Chapter 22

 **Hey yall! Here's a shorter update that I thought I'd post! Wasnt really sure how to break this one up...so another full chapter will be up soon! :)

~J

Before we knew it, we were leaving for New Mexico; it was going to be a loooooong road trip. Miranda and Max skipped out on Vegas as well, so they came with us too. 

After a 3-day drive, we arrived in Albuquerque and it was good to be back.  Getting in with a little over a week before the wedding made things way less stressful, I was able to get a final dress fitting in and Miranda picked up her dress, Kelsey’s and Vero’s too.

We had done a few other changes too, the girls and I had found really cute yellow heels for them to wear, and my heels are the same blue as their dresses. We got the cake from my favorite bakery, and after the boys won the cup, I decided to surprise James with a groom’s cake in the shape of the Stanley cup. He’s going to die when he sees it!

Our combined bachelor/bachelorette parties are tomorrow, so the rest of the group from Pittsburgh would be getting in today.  Everyone had gotten situated into their rooms at the casino where the reception was going to be, except for James and I, we were staying at my parents house until the night before the wedding, when James would join the guys at the hotel and the girls would all crash at my parents house.

The girls and I went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, while the guys opted for Twin Peaks…and I have TK to thank for that one, I don’t know how he figured that one out. Great.   

The night of dancing was about to commence.  We got into Dirty Bourbon at the same time as the guys and went straight to the dance floor.  To know that James had learned how to two-step from his days in Dallas made me a happy fiancé, not to mention Kelsey and I dragging them out to the country bar back home.

We all had such an amazing time, I was glad that James and I could agree on doing the bachelor/bachelorette parties together, because it just made it that much more fun. 

Wedding weekend was finally here! I couldn’t believe how fast time just flew by.  On Friday morning, all the girls and I, along with my mom & sisters, went to the nail salon for our manicures & pedicures.  I debated on giving the girls their bridal party presents, but I decided to do that later in the night at the rehearsal dinner.

We grabbed a quick lunch then headed back to my parent’s house to meet up with the guys, who went to play golf with my dad while the girls got pampered. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed until it was time to head to the church for rehearsal.

From what I had heard from the people surrounding me, I was doing good at not being a crazy bridezilla…well for those who weren’t at the church for the rehearsal, can keep thinking that.

At some point when I was having the bridal party line up, Bailey was putting herself behind Ashley, the MOH, when she was after Kelsey. We decided WAY in advance that, after me, it would go tallest to shortest; it worked great for the girls and even worked out pretty well for the guys. So clearly it was Ashley, Vero, Miranda, Kelsey & Bailey. And she wasn’t having it.

“You’ve known me way longer then all of these girls, and I’m walking LAST?” she says

REALLY! Shits about to hit the fan.

“First of all, that’s a lie, I’ve known Ashley the longest. Secondly, James & I decided forever ago how we were going to place everybody & you just happened to be last,” I say, trying not to snap

“But you’ve still known me longer then these girls, I’m supposed to be your best friend,”

“I know that, but these girls are my best friends too, and all of you, I treat equally, like family, not by who I’ve known longer. You’re walking with Sidney, that’s where he is…& he’s not complaining!”
“Well I just think this is…”

“You think it’s what? This is MY wedding! You already had your turn, now it’s mine. So guess what? You can walk with Sidney, in that spot with him. OR you can exclude yourself from the wedding party. It’s as simple as that.”

Bailey doesn’t even say anything; she just turns around and walks out. Something I knew she would do. Her loss, not mine.

So I do my best to not have a nervous break down while James comes to comfort me, and we continue on with the rehearsal.

“Ok, well lets arrange it so Sid walks in solo, sorry Sid,” I say apologetically to him

“It’s ok, really. You did good standing you’re ground,” Sid says with a smile. That is why I love that man.

“Thanks. So he’ll walk in, then when y’all start to walk out, you come over on the other side of Kelsey and she’ll walk with both of y’all,”

“Whoop, Kelsey’s a PIMP,” Miranda yells

“What, what!” Kelsey says with a little victory dance

“Ok, lets run it through that way, yeah?” James says

We run through it all 3 times, then a 4^th for good measure. Everything looks perfect & suddenly, I like the fact that Sidney is walking down with Kelsey and Tyler. It just looked good and Sid didn’t mind, because he’s just that kind of guy. 

Chapter 21

FINALLY getting this up! Hope yall are still following it, I promise I have more time now since graduating so I will do more updates! Enjoy :)

~J

Morning comes, my parents spend time with my aunt and uncle, and James comes with Jordan and I to find an engagement ring for Heather.  Apparently he had done a bit of research when he helped James pick out my engagement ring.  He found a gorgeous ring for her.  He was beyond excited when he handed over his credit card.  I asked if he knew when he was going to propose, when James yelled at me to not get in his business, but Jordan didn’t mind. He came down to either asking her when we win the cup, or at the parade. I didn’t even try asking him what he would do if we didn’t win…because it’s a cardinal rule. And he brought it up first, so I just went with it. 

We ended up running into my family at South Side Works, so we decided to do lunch at the Cheesecake Factory before the boys wanted to go home and rest, because tomorrow is the big day! Game 1 of the finals against the Nashville Predators.

We won game 1, and then game 2 in overtime. The guys felt pretty confident heading out to Nashville, the girls had never been out there, so we decided to go, we left the day after I said bye to my parents until I’d see them again for the wedding.

Nashville was such a fun place to be, especially since the last time I was out there; my family and I got stuck in a tornado. Things were different this time; Heather, Janelle and Miranda joined Kelsey, Vero and I.  So while the boys had practice and whatnot, we explored the city.

Before we knew it, we were back in Pittsburgh.  The guys lost game 4, which was a heartbreaking, loss. Marc Andre had a tough game, having let in 5 goals in a 5-1 loss, but like he always does, he put it behind him and was ready for game 5. 

I don’t know how the boys were so calm, knowing that the Stanley Cup was in the building tonight, and that we had the chance to win it at home, in front of our fans.  Mario delivered another motivational message to the guys that got them pumped up, just like they were the last time they won the cup. James was even more excited to know that his parents were going to be sitting in the box with the girls and I tonight.

I had been doing well at keeping Jordan’s promise and not saying anything about him proposing to Heather.

“Hey Jay,” Jordan says, as I walk into the locker room with James

“Hi Jordan!” I say, giving him a hug

“So can I trust you with the ring for the game tonight?” He asks, with the box in his hand

“Absolutely! I don’t have my purse though to keep it in,” I tell him

“Here babe, why don’t you just wear my jacket, you can put it in there,” James tells me

“Ok, I can put it in the inside pocket,”
“Ok, just don’t forget it’s there and take it out on accident,”
“I wont, and if we run by the locker room later, I’ll take it out before I drop off the jacket,”
“Perfect!” he says

So I walk back out to the lounge right as Heather is walking in…keep your mouth shut Jay!

The game did NOT start out how we wanted to. The Predators took an early 2-0 lead, Vero was as nervous as ever, at one point she grabbed my hand and squeezed it so hard, I was almost positive I lost the feeling in it, but we were all in the same position when it came to being nervous for our guys. 

The team, and their hockey sticks, seemed to have woken up going into the 2^nd period, scoring 3 goals within 10 minutes to take the lead, that let us girls breathe a sigh of relief. 

We were half way through the 3^rd; the Predators had tied it up, before James scored the go-ahead (&his 2^nd) goal of the game. I was so nervous at the fact that we were less then 7 minutes away from winning our 4^th Stanley Cup. Jordan reassured us when he scored with 3 minutes left, and the most amazing backhanded shot ever.

“Oh, Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, Bring me the Brandy!”

That was all we needed to hear & we are running through the arena to get to ice level. I made sure to take Jordan’s ring out of James’ jacket before throwing it in the locker room, and then we made our way to the ice with the Neal’s and the Staal’s close behind us.

The Predators had left the ice after the handshake and our celebrations were underway.  I was talking to Max and Kris when James skated over and picked me up in a hug.  I was unbelievably proud of him as well as they guys for their performance; their play through the entire playoffs had been like I’d never seen them play before.

Jordan came by to grab the ring from me and skated over to Heather, where she was talking with the rest of the Staal’s that made it down.  He pulled her to the side and got right down on one knee and asked her to marry him, cutest proposal ever!

The entire night was a blur of Jordan’s proposal, the on ice and locker room celebration, everyone running around everywhere…oh yeah and the presentation of the cup! And the Conn Smyth trophy to who? Mr. James Neal J

June was flying by so quickly.  Sid and some of the guys had planned on going to Vegas for the NHL Awards, James and I contemplated it…any excuse is an excuse to go to Vegas! But with the wedding coming up and us going back to New Mexico soon, we decided to pass. Vegas would always be there.  

Update!!!

Wooooow I've realized it's been literally forever since I've updated my stories. Stuff was crazy with work, school, graduating from college & job hunting. But I promise I have a lot more coming for both stories! I've been brainstorming and writing more while being on vacation. So be on the look out for chapters on BOTH stories in the next few days! Hope y'all are having a wonderful summer! ~J