Father Figure

I think what hurt worse than being cheated on and left so easily was seeing how little he actually cared for me. He held no respect in his voice when he snarled at me to pack up all my "shit" and get it out of his house as soon as possible. What rubbed salt in my open wound was when a 21 year old bimbo showed up at his house while I was packing. 

I hung my head in defeat as she pranced over to him and practically wrapped her body around him. She let out a high pitched giggle as he kissed her neck. The true Joseph Williams was coming out of the woodwork. 

I had all of our things packed up into boxes now and was ready to haul them all to the place I had finally decided on. I had weighed the pros and cons heavily before finally deciding which one would be best. 

I didn't want the boys to have to switch schools for sure. After moving across the country, they at least needed something to stay the same in all the chaos. At the same time, I didn't want to rent one place only to have to move in a few years. 

In the end, though, I decided that the boys would be better off living with me at the place the Lemieuxs were renting. Mario had been more than gracious about everything. He'd insisted that the rent would only be one thousand, compared the the fifteen hundred originally asked for. I had a feeling Vero had something to do with that, even of she insisted that she didn't. 

The boys basically died and went to heaven when they met Mario. I wasn't exactly sure how they knew who he was seeing as they were only five, but they did and they idolized him just as much as they idolized number 87. 

I worked things out with my boss to create a schedule that worked for both of us. He knew I was a single mother of three with no child support coming in, so we arranged my hours to always fall within school hours. It was odd for a nurse to work such hours, but he agreed that it would be okay for now since the boys were still so young. 

Vero insisted that we stay with them until I had everything moved into the new space. My sons, mainly Kris, didn't mind at all. Kris had taken to being Vero's personal aid around the house. It was adorable to watch him help her dust and cook. He couldn't get enough of her. 

The stress of everything was easing up again. Sidney hadn't made an appearance again, which I was thankful for. In addition to that, no one brought him up, despite how curious they were. 

My work hours and daily schedule worked out perfectly with the elementary school's times. I dropped the boys off, drove to work, and picked them up on my way home. On top of fitting in relatively well at work, I discovered that a doctor from my old hospital had been transferred to this one in Pittsburgh. Needless to say, I was more than welcoming to the small piece of home I had around me. 

It was the day before the boys' birthday and I was determined to have all of our stuff out of Joe's place. I wasn't going to let anything get in my way, no matter how terrifying their make up, fake their boobs, and Nutella-like bronzer were. 

I rolled my eyes when she began purring things into his ear. It was downright disgusting to watch them together. Half the time I wanted to vomit and the other half I wanted to throw something at them. Joe didn't seem to give two fucks that I was even nearby. 

I groaned as my phone began ringing. I studied the unfamiliar Pittsburgh number before answering. "Hello?"

I glanced up to find Joe glaring over he bimbo's shoulder at me. I let my eyes falls down to my boxes. "Nathalie?"

I felt the strong urge to slam my phone down and ignore him. "Yes, this is she," I replied grudgingly. 

"Hey, it's Sidney. Look, I just wanted to talk to you..." he began. 

I let out a sigh. "Look, I'm kind of in the middle of moving some boxes to my new place, can I just-"

He cut me off just like I had done to him. "I'll come help. I'm sure my car probably holds more than yours does, too," he added on. Of course he would remember I hated driving big cars. 

I debated my options carefully. Accept his help, get everything done sooner, and get stuff settled with him or don't accept it, take all day moving, and continue to hide from him. 

The second option was pulling me closer to it, honestly. "Please, Nat? I'd really like to just patch things up. I feel bad leaving us off on a bad note. We used to be such good friends and all," Sidney continued. 

I caved. "Fine," I mumbled. I recited the address to him carefully. "Just knock on the door if I'm not out at my car," I told him. 

"Thank you. Really," he said sincerely. His voice was soft and gentle. Such a caring sound almost made my break in the environment I was in. Joe was glaring even more now, ignoring the blonde that was desperately trying to get his full attention. 

--

"I swear, if you've got some hobo coming here to help you move, I'll kick you both out," the bimbo names Lisa muttered darkly at me as Joe moved to answer the front door. I rolled my eyes at her.

Joe pulled the front open and froze in shock. Sidney stood awkwardly in front of him. "Hi... I'm here to help Nathalie?" he asked slowly. 

I stood up quickly. "I'm in here," I pointed out. Joe finally stepped aside as Sidney walked over to me. I motioned to the boxes I'd stacked up. "This is all I have to take," I told him. "The rest is there already."

He nodded his head. "We can probably squeeze it all in one trip of you want to try," he offered. 

I nodded my head. The less I had to be here, the happier I would be. Lisa sat up straight. "Sidney Crosby?" she snapped at me. "Seriously?"

I let my eyes close for a brief moment. "Let's go ahead and start moving the boxes out," I suggested. 

We didn't speak as we loaded the boxes out. Having someone with muscle helped a lot more than I had originally thought. Of course, I hadn't really thought about how much a hockey player would be able to lift. 

We took our own cars to Mario's place and parked out front. After a few trips back and forth between the cars and house I'd be staying in, we took a break in the living room.

I shifted around on the couch uncomfortably. "So..." I began. 

"I'm sorry," he started off quickly. "For acting the way I did the other day to what happened back in Nova Scotie when we last saw each other..."

I hung my head. If only he knew just how much had happened because of that night. I didn't know what to say to him. "I'm sorry for treating you the way I did. I could have handled things differently," I finally said. 

He gave me a small smile. "Any chance we can get past it all?" he asked. 

Such a loaded question. To him, this was so easy. For me, this was like walking a tight rope. I wasn't sure I wanted to risk talking to Sid again. The chance that he found out the boys were his was in his favor. The moment he saw the boys, he would know that they were his.

Sidney noticed my hesitation. "Can I at least know how you've been doing since then?" he asked. I could see he was groping for anything. 

Seeing that begging look in those brown eyes made me cave. "I've been good. What about you?" I asked. 

He gave me a relieved smile. "I've been alright. We won the Cup a few years ago, I've won some awards, and our team is doing amazing things right now. I can't wait to get back out there and help them," he told me. 

My smile felt sad. I'd missed him a lot. He'd always been so sincere and a good friend. I could tell nothing had changed about that. He was more mature now, though. I could see he probably wasn't about to make a penis joke like when we were teens. 

"That's great. How have you been dealing with everything? My b-" I stopped myself. "I heard you've had a concussion for a long time," I quickly corrected. 

He gave a sad smile. "Yeah, since January. It's been a rough road. It's hard not being able to do what I love. But... Can I tell you something? I'm not supposed to spread it around, it's supposed to be on the down low..." he began. His voice was instantly quieter. I nodded my head. "We think I'm going to play in the game on Monday," he admitted. 

The smile that spread across his face was so bright. This meant everything to him. "That's amazing! I'm happy for you!" I told him. 

In the back of my mind, a little voice was screaming bloody murder at me. Vero and Marc had found four tickets up against the glass for that game. They were hiding in my bedroom, mere meters from where we were. If he played and somehow saw the boys, the cat would be out of the bag. 

He nodded his head and ran a hand through his curly hair. "It's not a for sure thing yet, but we're thinking it's possible," he told me. 

I forced my grin to stay present. "That's wonderful. I'm happy for you," I said. 

He looked around the room. I was thanking God I hadn't put anything of the boys out yet, especially pictures. "So, you said you had sons?" he asked. 

Fuck my life. "Yeah... Three," I mumbled. 

He have me an odd look. "Three? Wow... Must be pretty crazy."

I nodded my head and let out a laugh. "You have no idea," I blurted out. 

"Yeah?" he asked with a smile. 

I nodded my head. "When Vero and I went back to where they were at, they'd painted each other. The person watching them looked away for five minutes and turned around to find them drenched in paint. They had to carry the boys out on to the lawn and hose them down," I told him. 

He chuckled at that. "That's adorable! How old are they?" he asked. It was such a simple and innocent question. 

I hesitated. I couldn't tell him. I couldn't say they were turning five tomorrow. The time line would be perfect. He would put two and two together instantly. "Wait, you said they were five, right?" he asked. Shit. I slowly nodded my head. He'd already figured it out. I was screwed. My plan was down the drain. He would hate me now!

He smiled instead. "So they're all at that always energetic and bouncing off the walls stage. I bet that's a blast," he teased. 

Or maybe not. Maybe his mind hadn't gone to that yet. Maybe I was safe. For now. "It's an adventure every day."