Father Figure

Vero sipped her coffee. "So, you two are dating now?"

I nodded my head. "Yup. Guess it's official now," I responded. 

"T'ank God!" she exclaimed happily. I rolled my eyes and let my smile grow. "Now I want details. How did t'is all go down?"

I let out a laugh and turned to face her. She was excitedly leaning forward, waiting to hear the story. "We got home after dropping the boys off and were just sitting on the couch talking-"

She let out a loud "aw". I raised an eyebrow. "What's so cute?" I asked in confusion. I hasn't said anything yet to make her "aw"...

She shook her head. "You referred to his place as home..."

I rolled my eyes, but still felt my cheeks flush pink. "Anyways... We were talking about how he gets to go on the next road trip with the team. And then, I don't know what happened. We started kissing and then it went upstairs and yeah..." I mumbled softly as my cheeks burned more. Vero looked like she was ready to burst with excitement. "When we got up this morning, we talked about it. I said something about it was too soon and we probably should have waited until we were dating or something. Then we just kind of mutually decided we both wanted to be in a relationship and now we are."

She frowned. "He didn't even ask you to be his girlfriend?"

I shrugged my shoulders as I looked down at my hands. "No, not really. It doesn't really matter, though. We're together now, right?" I replied. 

Her frown smoothed out before turning back up into a smile. "I'm so happy for you! T'at's great! Do t'e boys know yet?"

I shook my head. "We were going to talk to them after dinner. I don't even know what to say," I admitted with a sigh. The last time I'd gotten a boyfriend, they'd been way too young to understand. All they knew was some man started coming around regularly to spend time with their mom. Now they were forming their own opinions about everything. 

"T'e boys love him more t'an anyt'ing. I'm sure t'at if you tell t'em you two are dating, t'ey'll be more t'an happy. It's like how most parents are anyways, a couple. It shouldn't be too bad," she reasoned. 

"I hope so..." I mumbled. 

"Now. Backing up a bit. How was it?" she asked quietly, a teasing hint in her eye. I let out a laugh and felt my cheeks heat up again. I'd never had this, a girl friend to talk about sex with. The first time around, Sidney had been my closest friend. I didn't have a girl best friend.

"It was..." Her eyebrows raised expectantly. I groaned, my face heating up with more embarrassment. "Great."

"Just great? Not spectacular or incredible or amazing?" she pushed. 

I gave her a pointed look that sent her into a fit of laughter as she took my point. "Healt'er and I agreed it was t'e hockey stamina. Would you like to weigh in on t'is?" she inquired teasingly. 

I let out a sigh. "It's kind of disturbing hearing about Marc and Jordan this way," I commented. 

"What? T'at t'ey can be animals in bed?" she teased. 

I rolled my eyes as a smile played on my lips. "I should probably go. Sidney has the boys and is making dinner," I told her as I stood up. 

She grinned madly as she followed my lead. "You are like a big family. I love it," she commented before pulling me into a hug. "It must feel good."

I nodded my head. It did feel good to finally be like a real family. Things seemed to be more... Complete. And it felt amazing. 

-----

"Hello?" I called out as I closed the front door behind me. 

The sound of three pairs of running feet boomed down the stairs. "Mama!"

I grinned as my sons entered the living room and rushed to greet me. "Where were you?" Beau asked as he hugged me. 

"I went grocery shopping and then I went to get coffee with Miss Vero," I answered as I hugged Gab and Kris. 

"Miss Vero?" Kris asked excitedly. 

I laughed. "Yup. She said to tell you guys hi," I told them. 

Kris giggled madly before running off to the kitchen. "Daddy made Yumm! bowls!" Beau announced as we began to follow his brother. 

Gab held onto my hand as we walked into the kitchen. "What's a Yumm! bowl?" I asked curiously. 

"I have no idea!" Beau answered with a laugh. 

As we entered the kitchen, my eyes fell on Sidney chopping up tomatoes. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at me. "Hey," he greeted. 

"Hi," I responded softly. Something about the way he looked at me made a blush spread across my cheeks. 

The boys all ran over to their dad to see what all he'd cut up. Beau reached across the counter for a few pieces of grated cheese. "That's for dinner," Sidney pointed out. 

"I'm getting a head start," Beau announced before eating the cheese. 

Sidney and I couldn't help but laugh at his response. I walked over after sliding off my shoes to see what exactly a "Yumm! bowl" was. He had sliced up tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, and grated cheese along with cooked some black beans and rice. "So, it's a bowl of veggies and what not?" I asked curiously. 

He nodded his head. "And you add some of this sauce to it. It's amazing," he told me with a smile. "We found it one time when we decided to take a road trip between California and Vancouver. We stopped at some town and found this place called Yumm! Bowl. Tangers bought me some of the sauce when the team was over there. It's amazing," he explained. 

I nodded my head and glanced over everything he had set out. "Need any help?" I asked. 

He shook his head in response. "I think I've got it. Thank you." I gave him a quick smile before going back to set the table. 

I could hear the boys somewhere upstairs making a ruckus with their toys, nothing new. "So... We're going to tell them tonight?" Sidney asked as he brought some bowls of vegetables over. 

"Yup. Unless you wanted to wait?" I replied. 

He shrugged his broad shoulders. "I think today is as good as any other." He sent me a smile when we met at the table to set things down. I quickly returned it. 

"Vero knows," I tossed in. 

He chuckled. "Gossiping about me at coffee today?" he teased. 

I shrugged my shoulders. "Just having girl talk."

He smirked. "Oh yeah? What kind of girl talk?" he asked as he walked up behind me to wrap his arms around my waist. 

The butterflies in my stomach went mad. "Like the kind you don't tell guys about. So you don't get to know," I told him. I turned around in his arms to face him. 

I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling us a little closer. As I opened my mouth to say something else, Beau barged into the kitchen. 

"Ew! Are you two going to kiss?" he demanded loudly. 

I looked over my shoulder at him. Just then, the other two ran into the room, but stopped short. "Gross!" Kris whined as he slapped his hand over his eyes.

Gab stared at us curiously. "What?" he asked Beau. 

"They're going to kiss!" he exclaimed accusingly. 

I could feel Sidney's chest rumble as he laughed. "And if you don't look away, you'll see me kiss her," he warned them. The boys all gasped dramatically and turned their backs to us. I laughed at their dramatics. 

Sidney lightly turned my head back towards him to press a kiss to my lips. I smiled up at him. "Are you done yet?" Beau asked. 

"Yes," Sidney responded with a cheeky smile. 

I looked back at them as they all turned around warily. "Good. Why did you kiss Mama?" Kris inquired as he scooter onto his seat. 

I moved from Sidney to help the boys get their food. "Because..." he began slowly. His eyes met mine questioningly. 

I shrugged my shoulders to tell him it didn't matter to me if we told them now or later. It seemed like planning to tell them anything at a specific time got ruined. They always brought things up earlier than what I planned. It also always seemed to be around dinner time, too. 

"Because..." Sidney cleared his throat warily. "She's my girlfriend."

Beau dug his fork into his food. "That's cool," he commented before shoving the beans into his mouth. 

Gab eagerly began picking out the avocado pieces from his and eating them. "Does that mean you two are going to be holding hands and kissing and being all gross?" he inquired with a scrunched up nose. 

I sat down to begin eating my own dinner. "Not all couples are like that," I told them. 

"But I'll probably kiss her when I feel like it," Sid commented casually with a small smirk as he reached across the table for the sauce to add to his food. 

"Gross," Kris mumbled under his breath. 

As they all fell into silence as they ate, I was shocked. I'd expected it to be a bigger deal, but none of them seemed to be surprised or bothered. 

I made eye contact with Sidney across the table. He gave me a happy smile. 

"Guess who we saw at the store today, Mama!" Beau suddenly exclaimed. 

All the boys gave me a disgruntled look. I laughed slightly. "Were Marc and Vero together?" I asked jokingly. Sid chuckled softly. 

"No! Worse!" Kris told me. 

I shrugged my shoulders. "Who?"

Gab huffed unhappily. "Joseph."