Big Girl Panties

sucker punch

The queen of punctuality showed up to the Four Seasons Hotel nearly ten minutes late. Trixie handed the cab driver a wad of bills and told him to keep the change as she jumped out. The cool, early May breeze blew through Trixie as her heels clicked against the cement sidewalk, dodging others in her trek to the automatic doors of the hotel. She wasn’t quite sure what room Paul was staying in, and before she made it to the reception desk to ask, Trixie found him in the lobby.

He looked sharp; in pressed black dress pants and a soft blue button down. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his loafers were shined. When Paul spotted Trixie, he instantly held out his arms and pulled her in for a hug. She wasn’t going to lie; it felt good to be back around Paul simply for the innocent company he gave her. She loved his inappropriate and dry sense of humor and his inability to think anything through before he spoke or acted.

“Has anyone told you pregnancy is agreeing with you?” Paul asked. He let her go from the hug after they kissed cheeks in a welcoming manner.

“My mother, naturally. And the guys as they just want to keep me from crying.” She laughed.

“You’re no Kate Middleton but I wouldn’t dare compare you to Kim Kardashian as you are far more beautiful and classier than she is.”

Trixie blushed at his comment. She knew he was trying to be as nice as possible and she called him out on it. “Quit the bull shit, Biz. I’ve gained almost forty pounds already and I have four months to go. Have you decided where you want to eat? I’m starving.”

Wrapping his arm around Trixie’s shoulder, he led her back outside to the busy downtown street. Hailing a cab he opened the door for her, allowing Trixie to slide in first before he did. When he saw the heels she was wearing, Paul realized walking far distances, especially in her condition, was out of the question. Trixie knew exactly where their reservation was at when Paul called out the John Hancock building.

There was a feeling in the pit of her stomach that made her feel guilty for even showing up. But, she knew what kind of night Paul would give her and sometimes it was nice to feel like a lady and be treated like a high roller. Paul was the kind of person who wasn’t afraid to throw out his professional hockey player status and while she had found it rather arrogant and egotistical at first, she had grown to enjoy the finer things in life when she was in the presence of him.

The Signature Room was one of Trixie’s favorite places to dine at for dinner as the skyline looked absolutely exquisite during sunset. When they got to their table, Paul pulled Trixie’s chair out for her and she thanked him as she sat. It was times like she wished she and Dan had gotten rings as she knew Paul was about to unleash the fury on complements. In her head was a strong internal battle. Between the move and exhausting schedule of hockey games, it was becoming almost impossible for Dan and Trixie to find alone time and she greatly missed the attention she knew Paul would give her. However, she was married woman and she already knew she would uphold her vows.

When the waiter came around with their first round of drinks (he a whiskey on the rocks and she a Shirley Temple) they were left alone for a few minutes to skim the menu and catch up.

“So, how did it happen?” Paul asked in regards to her pregnant belly.

“Well, sometimes when two people find each other very attractive—.”

He cut her off and put a hand up laughing. “I know the fundamentals. What I what to know is the ‘who’ ‘when’ and most importantly, ‘why.’”

Stirring her drink with the straw, Trixie took a sip before starting. “Oh, boy, here we go. The father is Carcillo.”

She watched for his reaction and when he gave very little she continued. “We had been sleeping with each other for about two years and when you who knew condoms aren’t effective if you don’t actually take them out of the box.”

It took several seconds for Trixie’s first statement to set in Paul’s mind. He thought he had heard her wrong when she confessed the father of her child was Dan Carcillo. Shifting in his chair, Paul set his glass on the white linen table and cocked his head.

“Hold up; you mean to tell me you’re having a baby with Daniel Carcillo?”

“Yeah.” Trixie scratched a non-existent itch on her cheek. “We got married like three weeks ago.”

Paul jumped up from his chair and pulled his wallet out of his pocket, tossing a few bills on the table to cover the tab for the drinks. “What are you and I doing here? Let’s go find the lucky bastard and celebrate!”

Accepting Paul’s arm and hooking hers with his, Trixie grabbed her clutch purse and shook her head. There was no way this would certainly turn out badly.



While Paul and Trixie were off wondering the chaotic streets of Chicago’s downtown in search for a bottle of Dom, Dan sat at Scout with a beer and an empty shot glass in front of him. His arms were crossed and rested on the bar and he didn’t even have the bartender, Melissa, to fill the shot glass with top shelf Johnnie Walker.

Patrick Kane and Andrew Shaw stood next to the pool table with pool sticks in their hands as they watch their friend and teammate with a close eye. They had never seen this side of Dan before and they were quite sure what to make of it. Sure, they had seen him enraged during games; kicking trashcans in the locker room after a bull shit call had sent him to the locker room to serve a non-deserving penalty. But, this Dan, this Dan seemed to so pissed off and unsure of his feelings he had no idea how to react.

“Go talk to him.” Patrick elbowed Andrew in the ribs.

“Fuck no.” Shaw replied. “I like my teeth in my mouth. And besides, maybe the rage is a good thing considering he’s playing tomorrow.”

Shaking his head, Patrick put the pool stick on the pool table and grabbed his beer. If whatever was bothering him was Trixie related, Patrick knew it was field of expertise. Slipping onto the stool beside Dan, Patrick cleared his throat.

“Something’s wrong and I’m letting you leave until you come clean.”

Removing his ball cap, running a hand through his hair and putting it back on, Dan still didn’t look at Patrick. “Does the name Paul Bissonnette ring a bell?
Realizing this was in fact a conversation he knew wanted no part in; Patrick grabbed his beer and planned on returning to his game pool. However, Dan knew the name did ring a bell with Patrick when he started to stand up. Grabbing the collar of his shirt, Dan forced Patrick to sit back down.

When Dan and Patrick finally made eye contact, Patrick wanted to find Trixie and kick her ass from Chicago to LA. Dan’s eyes were puffy, his face read pure heartbreak and there no doubting the quiver in his voice.

“I fucked up big time. I said things to her that I shouldn’t have but I was so pissed off hearing about her being with another man that I just lost.”

Patrick grabbed Melissa’s attention and had her pour two more shots. “You have no idea how much Trixie loves you. Do you remember that shirt you thought you lost during the beginning of the season last year?”

Losing that shirt was almost devastating to Dan. It was his first ever Blackhawks Hockey tee and he had torn apart not only his apartment looking for it, but also the locker room. Dan answered Patrick’s question wonder what in the hell that had anything to do with the current situation.

“She took it from your cubby during practice because it smelled like you. For weeks after you two started screwing around, she slept with it to make herself feel less alone at night. Biz, he is nothing to Trixie but a friend and was a dildo with a heartbeat when she needed it. Since before the 2010 Cup run, she’s had this giant crush on you.”

The latter part of Patrick’s speech made Dan laugh. “No way, she had a crush on me?”

“Fuck yeah.” Patrick took a sip of his beer. “For as long as I’ve known her. Look through the box marked ‘jerseys’ and you’ll find five of your old jerseys. 2 from Phoenix, 2 from Philly and one from your AHL days in Pitt.”

For the first time in almost three hours, Dan smiled. “Forget Bissonnette. Go home to your life and spend some alone time with her. You won’t be getting much of that in a few months.”

Dan stood up and reached into his pocket for his wallet but Patrick quickly stopped him, insisting he’d pick up the tab and sent Dan on his way home.



Standing on her tip toes, Trixie reached for a champagne flute in the cabinet as Paul worked on uncorking the bottle of Dom. It wasn’t much of a surprise to Trixie when she had arrived and found Dan to be nowhere around and she was really questioning her decision to being Paul back to the house. He had been rather insistent on coming over to check out the new house and congratulate Dan on locking Trixie up. Paul would have but seemingly unlike his friend, he wasn’t ready to settle down.

“How long have you guys been here?” He asked, noticing a few unpacked boxes stacked in the corner of the living room.

“Only two weeks” Trixie answered as filled a champagne flute for Paul and made herself a Shirley Temple. “We thought about just renting the place, but, we a good feeling about him playing here for a while.”

Trixie somehow managed to hoist herself up so she was sitting on the counter, sipping her drink and swinging her legs. She thought about calling Dan and telling him to come home but she wasn’t sure if he would even want to see her face. If she were him, she wouldn’t want to see her own face.

Setting his glass on the kitchen table (Dan had won that fight, it was his table chosen to be brought to the new house) Paul walked over to Trixie and grabbed the glass from her hands. The glass clinked against the black granite countertop. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Trixie suddenly felt uncomfortable when she could feel his hot breath against her cheek.

“You seem happy, Trixie.” Paul looked into her icy eyes.

Her eyes fluttered and simple the simple words she had thought of suddenly couldn’t be formed by her flustered tongue. Surely he wasn’t stupid enough to try and kiss her. “I am.”

He wasn’t. Stepping away from Trixie, he handed her back and he grabbed his, too. Before Trixie had a chance to let out a deep breath of relief, she heard the deadbolt pop in the front door. Not moving from her spot on the counter, Trixie held her breath as Dan trekked into the kitchen. Stopping in the threshold between the kitchen and family room, Dan stared directly at Paul.

Trixie’s heart melted when she saw Dan had brought home a dozen of red roses. Her favorite of all flowers. Dan placed the bouquet on the table as he walked in to the kitchen.

“’Sup, dude? Congrats on—.” Paul had taken a few steps towards Dan looking to give him a brotherly hug. Paul just wasn’t ready for the sucker punch Dan delivered and it left Trixie in a state of shock. Grabbing his nose, Paul began to wipe away the blood and Trixie sprung in to action grabbing a towel for Paul use to clean up the blood. “I deserved that.”

There was one thing Trixie didn’t know. What Trixie didn’t know was that two years ago Dan had let it slip to Paul that he was sleeping with the Blackhawks equipment manager. The punch was for Paul not being upfront about the sexual relationship he too had with Trixie and his inability to quit it after he had spilled his feeling for her. But, the punch felt good and was enough for Dan to put the whole thing in the past.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Dan pointed to Paul, who gave Dan a thumbs up to let him know he was okay.

Wrapping an arm around Trixie’s waist and pulling her close, pressed a kiss to her unsuspecting lips. “And I’m sorry for overreacting.”

Trixie told him there was no need for him to apologize as he rested his forehead against hers. When Paul realized the bleeding had slowed and stopped, he handed the towel back to Trixie. Resting his hands on his hips, Paul figured this was the perfect time to make a joke.

“You two ever give thought to a threesome?”

Rolling her eyes, Trixie threw the towel at Paul and headed over to the counter to pour Dan a glass of champagne.
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