Father Figure

The boys sat at the table while I finished up our dinner. "... And May went to the hospital, mama," Beau babbled. 

I glanced over my shoulder at that. "What happened to her?" I asked curiously. Beau had come home talking about a girl named May all month. He told me all about her favorite animals, colors, and things. He told me how she only lives with her dad because her mother was in Heaven. I swore I knew more about the little girl I didn't know than any other kid at their school. 

"She got sick again," he said sadly. 

I'd picked up on the fact that May wasn't a very healthy child. He told me how she has a cough a lot and that she missed a lot of school because she gets sick. I didn't know if that was really why, but it sounded a lot like the girl had immune system problems. 

"Why did she go to the hospital for it, though?" I asked. I took down five plates from the cabinet. 

"She fell asleep while she was standing up and hurt her wrist," he explained. 

I frowned. That poor little girl. "Can we go see her in the hospital?" he asked suddenly. 

I set the plates down on the table. "We can try to. I'll check to see if she's at the hospital I work at. Otherwise I don't know where we'd find her," I told him. 

He seemed happy with my answer and went back to driving his cars on the table with his brothers. I put the pasta into a serving dish and moved it to the table. "Will you boys clean up your cars?" I asked. "Dinner is almost ready."

"Yes, mama," Gab responded. He picked up his cars and hurried to his room to put them away. Beau followed his brother while Kris stared out the window. 

"What are you looking at, bud?" I asked curiously. 

He pointed out the window. "Mario is talking to Sidney Crosby," he told me. His legs swung back and forth as he watched carefully. 

I glanced out the window. Sure enough, Sidney and Mario were talking in the driveway. My heart picked up its pace. "Go clean up," I told him. 

He nodded his head before following his brothers into their room. I heard the sink turn on shortly after and the chaos of them all trying to wash their hands at once. 

I nervously straightened out my shirt and tugged my hair back into a pony tail. I made sure the table was completely set and ready before checking on the boys. They dried off their hands and sprinted to the table. 

The knock on the door had my heart beating faster. "Mama! Someone's at the door!" Gab announced loudly. 

I laughed a little and hurried to answer. "Thank you," I told him. I pulled open the door to reveal Sidney. He gave me a wide grin. He was wearing a pair of dark wash jeans and a simple blue shirt. "Hey," I greeted. No going back now. 

"Hi," he responded. He walked inside and looked directly to his left at the three identical boys. "Hey, guys!"

And just like that, they were out of their seats and crowding him. Beau had his arms wrapped tightly around Sidney's legs while Gab and Kris jumped up and down. Their mouths were moving a mile a minute. 

"Hey! Calm down!" I scolded loudly so they'd hear me. They all stopped their racing mouths. "Why don't you guys go sit down at the table and he can join us?"

They all hurried back to their seats. "Sidney! Come sit by me!" Beau called out. 

"No! Me!" Gab cried out. 

Before the bickering could pick up, I cut in. "How about Sidney sits by me?" I asked. "That way you all can see him?"

They grudgingly agreed. I looked back up at Sid. He looked happier than he had after scoring his first goal back. It probably took a lot of worry off his mind knowing that they already loved him. We both moved to sit down at the table. I served everyone some pasta and sat back down. 

"How come you're here?" Beau asked bluntly. 

Sidney looked to me. "Because he wanted to meet you guys," I answered calmly. 

"How come?" Gab continued. 

"How come you were here last night?" Kris threw in. 

Sidney looked to me for help again. "Why don't we eat dinner first and then we'll all talk about?" My question was more of an instruction. 

The boys all dug into their food and babbled about their day. Kris talked about how much he missed Vero. Then decided Sidney didn't know who she was and he insisted on describing her. 

Sidney laughed. "She is a very lady," he agreed. 

Kris dropped his fork onto his plate in shock. "You know Miss Vero?" he exclaimed in excitement. 

Sidney nodded his head. "Yeah. We're friends," he told the small boy. 

Kris suddenly frowned. "Don't try to take her from me! She's my girlfriend," he said pointedly. 

Sidney choked on his water. I laughed as I watched him try to keep his composure "I won't, I promise."

Kris nodded his head and went back to eating. "How does your head feel?" Gab asked as he munched on a carrot. 

Sidney smiled. "It feels pretty good. I feel like I can go play a game of hockey right now," he told him. 

"We play hockey!" Beau informed him happily. 

The shit eating grin on Sid's face grew. "Yeah? What is your favorite position to play?" he asked. 

"I like being a forward like you," Beau said happily. 

"I'm a defender like Kris Letang!" Gab continued excitedly. 

"And I'm a goalie like Vero's fiancé!" Kris yelled out. 

Sidney grinned. "Wow. You guys just need three more brothers and you have a team," he pointed out 

The look on their faces almost made me die. "Yeah, I'll let you go find them three more brothers," I told Sidney. He chuckled as I took a sip of my water. I had no plans on having more kids. Three was definitely enough for me. 

Even though deep down I knew I wanted a little girl, I wouldn't be trying for one. Financially taking care or these three was enough for me to try to handle on my own. Besides, I would much rather be married comfortably if I ever decided to try for a girl. 

"Where do babies come from?" Kris asked curiously. 

This time both Sidney and I choked. My face turned bright red. All eyes were on me now. "Um..." I wracked my brains for some kind of answer. Finally I decided to stick with what one of my friends in Seattle had told her kids. "When a mom and dad love each other a lot, that love goes in the mom's belly and a baby grows there," I quickly rushed out. 

"You and daddy must have loved each other a whole lot cause you had three babies!" Beau exclaimed. 

If things could get any more awkward, I would have up and left the table. Sidney chuckled beside me. I would pay to hear what he was thinking at that moment. More like three rounds of vodka shots and beer pong rather than three doses of love. 

"Sure," I mumbled before filling my mouth with pasta. 

"Mama, who's our daddy?" Gab finally asked. 

My eyes slid over to Sidney. His eyes were focused on Gab. "Should we just... Tell them?" he asked, his eyes finally going to me. 

I shrugged. I didn't know how they would react. Seeing how happy they were with him as it was, it probably couldn't hurt. "Sure," I finally answered. I wiped my mouth on my napkin before clearing my throat. "Boys," I began slowly. 

"I'm your dad," Sidney blurted out. All of our eyes snapped to him. There was a faint blush in his cheeks. 

"You're our daddy?" Beau nearly yelled out in excitement. 

"Does this mean our last names are Crosby?"

"Do we get to go to all of your games now?"

"How come you weren't around all the time?"

"Are we gonna live with you now?"

"Does this mean Joe's never gonna be our daddy?"

"I hope so."

"Joe smelled funny."

"Do you smell funny, Sidney?"

"He doesn't smell funny!"

"Joe yelled a lot, too. Are you gonna yell at us?"

"Are you gonna go skating with us?"

The questions were fired one after another. "Hey, guys. Calm down. Why don't you just ask one question at a time that way he can actually answer them," I suggested. 

They all stopped before Beau blurted out his question. "Are you gonna marry Mama?"