

"Nope! Completely hidden in the closet. He has no idea."

"Well, I'm thinking we should find something for me like uhhhhh right now."

"I'm game! Lets go! Jord has all these test things this afternoon."

"Yay for us!!! Lets get going!"

We put everything back in the refrigerator and made our way out of the apartment. Hopefully we would find something. Kelsey and I got into her Jeep Liberty. Mall at Robinson was usually our go-to mall so we decided to go there. The parking lot was completely packed. Who knew everyone wanted to pile into the mall in the middle of the afternoon.

"We got our workout for the day!" I said laughing as we finally made it into the mall.

"Yeah cause Jordan doesn't give you one every day" Kels said with a smirk on her face.

"Oh please!" I said giving her a little push. "I don't need to hear about you and Kristopher!" I said sticking out my tongue.

"You wish!!" she said laughing as we walked into a new little shop.

We both looked around the shop as we grabbed a few outfits for her to try on. About eight outfits later, Kels finally decided to try them on. Waiting outside of the dressing room I was getting anxious to see if she found anything she liked on her.

"Any luck Kels??" I yelled out for her to hear. No response. What the hell was she up to?

Before I could yell her name again she opened the door with a cute yellow mini dress with a black ribbon around it.

"Aww a cute little bumble bee!"

"Tah dahhhh!" Kelsey said giving a little spin.

"You have to get that!"

"I'm thinking so too! Alright, I'm going to change back into my clothes real quick."

While waiting for her I spotted these bright yellow and black striped socks. They would go absolutely perfect with the dress.

"Ready?"

"Here I found some socks for it!"

"Those are amazing!!! Thanks sis!"

We walked up to the counter to pay for Kelsey's outfit. As soon as she paid we managed to wonder around the mall for awhile and picked up a few outfits for fall. Mall had died down significantly since we first arrived, probably since it decided to down pour outside. I decided to make a run for it with Kels' keys to bring the car around for her. There was no way I was going to let her run with that new dress. That would be crazy. Drenched I got into the car and drove up to the entrance where she was waiting. Kels ran into the car as quickly as she could. I turned up the radio as we drove back to Kels' apartment. By the time we got back to her apartment it was going on 5 o'clock.

"Thanks for the fun trip!" I said getting out of her car and giving her a hug.

"No thank you! I finally got my outfit!"

"Alright, I'll see you in a couple hours girl!" I said making my way to my car with my bags.

I drove off and was finally on my way home. Jordan should definitely be home by now. I was super excited to get some cheesecake. One of my absolute favorite desserts ever. It was also where we had our first date. As I pulled into our driveway I saw Jordan's Escalade. I couldn't wait to run in and see him! I quickly parked my car and ran inside not even bothering to shut the doors to the car and house.

"Jord?!"

"In here babe!"

I ran back the hallway to find him in the kitchen with a huge smile on his face.

"Congratulations boo!" I said wrapping my arms around him for a big hug.

"Thanks Mar. I couldn't have done it without you." he said giving me a kiss and picking me up. Jordan then lifted me up onto the kitchen island he was standing behind.

"I love you" I said putting my hands around his face.

"I love you more, Marlee Hughes" he said starting to kiss me again. Jordan then leaned in more so that my back was now flat against the kitchen island. My god could that man kiss. Then I heard it. Barking.

"Jord, did you let Colb out when you got home?" I asked continuing to kiss him.

"Shit. I'll go get him. He's probably dieing to get out of his cage." he said getting up off of me.

"Here, I'll make us some smoothies while you go get him from downstairs."

"Thanks babe!" as I received a quick kiss on the forehead as he ran down the stairs.
I jumped off the island and headed towards the refrigerator. I grabbed some ice, strawberries, blueberries, and peach yogurt. I threw them into the blender and turned it on. I could hear Colby running up the stairs and into the kitchen.

"There's mommy's baby!" I said grabbing him into a hold. "I missed you so much!" I earned a sloppy lick on the cheek after that.

"Colby, you're such a mommy's boyyyy!" Jordan said putting his bowl of water down and rubbed his one year old head.

"And you're not?" I said laughing.

"Hey, whats wrong with that?!" Jordan said making a puppy face beside Colby.

"Absolutely nothing" I said giving him a quick kiss. I quickly washed my hands and walked over to the blender. I grabbed two glasses out of the cupboard for the smoothies. I turned off the blender and poured it into the glasses for us.

"Here you are babe" I said handing the glass to Jordan.

"You're the best boo" he said starting to drink it. "I think this is your best yet!"

"Oh please you say that every time!"

"Well it's true! I'm a very lucky guy!"

"And I'm a very lucky girl! Lets go get changed, I'm sure Kels and Kris will be calling soon."

"Because god forbid we're a few minutes late, they'll think we're having a quickie!"

"Hey I didn't say it, you did! And besides Kris is the one who ALWAYS says it."

"Good! That way we can get there early before them."

"Payback!" I said giving him a hard high five. We ran upstairs to start digging in our closets. Jordan picked out a black t-shirt with some khaki shorts to match. I had just thrown on a green tank with a pair of jeans.

"I picked something up for you today."

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"Here open it!" Jordan said handing me a box. I quickly opened it up to discover a faded yellow t-shirt with a terrier on it.

"Jord!! It looks just like Colby! I love it so much!" I said giving him a big hug.

"I'm glad you love it. I'm sure it'll look great on you." he said giving me a kiss.

"Here, take this." I said stripping out of my tank. "I have to wear this." I said putting my new shirt on. I then turned on my hair straightener to touch up on my hair. Jordan grabbed a hat from his dresser to put on.

"I'll take Colb out for a quick walk, then we'll get going."

"Sounds great babe!" I said fixing my hair. Fifteen minutes later, Jordan and Colby were back and I was finishing up with my makeup.

"Ready, Mar?"

"Yep, are you?"

"Oh yes, I need some cheesecake. Real bad." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright you hungry man." I grabbed my purse and we were on our way downstairs. I poured a bowl of food for Colby and we were on our way. Jordan and I got into his car and made our way to South Side. He about flew there so that we would beat Kelsey and Kris.

"Jordan, if we get pulled over, I'm going to beat you."

"Oh are you?" he said with a big grin on his face.

"I'm not kidding!"

"Whatever you say, Mar." he said laughing. About fifteen minutes later we pulled up to the valet for parking. We walked in to be greeted by the hostess. She was very sweet and set us up remotely far from the rest of the people at the restaurant.

1 New text message from Kelsey
Hey we're running late! Order some food for you two!

I told Jordan the news as we decided to order some fried zucchini. As soon as our zucchini came in, so did Kels and Kris.

"Hey sorry we're late!I had a huge headache."

"Are you okay? Have some food!" I offered.

"Yeah I'm feeling somewhat better"

"Quickie cough cough" Jordan whipered.

"Did I ever tell you how funny you're boyfriend is, Mar?" Kelsey said rolling her eyes.

"Don't remind me" I said giving Jordan an elbow to the stomach.

Our waitress came back just in time to get Kelsey and Kris' drinks along with our orders. Kris and Jordan decided on steak while Kelsey and I went with our favorite of crusted chicken romano.

"Hey, I'll be back. I just need to use the restroom." Kelsey said getting up out her seat. She started stumbling to get out.

"Are you alright Kels?" Kris asked.

"Yeah yeah. I'm" before she could finish her words she fell onto the floor. We all jumped up to go help her. I frantically starting shaking her.

"Kelsey! Are you okay? Did you take your medicine today?" I started yelling out.



Marlee's dinner outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=32955932

Kelsey's outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=33043905

Kelsey's dinner outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=32956674

Monday, June 20, 2011

Chapter One: In My Head

This past summer had been one of the toughest hurdles Jordan and I had been through. After Jordan's surgery on his foot, an infection had grown. The whole summer was a healing process about getting stronger. Not only did Jordan's foot start to get better, so did our relationship. Jordan didn't want to be in the spotlight because of his injury. He wanted to do things his way meaning as little media as possible. In front of the camera Jordan isn't one who is big on words. He knew Sid was the go-to guy for the job. The locker room had big personalities like Max and Geno. If you really knew Jordan, you would know he was the boy next door, except of course with a tremendous amount of talent both on and off the ice.

The whole summer we tried our best to stay in hiding so Jordan could solely focus on getting his foot better. There were many ups and downs, but we did it together with the help of Kelsey and Kris. All four of us stayed at Jordan's camp up in Thunder Bay. We were all close before, but this made us have an inseparable bond.

Now that things were starting up again in hockey, the team wasn't exactly off to a great start. 1-3, with all three loses being at the new arena wasn't good. Opening night at Consol was difficult, but the start of a new era. The team lost its home opener to Philadelphia and the boys were pissed. The defense was almost completely revamped with Kris, Brooks, and Alex remaining. It was taking the team awhile to adjust. Jordan couldn't help but feel guilty about not being there to help.

Kelsey and I were a little over a month into classes and things were thankfully going smoothly with that. It was my senior year at Pitt and it was crunch time. Jordan was such a huge help. After he was done with training and conditioning, he was the one sitting on the couch with me doing the work. I think I crammed three years of communications into his brain within a month. We were always there for each other and that's what mattered most. Of course we knew we always had Kels and Kris not just because she was my sister, but also because she was one of my best friends.

It was 8:30 AM and I was sitting in class when I got the text from Jordan.

"I got the green light for skating"

I responded back with "Celebration tonight like our birthday last month?"

"You bet. Have fun in class, boo"

I was so excited! All of the hard work from this summer was paying off. I texted Kelsey with the news and she was thrilled as well. We decided the four us would go out to the Cheesecake Factory tonight.

Marlee's outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=32939183

Introduction

My name is Marlee Hughes. I'm 22 years old and from Boston, Massachusetts. My sister Kelsey and I are currently living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We both go to the University of Pittsburgh. I moved here my freshman year because I loved the city and the sports. Kelsey moved in after she graduated high school. My boyfriend is Jordan Staal from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Two years ago I was working at Starbucks at the time when he stopped in and changed my life. Things moved quickly and he introduced his teammate Kris Letang to Kelsey. They have been inseperable ever since.

Marlee:



Kelsey