Keep Your Girl Out of My Shoe Cabinet, Your Wife

Annoyed Sidney threw his jersey into the bin in the middle of the locker room. Another pre season game was lost and he couldn’t quite put the finger on it. It bugged him. Why did they have to play 2 pre season games against the Flyers?

His team mates were leaving the locker room while he was tearing the tape from his shin pads. The media was bugging him. Endless questions on where the gap in the locker room was. Was Flower in a mental down again? Just like at the beginning of the 2010/2011 season? Were the offensive lines not communicating? Was he still suffering under the pains his concussions had given him? Or was it Tanger who was in pain? Where would the team go from there and why did it seem like the team didn’t respond to the orders of Dan Bylsma? How did one of the most talent loaded teams of the league play like a bunch of house dad’s in a beer league?
The press had many questions and Sidney only had few answers.

Kris checked his hair one last time before nodding goodbye to his captain, who just grabbed a towel from the shelf and walked into the showers.

The hot water and the steamy air did wonders to his knotted muscles and his twirling mind. Exhausted he dried himself off, slipped into his expensive well tailored suit, decided against the tie and walked to his car.
The streets were fairly empty so he made it home in a short time. When he unlocked the front door he found Natalie Lemieux standing by the foot of the stairs with a bottle of milk in her hand. She saw the boy she regarded as her second son and smiled at him. After 7 years she knew better than mentioning the game.

“Hey Sidney” she simply greeted him. He took off his shoes and shrugged off the jacket.

“Hey Nat. Viviane not home yet?”

She shook her head ‘No’.

“Ani has troubles falling asleep so I made him a warm milk. Do you want to give it to him?”

“Yes please. Thank you so much for watching him tonight.”

“No problem Sidney. You know how much I love that little trouble maker. Good night.”

He took the bottle from her and walked her to the door before walking back upstairs.
When he opened the door to the nursery he found his 8 month old son sitting in his bed with his arm stretched out.

“Hey buddy” Sid smiled tiredly and picked him up.

“Dada” the baby said excitedly and tried to wrap his short arms around his fathers neck.

Sidney sat down in the rocking chair, made Ani take a seat on his thigh and handed him his bottle. Soon the kid calmed down, rested against his dad’s upper body and continues drinking.
Hung up in his thought Sid played with his son’s dark thick curls.

“We should get you a hair cut soon huh? Or you will have hair as long as Tanger.”

Anakin had the same hair like his dead had and like the whole boy it was growing like crazy. Sometimes he felt like Ani was growing half an inch a day.

He looked back down to him and found him fast asleep. Carefully he took the bottle out of his grasp and put it onto the side board next to him before softly burping him and laying him back into the crib. After watching him sleep for while, he went into the bedroom to change into sweats and a shirt. He brushed his teeth and went back into the kitchen to clean Ani’s bottle.

When he dried off the bottle he saw headlights flying up the drive way. He stayed hidden in the darkness of the kitchen.
Soon the lock of the door clicked and the palms of Viviane’s bare food pattered on the hard wood floor. He watched her sprint up the stairs in her beige pea coat, the hem of her dress peaking out from underneath it and the expensive heels in her hand.

He knew it. First he couldn’t believe when Taylor told him but he knew it was his fault.

************

“Taylor can I talk to you for a second?” Viviane asked Sidney’s younger sister who was laying on the deck in her brothers garden soaking in the last rays of sun she could get before returning to Shattuck.

“Of course” she answered and sat up.

Viviane put her feet into the cool water when she took a seat next to her.

“You know cheating is a bad thing but is my situation an excuse?”

Taylor looked at her with a confused face. She pushed up her sunglasses before asking:

“What do you mean your situation?”

Viviane let out a sigh.

“Sidney will kill me for this… with my situation I meant being married to a man that doesn’t pay any attention to me. That doesn’t treat me like a wife or a woman. That treats me like he did when we were kids. I mean is it cheating if I do it to get my needs satisfied? My husband doesn’t love me and I’m stuck in the marriage and all I have is my awesome son and a house to look after. I feel like I’m 50 and my life is over.”

“Who says he doesn’t love you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Huh?”

“You just said something about him not loving me and stuff…”

Taylor’s eyes widened. “What? No no I was just thinking sorry. Don’t mind. I don’t know uhm… I mean… your marriage is sort of messed up… uhm well… Are you cheating on him? Or do you plan on?”

Viviane shrugged. “I don’t know. Sort of… but not really… it’s not like I’m sleeping with someone. More like I met someone a few times who paid attention to me and made me feel like a woman. Not someone who only asked me how the kid is, when dinner is ready or where the blue tie with the tiny blue dots is.”


************

When Sidney heard the bathroom door close he walked up the stairs, kissed Ani good night and slid under the covers of their bed.
After a while he heard the shower turn off and the dry blower turn on. He checked the alarm clock on her night stand and closed his eyes. The humming noise lulled him into a light and dreamless sleep.

--------------------

In the middle of the night he turned and bumped into a warm sleeping body. Sidney smiled slightly and wrapped his arm around her. Before he could pull her closer he felt her curling up in his embrace. Carefully he whipped a lash from her cheek and hid his face in her neck. The freshly washed hair smelled like berry and passion fruit. With closed eyes he inhaled her scent and pulled her closer.

‘Whoever she is seeing can never give her what I can.’ He thought and made a decision.

’You are my wife and I will fight for you.’