Family Sticks Together

Sitting in his stall in the Blackhawks locker room, Patrick Kane sat there with nothing but his boxers on. Ever since his fight with Shae-Lynn, she wouldn't talk to him. Patrick couldn't blame her, he had some hurtful things, they both had. Letting out a sigh, he stood up and stepped into his jeans. Looking up, he saw Sharpie and Tazer looking at him, but not saying anything. After pulling his shirt on, he sat back down and started to put on his socks and shoes.

“What's going on with you Kaner?”

Looking up, Patrick looked at the worried expressions of his teammates, but didn't think it was any of their business. “Just getting dressed and going home.”

“He means,” Sharpie started. “That something is off about you lately. Wanna tell us what is going on or what?”

“Nothing is going on.” Patrick said running his hand through his still semi wet hair.

“Whatever is going on with you is affecting your game.”

“I don't need a speech about my personal life,” Patrick said. “Things just aren't working right now, I'll figure them out.”

“We know about Shae-Lynn.” Sharpie said.

“We know about the two of you.”

“Are you waiting for me to say something?” Patrick asked. “Fine, I messed up and now she's somewhere else while pregnant with my kid.”

“Wait, she's pregnant?” Sharpie asked. “With your kid?”

Lifting his head up, he looked at them. “I thought that you said you knew!”

“That you two broke up after getting together in Vancouver,” Jonathan said. “Not that you got someone pregnant.”

“Wasn't like either one of us planned for her to get pregnant. It was an accident.”

“What are you planning on doing?” Sharpie asked. “Have you talked to her about it?”

“Shae won't talk to me,” Patrick said. “I've tried so many times to apologize to her, but she won't let me. I've sent flowers and cards, but she refuses to talk to me. It always goes directly to voicemail.”

“What did you say to her to piss her off so much?”

“I might have said something about her being after my money when she made a comment that made me mad. She knows I didn't mean it.”

“She might not,” Jonathan said. “Do you know much about her?”

“I met her during the Olympics and it was just having fun and after wards, I guess once the games were over I got sloppy and I might have gotten carried away with having sex with her before I left that I didn't put the condom on properly.”

“Does she know?”

“No, she won't talk to me,” Patrick said. “She's in the city, but I still can't get a hold of her.”

“Have you thrown your name out there?” Sharpie asked. “I know you shouldn't, but this is the mother of your kid.”

“You think I haven't thought about that?” Patrick glared at them. “I haven't been able to get a hold of anyone. Her agent told me once that he would give her the message, but I don't know.”

“Go home Kaner,” Jonathan said. “Sharpie and I will try and get a hold of her.”

“Yeah,” Patrick said rolling his eyes. “Because she'll talk to you two. Good luck with that one.”

Shae-Lynn reached over to the bedside table next to the hotel bed she had been sleeping in and saw that it was a little past midnight. That's when she realized what had woken her up from her sleep, there was knocking on the door to her hotel. Slowly tossing the covers off her body, she rested her hand on her swollen belly. Her bump was now noticeable, but it wasn't as big as some other bellies of women that she had seen. Looking down, she realized the only thing she was wearing was a Buffalo Sabres Ryan Miller shirt. Turning the light on, she saw that her shorts were on the chair so she got out of bed and grabbed them and slipped them on before walking to the door. Looking through the peephole, she tried to see who was at the door, at first she thought it might have been someone with the wrong room number but then she saw the Chicago Blackhawks logo on his jacket.

Slowly unlocking the door, Shae-Lynn looked into the eyes of a man she had seen when watching a Chicago Blackhawks game earlier in the week. Opening the door wider so he could walk into the room, Shae-Lynn could only think that if Patrick's teammate could find her, what was stopping Patrick?

“If Patrick sent you here, then you can tell him that I'm not interested in anything he has to say to me anymore. I have too much going on for his games.”

“He doesn't know you are here.”

“So he's not down in your car waiting for your text message or call?” Shae-Lynn asked.

“He's at home.”

“Well what do you want? I was sleeping.”

“Look, I'm not just his captain on the team, but he's my friend and he's not the same as before.”

“And I should care?”

“You are having his kid.”

“I know,” Shae said. “And I'm nothing but a gold digger. Going after his money. At least that's what he told me. I do not need his money, I didn't get to where I was by letting other people tell me how things in my life are gonna be or that I do things to hurt my own career.”

“You know who I am, right?”

“Captain of the Blackhawks, Patrick's teammate.”

“Look, I don't know what the whole situation with the two of you is-”

“Well to him, I'm nothing but a gold digger and I can't trust him. Is there a reason you are at my hotel at midnight?”

“Kaner is a mess and I was hoping that you could just talk to him.”

“Look, Mr.-”

“Not mister,” he said. “Call me Jonathan.”

“Okay, Jonathan. I have a lot happening right now and I have to be up early tomorrow.”

“Look, I know he's not the perfect guy, but you met him in Vancouver where you both were representing your country. Look, you both should talk.”

“My brother might not like that.”

“Is that why you are here?” Jonathan asked. “To see your brother?”

“That's one of the reasons. I also have tickets to see the Buffalo Sabres play against your team. My brother is a big Miller fan.”

“What about tickets?” he asked. “I can get you some and then maybe you can talk to Kaner after the game?”

“No, thank you,” Shae-Lynn said. “Ryan Miller has already gotten them for us. But maybe after we have dinner then I'll think about talking to him. That's the best that I can do for you right now.”

“That's his kid too,” Jonathan said. “He deserves the opportunity to be a good dad to him or her.”

“Sometimes when a parent isn't there, it just shows that they aren't ready or the parent type. I've gone through that before. My brother was the one to take care of me, to make sure I got what I needed in life because my parents didn't want to be parents anymore. You don't need to lecture me on what I should or shouldn't do.”

“I'm not trying to tell you what to do, I would just hate for you to regret something like that. Maybe you can show him that things with him have to change if he wants any part of the life of his kid. After all he still hasn't told anyone in his family.”

“Unfortunately, that doesn't surprise me.”

“He doesn't want to admit it, but he needs someone to keep him on his toes when his family isn't around.”

“And you think I'm that person?” Shae-Lynn asked.

“I think you could be,” Jonathan told her. “You should really think about talking to him. Please.”

“I'll think about it.”