Sequel: Family Goals ›
Keep It Kasual
Chapter 13
A few days after moving in and Alexander and I were alone. Kris had been invited to Hockey Canada’s Olympics Orientation in Calgary. Of course there was no way I would let him say no to that, a chance to represent our country in the Olympics; so while I cooked a dinner for myself and heated something for Alex, he was across the country. I looked at this as a dry run for what I knew was going to happen during the season. Unfortunately poor Alex had no clue what was going on. He had been wandering around calling for Kris on and off all day.
We sat where we normally did and had dinner. Alex kept calling for his papa and it was starting to break my heart. “Papa n'est pas ici mon doux garçon. Il sera de retour dans quelques jours. (Papa is not here my sweet boy. He'll be back in a few days.)” I said once again to him and again he started to cry. I managed to get him to finish eating but it was a near thing.
I decided to take him out for a walk around the neighborhood. This time I went up into Summit Park with him. What I didn’t notice was the photographer following us. We spent over an hour going down almost every trail in the park before coming home.
Once we got there Alex was more than ready for his bath. He wasn’t up to splashing as he normally would, being tired and out of sorts due to Kris being gone. I still put the lavender scented bubbles in the bath because I knew he liked them. Once he was fresh, clean and more than ready to get out. I got him put into pajamas and brought him down for a bedtime story in our room. That’s when my laptop rang. I pulled Alex into my lap and opened Skype. There waiting on the screen was Kris. “T’ere is my lovely family!”
Alex saw and heard Kris and lit up like it was Christmas. “Papa!” He leaned forward and expected to smack Kris like he normally would but hit the screen instead and frowned. “Papa?”
“C'est moi, mon fils. Vous ne pouvez pas me frapper ce soir. Avez-vous été bon pour votre maman? (It is me son. You can not hit me tonight. Have you been good to your mother?)” Alex was happily babbling at Kris now while I shook my head behind him. “Que s'est-il passé, mon amour? (What happened my love?)”
I put Alex’s book in front of him and let him look at it while I spoke to Kris. “Il était une douleur, d'appeler pour vous toute la journée. Nous étions sur le point de lire son histoire pour endormir lorsque vous avez appelé. (He was a pain, called for you all day. We were about to read his bedtime story when you called.)” Kris smiled at me and waved for us to continue. So as usual we read Alex his bedtime story. At first he didn’t want to lay down, but as we got going he laid in my arms and began to droop. We got through Pajama Time and half way through The Going To Bed Book before he was completely limp. “Que je vais lui posai bas. Soyez de retour. (I'll put him down. Will be back.)” I took him upstairs and put him to bed.
Once back in the Master, I sighed happily. “He really misses you. If this is how the season is going to go, I hope he gets used to this. How was your day?” I stretched out on the bed and sighed as I asked my question.
Kris smiled at me. “I miss you too. You will both get used to the season and you will not be as alone as you are now. I am positive that once the girls get a hold of you, you will not be lonely. Sid and Nealer do not have kids but Kuni does and they were happy to hear that Catherine was no longer in the picture.” Something tugged at his attention out of the frame. “Oh, t’is is good news. I jus’ got a text from Ray, your visa is ready and we should ‘ave it on Tuesday.”
I breathed a large sigh of relief. We were leaving on the 5th to drive back to Pittsburgh. “That’s good news. Now all we have to worry about is Friday.” Yes Friday, the day we would terminate the parental rights of Catherine and I would officially adopt Alex. Yeah I was nervous, even with all the assurances we had from Marie and Claude, I would be until it was all over and it was all official. It must have shown as Kris just smiled.
“T’ere is no reason to be nervous. She can no’ take ‘im from us anymore. She signed t’e paperwork, t’e ‘earing is a formality. Come Friday afternoon we will officially be a family. Do no’ worry mon amour. Everyt’ing will be fine.” I heard and then saw the door open and in came Nealer. He saw who Kris was talking to and tried to horn in on the conversation.
I could see the exasperation rising in Kris’ expression so I put him out of his misery. “Sorry James, you won’t ever be more than a friend, or did Kris not tell you what’s happening Friday?” James peered at Kris with suspicion, telling me that he hadn’t been told. “When all goes well Friday afternoon Alex will be officially my son.” I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw James’ jaw drop. “He didn’t tell you, did you tell anyone?”
Kris flushed. “No, maybe I am more nervous t’an I t’ought. I do no’ want ‘er to ‘ave a leg to stan’ on. Yes she says she do no’ wan’ ‘im but…” He held up his hands helplessly. I understood how he felt. In the few months both he and Alex had been in my life I could not imagine life without them. To have her even think she could get them back…
There was a knock on their hotel room door. It was Kuni, whom I hadn’t met yet. We were quickly introduced and James explained what Kris hadn’t. Kuni just laughed. “Man, you have her over a barrel. Even if she walks in with her own lawyer and says she signed that stuff under duress, you have her. Isn’t this _why_ your lawyer contacted so many of us with kids in the last few weeks? So that there would be no worries? Relax.” He pushed Kris lightly. “Trust your teammates man, better than that trust our girls.” He looked at the screen and me. “Have you met anyone from the team face to face yet?”
I chuckled. “Yeah, in fact I have lunch plans with Vero and Jass tomorrow. They’re picking us up and we’ll probably come back here after.” Kuni grinned.
“So you’re in good with V, this is excellent. If she’s got your back, you’ll do fine with the rest of the girls. How much _do_ you know about hockey?” Both Kris and I roared with laughter.
“Open Chrome and look up François Brassard, ice hockey. That is the oldest of my three brothers. He was drafted by the Sens and plays for the Remparts in the Q. Benj is the middle of them and is 16 then there’s Dom who’s 14. Benj and Dom are forwards and Frankie is a goalie. So, yeah I know a little bit about hockey. I also know about the sacrifices that we all make to have a good season. Both my dad and mom work long hours so once I could drive I was doing most of the tote and carry work for the three of them.” To say that I already knew what I was getting into was a laugh. I would only have Kris to worry about getting to the game on time, not 3 guys like I had once I turned 16.
Kuni and James were looking at Frankie’s stats and both whistled, James spoke up. “I’m not sure I want to face him anytime soon. I feel bad for Tanger.” I noticed Kris just rolled his eyes behind them both. “Seriously how good is he really?”
I sighed heavily. “Frankie is awesome and I mean both as a brother and a goalie. We hardly see each other anymore due to distance but I’m always in his corner. All of my brothers get along with Kris already so that makes everything easier.” I stretched without thinking and gave them a small show. When I looked back I noticed and James had moved away from the computer. Soon after Kris kicked them out, telling them to go rustle up some others guys and they’d go out. Before he got off the computer he blew me a kiss. "Je t'aime. Mercredi soir ne peut pas venir assez vite. (I love you. Wednesday evening can not come soon enough.)”
His simple declaration of love took my breath away. I put my hand over my heart and smiled. “Nous vous attendons. Bonne nuit mon petit ami beau. (We await you. Good night my beautiful boyfriend.)” I blew him a kiss and he was gone. Sleep took a while to find me that night.
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At 10:45 the next morning Jass came over. “Morning. Come on in.” I moved out of the way and she quietly came in. Alex looked up, I’m sure hoping it was Kris, then looked back at his toys again. He was building a block tower over and over again. “He’s starting to get tired. Got me up at 6:30 this morning.”
“Ugh, that’s horrible.” Jass said as we sat on the couch near Alex. “Are we going to bring him then, I know kids can act up when they’re tired.” She was roughly 4 months along in the pregnancy we found out about only a couple weeks ago. In fact this was her first full day back from her OB/GYN appointment she had in Philly.
“Actually I called in the cavalry. Mamie and Pepe are coming over, Kris’ mom and step-dad. They know that Estelle will be here too and said they were fine with it. I expect to come home to happy kids and tired grandparents.” I had turned my attention from Jass to Alex while I was speaking. He knew who Mamie and Pepe were and I could see him squirm just a little bit.
There was a short knock on the door at 11 and then in came Vero and Estelle. “Bonjour! Désolée, nous sommes en retard, quelqu'un a décidé de faire une crise de colère sur l'endroit où sa couverture était. Bien sûr, son père ne pouvait pas nous aider comme il riait trop. (Hello! Sorry, we're late, someone decided to make a temper tantrum about where her blanket was. Of course, her father could not help us as he was laughing too much.)” She put Estelle down and without fail the girl started crawling for Alex. Sometimes they seemed tied at the hip. Vero put down Estelle’s diaper bag and came to sit on the couch with us.
I got up and was about to close the door when I heard a car door close. Looking out I saw that it was the last people I had been expecting. “Il ya ma merveilleuse belle-famille! (There are my wonderful in-laws!)” I held the door for them and then gave hugs all around. Truly Kris’ mother had taken to me like I was already his wife, and had even called me so to some of her friends in my hearing. “Le trafic a été bonne? (Traffic was good?)” They both nodded as we came over to where the rest were in the living room. “Bon, Vero et Estelle vient juste d’arriver. (Good Vero and Estelle just arrived.)” Alex had not yet seen that his grandparents were here but he looked up when I said his name. “Je suis sûr Alex sera plus de rapidement. Il a raté son papa les derniers quelques jours alors ne soyez pas surpris si il appelle à lui sur et en dehors. (I'm sure Alex will be over quickly. He missed his dad the last few days so do not be surprised if he calls him on and off.)”
The light that shone in his eyes as he saw them was heart warming. As fast as he could, he got up and ran to his Mamie. She whispered sweet things to him that made him giggle. Vero got up and came over to speak quietly to me. “Vous ne m'avez pas dit que sa maman et papa seraient ici. Qu'est-ce qui se passe? (You do not tell me that his mom and dad were here. What is happening?)”
Christiane saved me from having to reply. “Il est simple. Kalista appelé et m'a demandé si nous pouvions venir et vous donner les mamans merveilleuses une pause bien méritée avant tout quitté pour la saison. Bien sûr, nous pourrions ne rien dire, mais oui. Allez, profitez déjeuner juste vous trois. Peut-être faire un peu de shopping après, oui? (It is simple. Kalista called and asked if we could come and give you wonderful moms a well deserved break before you all left for the season. Of course, we could not say anything, but yes. Go enjoy lunch just you three. Maybe do a little shopping after, yes?)” She juggled Alex a little bit to keep him laughing.
Estelle had come over and was picked up expertly by Michel who added his own brand of guilt. “Les enfants seront bien. Nous avons votre numéro de téléphone si nous avons besoin de mettre la main sur vous. S'il vous plaît, sortir et avoir un après-midi de détente. (The kids will be fine. We have your phone number if we need to get hold of you. Please, go out and have a relaxing afternoon.)”
The three of us picked up our bags and with tears, hugs and much reassurance left the house. Once we were in the car Vero gripped a bit. “Vous êtes chanceuse, Je t'aime déjà. (You're lucky I love you already.)” Both Jass and I laughed as we drove to East Side Marios in Boucherville.
About a half hour later we were seated and perusing menus. It felt odd not having to look at the kids’ menu but it was nice at the same time. When asked if any of us wanted wine with lunch we all declined. We instead sipped on pop while we made small talk and decided on lunch. Once orders were placed we got down to the important things. “Ok Jass, give us the scoop. How are those babies doing?”
Jass chuckled, opened her purse and took out some ultrasound pictures. “Well, as you two know we’re having twins.” She set the pictures on the table and giggled as Vero snatched them up. “Max was on the phone with me through the appointment. It was kind of funny. The doctor had to speak up so Max could hear him.” She took a drink while watching Vero going slowly over the pictures. “Surprisingly the doc said we could find out what we were having if we wanted. After a little back and forth we found out.” She took the pictures and showed us two of them. The first said It’s a Boy and the second said It’s a Girl.
Vero and I laughed loudly when we saw those. “That is wonderful! This will make finding a lot of stuff easier. What else did the doc say?” I was a little excited. I’d cared for Ava when she was an infant but this was a new experience. Vero was still looking through the pictures as I asked.
Jass’s face got a bit more serious. “Well seeing that we weren’t sure until so late, I had to go through a whole bunch of tests. We did this ultrasound as well. Overall I was there over an hour. Because I’m so petite I may have all kinds of problems so I’m supposed to keep my feet up and my stress down. While my parents and siblings were completely unhappy, my grandmother was thrilled. Actually my parents told me not to come around until I looked better.” She was twisting her napkin in her hands as she spoke.
My jaw dropped. What kind of parents did she have? She was having their grandchildren and they were so callous. I looked at Vero and saw what I’m sure was an identical look on her face, she covered my hand with hers and I knew what was about to be said. “Do no’ worry about t’em. Keep your grand mere up to date wit’ ‘ow you are doing. If she can no’ ‘elp you wit’ t’ings, as much as our men will be upset I am sure Kallie and I would both do anyt’ing in our power to ‘elp you.” I nodded, completely confident that Kris wouldn’t like me going to Philly if she needed us and that I would go anyway.
Jass’s eyes filled with tears. “You guys…” It was clear by the tone that she never expected us to be so ferocious in our defense of her and what would be best for her. “Max’s mom said the same thing. We drive back to Philly on Saturday, it’s so nice knowing that I really do have a support group.” Vero got up and moved Jass around so that she could put her feet up on the chair next to her and still eat comfortably. While the waiter looked at us funny, his manager just smiled.
She cut him off before he could get upset with her. “First baby?” We all laughed a bit and then she noticed the ultrasound pictures. “Oh, no’ just first baby, twins. Do not let anyone tell you that you can no’ put your feet up if you need to. If anyone says anyt’ing, have them talk to me. My girls are now 8 months, I remember how my feet were.” She shooed the waiter away to speak with him privately while Jass dabbed at her eyes again.
We changed topics from upsetting talk about parents to where we might want to go look for things after lunch. We decided that all of us needed a pick me up and baby stores would be that. Before we could finish our meal, there was a squeal from behind us. “Oh God, is it her?” “I think it might be.” “Oh my god, we _have to ask her!”
We looked at one another, trying to figure out which one of us had been made. Both Vero and Jass had been in the public eye for a long time. I, on the other hand, had not been. You can imagine my surprise when they came over and asked me what it was like to sleep with Kris. “Um, excuse me?” I stammered as I felt Vero slip her hand into mine for support.
One of the girls took the lead. “Well, we saw pictures of you on 25Stanley.com walking with his son. They said that you were his girlfriend. So we were wondering.” It took all I had not to yell at them for their rudeness. They stood there clearly unwilling to leave before getting the answer they sought.
I gathered my thoughts and worked very hard not to raise my voice. “Clearly you have not been raised with manners. If you had, you would know just how _rude your question is. Our relationship is the business of two people, neither of which are any of you.” Vero squeezed my hand as I finished. She then took the reins of the conversation.
“We understand you wan’ to know everyt’ing about your favorite players, but t’ey are entitled to a private life away from t’ere public one. What we choose together, our men and ourselves, to share wit’ t’e public is chosen wit’ care. It sounds like the website did not check to see if anyone wanted the news to get out before posting it. I would strongly suggest t’at you think about what you wan’ to know before asking questions from now, as she is right. We do not owe you that sort of detail about our lives. Now, please leave so t’at we may go back to our very rare child free lunch.” She turned back to her lunch and with her eyes encouraged both Jass and myself to do the same. It took a while but they finally left and we all breathed a sigh of relief. When they were gone, Vero turned to me and spoke. “Call Kristopher. ‘E ‘as t’e right to know about t’is in a different way t’an ‘ow you found out.”
I nodded and picked up my phone. It was 10 am for him by now so I hoped he was near his phone and not into training. It rang several times before an out of breath Kris answered. “Tenir sur l’amour. (Hold on love.)” I heard him walk to an area that was quieter than it had been. “To w’at do I owe t’is call?”
My throat tried to close. He sounded like he was in the middle of something. This could wait couldn’t it? That thought must have been on my face as Jass reached over and patted my arm. I took a breath and continued. “The girls and I just learned something kind of upsetting. Apparently when I was out walking Alex yesterday we were followed by a photographer. The pictures are up on 25 Stanley now.” There was silence on the other end of the phone, so I continued. “I was just recognized by a trio of girls who…” I had to pause so I could find the right words to get through to him. “demandé comment vous étiez au lit. (wondered how you were in bed.)”
I heard him do a spit take. “Non, ils n'ont pas. Qu'est-ce que vous leur dites? (No, they did not. What do you tell them?)” He sounded completely shocked someone would ask that. I explained what had just happened and heard him laugh after I told him what V had said. “Elle est un trésor. Remerciez-la pour moi s'il vous plaît. Je vais appeler mon ami sur le site et lui demander ce qui se passe. Normalement, ils ne publient pas les choses sans me le dire. Si j'avais su, je vous l'aurais dit. (She is a treasure. Thank her for me please. I'll call my friend on the site and ask him what is happening. Normally, they do not publish things without telling me. If I had known, I would have told you.)” I could hear people milling around him, but they weren’t saying anything.
“I know you would have. V thought it was only fair that I call you as soon as we got a chance. I’m more unhappy about how personal the question was than where they found out about me. We can agree that your fans aren’t owed that type of detail from our lives right?” I was on pins and needles as I asked. I knew he had quite the fan following and they were normally very good people.
He chuckled. “Je leur dois mon mieux sur la glace, rien de plus. Ce que nous allons partager de là, nous allons contrôler. Comme je ne serai pas posterai sur mon twitter que j'ai trouvé une paire de culottes en dentelle rose dans mes bagages ce matin. (I owe them my best on the ice, nothing more. What we share here, we will control. Like I will not post it on my twitter that I found a pair of pink lace panties in my luggage this morning.)” My cheeks went up in flames. Yes I had snuck a pair of my panties into his luggage so he would know I would be thinking of him. I didn’t expect him to find them so soon though. He chuckled again at my silence. “Do not worry no one else saw t’em.” He then changed topics back to the website. “I will call t’em as soon as I am off t’e phone wit’ you. Do you want them taken down?”
Vero was looking at the pictures on her phone so I glanced at them. “The pictures aren’t bad, it’s me and Alex walking to the park and in and around it. Nothing scandalous at all. Warning would have been nice though.” Kris agreed and we said good bye. Lunch was pretty much done with by now for us so we decided that we _really needed to go shopping now. Leaving a nice tip, we set off for downtown and more relaxing without the kids.
We sat where we normally did and had dinner. Alex kept calling for his papa and it was starting to break my heart. “Papa n'est pas ici mon doux garçon. Il sera de retour dans quelques jours. (Papa is not here my sweet boy. He'll be back in a few days.)” I said once again to him and again he started to cry. I managed to get him to finish eating but it was a near thing.
I decided to take him out for a walk around the neighborhood. This time I went up into Summit Park with him. What I didn’t notice was the photographer following us. We spent over an hour going down almost every trail in the park before coming home.
Once we got there Alex was more than ready for his bath. He wasn’t up to splashing as he normally would, being tired and out of sorts due to Kris being gone. I still put the lavender scented bubbles in the bath because I knew he liked them. Once he was fresh, clean and more than ready to get out. I got him put into pajamas and brought him down for a bedtime story in our room. That’s when my laptop rang. I pulled Alex into my lap and opened Skype. There waiting on the screen was Kris. “T’ere is my lovely family!”
Alex saw and heard Kris and lit up like it was Christmas. “Papa!” He leaned forward and expected to smack Kris like he normally would but hit the screen instead and frowned. “Papa?”
“C'est moi, mon fils. Vous ne pouvez pas me frapper ce soir. Avez-vous été bon pour votre maman? (It is me son. You can not hit me tonight. Have you been good to your mother?)” Alex was happily babbling at Kris now while I shook my head behind him. “Que s'est-il passé, mon amour? (What happened my love?)”
I put Alex’s book in front of him and let him look at it while I spoke to Kris. “Il était une douleur, d'appeler pour vous toute la journée. Nous étions sur le point de lire son histoire pour endormir lorsque vous avez appelé. (He was a pain, called for you all day. We were about to read his bedtime story when you called.)” Kris smiled at me and waved for us to continue. So as usual we read Alex his bedtime story. At first he didn’t want to lay down, but as we got going he laid in my arms and began to droop. We got through Pajama Time and half way through The Going To Bed Book before he was completely limp. “Que je vais lui posai bas. Soyez de retour. (I'll put him down. Will be back.)” I took him upstairs and put him to bed.
Once back in the Master, I sighed happily. “He really misses you. If this is how the season is going to go, I hope he gets used to this. How was your day?” I stretched out on the bed and sighed as I asked my question.
Kris smiled at me. “I miss you too. You will both get used to the season and you will not be as alone as you are now. I am positive that once the girls get a hold of you, you will not be lonely. Sid and Nealer do not have kids but Kuni does and they were happy to hear that Catherine was no longer in the picture.” Something tugged at his attention out of the frame. “Oh, t’is is good news. I jus’ got a text from Ray, your visa is ready and we should ‘ave it on Tuesday.”
I breathed a large sigh of relief. We were leaving on the 5th to drive back to Pittsburgh. “That’s good news. Now all we have to worry about is Friday.” Yes Friday, the day we would terminate the parental rights of Catherine and I would officially adopt Alex. Yeah I was nervous, even with all the assurances we had from Marie and Claude, I would be until it was all over and it was all official. It must have shown as Kris just smiled.
“T’ere is no reason to be nervous. She can no’ take ‘im from us anymore. She signed t’e paperwork, t’e ‘earing is a formality. Come Friday afternoon we will officially be a family. Do no’ worry mon amour. Everyt’ing will be fine.” I heard and then saw the door open and in came Nealer. He saw who Kris was talking to and tried to horn in on the conversation.
I could see the exasperation rising in Kris’ expression so I put him out of his misery. “Sorry James, you won’t ever be more than a friend, or did Kris not tell you what’s happening Friday?” James peered at Kris with suspicion, telling me that he hadn’t been told. “When all goes well Friday afternoon Alex will be officially my son.” I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw James’ jaw drop. “He didn’t tell you, did you tell anyone?”
Kris flushed. “No, maybe I am more nervous t’an I t’ought. I do no’ want ‘er to ‘ave a leg to stan’ on. Yes she says she do no’ wan’ ‘im but…” He held up his hands helplessly. I understood how he felt. In the few months both he and Alex had been in my life I could not imagine life without them. To have her even think she could get them back…
There was a knock on their hotel room door. It was Kuni, whom I hadn’t met yet. We were quickly introduced and James explained what Kris hadn’t. Kuni just laughed. “Man, you have her over a barrel. Even if she walks in with her own lawyer and says she signed that stuff under duress, you have her. Isn’t this _why_ your lawyer contacted so many of us with kids in the last few weeks? So that there would be no worries? Relax.” He pushed Kris lightly. “Trust your teammates man, better than that trust our girls.” He looked at the screen and me. “Have you met anyone from the team face to face yet?”
I chuckled. “Yeah, in fact I have lunch plans with Vero and Jass tomorrow. They’re picking us up and we’ll probably come back here after.” Kuni grinned.
“So you’re in good with V, this is excellent. If she’s got your back, you’ll do fine with the rest of the girls. How much _do_ you know about hockey?” Both Kris and I roared with laughter.
“Open Chrome and look up François Brassard, ice hockey. That is the oldest of my three brothers. He was drafted by the Sens and plays for the Remparts in the Q. Benj is the middle of them and is 16 then there’s Dom who’s 14. Benj and Dom are forwards and Frankie is a goalie. So, yeah I know a little bit about hockey. I also know about the sacrifices that we all make to have a good season. Both my dad and mom work long hours so once I could drive I was doing most of the tote and carry work for the three of them.” To say that I already knew what I was getting into was a laugh. I would only have Kris to worry about getting to the game on time, not 3 guys like I had once I turned 16.
Kuni and James were looking at Frankie’s stats and both whistled, James spoke up. “I’m not sure I want to face him anytime soon. I feel bad for Tanger.” I noticed Kris just rolled his eyes behind them both. “Seriously how good is he really?”
I sighed heavily. “Frankie is awesome and I mean both as a brother and a goalie. We hardly see each other anymore due to distance but I’m always in his corner. All of my brothers get along with Kris already so that makes everything easier.” I stretched without thinking and gave them a small show. When I looked back I noticed and James had moved away from the computer. Soon after Kris kicked them out, telling them to go rustle up some others guys and they’d go out. Before he got off the computer he blew me a kiss. "Je t'aime. Mercredi soir ne peut pas venir assez vite. (I love you. Wednesday evening can not come soon enough.)”
His simple declaration of love took my breath away. I put my hand over my heart and smiled. “Nous vous attendons. Bonne nuit mon petit ami beau. (We await you. Good night my beautiful boyfriend.)” I blew him a kiss and he was gone. Sleep took a while to find me that night.
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At 10:45 the next morning Jass came over. “Morning. Come on in.” I moved out of the way and she quietly came in. Alex looked up, I’m sure hoping it was Kris, then looked back at his toys again. He was building a block tower over and over again. “He’s starting to get tired. Got me up at 6:30 this morning.”
“Ugh, that’s horrible.” Jass said as we sat on the couch near Alex. “Are we going to bring him then, I know kids can act up when they’re tired.” She was roughly 4 months along in the pregnancy we found out about only a couple weeks ago. In fact this was her first full day back from her OB/GYN appointment she had in Philly.
“Actually I called in the cavalry. Mamie and Pepe are coming over, Kris’ mom and step-dad. They know that Estelle will be here too and said they were fine with it. I expect to come home to happy kids and tired grandparents.” I had turned my attention from Jass to Alex while I was speaking. He knew who Mamie and Pepe were and I could see him squirm just a little bit.
There was a short knock on the door at 11 and then in came Vero and Estelle. “Bonjour! Désolée, nous sommes en retard, quelqu'un a décidé de faire une crise de colère sur l'endroit où sa couverture était. Bien sûr, son père ne pouvait pas nous aider comme il riait trop. (Hello! Sorry, we're late, someone decided to make a temper tantrum about where her blanket was. Of course, her father could not help us as he was laughing too much.)” She put Estelle down and without fail the girl started crawling for Alex. Sometimes they seemed tied at the hip. Vero put down Estelle’s diaper bag and came to sit on the couch with us.
I got up and was about to close the door when I heard a car door close. Looking out I saw that it was the last people I had been expecting. “Il ya ma merveilleuse belle-famille! (There are my wonderful in-laws!)” I held the door for them and then gave hugs all around. Truly Kris’ mother had taken to me like I was already his wife, and had even called me so to some of her friends in my hearing. “Le trafic a été bonne? (Traffic was good?)” They both nodded as we came over to where the rest were in the living room. “Bon, Vero et Estelle vient juste d’arriver. (Good Vero and Estelle just arrived.)” Alex had not yet seen that his grandparents were here but he looked up when I said his name. “Je suis sûr Alex sera plus de rapidement. Il a raté son papa les derniers quelques jours alors ne soyez pas surpris si il appelle à lui sur et en dehors. (I'm sure Alex will be over quickly. He missed his dad the last few days so do not be surprised if he calls him on and off.)”
The light that shone in his eyes as he saw them was heart warming. As fast as he could, he got up and ran to his Mamie. She whispered sweet things to him that made him giggle. Vero got up and came over to speak quietly to me. “Vous ne m'avez pas dit que sa maman et papa seraient ici. Qu'est-ce qui se passe? (You do not tell me that his mom and dad were here. What is happening?)”
Christiane saved me from having to reply. “Il est simple. Kalista appelé et m'a demandé si nous pouvions venir et vous donner les mamans merveilleuses une pause bien méritée avant tout quitté pour la saison. Bien sûr, nous pourrions ne rien dire, mais oui. Allez, profitez déjeuner juste vous trois. Peut-être faire un peu de shopping après, oui? (It is simple. Kalista called and asked if we could come and give you wonderful moms a well deserved break before you all left for the season. Of course, we could not say anything, but yes. Go enjoy lunch just you three. Maybe do a little shopping after, yes?)” She juggled Alex a little bit to keep him laughing.
Estelle had come over and was picked up expertly by Michel who added his own brand of guilt. “Les enfants seront bien. Nous avons votre numéro de téléphone si nous avons besoin de mettre la main sur vous. S'il vous plaît, sortir et avoir un après-midi de détente. (The kids will be fine. We have your phone number if we need to get hold of you. Please, go out and have a relaxing afternoon.)”
The three of us picked up our bags and with tears, hugs and much reassurance left the house. Once we were in the car Vero gripped a bit. “Vous êtes chanceuse, Je t'aime déjà. (You're lucky I love you already.)” Both Jass and I laughed as we drove to East Side Marios in Boucherville.
About a half hour later we were seated and perusing menus. It felt odd not having to look at the kids’ menu but it was nice at the same time. When asked if any of us wanted wine with lunch we all declined. We instead sipped on pop while we made small talk and decided on lunch. Once orders were placed we got down to the important things. “Ok Jass, give us the scoop. How are those babies doing?”
Jass chuckled, opened her purse and took out some ultrasound pictures. “Well, as you two know we’re having twins.” She set the pictures on the table and giggled as Vero snatched them up. “Max was on the phone with me through the appointment. It was kind of funny. The doctor had to speak up so Max could hear him.” She took a drink while watching Vero going slowly over the pictures. “Surprisingly the doc said we could find out what we were having if we wanted. After a little back and forth we found out.” She took the pictures and showed us two of them. The first said It’s a Boy and the second said It’s a Girl.
Vero and I laughed loudly when we saw those. “That is wonderful! This will make finding a lot of stuff easier. What else did the doc say?” I was a little excited. I’d cared for Ava when she was an infant but this was a new experience. Vero was still looking through the pictures as I asked.
Jass’s face got a bit more serious. “Well seeing that we weren’t sure until so late, I had to go through a whole bunch of tests. We did this ultrasound as well. Overall I was there over an hour. Because I’m so petite I may have all kinds of problems so I’m supposed to keep my feet up and my stress down. While my parents and siblings were completely unhappy, my grandmother was thrilled. Actually my parents told me not to come around until I looked better.” She was twisting her napkin in her hands as she spoke.
My jaw dropped. What kind of parents did she have? She was having their grandchildren and they were so callous. I looked at Vero and saw what I’m sure was an identical look on her face, she covered my hand with hers and I knew what was about to be said. “Do no’ worry about t’em. Keep your grand mere up to date wit’ ‘ow you are doing. If she can no’ ‘elp you wit’ t’ings, as much as our men will be upset I am sure Kallie and I would both do anyt’ing in our power to ‘elp you.” I nodded, completely confident that Kris wouldn’t like me going to Philly if she needed us and that I would go anyway.
Jass’s eyes filled with tears. “You guys…” It was clear by the tone that she never expected us to be so ferocious in our defense of her and what would be best for her. “Max’s mom said the same thing. We drive back to Philly on Saturday, it’s so nice knowing that I really do have a support group.” Vero got up and moved Jass around so that she could put her feet up on the chair next to her and still eat comfortably. While the waiter looked at us funny, his manager just smiled.
She cut him off before he could get upset with her. “First baby?” We all laughed a bit and then she noticed the ultrasound pictures. “Oh, no’ just first baby, twins. Do not let anyone tell you that you can no’ put your feet up if you need to. If anyone says anyt’ing, have them talk to me. My girls are now 8 months, I remember how my feet were.” She shooed the waiter away to speak with him privately while Jass dabbed at her eyes again.
We changed topics from upsetting talk about parents to where we might want to go look for things after lunch. We decided that all of us needed a pick me up and baby stores would be that. Before we could finish our meal, there was a squeal from behind us. “Oh God, is it her?” “I think it might be.” “Oh my god, we _have to ask her!”
We looked at one another, trying to figure out which one of us had been made. Both Vero and Jass had been in the public eye for a long time. I, on the other hand, had not been. You can imagine my surprise when they came over and asked me what it was like to sleep with Kris. “Um, excuse me?” I stammered as I felt Vero slip her hand into mine for support.
One of the girls took the lead. “Well, we saw pictures of you on 25Stanley.com walking with his son. They said that you were his girlfriend. So we were wondering.” It took all I had not to yell at them for their rudeness. They stood there clearly unwilling to leave before getting the answer they sought.
I gathered my thoughts and worked very hard not to raise my voice. “Clearly you have not been raised with manners. If you had, you would know just how _rude your question is. Our relationship is the business of two people, neither of which are any of you.” Vero squeezed my hand as I finished. She then took the reins of the conversation.
“We understand you wan’ to know everyt’ing about your favorite players, but t’ey are entitled to a private life away from t’ere public one. What we choose together, our men and ourselves, to share wit’ t’e public is chosen wit’ care. It sounds like the website did not check to see if anyone wanted the news to get out before posting it. I would strongly suggest t’at you think about what you wan’ to know before asking questions from now, as she is right. We do not owe you that sort of detail about our lives. Now, please leave so t’at we may go back to our very rare child free lunch.” She turned back to her lunch and with her eyes encouraged both Jass and myself to do the same. It took a while but they finally left and we all breathed a sigh of relief. When they were gone, Vero turned to me and spoke. “Call Kristopher. ‘E ‘as t’e right to know about t’is in a different way t’an ‘ow you found out.”
I nodded and picked up my phone. It was 10 am for him by now so I hoped he was near his phone and not into training. It rang several times before an out of breath Kris answered. “Tenir sur l’amour. (Hold on love.)” I heard him walk to an area that was quieter than it had been. “To w’at do I owe t’is call?”
My throat tried to close. He sounded like he was in the middle of something. This could wait couldn’t it? That thought must have been on my face as Jass reached over and patted my arm. I took a breath and continued. “The girls and I just learned something kind of upsetting. Apparently when I was out walking Alex yesterday we were followed by a photographer. The pictures are up on 25 Stanley now.” There was silence on the other end of the phone, so I continued. “I was just recognized by a trio of girls who…” I had to pause so I could find the right words to get through to him. “demandé comment vous étiez au lit. (wondered how you were in bed.)”
I heard him do a spit take. “Non, ils n'ont pas. Qu'est-ce que vous leur dites? (No, they did not. What do you tell them?)” He sounded completely shocked someone would ask that. I explained what had just happened and heard him laugh after I told him what V had said. “Elle est un trésor. Remerciez-la pour moi s'il vous plaît. Je vais appeler mon ami sur le site et lui demander ce qui se passe. Normalement, ils ne publient pas les choses sans me le dire. Si j'avais su, je vous l'aurais dit. (She is a treasure. Thank her for me please. I'll call my friend on the site and ask him what is happening. Normally, they do not publish things without telling me. If I had known, I would have told you.)” I could hear people milling around him, but they weren’t saying anything.
“I know you would have. V thought it was only fair that I call you as soon as we got a chance. I’m more unhappy about how personal the question was than where they found out about me. We can agree that your fans aren’t owed that type of detail from our lives right?” I was on pins and needles as I asked. I knew he had quite the fan following and they were normally very good people.
He chuckled. “Je leur dois mon mieux sur la glace, rien de plus. Ce que nous allons partager de là, nous allons contrôler. Comme je ne serai pas posterai sur mon twitter que j'ai trouvé une paire de culottes en dentelle rose dans mes bagages ce matin. (I owe them my best on the ice, nothing more. What we share here, we will control. Like I will not post it on my twitter that I found a pair of pink lace panties in my luggage this morning.)” My cheeks went up in flames. Yes I had snuck a pair of my panties into his luggage so he would know I would be thinking of him. I didn’t expect him to find them so soon though. He chuckled again at my silence. “Do not worry no one else saw t’em.” He then changed topics back to the website. “I will call t’em as soon as I am off t’e phone wit’ you. Do you want them taken down?”
Vero was looking at the pictures on her phone so I glanced at them. “The pictures aren’t bad, it’s me and Alex walking to the park and in and around it. Nothing scandalous at all. Warning would have been nice though.” Kris agreed and we said good bye. Lunch was pretty much done with by now for us so we decided that we _really needed to go shopping now. Leaving a nice tip, we set off for downtown and more relaxing without the kids.