Chapter Text
“Huh, I was expecting a bigger house.”
Cassidy Hernandez slings a couple of bags over her shoulder as they begin unloading production equipment from the car. “Nope, that's not really their style,” she tells Loud Aiden.
She’s still not sure why she didn’t think before assigning both of the Aidens to the crew for this shoot. Over fifteen years at this and Cassidy is still making mistakes. Although, to be fair, they are the two best guys for the gig. Loud Aiden, for all of his annoying commentary, has an amazing gift for lighting and cinematography, and Quiet Aiden is great at picking up the candid moments and pulling out great sound. Cassidy had wanted their skills in particular for this piece
Aiden and Aiden seem to have a handle on loading the rest of the equipment on the cart, so Cassidy jerks her head at Ollie, and they walk up to the front door.
She knocks on the heavy wooden door and pretends not to notice how nervous Ollie seems. “You ready?” Cassidy asks her.
“Yep, totally,” Ollie responds, and Cassidy’s proud of her, despite the half-truth. If there's one thing she likes to instill in her interns it's that great people do things before they're ready.
After a few seconds, the door opens, and they get swept up by Eric Bittle’s warm, welcoming nature.
“Cassidy! You made it! It's so great to see you,” he says, inviting them in with a flourish.
“It's great to see you too, Eric. We’re so excited to be here.” Cassidy gestures to Ollie. “This is my production assistant, Olivia.”
Ollie flashes her a grateful look before moving to shake Eric’s hand. Cassidy is well aware of the uphill battle it takes to gain respect when you’re introduced as “just an intern,” as if these kids weren’t the most talented production students in the industry. Ollie especially has an issue with confidence. When she’s got it, she's great – a real natural – but she starts to make mistakes when she doubts herself. It reminds Cassidy a lot of herself, truth be told.
Ollie seems to be doing just fine though today. “It's nice to meet you Mr. Bittle,” she says cordially.
Eric laughs. “Please call me Eric, or better yet, Bitty. Everyone else does… well, everyone except this little guy and his sister of course,” he says wrapping an arm around a shy-looking young boy at his hip. “To them, I'm just Daddy. Now come on, Richie, what do you say to Ms. Cassidy and Ms. Olivia?”
“Hello, Ms. Cassidy. Hello, Ms. Olivia,” the boy mutters.
Cassidy smiles, crouching down to be more at his eye level. “You probably don't remember me, Richie, because you were very little the last time I saw you, but you're such a big boy now!”
“I'm four and a half,” he agrees, though still wary of the four strangers about to invade his home. It doesn't help that they're all dressed in their production blacks and look like a gothic funeral procession. “Are you here for the video?” he asks.
“Yep, that's us,” Cassidy replies. She turns her attention back to Eric. “Do you mind if we bring our equipment in and start setting up?”
“Of course not!” says Eric, leading them down the hallway and into the house. “Like I was saying in our back-and-forth, the timing couldn't have worked out better. We just finished the kitchen remodel, Jack’s obviously done for the season. And he hasn’t really started back up with his training yet. Plus, I don't leave for New York for another two weeks.”
“Yeah, I'm really glad this finally worked out. It's been a crazy spring for all of us. Congrats on the new show contract, by the way!” Cassidy says with a smile.
“Thanks, sugar! I'm beyond excited.” Eric guides them into the most gorgeous kitchen Cassidy has ever seen. It’s situated as part of a huge open floor plan with lots of natural light and sparkling marble countertops.
“Your home is so beautiful,” Ollie remarks.
“Thanks, sweetheart! It’s so nice to finally have everything done. We’ve been cramped into Jack’s Providence apartment since we sold our old house and started the renovations on this one.” Eric lifts Richie up and sits him down in a stool at the island in the center of the kitchen. “I'm just thankful we’re all settled before the season and school year start.”
Cassidy and Ollie set down their bags in a corner of the room, just as the Aidens roll in the cart with the rest of the equipment.
“Eric, this is Aiden, our camera op, and Aiden, the grip,” she says, introducing the two of them. They move to shake Eric’s hand.
“Oh good, that will be easy to remember. It's lovely to meet you,” he says cheerfully. “Now let’s see if I can drag the rest of my family down to meet you.” He walks to the base of a magnificent hardwood staircase and shouts up. “Jack! Marie! Company’s here!”
While Bitty is over wrangling the others, Loud Aiden pats the top of the cart and says, “Where do you want us to set up, Boss?”
Cassidy turns an evaluating eye to the space around them. When Eric rejoins them, she asks him. “Where would you prefer we do this? I think it should be fine to have yours and Jack’s sit-downs with the same background. And then we’ll end the day on some sort of family activity, like baking or street hockey or something. What do you think?”
“Hmm.” Bitty purses his lips. “Well, you should probably do interviews up in the trophy room. That would be a pretty decent background, don't you think?”
There's a groan from the stairs. “It’s not a trophy room. It's an office,” insists Jack Zimmermann as he plods down the stairs. Even though he's almost 40, he's still shockingly attractive, even if Cassidy has long since grown out of her starstruck stage.
“Of course it is, sweetheart,” says Eric, rolling his eyes in response to Jack, who joins them in the kitchen. “I'm sure Ms. Cassidy here also has an Olympic gold medal, a Conn Smythe trophy and several framed jerseys in her office, too.”
“None of that,” Cassidy agrees, “but I do have a New England Regional Emmy.”
“See?” Jack tells Eric, before turning to their small crew. “Hello, everyone,” he says with a smile. “I'm glad we were finally able to make this happen.”
“Thanks for having us,” says Cassidy sincerely, shaking Jack’s hand. She introduces her crew, and Jack gives them each a firm, warm handshake as well.
“Sorry about the finals,” says Loud Aiden to Jack. Cassidy glares at him, but Jack just shrugs.
“It's always hard to lose when you make it that far, but I’m still proud of how hard the team worked to get there.”
“Spoken like a true hockey robot,” Eric says, his joking words in direct opposition with the reassuring, sympathetic way that he's rubbing Jack’s back. They've always been a demonstrative couple, even before Cassidy knew they were together. Whenever they’re in the same room, they seem to gravitate towards each other, making contact in some small way or another. It's disgustingly romantic. Eric continues, “But the worst part is that you're stuck with a short offseason with nothing to show for it.”
“I’ll always take a short offseason over a long one,” asserts Jack.
“Lord help me when you retire next year. You know that's a permanent offseason, right?” quips Eric
“Maybe as a player, but I'll be busy,” he responds with a smirk. Jack looks at Cassidy, and then at the crew. “This isn't really public knowledge yet, but I've accepted a coaching job at Samwell for after I retire.”
“Congratulations!” says Cassidy. “I was wondering if something like that was the case when I heard you had bought a house here in Samwell.”
“Yep,” replies Eric, looking fondly up at Jack. “Jack was offered the job, and it's honestly perfect for him. We decided that even though he's still going to play one more season with the Falcs, we wanted to get settled in and get Marie into the school here in time for first grade. Jack will keep his Providence apartment through the season and split time and commute, but then after that, we can really start putting down roots. After all, I can write cookbooks from anywhere, and I'm only in New York to film the show for a few weeks in the summer anyway, and by then Jack will be on summer break.”
“Aww man, I'll just miss you,” says Ollie to Jack. “I actually go to Samwell, but I'm going to be a senior next year, so I won't be around to see you coach.”
“Oh!” exclaims Eric. “You're a Wellie too!” Both he and Jack beam at Ollie. “Tell me, is the hockey team still the most annoying sports team on the campus?”
“It's pretty close between them and the lacrosse team,” says Ollie, shaking her head, coaxing a small chuckle out of Jack and a loud, lyrical laugh out of Eric.
“Daddy, can I have some water?” says Richie from the counter.
“Of course you can, pumpkin,” Eric says, moving around the island to pull a sippy cup from the cabinet. “And I've totally forgotten my manners. Can I get y’all anything? We have coffee, sweet tea, about a thousand gallons of Gatorade…”
“I'm fine for now,” Cassidy says, laughing. “Any of you guys want anything?” she asks her crew.
Quiet Aiden shakes his head no, as Loud Aiden says, “Just pounded a triple shot macchiato in the car, so I'm good, but if you could point me to the bathroom, that would be awesome.”
Jack shows Aiden the way to a guest bathroom off the kitchen, and when he comes back from the hallway, a young girl is standing at his side. “Dis bonjour, Marie,” he tells her in French.
“Bonjour, y’all!” she says, flashing them a gap-toothed grin. “Daddy and Papa said you're making a movie about them.”
“That's right,” Cassidy says. “They also told me that if you're good, then you can be in it too.” Marie grins even wider at that.
“Daddy said that when I'm bigger I can have a vlog just like him, so I have to practice.”
She's completely adorable and already has all the adults wrapped around her little finger. Cassidy is reminded of a few years ago when a video clip of her and Jack at a postgame press conference went viral when she said “Papa, your booty is too big” into a live mic. It became a Falconers fan joke and catchphrase that even got printed on t-shirts. Cassidy knows because her former Falcs TV boss – and current best friend – gave it to her as a birthday present that year. The card had said, Now that you work at ESPN, it’s not weird for you to wear this.
Only Eric seems to be partially immune to Marie’s charm. “You need to practice your piano before you get any more screen time, young lady. Now take your brother upstairs so the grownups can talk,” he says, lifting Richie from the stool and handing him the sippy cup.
“Okay,” says Marie, taking her little brother’s hand and pulling him bossily back up the stairs.
“Holy smokes, they are cute!” says Loud Aiden, returning from the bathroom.
“They really are,” Cassidy says to the proud Bittle-Zimmermann parents.
“Thanks, y’all. They’re a lot of fun at this age too.”
Cassidy grins. “Excellent, so we should be able to get some good footage out of them.”
“Oh, definitely,” assures Jack. “They have more personality than you’ll know what to do with.”
“A Zimmermann with personality? That's a new one,” Cassidy teases. “I’m so used to having to create a personality for you in post. I'm pretty sure that ability is what got me hired at ESPN in the first place.”
“Congrats on your promotion, by the way,” says Jack.
“We’ve loved all of the new 30 for 30s!” adds Eric. “You've done a fantastic job with them.”
“Thank you for saying that, but most of the credit belongs with the directors and field producers. I’m just the one calling in the suits and bigwigs for meetings.”
“Being a leader, you mean,” insists Jack. “And don't forget getting cranky, old hockey players to agree to do in-depth documentaries about themselves,” he jokes.
“That's no easy feat,” agrees Eric.
“I know you're joking, but it means a lot to me that you're willing to tell this story. Yours was the first name that came to mind when they first proposed reviving the 30 for 30 series this year. Then I realized I wouldn't trust anyone else to produce something that means so much to me and my career, so I assigned it to myself. It’s not easy dragging me back in the field these days. I only do it for the best,” she says with a wink.
“I wouldn't trust anyone else from ESPN to be here either, so I guess I could say the same thing,” Jack says playfully. “It will be just like the good old days, back when you were at Falcs TV.”
“Ah, yes. The good old days.” Cassidy turns to her crew. “Did you guys know that Jack here was one of the subjects on my first ever shoot as a producer?”
“Really?” says Ollie.
“That doesn't surprise me,” says Loud Aiden. “Weren't you an intern for the Falcs back in the day?”
“Yep. It was back before Jack had even signed. I was covering him at rookie camp.”
Jack chuckles. “I think I still have some leftover embarrassment from that week.”
“You and me both, buddy.”
“Why? What happened?” Ollie asks, a look of earnest curiosity on her face.
Cassidy glances at Jack, smirking slightly. “That's a story for another time. Right now, I need you guys to set up the lights and tripod in the trophy room, I mean office.” She ignores the half-hearted glare Jack directs at her.
“I'll show you where it is,” offers Eric, heading towards the stairs. Cassidy picks up her bag and walks with Eric up the stairs, her small crew following like baby ducks in production blacks. Time to get started.