[2041 words, ready for grading]

OOC note: Wanting to get ready to wrap up Sophie's player story before I recreate soon. This piece is set during and after S72, and into the start of S73. Real life happened and I didn't get around to writing as much as I wanted. This is a continuation of this story arc in the previous chapter.

Slight TW for the last third of this piece for brief mentions of a character's previous unhealthy home life and generally heavy topics. As before, I have tried to accurately research this topic, and I hope I have done it justice. Protect trans kids.

~~~

The air in the Saddledome was cold that December night, and Sophie Bordeleau's mind was elsewhere. The Dragons were in the thick of a tight race for standing in the Western Conference playoff bubble, but matters at home were taking up lots of her headspace. Her and her wife were in the middle of the process for trying to adopt, and there had been many interviews and visits to the couple's home to gauge their readiness and to find a fit. The process seemed to be going smoothly, but it was a lot of mental space to deal with. Sophie was jolted out of her reverie as the second penalty-killing unit came off for a change and Sophie vaulted over the boards. The New Orleans Specters were trying to break into the zone but a nice play by Magnus Liljestrom broke up the zone entry. The veteran Swede got the puck across to the team's other experienced defender in Chad Nickelback. Sophie broke for the opposing zone and got a picture-perfect stretch pass for a clear breakaway, catching the New Orleans defenders on a line change. She'd been in this situation a hundred times before as she motored in on goal. A fake shot, a quick move to the backhand, and a bit of a flick to lift the puck, and the Dragons had added to their lead to take the score to 3-1. Scoring always helped keep the distractors at bay, and the Dragons needed to keep their focus in this close playoff race.

The Dragons pulled out an overtime win in that game, then lost in overtime the next night, but Christmas at the Bordeleau household was a nice chance to get away from the rigors of the schedule and just relax. Their families had come out west to see them and it made the house feel that much fuller, but Sophie and Jamie both kept an eye on the phone for the all-important notification they'd been waiting for. 

That moment came a few days later. Sophie and the Dragons were out east in Hamilton for a game, and when the hockey player got back to the hotel - she didn't take her phone to the rink to keep her focus on the game - she noticed she had a missed call from her wife.

Sophie pressed the button to call back. "Hello?" she said when the call picked up on the second ring.

"Children's Services called," Jamie started excitedly. "We passed home study. They're going to recommend us for approval. This is going to happen," she said, trying to keep her voice level.

"That's amazing!" Sophie replied. "I wish I could have been there to hear the news with you, but I'll be back home tomorrow and we can celebrate then!"

Sophie barely slept that night from the anticipation. When their plane touched down back in Calgary the next morning, she was surprised to see her wife's face in the crowd of people at the airport arrivals door. Jamie never came to see her at the airport, since Sophie usually just went back to the arena on the team bus and traveled home from there, but this was a special occasion so it made sense. The hockey player couldn't resist running over to hug her partner. They stayed that way for what felt like forever, just sharing in the joy of taking their next step in building a life and family together.

~~~

The euphoria of that holiday season didn't extend to the ice, as the Dragons faced a difficult back half of their schedule and kept sliding back in the standings. Their last hope to make it into the playoffs was if the New Orleans Specters lost to the lowly Toronto North Stars, and in the third period it looked like that would come true when the Stars pulled even and then took the lead. With 32 seconds left, the dream was dashed when the Specters tied the game with their goalie out and then won the game in overtime, then the Dragons lost to the Panthers to put the nail in the coffin. They'd missed the playoffs by a single game, and Sophie's best chance to finally play in a playoff game had passed her by just like that. She hadn't even managed to break 30 goals, which she'd hit on the button three times in a row in the prior three seasons.

Still somewhat smarting from having been so close to the playoffs, the couple's attention once again turned back to their aspirations to start a family. Their home study had been approved and they had a case worker now, so their involvement was now in doing research and preparation so that they could make their home a welcoming and safe space if they were lucky enough to be given a shot. The next step was actually getting matched with a kid, and the two enjoyed losing track of time in conversations about their shared hopes and dreams and goals.

The IIHF championships were that spring, and for once Sophie was questioning going. The tournament would be in Ireland this year, so she'd be on the other side of the Atlantic at a pivotal moment in her personal life, and she was worried her mind would be elsewhere. The tipping point towards going was settled when it became clear that the process of matching would go on through the end of the summer, meaning even with her time away to train with the Latvian team and play in the national tournament the process would still be ongoing when she got back.

The Latvians hadn't really been able to recapture the sheer magic of that run to a fourth-place finish from two seasons ago, and they limped to another bottom-of-the-table finish with a 1-10-1 run. Sophie was still playing at her peak, but they had really captured lightning in a bottle that one year and had done something special which they hadn't yet been able to duplicate. The theme of this past year was that good events seemed to follow negative ones, and about six weeks after Sophie had arrived back in Canada they met for a conference with their case worker, hearts heavy with anticipation.

"Thank you for coming in on short notice," the case worker said once the couple were seated. "I'll get right to it. Your application package is honestly really impressive. Even with the consideration of being a travelling professional athlete, your home study was one of the better ones I've reviewed - employment and financial stability is a big positive - and you two are on the same page about a lot of stuff. This isn't a sunshine-and-rainbows kind of job, so I always like to see people who have put in the work."

"Thank you," Jamie put in.

The case worker continued on, his voice chipper. "Anyway, the reason I called you in here is that we've tentatively matched you with a youth in our system, and if you're ready to move on in the adoption process you can start learning more about their history, unique needs and circumstances, all of that, and meet with other adults in their lives like their current teachers." He opened a file and placed it on the table in front of the pair. "This is Taylor. That isn't her legal name, but it's what she goes by. She's 12. Really bright kid, is neurodivergent in what we would classify a high-functioning sense. If you decide to go forward in the process you'll speak with her teachers, so they can speak to this better than I can, but from what they've told us she generally gets on fine with other kids. Their biggest issue has just been getting work in and staying focused in class, but if this goes smoothly we might see an improvement just from the stability."

The worker paused and the volume of his voice dropped, and Sophie gripped Jamie's hand tightly under the table. "That pause makes it seem like there's something bad coming," Jamie said tentatively.

"Unfortunately, yes," he replied. "Now we've arrived at the part where I've gotta explain how we ended up here. I mentioned that Taylor isn't her legal name, and that's because she's a trans girl. Very insightful about herself and came out about a year ago, and to put it mildly, her parents hit the roof. School counselor had to make the call, just a really stressful situation for everyone involved," the social worker said, managing to keep his voice steady; no doubt he'd had this conversation before.

"Was this part of why we got this match?" Sophie asked perceptively.

The social worker nodded. "There's only so much I can say with therapist-client privilege, but we were pretty clear that we wanted a potential placement to be accepting of LGBTQ+ identities to make it more comfortable for the child, and you two more than fit the bill there. It's up to you how overtly you want to show inclusion, but I think if you just be yourselves you should be good."

"Can we have a couple minutes to talk on this and get back to you?" Sophie asked. The social worker nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. The two chatted animatedly for a while before opening the door and letting the worker back in.

"If the conversation was about what I think it was about, have you reached a conclusion?"

Sophie and Jamie shared a glance. "We're in. We'd like to continue the process with Taylor."

~~~

October

The warmups were just beginning on the ice before the early-season tilt in the Saddledome, but the stands were already abuzz. Getting within one game of the big dance last season had built up some hype, and while the Dragons would likely be worse than the previous season, there was at least a lot of excitement to see what the young players in Sven Holmberg and Lea Cranberry could do for the team's defense. Sophie was getting back into her warm-up routines after shaking off the rust during training camp. Like last winter, her mind was on matters at home, though this time it wasn't just about waiting and more of a whirlwind of doing things. Her and her wife had been to one meeting after another, wanting to learn everything they could about their potential adoptive kid and support her to the best of their abilities. In the past couple weeks, with the endless series of conferences seeming to come along swimmingly, they'd been allowed to start meeting Taylor in person, and the look of relief on the kid's face when Sophie and Jamie used her name and pronouns without question was something to behold. She was still pretty guarded, but nobody was expecting this to go quickly and it was something all three of them could work on together. 

The team was starting a quick drill and Sophie took a pass from the corner, setting up a typical two-on-one which she shot into goalie Hank Stopper's pads, letting him get a feel for the puck and get set for tonight's game. She circled back to join the rest of the Dragons at the blueline and saw a couple of familiar faces in the first row by the tunnel, and sure enough, it was Jamie and Taylor. Sophie paused to flip a puck up on her stick and over the glass, and couldn't resist a smile. She was getting to play a sport she loved, building a life in this city, and soon their home would grow by one more.