Father Figure
Twenty-Three
Sidney's parents terrified me. When we decided to spend Christmas with both of our families in Pittsburgh and together, I hadn't thought about it too much. The day they arrived, I was a mess. I cleaned every single crevice in the little house I lived in and made sure the boys were cleaned up and tidy. I went to great lengths just to impress them.
And seconds after Trine and Troy showed up at Sidney's house, I realized that the boys could have been covered in mud and their grandparents still would have thought they were perfect.
Taylor even took to the boys quickly. They followed her around like baby geese when she played with them. They thought she was perfect, though no woman ever compared to Miss Vero for Kris.
We decided that we'd spend our Christmas at Sidney's house since he had more room. The boys each had their own rooms already and loved it. Also, he had more room for decoration and a big tree.
So, the night before Christmas the boys stayed at Sid's house. I stayed over until after they went to bed to help set out the gifts and stockings.
I sat in front of his fire place stuffing stockings while he toyed with a train table he'd gotten for the boys.
Trina was sitting beside Taylor on the coach. "They're going to love their gifts," Taylor said as she looked at the jerseys we still had to wrap up.
I smiled to myself. "I think they're more excited about having family around," I told her.
"That's right, you're an only child, huh?" she mumbled.
I nodded my head. "They've only had me and my mom around," I told her. "Now having an aunt, grandparents, and dad is like a Christmas present," I said with a smile.
She smiled to herself. "They're so cute! They're going to get all the ladies when they grow up," she decided.
I laughed. "I'm trying to not think of them bringing girls home yet," I admitted.
They all laughed. "You think you'll ever have another kid?" Trina asked before sipping her tea.
I stopped adding in toys to Kris's stocking for a moment. I looked up at her and shrugged. "Maybe if I get married one day and things are okay. I don't want to rush into anything now. I was engaged when I moved here, but that didn't work out like we'd planned. So, I'm just going to go with the flow. I'd love to have a daughter one day, though," I added on with a smile.
Trina laughed and looked at her own daughter. "Oh yes. They're a lot more fun that boys at times," she agreed.
Sidney's head popped up. "Hey!"
We all laughed at him. "I love you, too. I just didn't get to take you out for girls' nights or paint your nails. We had mother son bonding time, but it's still completely different to have mother daughter bonding time," she explained.
Sidney snorted. "So now it's coming out who the favorite is..." he muttered.
Taylor laughed loudly at that. "I thought you always knew I was the favorite! Welcome to the barbecue, brother," she teased.
He tossed one of the empty boxes at her in response. "Yeah? Who bought their parents a new car, huh?" he responded.
"Who hasn't abandoned their parents yet?" she fired right back.
"Come on!" he exclaimed.
Trina shook her head as they continued their argument over who was the better child. "So, tell me about this engagement. What happened?" she asked curiously.
I dropped my eyes back to the stockings. "We'd been together for about two years when he purposed. Shortly after that, he got a job here. We all moved from Seattle to Pittsburgh at the end of September. We started arguing about stupid things. Then I noticed he began coming home later and later or not at all. He made some comments about the boys that I wasn't too happy with," I admitted softly.
Taylor and Sidney has stopped their little argument to listen, even though Sid knew this story. "Then one day he came back and there was..." I chewed on my lip. "There was lipstick on his lips... So I confronted him about everything. He blew up and told me he had been cheating. He turned into a complete ass, excuse my language," I quickly added to Taylor. "We broke up and I moved out. The same week I was moving things out, he had a new girlfriend there," I finished up. I shrugged. "That's basically it."
Trine shook her head. "He wasn't worth it if he treated you and the boys poorly. You'll find yourself another man," she told me with a smile. I laughed and shrugged. "How did the boys take that?" she asked.
I rolled my eyes. "It was like I just told them Santa was coming," I told her. "They didn't like him a lot. Even when they were younger and we first started dating."
Trina smiled. "That's a positive, then. It should always matter if the kids like the man or not," she said.
"Sidney's lucky they were already huge Penguins fans. Otherwise, I think he would be out of luck with them," I teased, sending Sid a smile.
He gaped. "Is Christmas Eve pick on Sidney day?" he asked. "You guys are all mean..."
We laughed at his pout. "The boys already liked the Penguins before they met this idiot?" Taylor asked as she jerked her thumb at her brother.
We all snickered as Sidney glared at his sister. "Oh, yeah. They would turn on the TV every time they had a game. They made me make them a calendar with all of the games written in. They could probably name every person on the team and half the staff," I told her.
"Aw! That's adorable!" she gushed. "Who were their favorites?" she asked, just to get a reaction out of her brother.
He smirked confidently now. "By some crazy stroke of luck, that idiot. Kris liked Marc-André a lot because he's a goalie, too. Gab loves Kris Letang, the whole defender thing. And Beau was loved every center on the team basically. But they all held him as number one," I told her as I nodded to Sid.
She sighed and shook her head. "Poor boys..."
"You know what?" Sidney began as he got up. He walked over to the couch and started tickling her and messing with her hair. Taylor just laughed at him. Finally he sat down on her stomach. "That will teach you to be rude to your older brother!"
Taylor stared at him a moment before snorting. "At least I don't smelled like boiled cabbage..."
Trina and I laughed as the siblings continued to pick on each other. She looked down at me and smiled. "I just want to tell you that I don't think you could have done a better job with the boys. And seeing as my son got a girl pregnant at 18..." She gave him a pointed look to which he gave her an innocent smile. "I'm glad it was you and not someone else."
Sidney stood up and walked over to me. "See, Tay? Who's the favorite now? I gave her three grandsons she loves and a baby mama she likes, too," he pointed out. He sat down beside me and took the last stocking to fill.
"At least I'm waiting until I'm old enough and won't give mom and heart attack," she quipped.
Trina shook her head. "You better, young lady. I am not going to save you from the anger of your brother and father," she warned.
Sidney gave her a stern look. "If I ever hear you have a boyfriend before you are 30, you are dead meat."
And seconds after Trine and Troy showed up at Sidney's house, I realized that the boys could have been covered in mud and their grandparents still would have thought they were perfect.
Taylor even took to the boys quickly. They followed her around like baby geese when she played with them. They thought she was perfect, though no woman ever compared to Miss Vero for Kris.
We decided that we'd spend our Christmas at Sidney's house since he had more room. The boys each had their own rooms already and loved it. Also, he had more room for decoration and a big tree.
So, the night before Christmas the boys stayed at Sid's house. I stayed over until after they went to bed to help set out the gifts and stockings.
I sat in front of his fire place stuffing stockings while he toyed with a train table he'd gotten for the boys.
Trina was sitting beside Taylor on the coach. "They're going to love their gifts," Taylor said as she looked at the jerseys we still had to wrap up.
I smiled to myself. "I think they're more excited about having family around," I told her.
"That's right, you're an only child, huh?" she mumbled.
I nodded my head. "They've only had me and my mom around," I told her. "Now having an aunt, grandparents, and dad is like a Christmas present," I said with a smile.
She smiled to herself. "They're so cute! They're going to get all the ladies when they grow up," she decided.
I laughed. "I'm trying to not think of them bringing girls home yet," I admitted.
They all laughed. "You think you'll ever have another kid?" Trina asked before sipping her tea.
I stopped adding in toys to Kris's stocking for a moment. I looked up at her and shrugged. "Maybe if I get married one day and things are okay. I don't want to rush into anything now. I was engaged when I moved here, but that didn't work out like we'd planned. So, I'm just going to go with the flow. I'd love to have a daughter one day, though," I added on with a smile.
Trina laughed and looked at her own daughter. "Oh yes. They're a lot more fun that boys at times," she agreed.
Sidney's head popped up. "Hey!"
We all laughed at him. "I love you, too. I just didn't get to take you out for girls' nights or paint your nails. We had mother son bonding time, but it's still completely different to have mother daughter bonding time," she explained.
Sidney snorted. "So now it's coming out who the favorite is..." he muttered.
Taylor laughed loudly at that. "I thought you always knew I was the favorite! Welcome to the barbecue, brother," she teased.
He tossed one of the empty boxes at her in response. "Yeah? Who bought their parents a new car, huh?" he responded.
"Who hasn't abandoned their parents yet?" she fired right back.
"Come on!" he exclaimed.
Trina shook her head as they continued their argument over who was the better child. "So, tell me about this engagement. What happened?" she asked curiously.
I dropped my eyes back to the stockings. "We'd been together for about two years when he purposed. Shortly after that, he got a job here. We all moved from Seattle to Pittsburgh at the end of September. We started arguing about stupid things. Then I noticed he began coming home later and later or not at all. He made some comments about the boys that I wasn't too happy with," I admitted softly.
Taylor and Sidney has stopped their little argument to listen, even though Sid knew this story. "Then one day he came back and there was..." I chewed on my lip. "There was lipstick on his lips... So I confronted him about everything. He blew up and told me he had been cheating. He turned into a complete ass, excuse my language," I quickly added to Taylor. "We broke up and I moved out. The same week I was moving things out, he had a new girlfriend there," I finished up. I shrugged. "That's basically it."
Trine shook her head. "He wasn't worth it if he treated you and the boys poorly. You'll find yourself another man," she told me with a smile. I laughed and shrugged. "How did the boys take that?" she asked.
I rolled my eyes. "It was like I just told them Santa was coming," I told her. "They didn't like him a lot. Even when they were younger and we first started dating."
Trina smiled. "That's a positive, then. It should always matter if the kids like the man or not," she said.
"Sidney's lucky they were already huge Penguins fans. Otherwise, I think he would be out of luck with them," I teased, sending Sid a smile.
He gaped. "Is Christmas Eve pick on Sidney day?" he asked. "You guys are all mean..."
We laughed at his pout. "The boys already liked the Penguins before they met this idiot?" Taylor asked as she jerked her thumb at her brother.
We all snickered as Sidney glared at his sister. "Oh, yeah. They would turn on the TV every time they had a game. They made me make them a calendar with all of the games written in. They could probably name every person on the team and half the staff," I told her.
"Aw! That's adorable!" she gushed. "Who were their favorites?" she asked, just to get a reaction out of her brother.
He smirked confidently now. "By some crazy stroke of luck, that idiot. Kris liked Marc-André a lot because he's a goalie, too. Gab loves Kris Letang, the whole defender thing. And Beau was loved every center on the team basically. But they all held him as number one," I told her as I nodded to Sid.
She sighed and shook her head. "Poor boys..."
"You know what?" Sidney began as he got up. He walked over to the couch and started tickling her and messing with her hair. Taylor just laughed at him. Finally he sat down on her stomach. "That will teach you to be rude to your older brother!"
Taylor stared at him a moment before snorting. "At least I don't smelled like boiled cabbage..."
Trina and I laughed as the siblings continued to pick on each other. She looked down at me and smiled. "I just want to tell you that I don't think you could have done a better job with the boys. And seeing as my son got a girl pregnant at 18..." She gave him a pointed look to which he gave her an innocent smile. "I'm glad it was you and not someone else."
Sidney stood up and walked over to me. "See, Tay? Who's the favorite now? I gave her three grandsons she loves and a baby mama she likes, too," he pointed out. He sat down beside me and took the last stocking to fill.
"At least I'm waiting until I'm old enough and won't give mom and heart attack," she quipped.
Trina shook her head. "You better, young lady. I am not going to save you from the anger of your brother and father," she warned.
Sidney gave her a stern look. "If I ever hear you have a boyfriend before you are 30, you are dead meat."