Family Goals

**December 12th, 2015**

It was 9 am on Saturday morning and for once I was feeling really good. I came downstairs and found Aunt Jayne looking kind of green. “Auntie? Are you ok?”

Alex shook his head gravely from the table as she answered. “Honestly no, I’m not. How are you feeling? Could you take Alex to the last soccer practice?” Alex perked up, while I had made time in my schedule for both of my guys, I rarely left the house without much more prep time than I wanted.

I had decreased my meds as per doctor’s directive and still was feeling really good. “Yeah I can do that Auntie. You go back to bed and rest. Alex and I will spend today together and maybe meet Papa for lunch.” Alex was nearly bouncing in his seat so I squashed him. “However someone needs to finish eating and then show me what else he needs.”

Aunt Jayne mouthed Bless You at me and shuffled upstairs. “Mama, Auntie sick.” Alex said solemnly.

I nodded. “Yes Auntie got sick, but I feel good so we will go to soccer practice and then we’ll see if we can join Papa for lunch and who knows maybe get wet after.” Suddenly Alex was shoveling his breakfast into his mouth. I didn’t blame him, he got to go to soccer, out to lunch with his parents and maybe to the pool.

I called Kris to let him know that I was taking Alex to practice and would he mind a family lunch as Auntie was sick. I didn’t leave out the trip to the pool either, my boys were ducks to water. As I did that I packed a snack box for Alex and myself. Nothing worse than a hungry Mama and Alex when we were out and about. Alex by now was finished with his breakfast and had even put his dishes in the sink.

“Merci ma loutre, now let’s go get your things for soccer and after.” I will give him this credit, he did not run up the stairs like he could have, he walked being careful of where I was.

Once in his room I grabbed his small size Star Wars back pack and had him pick 4 books just in case Papa wasn’t ready when we got there. He, making my heart flutter, chose all French Dr. Suess books, including the dictionary. I grabbed a couple of his GoToobs and filled them with the Fairytales Lifeguard Clarifying Shampoo and the Lemon-Aid Conditioner for after the pool. I also brought out the wetbag he used for his suit, said swimsuit and rashguard, and of course a towel.

Seeing those Alex went into his bathroom and grabbed his brush, then into his closet and found a small packing cube he had used and loved on our trip to Disney. He held it for me while I made the towel fit. He then made them all fit into the backpack, including going and finding his Star Wars pencil case that he put his toiletries in. “Come ma loutre, time for Mama to pack too.”

I grabbed my favorite new tote bag and then what things I would need for this at least half a day outing. No I did not forget the few meds I had to take, nor my tablet. I also used travel items to keep the clutter contained and a wetbag for my own swimsuit.

Before I left the room Alex piped up. “Et Papa aussi? (And Papa too?)” Knowing that Kris’ suit was in the bathroom, along with it’s wetbag, I reversed course and grabbed it. I also grabbed the CoCo Cobana Spray from the counter as well. I added those things and a towel to one of Kris’ unused packing cubes and stuffed it in my tote.

I knelt down on Alex’s level and smiled. “Et Papa aussi.” He hugged me tightly and then led me to the kitchen. There I put his yumbox in his lunchbox while he filled his and my Kleen Kanteens with electrolyte cubes and then lemon water. I showed him how to clip the lunch box onto his backpack and away we went, following the directions in the GPS system labeled Alex Soccer.

10 minutes and 1 wrong turn later we piled out in front of Ingomar United Methodist Church. At 10 am practice began and I spent the next 30 minutes hearing how wonderful of a teammate my son was while trying to watch him. Auntie Jayne had found something that Alex liked to do, run, and found a way to make it work for both of them.

The kids had a light snack of oranges and water after practice, but Alex preferred to drink from his Kanteen. Aunt Jayne apparently had never explained why he preferred this so I did. “I have HG right now, well we’re hoping it is abating finally. He drinks the same thing I do, frozen electrolyte cubes and lemon water. Plain water won’t stay down with me so this is a good way to keep hydrated.” That of course spawned many more questions all of which I did my best to answer. Finally I looked at my phone, I had a message from Kris. “I’m sorry but we need to go meet my husband for lunch. It’s a family date afternoon.”

In the car, after Alex pulled his yumbox out and demolished the hard boiled egg I had in it, I got a hold of Kris. “Hey babe, sorry I missed your call.”

“It’s fine, you didn’t miss me by much. I needed to let you know that Mike got fired today and we’re going to meet the new guy before we go to lunch. I hope that won’t be a problem.” He too knew the hazards of a hungry Mama and Alex, maybe better than anyone else on the team.

I laughed as I turned onto I-79. “No, Alex is demolishing his snack right now and I packed some for myself as well. Someone wants to hit the Y today as well so we have all of that gear too.” I could hear him winding up to ask so I stopped him. “Yes we remembered Papa aussi.”

“Bon, see you soon mon amour.” He said as I heard retching sounds in the background.”

15 minutes later Alex and I were walking into the locker room lounge. How did we get into the player’s lounge when that side is locked to the public? That was easy, Dana Heinze was coming in from his car and made sure everyone inside knew we were family. “Thanks Dana.” I tried to say more but he cut me off quietly.

“Kallie, you’re going through hell and so is Kris even if he’s not letting you know. Anything we can do to make your lives easier is nothing but a drop in the bucket. Although I do want to know if you’ve seen Aleks and their new little one.”

I smiled. “Not yet I haven’t. I’ve been feeling _so_ bad until really this week that I haven’t wanted to go over and disrupt whatever routine she might be getting down. I’m hoping to be feeling good for the Holiday skate and hope she’s there. I’ve heard Mikki is a cutie though.”

Then an arm dropped over my shoulder. “Lady you should know your bébé will be even more adorable.” I looked over and saw Duper standing there.

I turned and hugged him tightly. He returned it just as heartily. “I’m so happy you’re ok.” I said to him as we hugged.

We parted and he laughed. “Me? What about you? How are you really?” Alex ignored the adults and got out a book and began to read.

We moved to sit and I filled Duper in on what had been going on and how I was really feeling. “So in short, I’m still what is known as medically fluffy and stepping down the medications slowly. Auntie Jayne and I are hopeful that I’m finally getting over this issue and can enjoy the rest of it. I’ll update the girls after our anatomy scan in a bit over a week.”

It was then that Sid came in. “I thought I heard you in here.” He was only half undressed which told me he’d stink for sure. “Aleks has told me you haven’t been by to see Nestling yet.” He sounded a bit upset about this.

Duper behind him was just shaking his head. “Sid, literally until this week I have felt _so_ badly that I have rarely even left the house. Today is the first time I’ve left the house without a backup plan. I took Alex to soccer practice and have come here. _IF_ I can get through lunch and going to the pool, I’ll think about going to see them.” He grinned at me broadly.

“Be careful when you go over, it seems my wife has given me two kids, one of them furry.” I laughed, I had heard that Aleks had adopted a dog in the last few days. “She’s a good puppy though won’t jump on anyone or anything.” He pulled his phone out and showed me a few pictures of his family.

Alex got up and tugged on my shirt. Duper picked him up so he could see the pictures. “Puppy mama!”

Sid laughed. “She sure is Alex! Her name is Cocoa. I’m sure she’d love to give you kisses too.” I noticed that Cocoa seemed to be _very_ good with the baby.

I felt a kiss on the back of my neck and turned my head and grinned at Kris. “If she feels good in a couple days I’m sure she’ll call and see if Aleks wants company.” Sid grinned ruffled Alex’s hair and wandered off. In my ear Kris spoke quietly. “How _are_ you feeling right now?”

I shivered at the tone and how close he was to my ear. “I feel good, still fluffy.” Oh the things he was making me want to do to him… No I would behave. He kissed me cheek and left me in the lounge with the stuff while he and Alex went to say hi to the guys. No, really I was ok with that. Much easier than possibly seeing friends mostly naked.

I wasn’t alone long though. Once the guys knew I was here they all trickled in to see how I was feeling and such. Only a couple of them asked more than that before wandering out again. Kuni was one of those. “Maureen wants to know if she can drop by at some point. Not to mention if you’re having a baby shower or anything.”

That made me laugh. “Any of you are still more than welcome, it’s easier now than before. As for a baby shower, honestly it hadn’t even crossed my mind with everything else going on.” It hadn’t either. I had been concentrating on just staying healthy enough to have the baby.

He laughed. “Well I know that the girls all want to know what you want and who is joining your family. You might want to think about it or they might do something without you knowing it until it’s happening.” I knew he was right, but until I was feeling good most of the time nothing was going to happen.

After Kris had his chance to meet the new boss, we headed for lunch. He gladly took over driving as he’d come in with Flower today. We went somewhere family friendly and close, not that I could remember where I was having serious mommy brain issues right now.

Lunch was fun and so yummy. It took us a while to convince Alex that we couldn’t go straight to the pool and that we would have to wait for an hour. We finally got him to understand and then we went to Target to walk for that hour. While we were there we started talking about Kuni has said about the girls wanting to throw me a shower and knowing who was coming and all that. Kris had a great idea. “Dr. Waltner-Toews keeps saying it could go either way. What if we don’t find out and let who it is be a surprise but still let the girls throw you a shower?” I started to say something and he held up a hand. “Listen for a minute. We keep getting told it could be either, what if we let the girls know what colors we have for both and let them get what they wanted in those colors? This way they get the fun of having a shower and we benefit by not having as much to get until the little one is here.”

Alex was rolling his eyes, which told me he wanted to stop talking about babies. Not that I blamed him, he did hear a lot about the one who was going to be his sibling. “Fine, I’ll let Vero know who I’m sure will tell everyone but for now let’s table the talk.” I motioned to Alex who was looking at newborn rockers.

Kris moved in and tucked close to Alex. “Do you want to get one of these for the baby?” Alex didn’t like that word much, baby, I could tell by how he looked at Kris. “Tell you what, Mama and Papa will need somewhere safe to put the baby when we are doing things with our big boy. What if _you_ chose it?”

Alex mulled over the idea and then started looking at the rockers that were here. He asked us a few times what things said but mostly we stayed out of it. He went back and forth over a few of them before slapping a box. “Dis one!” I looked at what he had chosen. The Fisher-Price® Sweet Surroundings Deluxe Newborn Rock 'n Play Sleeper. I looked at the specs and actually liked what I saw. It was grey, white and a muted teal in color and not only was it a good brand of sleeper, it also reclined as well.

“Good choice Alex.” I said as my alarm started going off. I looked and it was the pool alarm. “And just in time too. How about we get this one and then go to the pool?” Kris picked it up and we went and paid for it.

Soon enough we were all at the pool, Kris and Alex went into the men’s change room and I headed for the ladies one. I had given Kris his gear before we got out of the car. Once inside I changed into one of the bikinis I had taken with us to Hawaiian Disney. I wasn’t sure it would look good until I was in it and oh boy did it! Yeah I was obviously pregnant but I didn’t care. I felt good, that was what mattered to me.

After soaking my hair, to give it some protection from the chlorine, I made my way out into the pool area and without blinking got hit on 3 times by random guys. “No thank you. I’m sure my husband and son are looking for me.” I said each time. The fourth time however I turned, recognizing the voice and smiled. “There you are.”

As I turned around I saw Kris’ eyes go dark and him swallow harshly. Alex wasn’t fazed by anything and piped up. “Piscine Mama Piscine! (Swimming Mama Swimming!)”

I scooped him up and gave him nuzzles, and his father more time to get himself together. “Oui, ma loture. Swimming.” We went towards the shallow end so Alex could get himself into the pool. Once in there he remembered all of his swimming lessons easily, it didn’t hurt that he really was like an otter in the water.

I swam a little, never too far away from Alex but deep enough that I felt the buoyancy that was a pregnant woman in the pool, aka very nearly heaven. Alex swam to me and back to Kris. Soon though Alex had found a friend in another young man and they were playing which let Kris come over to me and pulled me in front of him. “You look incroyable. With all that has gone on with you, I had almost forgotten how beautiful you are.”

I elbowed him which made him laugh. “I said almost.” We rocked in the water watching Alex play. Kris rubbed my belly as I just floated. “This was a good idea. We did need a day for the three of us. How sick is Tante Jayne, do you know?”

I let my head lean on his shoulder and my hair flow behind us. “She looked bad. I think the two of us will stay close to home tomorrow to be safe. I sent her back to bed before we left.”

Kris hummed. “I hope she feels better soon. Maybe we should have Oncle Denis here for Christmas.”

I laughed. “You do realize that my folks have already made it crystal clear that they _will_ be coming for Christmas right? Dad calls every week to check on me.” We turned in the water and watched Alex swim out a bit further than he normally did.

Kris’ hands were now slowly making their way south of my belly. “Maybe we should just host Christmas here then? I know Mom and Julienne would love to come here for a few days.”

“Mama! Papa! Watch me!” Alex yelled and then dove down to the bottom. He bounced back up with a huge grin on his face and we both clapped. He went then and started playing a new game with his new friend.

“I love watching him play.” I said wistfully. “He hardly ever hurts himself.”

Kris chuckled as his hands hit my bikini bottoms. “He has a mama and papa who make sure he is fearless and taken care of.” Oh he was teasing me.

“If his papa isn’t careful he’s going to get us both indecent exposure warnings.” Kris chuckled but didn’t stop.

He whispered in my ear. “I can’t help it, his mama makes me want her so badly.” I slipped out of his arms and began swimming towards the game. I heard his growl but didn’t look back.

I spent what felt like hours playing in the water with my family. I don’t know how long we were really in there but it felt great. Alex finally tired and leaned on Kris as he floated. “Tired mama. Hungry too.”

I giggled. “You have played hard ma loture. Should we go home now?” He nodded dramatically. We headed for getting out and heading home. Kris herded Alex into the change room while I went in alone.

Once inside I unlocked my locker door and got my phone out. I had 1 missed call from home. I called back, not listening to the message. “Auntie are you ok?” I asked after she said hello.

I heard her sighed deeply. “Yes, I was just wondering when you were coming home. I’m feeling a lot better and am actually hungry now.”

I sat down as I chuckled. “You sound like Alex who is now tired and hungry. We’re cleaning up at the pool and then we’ll be home.” I was taking out my post swim shower stuff as we talked.

“How are you feeling now?” She asked pointedly as I heard banging in the kitchen.

“I’m tired from playing with Alex but it’s a good tired. I got to spend all day with my guys for the first time in too long really. Before you ask, no my plans are to stay close to home tomorrow to be safe.” I really thought it was a good idea just in case of relapse for me.

“Ah, good idea. If today was too much you’ll know soon enough. I am not up to cooking a lot tonight, would something frozen be bad?” Ah, that explained the banging.

“Auntie, don’t bother. We’ll call again before we leave and see what we all might want.” I had started the water a bit away from the rest so I could get this call done with in peace.

She sighed heavily. “Honestly going out might be the best but where with Alex and you?” I told her that I didn’t know yet but when we did, we’d call her.

After a shower and getting everything packed back up, I met the guys out front. “Did you call Auntie already?” Kris asked as we went towards the car.

“I did, she doesn’t want to cook but doesn’t know what would be good for all of us. Alex can be picky when we go out and well… we all know what tastes good to me.” The car was unlocked as I thought and Alex got buckled in.

Kris looked something up on his phone and then was grinning. “I got it. Nakama’s.” He handed me his phone while he started the car.

I looked and saw that he had the kids menu pulled up at the moment. It looked perfect. I called the house. “Letang residence, Jayne speaking.”

“Hi Auntie. Kris found a good spot. Nakama’s. Are we bringing some home for you or coming to get you?” We were now moving towards I-79.

Auntie Jayne laughed. “Come get me darlings. I really am feeling better.”

We swing by and grabbed Auntie but before we could get away we found our party expanded by The Fleury’s. We got seated and started finding what the kids wanted, Alex and Estelle were next to each other and Scarlett wasn’t too far away either in a high chair. ‘So, what are we celebrating?” Vero asked as we finalized what the kids were getting.

I looked at Kris and we both laughed. “How about me being out of the house all day?” Her jaw dropped. “Really. Alex and I left the house at 9:45 this morning and haven’t been home for more than picking Auntie up.” I was tired but not feeling bad.

Marc-Andre grinned. “I thought I heard you today after practice. That’s great!”

Vero looked happy at what I said. “Maybe tomorrow will be good too. We maybe can go see Aleks and the baby.” Oh great she was making plans already.

I had to stall her. “Actually I’m going to make sure I haven’t overdone it today by staying close to home tomorrow. I’d rather take tomorrow and if I do have backlash, already have plans to stay home. If tomorrow is still a good day I’ll know better what I can and can’t do.” Listening she nodded.

Our waiter came over and got our order before she spoke again. “That might be a better plan. That doesn’t mean people can’t come over though does it?” I heard the eye rolling by Flower and then the smack from his wife.

Kris managed to not laugh at either of them. “Of course not. I would wait until after church though.” I took a sip of the ginger ale I had gotten and then continued. “That’s as far as I want to go from the house and honestly I could use some help from any of the girls willing to come and put up with us.”

Vero laughed. “Put up with you? We have been dying to help you! We want to know everything!” The food came then which was good cause I know how she could be once she started.

I continued the conversation as we ate. “Kuni warned me that if I don’t let you girls know who is coming that I would get a surprise shower, but honestly we aren’t positive. They have told us a girl, and the next time it’s a boy and after that a girl again. We’re prepping for both by using Aqua as a base and choosing colors for a boy and a girl. Alex found a good sleep and play for us when we need to put the baby down and play with him.”

Alex kinds of preened about that, and he had every right. Marc-Andre grinned. “Well maybe we should give Alex his Christmas present from us early then.” Vero leaned over and pull him to her. They had a quick and hushed conversation and then he was let go. “Ok so maybe Estelle will get hers early too.”

That made both of the older kids look at each other and you could see the joy in their faces. We made sure that none of us rushed through the meal we were enjoying. That tended to happen when we were out, someone or something would rush us.

Once we were all back at home, both kids were excited. Kris covered their eyes as they tried to stand still. Flower went and got their gifts. Before Kris took his hands away Flower spoke up. “We know that you are both big kids now and to celebrate this your mama and I, Estelle, decided that you needed something that only big kids got.” He nodded and Kris took his hands away from their eyes. Both of them squealed in joy. In Flower’s hands were 2 big kids bikes, pedals and all.

Estelle was bouncing as she approached. Alex was just awed. Vero coaxed her daughter to the white 14” bike, which gave Alex the blue one. Other than color they were identical. Knobbly tires for on and off road riding. A high back seat to keep them from slipping off the back. A water bottle so they could stay hydrated as they went. Training wheels too, cause they were still small. There was a bell on the handlebars and 2 brakes, coaster brake and a handle brake.

Kris slipped into the house and came out with two Bell Sidetrack Child size helmets. “We could not let you be outdone so here is part of the rest.” Alex opened his and yelled with joy. “Star Was!” We had his helmet painted to look like BB-8 from the movie that we would go see right before Christmas.

Estelle was in shock. Her helmet has been painted with all of her favorite flowers, besides her papa that is. We even had some butterflies on it. I took her box and knelt carefully in front of her. “Your mama and I know that you have been jealous of Alex’s elbow and knee pads so we got you some too.” I handed her the second box and watched as her eyes filled with tears. “Oh Honey don’t cry.”

“Me an Alex have same!” She said that and it was clear that she wasn’t upset, more like overjoyed.

I decided there was enough time to completely make them thrilled. “How about this, when we get time in January we will pick out fabric for your own bike baskets so that you can bring little things with us as you ride.” Yes it was a ways out but they had Christmas and New Year’s between now and then, they would survive.

Alex was without words he was so happy. He threw himself at Marc-Andre’s legs to hug him and then Vero. Estelle did the same to Kris and I and then they switched adults.

Auntie took Alex upstairs to help him with his relaxing bath while Kris and I relaxed in the living room. That’s when I really noticed that we didn’t have any holiday decorations up. “We should decorate if we’re hosting here.”

Before Kris could answer his cell rang. He picked up and that’s when I knew who was there. “Hey. I hope you guys haven’t forgotten the Holiday Skate tomorrow afternoon. I know that Kallie won’t be skating but I hope she’ll be able to come anyway.”

Kris smacked his forehead. “I knew we had forgotten something.” He pulled the phone away from his ear. “Holiday Family skate tomorrow afternoon.”

I cursed wholeheartedly. I thought I had put it into my calendar but apparently I hadn’t. “We have to go.” I sent up a prayer that I wouldn’t relapse while we were out.

Kris nodded. “Sid, I’m reserving the right to bring my family home if Kallie feels bad.”

That’s when Aleks spoke up. “If Kallie is feeling bad and you don’t take her home I’ll kick your ass!” That made me smile, Aleks was still a good friend of Kris’ even without playing everyday. We promised that if I felt bad we would come home and Aleks promised to bring their little nestling.

I went upstairs and called my Oncle Denis. “Oncle! Are we still on track?”

“Oui, we are. I know your father and mother are worried about you, but tell me how is your Tante?” I told him what I had seen in the morning and how she seemed now. “Sounds like she had a good rest and kicked the illness out of her. Thank you for looking after her like she has done for you.”

“Oncle how could I not? I am hoping that I will continue to feel well and she may be able to go home. She does not know you are coming, only maman and papa. I hope you are not disappointed if we do not have decorations.”

He scoffed. “If you do not then you will before Christmas, of this have no doubt. Remember that you are more important than they are.” We spoke a little bit longer and then we parted. He would be here soon enough.

Sleep came really easily that night, after satisfying other urges that had reared their heads. I could only hope that tomorrow would be as good for me as today was.