I'll Be Your Friend, I'll Help You Carry On

one

At ten o’clock in the morning, during the summer, the Lemieux household was normally asleep. Mario and his wife Nathalie could be found tangled in their king size bed in the top floor of the house. Their four children were all asleep in their separate rooms on the floor below, and towards the eastern side of the house was Sidney and Chantal.

This morning, however, was different. The house was full of movement and yelling as boxes were placed into the truck in the driveway. All four kids were up helping the young couple place their belongings in the boxes, while the slightly older couple was outside placing the boxes into the cars.

Sidney was in his office putting all of his movies and binders into a box as he wiped his shirt against his forehead; something he had shed as the sun continued emitting heat. Chantal walked into the room in a pair of short Penguins shorts and a blue tank top, her black hair piled on the top of her hair.

“You’re almost finished,” she said, walking over to the chair he was sitting on and sitting on his lap, wrapping her arms around her neck.

“Mhmm,” Sidney mumbled, pressing a sweet kiss to her plump lips, their foreheads and noses touching.

Today was the day that Sidney Crosby was moving out of the Lemieux household and into his own, newly bought and decorated house. Months ago, Sidney had decided that if he and Chantal were going to live together that they should have their own house. This resulted in weeks of house hunting until they finally found the perfect one.

The house was brand new and had just finished being built, with the walls still bare of paint and concrete floors. Sidney had told Chantal that she could decorate the house however she wanted, and gave her his credit cards; which may or may not have been a mistake.

He hadn’t seen the house yet, but Chantal came home every night with a smile and a bag full of things for the new house. Last week, Chantal had come home with the biggest grin on her face and her hands empty of bags. She had run over to him as he sat on the couch watching television and jumped onto his lap.

“The house is done!” She exclaimed, kissing his nose as she giggled.

Sidney laughed, “Really? You finished it?”

Chantal nodded, her entire face showing her excitement, “We can move in anytime now. Let’s start packing!”

Sidney grabbed her around the middle as she tried to get up and started to laugh as she squirmed. He pulled her close against himself and kissed her cheek lightly.

“Calm down babe, we have all the time in the world.”

Needless to say, it had taken the couple another week to start packing. Mario was happy for them, joking with Sidney about finally moving out, but shared with his wife how sad it would be see them leaving. They had become a part of the family.

“This is the last room to pack up, every other room is finished and the boxes are in the truck,” Chantal said, slowly standing up and stretching.

Her tank top rode up her torso showing the small, dangling diamond that was in her pierced belly button and the words ‘From Below The Stars’ written right above her panty line. Sidney reached a finger out and lightly flicked the dangling jewelry cause her stomach to curl away as she giggled.

“C’mon, I’ll help you,” Chantal said, walking to the side of them room to get a cardboard box.

The couple made quick and quiet work as they placed everything in the boxes; anything breakable having already been wrapped. Sidney closed and taped the last box, putting it down by the other three boxes from that room as Chantal wrote ‘Office’ on the box in clear, black letters.

Austin and Stephanie Lemieux bounded up the stairs and stopped at the door to the office.

“Dad says to hurry up,” Austin said to Sidney as his sister and himself walked in.

Sidney snorted, “Alright, alright. Grab a box and head downstairs. We’ll be right there.”

Austin and Stephanie both grabbed a box each and headed downstairs as Sidney and Chantal grabbed the last two boxes and turned off the light.

They walked down the stairs and out the door to the large driveway where the moving truck was parked along with Sidney’s truck, Chantal’s Malibu, and one of Mario’s SUV’s. They handed the boxes off to Mario as he loaded them into the few spaces left and closed the door, latching it.

“So, I’ll drive the truck with Austin, and Lauren, Stephanie, Alexa, and Nathalie are going to drive the SUV. Sid and Chantal you guys lead the way and we’ll follow you,” Mario said, placing his hand on his sons shoulder.

Everyone nodded and got in their cars, starting the drive. The house wasn’t too far away, maybe 15 minutes, but the drive seemed extremely long and gave Sidney the chance to reflect on leaving the Lemieux house.

He had lived there ever since he started his career as a Penguin four and a half years ago and the thought of not going back when the season started left an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Yeah, Sidney had bought a house in Halifax, but that was only for breaks; he was going to have his own house to live in during the season now.

Chantal and Sidney had decided not to go back to Sidney’s hometown this summer so that they could move into the new house and get comfortable. His parents were coming to Pittsburgh in a week to stay for a few days in their brand new house, and Sidney was slowly getting more excited by the day.

He saw his mother and father often, but always missed out on seeing his little sister Taylor, as she was always at a tournament or had a game and couldn’t risk missing it. Sidney understood, he just wished that he saw her more often.

He finally pulled into the driveway of the three story house and got out of his truck just as Chantal pulled in with Mario and Nathalie behind her. Chantal got out of the car with a huge smile on her face; her eyes completely lit up.

“I can’t wait for you to see the house!” Chantal semi-squealed at him, grabbing his hand and motioning for the Lemieux’s to follow her.

Chantal unlocked the front door and ushered everyone inside. The house was gigantic when Sidney bought it, but it looked even bigger now.

The front hall was a soft brown with white and black accents, and highlighted the staircase right in the middle of the room. The staircase branched off in two directions, but also continued up to the next floor. Behind the stairs was the kitchen, dining room, and living room, and from what Sidney could see, Chantal had done an amazing job.

“Do you like it?” Chantal asked, turning to face everyone, focusing on Sidney.

“I love it,” Sidney said sincerely, a smile lighting up his eyes.

“It’s perfect for us.”