"Carefully, little miss," her mom, Kat, told her as she walked in, followed by her older sister, Kristen, and her brother in law, Derick Brassard.
"Yeah, we should get the beds in later tonight in time for bed, for until then, it's just us," Derick told them.
"I wanna go upstairs and see my room!" Haley shouted, quickly running to the stairs and sprinting up.
"Be careful!" her mom shouted after her, then sighed. "Not like she's listening..."
"So," Kristen began, as she and Derick began heading toward their empty kitchen, "have you signed her up for school here yet?"
"Considering we just got here, no," I told her, "but, I have been emailing with the Principal and I can go in and register her on Monday and she'll be ready in time for the first day."
"Would it be easier if we went in and did it for you?" Derick asked. "My first team practice isn't until September, my schedule's free."
"Yeah, if you need time to go out and find a job or something, just let us know, we'd be happy to take Hales out," Kristen agreed.
Kat let out a sigh, then rested her forearms on top of the counter top outside the kitchen area and leaned against it. "You guys are doing too much for us. I mean, we lived with you back in New York and now you dragged us here to live with you in Chicago...you guys are the most supportive Aunt and Uncle alive, you're doing too much for us."
"We just wanna make sure you and our niece are okay," Kristen told her.
"And we're not having another 2012," Derick spoke up, sternly.
His comment left the room still, tension evident. Kristen bit her lip, and Kat let out a heavy sigh.
"Trust me, in the line of people who don't want another 2012, I'm right up there with Hales," she told him. "But don't worry, I can register her in the morning and go job hunting afterwards."
"Yeah but-"
"MY ROOM IS PINK! MY ROOM IS PINK!" Haley came running downstairs. "Mommy! Someone made my room pink!" she said as she ran towards me.
I gave a look towards Derick. "Gee, wonder who could have done that?" He gave an innocent smile in return.
"Maybe this magic princess came and did it because she heard Uncle Derick was gonna play hockey in Chicago now and that he was bringing me with him!" she thought out loud.
I looked back over at Derick and Kristen, trying not to laugh out loud, they were doing the same. We each shared the same expression of 'Wow, the imagination this child has'. "I mean, yeah, maybe Uncle Derick pulled some strings and got that done for you."
"Thanks for being famous, Uncle Derick!" she told him, this time, I laughed along with Kristen.
Derick just smiled, "No problem, kiddo."
"SO," Kristen said, heading into the empty living room near Haley, "how about Hales and I take a park trip across town, and the two of you can wait here for delivery guys for beds?"
"Sounds good to me," Derick said.
I nodded in agreement, "Just keep an eye on her this time, please."
"Oh my goodness, I lost her in the park back in 2008 when she was like, three months old and I found her ten minutes later. It's 2014, let it go!" she angrily told me, as I laughed. I had no doubt she censored her word choice due to Haley's presence.
"See you two beautiful ladies later," Derick said, blowing kisses to both of them. Haley jumped up and tried to catch her kiss, then when she did, she put it up against her cheek and smiled, before grabbing Kristen's hand and heading to the local park.
"You two really picked a great house," I told him, "I mean, it's close to the school Haley will go to, it has a park, good take out food and a Starbucks, it's amazing."
"And it's only like, twenty minutes away from the United Center, so that's a plus, too," Derick said, as we both took a seat down in the middle of the empty living room. "So, have you ever thought about how different 2012 could have been if Haley's dad was in the picture."
I love Derick, but he has some fascination about always wondering what could have made 2012 better for us; what if we did this differently? What if we never did this? What if we did this AND THEN that? The big thing that he wondered about mostly was what could have happened if Haley's dad was involved. Lately, he's lowkey been bringing him up; Ever thought about Hales dad? Remember when Haley was first born and I was the only guy in the hospital room, where was her dad? This was the first time he was rather upfront about this, though.
I let out a sigh, and looked at him. "I have no idea, since I have no idea who her dad is."
"I know you were drunk, but there's gotta be something you remember about that night," he said, hoping to trigger my memory.
"All I remember is that it happened in Columbus after your wedding, he has blonde hair- since Haley has blonde hair- and I'm pretty sure his name rhymed with mine," I told him, but then my eyes widened. "OH! And he tried picking me up by saying he was gonna be in the NHL."
Derick bit his lip, trying hard not to laugh. "Yeah, great judgement there."
"Can I state once again that I was insanely drunk?" I defended, then giggling. "I don't know, I think if her dad is supposed to be in her life, then Fate has this funny way of always hitting you, so whatever the future holds is for the best, I guess."
"Well, until he comes or doesn't come, you know I'm here for the two of you," he assured me. I looked over and smiled at him.
"I have no idea how I got so lucky to have you as my brother in law," I told him.
"Yeah, you really don't deserve me, do you?"
"Shut up, dick head."
***
"Gimme a Bacon Cheeseburger with a side of fries, and just a water, please," Patrick told his Waiter at the Bar he was at for lunch. As he walked away, Patrick gave a look back across the booth to his cousin, James.
"So...thoughts?" he asked him. James cocked his head to the right, then sighed.
"I never thought I would see the day Patrick Kane would even consider getting married," James told him. "I mean, you know this is a life long thing, right? There's no expiration date, you're stuck together until one of you croaks."
"Well, I'm not the same Patrick I was a few years ago," Patrick reminded him. "I've changed, and Leslie's been a big part of that."
"I can't believe she still went out with your dumb ass even after you choked her the first time you met."
"Damn it, It was Cinco De Mayo and I was drunk and out of control, give me a break!"
"Dude, we're white as milk; Cinco De Mayo isn't for guys like us to celebrate."
Patrick sighed, running his left hand through his curly blonde locks. The Buffalo summer sun had taken its toll on Patrick, with his skin was now a soft tan color, something he knew would disappear upon returning back to Chicago in a few weeks. "The point is, ever since I met her, my life has been changing for the better. I don't want to have a future where she isn't right next to me, experiencing every good things that happens to me along with me. I wanna marry this girl."
James shook his head, then smiled. "You don't need to keep saying it, especially to me. The only one who needs to hear it is out getting her nails done with Jessica right now."
The waiter then appeared again with my water and James' beer. After telling him thanks, I went back to James. "I'm just madly in love with her, no one else but her- and hockey-, and I just everyone to know it. I love Leslie, and there's nothing that could change that, and I mean absolutely nothing."
***
"All right, bed time," Kat said, as she walked into Haley's bedroom, where the six year old was focused intently in her mini Ipad.
"I'm not done yet," she told her, to which Kat responded by taking the Ipad away from her.
"Yes you are," she firmly told her. Haley started pouting, to which Kat just planted a kiss on her forehead. "Love you, Hales. Get some sleep, we'll get all the other furniture here tomorrow so you'll need all your energy."
"Aunt Jammy's coming to help, right?" she asked her mom, refering to her close friend.
"Her plane's coming in first thing in the morning," Kat told her.
"Yay!" Haley exclaimed, a big smile on her face, a sight so beautiful her mom couldn't help but smile.
"All right, get some sleep, kiddo. I love you."
As Kat began walking out of the room, Haley stopped her. "Mommy?" Kat turned around, and began walking back to the bed. "Does Daddy live here in Chicago, too?"
Kat bit her lower lip, caught off guard by the question. "What made you think about daddy right now, sweetie?"
"When Aunt Krissie took me to the park, I saw this girl my age with her daddy, so I asked her about my daddy, and she told me to ask you."
Fuck you, Kristen, was all Kat could manage to think in her head. She let out a sigh, and sat down at Haley's bedside. "Remember how I told you your daddy liked to play hide and seek?" she nodded. "Well,remember, he's really good at it. He could be here in Chicago, or he could be hiding somewhere else...we'll just have to keep trying to find him, okay?"
"Okay...I'm really good at hide and seek, too, I'm sure I can find him," Haley told her, in which she giggled at the response.
"I know you are, sweetie," Kat told her, then leaned in to kiss her forehead again, "Now, get some sleep, I'm serious, tomorrow's gonna be long and big."
"I will, I will," Haley whinned.
"I love you."
"Love you, too, Mommy."
As Kat left her room, she sighed and leaned up against a wall, closing her eyes tightly in thought. She was always aware of how hard it would be to be a single parent, and especially harder to explain why her dad wasn't in her life. Haley was only six, but it felt like every year, she thought of more and more questions about her dad, questions Kat only wished she had the answer to. She knew there had to be a day where she told Haley the truth about her dad, that Kat had no idea who he fully was. That was a day Kat dreaded to think about, but until that day came, all she could do was cherish the innocent moments she had with Haley while they lasted.
