Keep It Kasual

3 days, that’s how long I lasted. I already liked Pittsburgh, it was a nice place so far. However I was at the point now where we needed a bigger place right this second. We were in 1/4 the space we had in Montreal. So when Kris came home with 4 more people, even thought I loved 3 of them to death it was too much. “Kris, we need a bigger place here.”

All of them laughed. At first I didn’t understand why and was about to get angry when Kris explained. “My love, t’is is Michael Hornick t’e real estate agent we spoke to a few weeks ago before we got t’e house in Montreal. ‘E came over to the CEC to find me because ‘e ‘as a ‘ouse near Marc-Andre and Vero t’at ‘e wants us to look at.”

Vero had put Estelle down and come over to me. “Kallie, it’s a lovely ‘ome. It is four ‘ouses down from us at the end of t’e cul de sac. The lot is not small but the backyard is bigger t’an t’e front. Oh please come look at it. I would love to ‘ave someone I knew in t’e neighborhood.” She by now how both hands of mine in hers and was as close to begging as I have ever seen her.

I looked over at Kris who had a smile on his face. “Do you think I’ll like it?” He came over and put his arm around me. Vero backed off a little bit but still kept one of my hands.

“I t’ink you will _love_ it. It ‘as 2 t’ousand more square feet t’an t’e house in Montreal, then again we will be here a lot longer during t’e year. September to May or June. Shall I get Alexander ready to leave so we can move in already?” Something about how he said that sounded off, but it was a home that was larger then what we were currently in. I would at least go see it.

We pulled up into a driveway a ways away from where we were currently living. “T’is is Marc and Vero’s place. She wanted to show you how close we would be if we got t’is place.” Sure enough Vero came skipping out of the house with a big smile on her face.

I got out of the car and looked around. This was a very nice neighborhood. A lot like our neighborhood in Westmount. I took Alex out of the car and set him down. Of course he went toddling over to the grass, he loved grass. “Don’t eat the grass Alex honey.” I said as I went a little bit down the driveway.

Very sagely he nodded and spoke. “Herbe mauvais, no chiot. (Grass bad, no puppy.)” He kept on feeling the grass blades though. We had a few times in the past 3 weeks where we’d found him eating it and had to explain that grass was bad for people but not for puppies which were his current favorite animal.

I looked both ways and found that there were people coming over from the left house. “V? I think you have company.” V came over and waved.

“T’ey are Marisol and Jim from next door. Bonjour!” The couple waved.

“Good to see you guys are back, we were wondering.” Jim said. “Hi I’m Jim.” He said to me as he shook my hand. “My wife Marisol.”

I smiled as I shook both hands. “Kallie. Marc and V are good friends.” Vero nodded quickly. “They’re trying to sell me on the neighborhood. I think they’ve already sold my fiancé and possibly our son too.” I turned to see Kris having a quiet conversation with Alex.

Vero grinned. “We are going to show t’em 1131.” Jim and Marisol nodded sagely. “In fac’ come on let’s go!” She grabbed my hand and started to leave the driveway. I had no choice but to follow her.

We walked down the road, maybe 160-170 yards and I saw the house. It was _so_ similar to the house I had fallen for online but it was different too. I looked back and saw Kris carrying Alex while Marc-Andre had Estelle. There was a semi-smug look on Kris’ face. “What did you do?” I asked him as he came up.

“Moi?” He said with faux innocence. “I can no’ lie to vous. Michael found it and pointed it out to me. It is a little different t’an t’e one you spend looking over t’e other week, but not by much. We had to move t’e garage so it would fit on t’e lot.” He pulled out a set of keys from his pocket. “Do you want to look inside?”

I took the keys and grumbled my way up to the door. The man had to stop buying things for _us_ without me. I unlocked the door and gasped. It _was_ the house I had liked so many weeks ago! I wandered through it marveling at it in person. It was as if someone had taken the few changes I wanted to make, like putting in hardwood floors throughout the house, and run with them.

I ran lightly up the stairs and looked in the Master Suite. It was done in light colors I liked. Looking in the master bath, it was done in black and white. I looked in the laundry room and found it done in blue and white. I came back downstairs and looked at Kris oddly. He looked at me as if he was questioning something. “How did you do it?”

“How did I do w’at?” I gave him my ‘do you think you’re fooling me’ look. “Ok fine, after you looked at t’e house online, you would talk a little bit when you were asleep. If t’e day had been difficult especially. It was all about how you would decorate a house.” He flushed. “I would record you and let Michael know. He never heard w’at you said, just w’at I told him. T’is process was started before Cat and I split up. The plan for t’e house was not set t’ough. T’at we, well you, chose.” He brought me into the kitchen and I looked through it, everything was as I imagined in my head.

I couldn’t be angry, he’d done everything to make sure this would be our home. Even the things I didn’t know what to do with were done. I could see the melding of my ideas and his. “How?”

Michael stepped up then. “Most of the house is prefabricated. It means it goes up a lot faster and you guys can move in sooner. It’s also how we were able to get everything the way you wanted it. Kris was smart and kind of led you through the things we would need to know. Yes we know it’s underhanded but your home will be hopefully be inspected for occupancy today and approved.” A car pulled up outside. Michael looked out and smiled. “Looks like the inspector is right on time.”

Just then Vero’s phone went off. “Oh no! I forgot about t’e Bar Be Que. Kallie would you ‘elp me? I ‘ave t’ings t’at need to be made before we can get t’ere.” BBQ? Okay… I nodded and went with her back to their house. “I would ask Marc to ‘elp but ‘e is ‘opeless.”

Kris sighed. “We will keep t’e kids out of your hair and get t’e house settled.”

Soon enough we were in Vero’s kitchen. “I am sorry, but I do need your ‘elp. Marc would eat most of t’e eggs before t’ey were finished.” She began pulling out the makings for deviled eggs and then some chicken concoction. “You do know ‘ow to make deviled eggs right?”

I laughed. “Yeah I know. Mind if I grab a bowl to mix this up?” I started peeling eggs while she started laying out chicken on a wire rack. In short order I was slicing eggs and making sure the yolks were in the bowl. By the time I was ready to mix the filling, Vero was putting some of the chicken in the oven. She washed her hands and started arraigning the eggs on several platters. When I thought the filling was perfect, I took a small taste. I offered V a taste and she smiled after she took it. “When eggs are about all you can afford at times, you learn many ways to enjoy them.”

All totaled it took us an hour to get the chicken done and eggs filled and chilled. As we were pulling out the last batch of chicken, the boys came in. “Good news! We have our certificate of occupancy. W’at is t’at wonderful smell?”

I looked at Vero and shrugged. “Pineapple Chicken Tenders. T’ey are wonderful hot or cold. Kallie made the Deviled Eggs. Let us get packed up and over to Sid and Aleks’.”

We packed up both cars with people and goodies. Before we left Michael made sure we knew that it would take a few more days to get everything settled so we could move in. On our trip over, I got nervous. “Do you think I look ok?” I was dressed in a pink top and jeans, I wasn’t sure what kind of gathering this was going to be.

Kris chuckled. “Relax mon amour, you look wonderful. T’ere is somet’ing you should know about Aleks before we get t’ere. She is also a Pen not just Sid’s other half. In fact, your ring from Alex was Sid’s idea and Aleks helped me pick it out. Wit’ her and Vero behind you, t’e girls will love you. Most of t’e girls will be here and t’e kids. Do you have your camera?”

I laughed loudly. “I _always_ have my camera. Why do you think my bag is so heavy? It’s also a camera bag.” Then I had another thought. “Do we have everything we need for Alex? We had to go and get some things for him when we got back, including a new crib and high chair. The crib was exactly like the one he had in Montreal, which helped him transfer to Pittsburgh. The high chair was a travel one that folded, it was called the Peg Perego Rialto Booster High Chair.

Kris chuckled as he drove. “We have everyt’ing we need. Alex’s bag is in t’e back as is his chair. He will be fine. Won’t you mon fils?” Alex laughed from his seat.

We pulled up outside of two large homes. Kris first took us across the street from where we parked. “Come, someone wants to meet you and see Alex again.” We held hands and carefully walked up the driveway. He knocked on the door and grinned as Mario opened the door. “You asked to see us before we saw Sid and Aleks.”

Mario smiled. “I did, yes. Please come in. Nathalie we have company!” He ushered us into his home. I was doing my best not to squeak and embarrass Kris. Mario must have noticed. “Kalista, there is no reason to be nervous. We welcome all the players and their families to come by, especially if they have never been to Pittsburgh before."

In came 3 new people, one of whom obviously was the mom. " 'Ere we are. Alexa, Austin sit down. Welcome back Kristopher." Kris smiled. As the woman sat down she also smiled. "So, you are his saviour. You impressed my 'usband greatly Kalista, your family and yourself were," She turned to Mario," 'Ow did you put t'at?"

He chuckled. "She's a breath of fresh air. You truly are, you already know the game which means you know the dangers."

Alex began playing with my necklace, something he had taken to doing when he was getting tired or bored. "I wouldn't say it's dangerous, per se. It can be, but not inherently. Then again my view might be colored by Frankie, he does wear a lot more protection than some."

Their son seemed to perk up. "You know someone who plays?"

I blushed. "All of my brothers play but so far only Frankie has been drafted, by our hometown team The Senators." Was I a proud sister, well maybe a little bit.

"The Sens? Wait, they don't have anyone named Frankie. Is that just what you call him?" Oh this young man I liked a lot.

Kris smoothly inserted himself in. "It's w'at she calls him, you would know him as Francois Brassard. He is a goalie and very nice. Kallie's ot'er two brot'ers are forwards, Benjamin and Dominic. Poor Kallie has had to be the ref between t'em many times.”

The girl moved closer to me and was looking at Alex. "He's changed so much since we last saw him." Alex buried his face into my shoulder.

I couldn't help but smile at him. "He's changed just since I met him. Some days I can't him to stop talking, can I little man?" Alex peeked up from my shoulder, his eyes crinkled up as if he was smiling.

I lifted my right hand and brushed a lock of his hair out of his eyes. Nathalie leaned forward. "What a nice ring you 'ave t'ere. What is it for?"

I had forgotten I was wearing my mother's ring, it had only been about a week since I got it. "The day that I adopted Alex, he gave me this. Didn't you? It's his birthstone, citrine. It's definitely my second favorite ring ever." I had been looking at Alex but my eyes were drawn up as I finished my sentence. He leaned over and gave me a soft kiss, taking Alex in the process.

"Second favorite? Why only second?" As Alex cleared my lap I leaned forward and showed Mario and Nathalie the ring that Kris had given me in all of it's 2.5 carat glory. "Mon dieu, t'at is gorgeous! Suddenly a mother's ring being second makes more sense." She grinned. "Oh I love weddings, 'ave you set a date yet?"

Put on the spot I froze. I felt my face lighting up. While we had only gotten engaged a week or so ago, we hadn't talked at all about when we might want to get married. Kris put a hand on my knee and spoke softly. "We have not had time. Between getting the adoption finalized and moving so soon after, we have been a bit busy. I just today showed her t'e house we will be moving into just before Camp. The condo here is just too small anymore."

That helped me get over my shock and embarrassment. I snorted. "Too small is only part of it. You've spoiled me. Having neighbors so close again is jarring sometimes."

"Hallo?" It was Marc-Andre opening the door. "Tanger? Kallie?"

Mario chuckled. "Come in Flower. Where is your blushing bride?"

Marc came in holding Estelle. "She is saying hallo to Aleks. We saw Kris' car but no' 'im and Kallie. I see I was right to check 'ere." He greeted Mario and Nathalie with familiarity that I could only hope to have with the team one day.

"Do no' scare Kallie off Nathalie, Veronique loves 'er a lot. She is also t'is one's Godmot'er." He jiggled his daughter who giggled.

Nathalie looked back at me. "You already have Veronique in your corner, good. She will make sure you are welcomed properly and 'ave t'e girls who matter defending you like t'ey do each ot'er." That seemed to seal the deal to her as she stood up and tugged me into a hug. "Welcome to t'e family Kalista. It is very nice to see Kristopher smiling again. No more of t'at woman right?"

Kris shook his head. "No, in fact we have a restraining order on her now. It seems she did not want to give me up wit'out a fight, but she gave up Alex easily. Kallie is his mot'er of record now and she will no' be going anywhere." He pulled me against his side and pressed a kiss to my temple.

The front door opened again. "Hallo?" Came the voice of Vero. "Oh 'ere you all are! Kallie, Aleks wants to meet you." Vero came in with another woman who was dressed similarly to me, suddenly I didn't feel under dressed. V tugged me away from Kris. "Aleks, t'is is Kallie. Kallie t'is is Aleks, you can t'ank her for t'e ring your Alex gave you."

Soon after we went back across the street. This house felt as large as Mario's but not nearly as imposing. Coming in I saw that there were already many people inside. Kris took it all in stride, hugging and kissing everyone he knew. I met so many new people in the first 5 minutes I couldn't remember names.

I found my way into the kitchen to get a hold of myself again. There were just so many people who all seemed to know Kris and Alex. I was staring off into space doing a breathing exercise I occasionally had to do before photographing large weddings when 2 ladies came in. “So you’re Kris’ new girlfriend. Isn’t it annoying taking care of the kid?”

I opened my eyes, angry that they would dare say that about my son. Turning slowly I spoke. “There is nothing annoying about caring for _my_ son. I love him and his father dearly and if you can’t handle that I suggest you stay far away from us.” The anger I felt was clear in what I said and they both jumped a little shocked at my tone I think.

I was thinking about going out to the car to cool off when Aleks came over. “Girls if you can not stop angering the other Ladies you will not be welcome in my home again. Kalista I'd been wondering where you had gotten off to. You don't have to be in here. A few of the ladies want to meet the woman who has made Kris smile again." The other two left in a huff and Aleks leaned in. "Please don't let those two bunnies impact how you feel about the girls overall. Neither Simon or Paul have dated them long so they don't know how deadly we ladies can be when you mess with us."

She drew me outside carefully. Under the umbrella was several ladies watching children. "I found her. Kallie these are The Girls. You might have heard us called WAGS, we hate that term."

I laughed. "Oh I know. I've been called that when all I was doing was helping Frankie. He's the eldest of my brothers and a Sens prospect."

"Welcome Kallie, I'm Carole-Lynn. Four of t’ese monsters are mine. So tell us, ‘ow _did_ Kris find you?"

I pulled up a spot on the deck and felt more welcome. I told them how Kris and I met and how I started helping him with Alex. We then all traded stories on where hockey has taken us. When I told them what Catherine tried in the courtroom and what happened after they all were very happy that I had come into Kris' life. When I showed off the ring he gave me, they all oohed. "We haven't set a date, hell we just got engaged about a week ago."

Carole-Lynn scoffed. "Oh please, you ‘ave time to figure all of t'at out. For now just get used to being 'ere and wit' us. You _will_ be going to games when t'ey start yes?"

"Oh yeah. I love the game, even before my brothers and dad come into play. Dad says it's my birth mom's influence, she was a _huge_ fan. Helping my brothers get to their games only helped my love." Alex found me and came charging over. "Hey little man, are you having fun?" He grinned at me broadly.

I heard Kris chuckle. "I should have known. Bonjour ladies, may I steal mine so t'at I can introduce her to your husbands?" He offered me a hand up, kissing my hand as I stood. The ladies all sighed a bit as it was clear we were in love.

Arm in arm we strolled inside and downstairs, Alex on Kris’ hip. “I found her. Outside wit’ t’e ladies of course. Kallie these are t’e guys. Guys t’is is Kallie. I won’t bother wit’ names right now, but I am sure you will all see each other again.” They en mass said hi and then drifted apart except for one guy.

He took my hand and kissed the back of it. “Tanger might not introduce us, but I will introduce myself. I am Pascal Dupuis, he’ll call me Duper. I ‘ope you speak French Kallie, if not you may be lost sometimes during the season.” He chuckled as one of the ‘monsters’ Carole-Lynn waved at hit his legs. “Tanger, Flower, myself and our ladies often got together during the year just to have a conversation in an intelligent language.”

I smiled, laughed a little and decided to answer his question the best way I could. “Je parle français et en anglais, mon père est québécois alors que ma mère était partir de Toronto. Ma famille vit à Gatineau. (I speak French and English, my father is Quebecois while my mother was from Toronto. My family lives in Gatineau.)” His face told me what I needed to know as it split into a large smile, this was someone who Kris relied on to help keep his roots during the season.

“J'ai hâte d'avoir de nombreuses conversations avec vous. Tanger ne nous dit pas ce que tu faites, je voudrais renseignement au. (I look forward to having many conversations with you. Tanger does not tell us what you do, I would like to inquire.)” Kris put Alex down. I was a bit surprised he hadn’t told anyone.

I looked over at Kris inquisitively, he shrugged. I shook my head and answered Pascal in English. “I’m a photographer by trade. I brought my camera but I didn’t know if people would be upset if I took pictures.”

Duper laughed. “It is rare where we would _not_ welcome someone to take pictures as long as they do not get leaked.” I must have looked affronted as I felt as he quickly covered his mistake. “We lead semi-public lives, some more than others. We like to cut loose and have fun when it is just us. If you can make sure no one but us sees those then no one would have a problem.” Kris kissed my cheek and walked away.

I was still insulted though. “I can guarantee that no one outside those pictured would _ever_ see them. Saying that I would show others without permission is an insult to my professional ethics. My pictures have been published in some of the best publications in Canada. Most of which have non disclosure agreements in place until the pictures are published.” Kris was back with my camera by now.

He handed me the camera and rubbed my upper back. “Relax love. Duper is just being careful, we have to be. He has not seen your work so he does not know. She is very careful, does not even let me see them if it is for a job.”

Alex came toddling back over from where he had been. Seeing my camera he tugged on my jeans. When I looked down at him he pointed to the camera and spoke. “Picture s'il plaît mama.”

I knelt down. “You want me to take your picture?” He nodded and took my hand to lead me where he wanted it taken. I could feel all eyes downstairs on me as we wove through the crowd. When we got in front of the fireplace down here Alex stopped. He dropped my hand and sat down on the hearth. “Here huh?” He nodded excitedly. I had taken him on one job before we left Montreal where he had seen me working with a similar background. I posed him carefully on the hearth and took a picture. Of course he wanted to see it right after.

Soon he was tugging more of the kids into pictures with him. Word must have spread as all the kids sooner were downstairs. I stopped and raised my hand. “Listen up! If you want me to take your picture I need to have better light, we’re going outside and you guys will have to meet me with your folks. I don’t take pictures without permission.” I scooped up Alex and headed outside.

After taking what felt like 100 pictures I pleaded that I needed a break and escaped back inside with my camera. I found the adults googling my name on a computer. “She’s got quite a resume.” “My god look at this one from this wedding.” “Oh I’d love this as a print.”

I didn’t say a word as I went through to get a drink in the kitchen. I found Sidney staring at his phone in there. He looked up as I came in, looking much like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Huh? Oh.” He flushed.

“What did you find?” I asked as I got my drink. He turned his phone around and showed me a shot I had taken a while ago on the water at Thunder Bay. “Oh, that’s the Sleeping Giant just outside Thunder Bay. I have an aunt that lives there. I took that when I was 14 or 15 I think. It always has been one of my favorites.”

“You’re a for real professional photographer, what are you doing here with Tanger then?” He asked quietly.

“I fell for him and Alex. I don’t have to give up what I love to be with him, just change locations. I want to build a website someday with all of my favorite images I’ve taken on it. Lately most of what I’ve snapped is Alex, but it’s taught me a lot about taking pictures with kids. I like landscapes too.” I brought out my own phone from my pocket. “This is one of my very favorite shots. It was a really blustery day and I just happened to catch this at the right time.” I pulled up the photo of the wind playing with the leaves off the tree. This was the color version of the black and white that Kris loved so much. “I’ve done this in black and white too. That one is in my portfolio.”

Sid swiped through the entire folder of pictures I had on my phone and then looked up. “You don’t have a business card do you?”

I chuckled, suddenly at ease with someone who I never thought I’d ever meet. “No I’m out right now. I’m not even sure if I’m going to really start my business here or not. Alexander takes a lot of time. I’ll gladly take shots for any get togethers the team has though.”

He smiled. “You should know we have an email tree for the team. Kris probably could get you on that list easily. It’s how we share pics and stuff between us. I don’t think anyone has ever thought about doing a website. That could be interesting though.”

Kris came in and wrapped an arm around me. It didn’t stop me from continuing the conversation. “I’ll look into it when I get a chance. It’ll have to be secure, but I think if I can find the right one, we should be able to upload pictures from wherever we are as long as there’s web service.” I was kind of getting excited about this idea. I obviously needed a creative outlet.

Once everyone got over my profession and food was served, it seemed a lot of them wanted to know just how good I really was. I had to laugh as I had just gotten the booklet from the Montreal people. I pulled it out and showed them that I had indeed gotten the cover, not to mention I was the only non-Quebecois to have any images in it. It was a huge coup that I got the cover.

We spent hours at the BBQ before I finally had to get Alex out of there so he would sleep later. Kris decided that we needed to go by the new place before we put Alex to bed. When we got there, Kris pulled out the portable crib and set it up in the living room. When Alex was settled Kris took my hand. “Come, I didn’t get to show you something I had done for you.” He took me downstairs and into the back corner of the home. Outside the door he covered my eyes and led me in. “I know t’at you like to develop your own pictures sometimes, I saw t’at when we packed up your old place. So I thought you deserved a room wherever we are to do so.” He then took his hand away and let me see. I gasped, he had a banner on the wall. It read ‘Kallie, make me your camera room.’

I kissed him thoroughly. “This… you… Do you have any idea how much I love you?” He chuckled. “If I can get things set up in here I should be able to work when Alex is asleep. Hey let’s go pick out his room. I know which one is ours but we should pick his so we know where to put everything.” We went upstairs and looked through the other rooms. We chose the one down the hall from our room. It shared a bathroom with another bedroom but it had a bathtub. Alex liked baths but he hated being cold and wet so the sooner he was dry and clothed again, the better. That meant being super close to his room.

Once we had that picked we went back down, got Alex and headed back to the condo. We would have a few days before the movers came, packed the condo and moved us into the new house. As I got into bed tonight I was overcome by a sudden feeling of rightness. I was where I belonged and with whom I belonged. Once we got into the house we could start talking about when and where we would tie the knot. Mrs. Letang, I liked the sound of that.