The Fleury Life

I opened the front door, greeted by my large dog and I pushed him back so I could enter my house. Riley ran around my legs as I put my keys on the table by the door and set my purse down as well as the bags I was carrying. “Hello?” I asked to see who was in my house.
Ari’s pretty brown head poked over the bannister from upstairs. “Bonjour!” she said happily, all smiles. Ever since becoming engaged, she really has had a glow to her. “You are not allowed up here.”
I laughed. “Ok. Is anyone else here?”
“Non,” she said, wiping a stray hair from her face. “Kris took Nik and Marc-Andre out golfing. James went too, I think.”
I nodded. “Alright, thanks.” I started walking into the kitchen.
“Oh, and Marc-Andre put the crib together.”
I halted and looked up. “He did?”
Ari smiled. “Oui. It’s sitting in the hallway right now since I’m occupying the room to paint it.”
“I’m glad he got something done on time,” I laughed. “I won’t bother you any longer.”
Ari nodded and dipped back into the baby’s room to which she was painting. Marc and I are not allowed to see anything until it’s done, according to her, because she wants it to be a surprise.
It’s the beginning of June and time is starting to run short. I’m due in a little over a month and we are scrambling to get everything done. We’ve been so busy with hockey stuff and then baby stuff that it seems like we aren’t getting anything done at all. If we didn’t have Ari to come paint the room, we’d probably be screwed. I know her work really well, a couple of her paintings are hanging up around the house, so I know that the room will be perfect when it’s finished. She’s just an amazing person, especially since she has her wedding at the end of the month with her darling Nik, and she could be thinking only about that, but here she is, helping paint my child’s room.
I love that girl.
I headed into the kitchen, Riley on my heels, and I let him out into the backyard and turned to start making lunch for myself and Ari. I looked to the bags that held some more baby things, just little items that we have left pretty last minute.
Once the water boiled, I put in the spaghetti noodles and went to let Riley back in. While I made lunch, he stayed lying on the floor by my feet. For the past few months, mainly when I really started to show I was pregnant, he rarely leaves my side when I’m home. He’s always around, as if he’s ready to protect me if anything happened.
I bent down and rubbed his soft ears, letting a meatball fall to the floor so he can eat it.
With the spaghetti done, I mixed in the sauce and the meatballs and called Ari down for lunch. Once she came down, I realized how covered in paint she was. “Oh my,” I said with a laugh, “you take your work very seriously.”
Ari giggled and grabbed a plate, joining me at the table with Riley at my feet. “I do. I want little Luc’s room to be perfect.” We smiled at each other, but then Ari held my gaze. “I know I haven’t said anything to you, about the name, but...” she paused, glancing down slightly but looked right back up at me. If this was a few years ago, she would never look me in the eye. Niklas Hjalmarsson really is the perfect man for her, he’s changed her, for the better. “But thank you.”
My eyes widened in surprise, mid-bite. “What?”
She smiled lightly. “Luc was my only friend, besides my brother. He was like another brother to me. I know Kris was a little upset at first, Luc meant a lot to him, but we both are really happy you decided to name your baby after him as a memory. Although I do remember a conversation when we first met about how you love the name Luc anyways.”
I laughed. “I do. I’ve always loved the name Luc. But the memory of Luc Bourdon just gives the name a little more meaning.”
Ari laughed slightly and took a bite. “You became really good friends with him, didn’t you?”
I nodded and looked down, sadness clouding my eyes. “Yeah. Sidney I hung out with Kris a lot my first couple years as a Penguin, and obviously Luc and him were attached at the hip. So I ended up hanging with him a lot.” I looked over to the hallway by the front door. “There’s a picture on that wall of Luc and I. We became close.”
“I remember he told Kris you were hot.”
I choked on my water I just sipped. “He said that?”
Ari laughed, hard. “He did. The awkward part, for me sitting there listening to them talk, is that Kris agreed.”
I gave Ari a look. “I really didn’t need to know that.”
She grinned sheepishly. “I’m sorry, but it happens when you hang out with a bunch of guys for so long.”
“Don’t I know it,” I mumbled, fiddling with my pasta. “You try being the only girl in the entire NHL for six long years. Short for a career, yes, but I am female and it was starting to wear on my body playing against brutes a foot taller than I and double my wait.”
Ari nodded. “I understand.”
“Kris and Luc really said I was hot?”
“Yeah.” Ari blushed. “This was before you and Marc-Andre started dating, so they had a bet that if Kris can get a date with you, Kris would win 500 bucks. If you said no or he didn’t ask, he’d owe Luc 500.”
“Hmm, Luc got that money.”
Ari laughed. “Yes. He couldn’t fess up because he had too much respect for you as one of his best friends.” She looked at me. “And he saw the way you looked at Marc.”
I shrugged. “Sorry, Tanger, but Marc has always been my soulmate.” Ari and I met gazes and started laughing. “Wow, I still wish I didn’t know this, though.”
“Again, I’m sorry.” Ari licked her lips. “I actually thought he would have told you. He doesn’t feel that way anymore, obviously, so I thought he may have mentioned it. I know it’s been on his mind a lot, because he feels like he’s keeping a secret.”
“He could have told me. It’s not like I’d get mad at him. This was a while ago.”
“I can’t believe how fast time is flying by.”
I grinned widely at her. “Like you’re actually getting married in a few weeks!”
Ari blushes again. “It’s crazy I know.”
“And who is this girl that is standing in front of me? When I first met her she was this terrible, extremely shy girl who was as skittish as a deer and wouldn’t look anyone in the eye, let alone say more than a sentence. And now look at her.” Ari looked down in a happy embarrassment. “She’s confident in herself, using her amazing artistic skills to make the most beautiful artwork I’ve seen. She laughs all the time and talks non-stop.” I smiled at her. “I’m glad I got to know this Ari that was buried so deep inside.”
“I’m glad I got to know her too,” Ari said softly, with a smile. “I’m just... happy.”
“If I didn’t know him, I’d think Nik was an angel straight from heaven the way he’s changed you.”
Ari laughed. “I never thought I’d be this happy, ever.”
“Well I’m glad you are. You deserve it. I’ve always known you were a great girl; you just needed a push.”
Ari looked at me and nodded. “Your words are too kind.”
“I only speak the truth, Ariana.” I grinned wickedly. “You know I’m brutally honest.”
Ari laughed again and used her best Sierra-impression. “‘Jordan Lee Staal, what the hell is on your head? Don’t you have any fashion sense at all?’” I bursted out laughing, leaning back in my chair. “‘Kristopher! Watch you mouth around the children, or so help me I’ll beat you to a pulp with your own stick!’”
“Ari, you’re scary good. You sound exactly like me.”
She grinned. “‘Sidney, if you go out in public like that, I’m disowning you as my brother. I do not know you.’”
I couldn’t stop laughing. “Ok, you know me well.”
Ari’s nose crinkled as she smiled. “I do.”
I shook my head as I kept chuckling, and looked down at my pasta. After we eventually calmed down from the laughing, we finally finished our lunch.
It was nice to spent some quality time with Ari.