Je t'aime, tu sais?

"Well," Milan said, tightening his skates. "She throws up a lot."
"Ew," Tyler made a face.
"Well what's she supposed to do; she's just a baby. Life's hard!" Nathan defended Valentina, Milan's five month old.
"I don't think I threw up a lot," Patrice commented, wiggling his ankle into his hockey boot.
"Yeah, and you probably slept through the entire night the night your parents brought you back from the hospital and were probably potty trained in an hour. We all know you're perfect, Patrice." Tyler laughed, clapping the man on the back. The locker room chuckled. The team was assembling for a regular morning skate with the afternoon off, and were discussing plans for the rest of the day in small groups amongst themselves. Milan was hoping for a nap.
"No but seriously, guys, I don't have a picture of Valentina without puke on her, or me, or Brittany..." he said with a furrowed brow while scrolling through pictures on his phone. "Shit, there's even puke on the dog in this one..."
It was always funny when one of the guys had a little one at home; you could notice the dark circles under their eyes, or the far away look they got after practice, before they regained enough strength to pull off their jerseys and pads. Milan, Nathan and Andy had even fallen asleep in the locker room before, skates on and everything. The men could only imagine how their wives felt. Patrice could only imagine what it felt like to have a wife to consider.
His thoughts flicked back to the girl in the Coop. He scared himself with such a jump like that--he hardly knew the girl's name--but he slightly recognized the smile that slowly spread itself across his lips as he bent forward to lace his skates.
"What're you laughin' at?" Marchy asked, also leaned forward and lacing.
"Oh, it's nothing." Patrice smiled.
"I think he's probably feeding her the wrong stuff, y'know? Mashed bananas are shitty, I'd toss 'em back up, too."
Patrice looked at Marchy with disbelief. "Marchy, what's the first thing you know about feeing a baby?" he asked in laughter.
"What? It's just bananas are already so soft, I can't imagine how gross they'd be all mashed..." He made a face and stuck his tongue out.
Patrice shook his head and chuckled, then let his thoughts drift back to the girl at the Coop.

Jamie sat at the tea shop in Harvard Square, watching the snow whirl and circle around on the other side of the window. Although she was looking over her notes, she had to admit that her mind was elsewhere. She had been catching herself smiling every so often, but hadn't quite yet discovered what had lifted her spirits. She supposed it was almost Christmas, usually around this time she would return to Quebec, but this year, she had to stay and work on her thesis, so she knew that wasn't the reason she kept softly smiling.
The streets were not so busy for a winter afternoon. It was not quite dark yet, but you could tell the sky was about to turn for the evening. There were a few other people in the shop, one a fellow Harvard graduate student, but other than that, it was quiet apart from the occasional gust of wind and chime of the bell to welcome or usher out another customer.
She frequented the tea shop because one of the baristas was from Montreal and she rather enjoyed speaking with a native than with french studies majors around campus. She exchanged a smile with the blonde girl and went back to considering her notes.

"How do you feel about Harvard Square?" Patrice asked Andy, eager to accidentally bump into the girl at the Coop and harmlessly gather his friend's opinion.
"What is with you and Harvard all the time recently; regretting not going to college?" Andy chuckled, dropping into the passenger's seat of the car. "I don't care; anywhere. I just don't want to be home, I miss the kids too much."
"They left already? To where? Alberta?"
"Bergy, you realize it's two days before Christmas? Most people are with family by now."
"Speaking of, do you need a ride to the airport tomorrow morning?"
"That'd be great."
The tires slushed through the wet snow on the road for a few rounds of otherwise silence before Andy asked, "You're going home, right?"
"No, no not this year. My brother is coming in with his girlfriend. They want to see the city. And my parents are traveling." The two men nodded, Patrice with his eyes fixed on the road, and Andy looking out the passenger's side window.
Patrice couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt a little guilty for not being upset about a lack of Christmas celebration over the five day break from work in his life. Honestly, he was a bit happy to have the time to relax.
"I want to get coffee. Do you want some?" He asked his friend. "There's this great little tea place around the corner; sometimes a girl from Quebec is there, too."

It seemed Jamie wasn't the only one who enjoyed the native conversations with Margaux. At first Jamie flushed, feeling hot and cold at the same time, and then she felt the warmth of a smile appear on her lips. She bit them and reconsidered her math notes.
She smelt the coffee before she heard the man say thank you in French. She peeked up from her notes to lock eyes with him again before looking back down at her Moleskine and biting her lip. She felt her skin goose bump and she secured the pink scarf piled over her lean legs as she rocked her leg back and forth.
After what seemed like ages, she dared to look again. He had just pulled up the collar to his coat, and smiled at her.