Father Figure

"It's over now."

"I know."

"You can relax now..."

"I know."

And yet his face stayed hard and his hand still gripped mine fiercely. I let out a soft sigh. "Take off your flip flops," I told him, poking his leg as I kneeled down to pick up my own. 

He did so without a question. I tugged his hand towards the ocean. Maybe a walk in the water would be good for him, make him relax. 

"I didn't bring swim trunks," he pointed out. 

"I didn't bring a bathing suit. Doesn't mean we can't get our feet wet," I pointed out with a smile. 

I walked right up to the water and let my feet disappear beneath the surface. Sidney slowly walked up next to me. He didn't look any more relaxed than before. 

"Sid..."

His brown eyes dropped down to me. "It's okay. It will be fine," I stressed. "He's a brilliant guy. I've heard good things about him and he knows what he's doing."

"You've heard about him?" he asked in confusion. 

I shrugged my shoulders as I looked back at the water. "I may have asked around the hospital a bit..."

A smile finally graced his plump lips. "You did?"

"Of course. Didn't want to be completely oblivious about the guy treating my baby daddy," I teased with a smile. I lightly bumped my hip against his as I looked to the sunset. Sunsets in Pittsburgh were nothing compared to a west coast sunset. 

His arm lightly wrapped around my waist. "Thank you for coming with me."

"Any time. I'm glad I could," I responded. 

His fingers toyed with the hem of my tank top as we stood in silence. The appointments had gone well, in my opinion. His doctor was nice and was happy to explain everything to me as well as Sidney. The treatment had gone over well, too. He'd reacted positively, according to the doctor.

But Sidney had been reserved and stressed all day long. I was fairly sure I hadn't seen an honest smile or a relaxed posture once. 

"I would love to live on the beach one day," I mumbled. 

I could feel his eyes on the side of my face for a long minute before looking away. "How do you like Pittsburgh now?" he asked. 

I smiled up at him. "I'm starting to love it. It feels more like home every day," I admitted. 

He grinned down at me. "I'm glad." He had been a large part of my settling in. Without him there, I probably would've gone back to Washington. But having him around and becoming friends with his teammates and their families made a big difference. I felt welcomed. I felt like I'd made a spot for myself. Not to mention the boys loved it there. 

I slowly wrapped my arms around his neck. "How are you feeling?" I asked. 

As his hands rested on either of my hips, my smile grew. "Feeling pretty good," he answered. 

I leaned up to press a kiss to his lips. "Even better," he whispered, his breath tickling my lips. I smiled wider up at him before pressing another kiss to his lips. "Much, much better now," he murmured. 

I let out a laugh and pulled away. I stared up at him as my fingers toyed with the short hair at the back of his neck. His tensed muscles slowly relaxed. We had come a long way in five months. It was odd to think that six months ago I was sure I was going to marry someone who wasn't a fatherly figure to my sons, not a good one anyways, and that Sidney hadn't been in my life. 

Looking back, things seemed emptier without him. Things didn't seem as complete. A family image was finally put together for my sons. They had their mother and father along with numerous aunts and uncles now. The team really had taken to the boys, though his teammates pretended to whine that they had found three more Crosby's to boss them around. 

The boys had a life I'd only been able to dream up for them. And that made me teary eyed. 

And now Sidney and I stood here... Acting like a couple, but not really being one. It felt right to be with him, though. We clicked and worked together well when it came to the boys as well as meshed when it came to just us. It was easy to be around him because he understood me so much better than most. 

"Want to go get some dinner?" he asked. 

I nodded my head, but didn't move. He chuckled down at me. "What?" he asked when I didn't stop smiling at him. 

"I'm happy," I mumbled back. 

I think he realized how much weight was behind those words as his arms tightened around my waist to pull me closer to him. "I'm happy, too."