Days of Black and Gold

“Margot? We weren’t expecting you, yet.”

I forced a smile at Troy, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse for my early appearance.

“Come on in,” he said, standing to the side. “The girls are out for a walk with Taylor and Trina.”

“No problem,” I murmured, wandering into the home. “Do you mind if I wait?”

“Not at all,” he grinned. “I thought you and Sidney had plans tonight.”

“We did,” I sighed, running a hand down my face. “Sid’s being a bit secretive, and we had a bit of a fight. I needed some air, so I told him to call me once he’s ready to share.”

“You two and your secrets,” Troy chuckled, shaking his head. “Do you want some tea while we wait?”

“That would be great,” I agreed.

“Would you like to talk about your fight?” He asked, leading us to the kitchen and starting the kettle.

“It’s stupid,” I muttered, sitting down at the table.

“It can’t be that stupid.”

“He’s been ignoring quite a few calls lately, and today I noticed that it was Kris Letang that he was avoiding. I know it’s probably none of my business, but I asked about it. It’s not like him to do something like that.”

“That is very out of character,” Troy nodded.

“He told me it was no big deal, but of course, I pushed him, knowing full well it would piss him off.” I drew in a breath and continued. “I just don’t know why he feels like he needs to lie, or hide, it from me. I don’t care what the reason is for ignoring Kris, but, like I told him, I spend a lot of time with his wife, I really don’t need things to be awkward and tense.

“Now, I’m wondering if maybe I did something to make him not trust me. I thought we were doing really well lately.”

“He’ll come around.”

“Thanks, Troy,” I grinned. “But the amount I’ve heard that over the time that I’ve known Sid, I’m not going to hold my breath.”

“I wish I had some other advice for you, Margot, but he hasn’t mentioned anything to us.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to tell me, even if he had.”

He chuckled, and handed me a mug of tea. “I wouldn’t say I’d betray his trust, but I would mention something to you if I thought it was pertinent to your relationship.”

“That’s comforting,” I smiled, taking a sip of the hot liquid. “He told me that he was planning on training in Cole Habour this summer, too.”

“I take it he sprung that on you today?”

“He asked my permission to head out in a month.”

“It sounds like he might be ready for married life.”

“What?” My eyes grew as the words sunk in.

“I didn’t mean anything by it, Margot,” Troy assured me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I was just making a joke about how he’s already asking for permission to do things.”

“Oh,” I breathed, relieved. “Thank goodness. I’m not sure I’m ready for him to pop the question again.”

Troy stayed silent, but nodded his head in understanding.

“How much longer are you three in the city?”

“Just one more night.”

I sipped at my tea, thoughtfully, and pulled out my phone. “If you don’t already have plans for supper, can Sid and I take you all out for supper?”

“That would be nice,” he agreed. “Things won’t be too tense?”

“I think we can manage to be a pair of adults on your last night in the city,” I promised, tapping away at my phone. “We’ll see what Sid has to say.”

“See what Sid has to say about what?”

Turning, a huge smile landed on my lips. “Taylor!”

“Margot!” She gave me a half hug before I could get up from my chair. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Same with you,” I grinned. “I wish I had been around when you picked up the girls. I feel like we have so much to catch up on!”

“Like how you took my brother back?” She smirked.

“Taylor,” Trina warned, entering the kitchen with my girls on her hips.

“Were they good for you?” I directed at the older woman.

“They were angels,” she smiled, handing Nichole to me.

“Even this one?” I smirked, kissing her tiny cheek. “She’s been a force to reckon with, lately. She takes after Sid, for sure.”

“She was darling,” Trina chuckled. “Caused a bit of trouble at the start of the walk, but she was good.”

“That’s great to hear,” I stated.

“Ma-ma,” Nichole babbled, pointing at her nose.

“Nose,” I smiled, kissing her on it.

“Ah-ba-ba,” she giggled, slobber rolling down her chin.

“She’s almost as clean as Sidney, too,” Taylor joked.

“Speaking of,” I muttered, as my phone started ringing. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” Taylor grinned, taking her niece.

“Sid,” I greeted, heading into the living room. Dropping down onto the couch, I left out a sigh. “I shouldn’t have left like that.”

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine, Sidney.”

“I don’t want to fight about this, especially over the phone.”

“Can we talk about it tonight?” I asked, hopefully. “I know I overreacted, and I think we need to work through this.”

“I like that idea,” he agreed. “Now, what’s this about taking my family out?”

“I suggested to your dad that we all go out for supper, since they are heading home tomorrow.”

“That sounds like a great idea. I haven’t gotten to spend much time with them while they’ve been in the city.”

“Do you want to meet us somewhere, or shall I come pick you up?”

“Uh, I’m actually in the city,” he murmured. “Where are you?”

“At the townhouse.”

“I’ll head over shortly,” he stated. “I’m just finishing up.”

“Should I even ask?” I grumbled, hoping he wouldn’t hear.

“Can we not start this again?” He sighed, clearly annoyed.

“Sorry,” I apologized, biting my lower lip. “What time do you think you’ll be over?”

“Give me ten minutes.”

“Then you’ll meet us here?”

“Yeah, and we can go to Bravo!.”

“Do you miss when we could pick places to eat without having to worry about whether or not we’ll be able to feed the kids?”

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “But you know I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“Me neither,” I grinned. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“I love you, Margot.”

“I love you, Sid.” Hanging up, I returned to the kitchen. “He should be on his way shortly. I hope you are in the mood for Italian.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Trina commented. “Is he meeting us here?”

I nodded, and sat down at the table again. “Apparently, he’s in the city, so he said it would be easiest if he met us here, and we all went together.”

“Is he still angry about earlier?” Troy asked.

“I think we’ll be civilized for the night,” I smirked. “I might just have to watch my mouth from time to time.”

“You two argue like a married couple,” Taylor chuckled. “How are you not married, yet?”

“We are not having that discussion,” I groaned. “The last thing we need is to talk about why we broke up, and why it took so long for us to get back together.”

“He never told us what happened,” Trina spoke up. “At least, not in much detail.”

“Oh?” I cocked a brow in her direction. “I, uh, I’m not really sure what to say, or how to explain.”

“You don’t need to explain,” Troy said, softly. “It’s none of our business. We are just happy that the two of you are happy.”

“Thanks, Troy,” I smiled. “I wish I had an explanation for you because you are all amazing, and I love you like my own family. I know you know there were secrets that I kept about my past, but that’s just it, I’d like to keep it in the past.”

“Sidney never wanted us to see you in a negative light,” Troy explained. “So, he never said much more than that.”

“He mentioned that you were previously engaged,” Taylor added. “And that your fiancé visited you while you were still living at his place.”

I dropped my head, embarrassed that they knew that much. “I don’t really know how she found me, but she showed up, and we had a huge argument. That’s how Sid found out about her. I should have told him much sooner, and I know that, but it’s scary being in that position.”

“She?” Trina interrupted, shocked.

“Uh,” I glanced around at the family and nodded. “Yeah, Sid never mentioned that my ex-fiancée was a woman, did he?”

All three adults shook their heads.

“Well, I guess you know why it was such a big secret, then.” I could feel tension grow within the kitchen, and searched my brain for something else to say and some way to stay calm.

“I, um, I need to go outside,” I murmured, turning and heading for the door. As I opened it, I shaded my eyes from the setting sun and stepped outside. I drew in a deep breath and closed my eyes, focusing on anything that would get my mind off what had just occurred inside.

“Margot?”

I popped one eye open, and sent a smile in the direction of the brunette.

“What are you doing out here?”

“I may have said told your family that my ex was a woman.”

“Shit,” he breathed, pulling me into a hug. “I’d ask how they took it, but clearly it wasn’t well if you started having an attack.”

“They didn’t really say anything,” I said, laying my head on his chest. “I panicked a bit, and just left them inside. Why didn’t you tell them?”

“It wasn’t really any of their business,” he explained with a shrug. He pulled away briefly, and kissed my forehead. “Are you okay?”

“I’m alright,” I nodded. “I got out pretty quickly, so I didn’t need to calm down too much.”

“Are you ready to go in?”

I sighed and nodded again. “I wish I could just stand here with you forever, but I’m also hungry.”

“Come on,” he smirked. “We’ll get inside, see if there needs to be any discussion, and then head out. I made a reservation, so we should probably leave soon.”

Letting go of him, I took his hand and allowed him to lead me into the house.

“Mom, Dad, Taylor,” Sidney greeted, releasing my hand and giving each one a hug and kiss. He took Georgina from his mother and handed her to me, before taking Nichole from Taylor. “How was your day?”

“We took the girls for a walk,” Taylor gushed. “They are so adorable! Nichole just babbles away, and Georgie is so curious. I can’t wait until they are older and able to play games.”

“You’re going to teach them so many bad things,” I chuckled, bouncing Georgina as she giggled.

“Margot said you talked about her ex-fiancée.”

“She might have mentioned it,” Troy smirked. “It was a bit of a surprise.”

“I bet,” Sidney mused. “Uh, do you have any questions, or can we head off for supper?”

“I think we need more time to process it,” the older man decided. “Why don’t we go have a lovely meal, and if there are questions after, you two can address them.”

“That’s a lovely idea,” I agreed, exchanging a look with Sidney.

We all piled into Sidney’s black Range Rover, and silently drove to the restaurant.

As we were guided to a table in the back, I could tell that there was something burning inside Trina’s mind.

“I guess I’m just confused,” she spoke, as Sidney and I placed the girls in highchairs.

“About what?” Sidney questioned, glancing over at her.

“How it took you so long to get back together.”

“Sorry?” Sidney frowned.

“Sidney, Honey, this beautiful woman was carrying your children, and you just kicked her out because she didn’t tell you that she was engaged to a woman prior to meeting you?”

“He didn’t kick me out,” I murmured, hoping she wouldn’t give him such a hard time.

“He also never went after you,” she stated with a knowing expression planted firmly on her features. “Now, the boy I raised would have gotten over his anger, and went after the woman he loved a lot sooner than he did.”

“Mom,” Sidney groaned, sitting down next to me. “Can we not talk about this here? I’d like to keep this discussion within the confines of our homes.”

“I just want to know what took you so long.”

“I got wrapped up thinking about what may have happened in Margot’s past,” he confessed, quietly. “Anytime I thought about her, I remembered the things she never told me. That got me thinking about what else she may have been hiding, and it just turned into a vicious cycle within my brain.”

“Well, I’m glad you figured it out,” Trina smiled. “I like to think that there will be a wedding where my only son marries the mother of his children.”

“I’d like to think so, too,” Sidney admitted, taking my hand and giving it a small squeeze. “But you have to give us some time to work things out. I know we have a lot to figure out before any wedding happens, so please just let us do so before you start pestering us about marriage.”

“Promise me you won’t let her go again,” Trina challenged.

“If I could have it my way,” he grinned, staring straight into my eyes. “I’d never leave her side.”