#so yeah that’s where I was between june of 2021 and november 2023

[ronsenburg]

sorry for posting about such tiny writing victories on here all the time. I get that the things that I’m celebrating are minuscule compared with the volume that a lot of other writers (or even myself, three years ago) regularly produce and that the content overall is pretty trivial. but, at this point, it isn’t really even about writing anymore.

it’s so crazy (sarcasm) but having a kid is really hard! not even the physical elements of gestating a human being or dealing with the way life changes after you become a parent. I really didn’t expect the psychological side of it, I guess? I got pregnant in 2021, had a miscarriage, and then got pregnant again right away after and the hormonal changes from all that fucked me up. I’m not exaggerating at all when I say that one day, 18 months after my baby was born, I stepped out of a mental fog deep enough that I couldn’t recognize the person I’d been for that last year and a half. that chunk of time is just amorphous in my brain. between the lack of sleep, continued hormone fluctuation insanity, and inability to take some of my meds, I was like a shell of the person I’d been at the beginning of 2021. I literally had no space in my brain for anything other than taking care of that baby. anything that brought me joy before, any hobbies I had, just… hadn’t mattered. if it was postpartum depression, it was a really weird kind that allowed me to feel happy and optimistic about the future and very much in love with the tiny human I’d brought into the world. I just wasn’t me anymore. the craziest part was that it wasn’t an experience unique to me? a lot of the other moms I talked to about it on the other side were like ‘haha, yeah, that got me too!’ even my therapist kind of hand waved it off as normal. and??? why isn’t this something we talk about???

anyway, last october, I finally snapped out of it and started to try and chisel out some space in my new life for the person I’d been before the baby. it’s been really difficult—I don’t get much time for myself and when I do, if I don’t spend it cleaning or prepping activities and play dates, I end up feeling really guilty. I can’t stress enough how much I genuinely enjoy being a mom and how fortunate I feel to spend as much time as I do with my kid, I just also feel like there needs to be room for me to be something outside of that as well, you know?

now it feels like every time I’m able to write anything, I’m getting to step a little further back into the things that made me happy before. even if it’s not very good or not very much, it’s progress towards finding balance. so I’m probably going to keep posting about it here and celebrating all those little things. thanks for putting up with me while I do ❤️

[woah-were-halfway-there]

What was it like when the two first hooked up. Like how did it progress to that? We’re they like a couple for a few years before they had Mia? Was it two years? Or four?

Ok so this is a really poorly written out timeline lol but hopefully it helps enough 🤣

October 2016: they met for the first time after she went to watch Mitch play in his first NHL game but it was literally just that, they met

Halloween 2016: they ran into each other at a bar, recognized one another, talked and then as she was getting ready to leave y/n mentioned how she was getting brunch with Mitch the next day and invited Auston to join and exchanged numbers. He went, and the three had a really great time

Beginning of November to end of December 2016: they began talking all the time, hung out and did lots together. They became very good friends in this time and it was completely platonic until it wasn’t. He even met Nate and her dad and everything, as a friend (and they were very much so catching feelings for each other but were too nervous/stubborn to do anything about it

December 30th 2016: the whole thing that went down with Chris at the bar on Lexie’s birthday happened. Y/n was v drunk and stayed at Auston’s place. They had a heart to heart *almost* kissed but didn’t

December 31st 2016: y/n wakes up full of regret, is upset about Chris, remembers the heart to heart with Auston (and the almost kiss) but is embarrassed and tries to get tf out of there but Auston is a sweet boi and made her breakfast and had Advil and water ready for her when she woke up so she didn’t have it in her to just dip. So, they talked. She stole some of his sweats and ended up staying with him well into the afternoon until he had to break it to her that his family had just gotten to the city and he had to go see them. Which she was fine with, she went to leave and he asked if she’d go to the centennial classic the following day. She said “yeah, me and Steph are going cause mitch and all” and then he said “no, I mean will you go to the classic as one of my plus ones?” Cause he wanted her to be there for him, cheering him on and she was shook, but said yes before leaving and going home for the night

January 1st 2017: she goes to the game, meets up with Steph and a couple of the girlfriends of the team that she’d gotten to know a little bit from always going to games and just being Mitchys “twin” Steph then handed y/n a bag and told her that she was asked to give that to her and in it was a Matthews jersey. Obviously y/n was surprised but also 🥺 so she put it on, they watched the game, Auston won in overtime. Then after the game when she finally got to talk with him, they were so freaking cute and awkward cause they were both feeling all types of ways especially Auston after seeing that she actually wore his jersey (much to mitch’s dismay) and then he officially introduced her to his family, who had all heard lots about her from Auston. It was very sweet, Ema then invited her to join them for dinner and she didn’t want mitch or steph to think she was bailing on them but they told her to go so she did and had a lot of fun. Then that night after they all had gone back to Auston’s condo, his family soon left and almost as soon as they were out the door Auston had y/n pressed against the wall and they were making out. She stayed the night that night.

January 22nd 2017: the two get into a fight. They’ve spent the entire month basically hooking up, spending all of their free time together and seemingly dating to anyone who didn’t know them. They were crazy about each other but then when y/n hinted that yeah, she would maybe like to try an actual relationship out with him, he froze up and made a comment basically saying that he thought what they had going was good (because he’s a stupid boy) and y/n said “I’m not going to be your fuck buddy, Auston. If you don’t want a relationship that’s fine. But I’m not doing just this especially with how I’ve completly fallen for you. I can’t be strung along, not after what happened with Chris. So, if you don’t want whatever this is going on between us to happen then please let me know and I’ll leave you alone.” And she left, pretty heartbroken because she was feeling that all she was good for to him was sex

January 28th 2017: he texts her in the middle of the night after not speaking all week to go skating with him. They go to the rink at harbourfront, which is empty cause it’s so late. They talk, skate, have competitive one on one matches cause Auston brought hockey gear. Then he, out of nowhere, asks her to be his girlfriend and how he’s wanting to give the idea of them as a couple, a shot

February 12th 2017: they’re officially official, everyone knows. Mitch has already sassed them. And she is his date to the centennial gala where they are pictured together as a couple and everything

Off-season 2017: Auston goes back to Scottsdale, y/n stays in Toronto and they do long distance but she does go to Arizona to visit him for two weeks. She meets his friends, really bonds with his family, then goes back to Toronto and he flys back too a couple of weeks later just before summer ends

2017/2018 season: not much happens, they’re very much so together and are just your typical couple. Y/n is in third year at university, spends a lot of time with her boyfriend at his place, but he goes to y/n and Lexie’s place a lot even though it’s not as nice as his condo downtown. Nate moved to Montreal for university after graduating high school that June, y/n’s dad moves to BC

Off-season 2018: y/n again stays in Toronto but does classes online so she can finish her degree a semester early. Auston is in Scottsdale again, but she does go stay with him for a couple of weeks again and brings him to BC with her and Nate to visit her dad and Mya 

2018/2019 season: again, just typical domestic relationship stuff. Y/n finishes university early, works full time at her retail job she had throughout university so she can save up some money because she wasn’t renewing the lease at hers and Lexie’s place since Lexie was moving come September (2019) and she needed to figure something out. Y/n graduated from her program in the spring. Auston, her family (including mitch and Steph), and Auston’s family were there to cheer her on

Off season 2019: y/n works in Toronto, gets hired by an office in her field and is set to start her “adult” job in September. She goes to Scottsdale for a month this time, from mid July to mid August to be with Auston. He’s decided he wants to ask her to move in with him but is a chicken and fucks it up. They fight and she almost goes home but all ends well and she agrees to move in with him

September 2019: y/n starts her job and news of Auston’s charge from when he was in AZ comes to light. Y/n didn’t know about it, was livid and hurt that he didn’t tell her something like that. It was almost a month of them living together, they got into probably their worst fight ever and she stayed at mitch and Steph’s for a few days (it took a bit but they worked it out)

2019-2020 season and 2020 offseason: the events that happen in “Good Life” (keep in mind I wrote that before covid, so that doesn’t exist in this universe)

December 2020: Auston proposes (like in Good Life) and Frank is introduced

End of June 2021: they find out y/n is pregnant

Rest of 2021 and into 2022: the events of “Along For The Ride” part 1 and eventually 2

January 25th 2022: Mia is born

July 30th 2022: they get married

September 2022: they move into their house and out of the condo

Rest of 2022 into 2023: there’s a couple of pieces I wrote like Mia’s 1st Christmas and “Island In The Sun”

Late November 2023: they find out about baby number two, which is where we are right now in the story

Hope this helped! ☺️ sorry it’s a freaking mess though