11 // Arrangements

I took my lunch break an hour early in order to walk with Patrick and figure everything out. This is both new to us- he never had any idea he was someones father until a few minutes ago, and I've never had to deal with the possibility of sharing Haley- that is, if Patrick even wanted anything to do with her.

We decided to attend a local coffee shop nearby. It was mostly a hangout space for the students at the community college, so it wasn't too busy; but the students there all wanted pictures with him, but promised not to post them or tell for an hour so we'd be gone with plenty of time. We both ordered Venti coffee's, coming out to a little over six dollars.

"I got this, just go find a seat, please," Patrick told him. I nodded and found a table in the corner for two people and waited a moment for him.

Once he sat down, we both stared at each other for a moment; it was completely awkward. I lowered my eyes towards my coffee cup before I brought it up to take a sip, and Patrick sighed as I did.

"How the fuck did this happen?" He asked blankly.

"We were drunk and stupid," I explained.

"Yeah, but I've never gone without a condom my whole life," he told me.

Good to know? I said in my head. "People do stupid shit when they're drunk and celebrating big moments..."

"Like being drafted and weddings?"

"Basically."

We had another awkward pause that we dealt with by both taking sips of our coffee's.

"I'm not sure how this works, because I'm really new to this, as are you, but like, if you want a DNA test or anything, that's cool," I told him.

"Oh, uh, thanks," he said, "do you have any like, baby pictures? I know what she looks like now, but ugh, it'd be cool to see how she used to look."

I unlocked my phone and went to my photos, purposefully scrolling up fast to avoid the photos in the middle and went to the beginning, where there were tons of pictures of Haley along with me, Derick and Kristen, and Jamila. I found one of Haley by herself as she she was coloring.

"She was probably close to 18 months here," I said as I handed it to him.

Once Patrick saw it, he started chuckling. "Yeah, she's definitely mine. She looks exactly like one of my younger sisters as a baby. Cute."

"Yeah, very few people believed she was mine when she was born," I said.

"So, what's she like?"

"Well, she's really into princesses, something Derick encourages way too much..." I sighed, "but she's also really rowdy and active, definitely and handful...but she can't help but spread positive vibes everywhere she goes. She's beautiful and amazing."

"Wow," was all Patrick could get out. His eyes were wide open in disbelief. "I can't believe I have a kid..."

"Yeah, neither could I back when she showed up," I told him.

"What the hell happens now?" he asked.

I shrugged and took a quick sip. "Do you want something to happen?"

"Kat, she's my kid and I wanna be in her life. I can't just unhear this entire conversation," he told me.

I sighed. "I agree, it's just...I don't know how to handle this. I never expected to meet Hales' dad again, and I have no idea how to tell her that you're here when I keep dismissing all her questions about him."

"She's been asking about me?" Patrick asked me.

I nodded. "She's a little girl, all her friends have dads and she wants to know why she doesn't."

Patrick sighed. "I need to meet her, like for real. Not a little 30 seconds conversation again, but like, start forming a relationship with her."

"You really want to do this?"

"Absolutely."

I thought about it before responding. "We have nothing planned next Saturday, so...if you want to meet her then-"

"Yes, totally-"

"Be quiet I'm not done," I quickly warned him. He shut up quickly though. "I'm not just leaving her alone with you. The three of us spend it together, and if it goes well and you still want to be involved...we'll cross that bridge when we're ready."

Patrick was quiet for another moment before slowly nodding. "8am saturday morning, I'll pick you ladies up. Be ready."

"I think you're the one who should be ready, actually."

Patrick chuckled as he stood up. "Don't worry, I'm ready for whatever you two have to offer, no matter what."

I shook my head and smirked while taking another sip of coffee.

It's good Patrick wants to be a dad to Haley, but he has no idea what he's about to get himself into.




A/N: keep reading, things are about to start getting interesting.

Next update: Wednesday, september 2nd.

10 // found

*Kat's POV*

I looked at Kristen after Derick's announcement, both of us having a worried look on. We looked back at him carefully.

"What?" Derick asked us, regarding our questioning looks.

"I think you need to sit down, bro," I told him carefully.

"Why?"

"Sweetie, one of your teammates didn't father Haley..." Kristen calmly told him.

"Oh my goodness, I'm not being crazy, I'm being serious," Derick told us. "We talked at the bar, and he was in Columbus for the Draft the night of our wedding and slept with a girl matching your exact description."

"Lots of girls can look like me.."

"Not just physically, but the rhyming names, being older, and the hockey thing...and Haley is his spitting image," Derick told me.

I stayed quiet as I took in what he had told me:
Patrick Kane was the father of my child. I can't fucking believe it.

"Shit," Kristen said in order to break the silence, "that was unexpected."

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" I asked, sitting back down then sighing.

"Relax," Derick said walking over my way, "I'll break the news to him for you, and then you two can decide where to go from there, okay?"

"All right..I can't believe this is happening," I sighed as I sat down.

"What's happening?"

The three of us turned our heads and saw Haley making her way downstairs in her pink pajamas that matched her pink cast.

"You're supposed to be asleep," I told her.

"My arms hurting me," she told me.

I sighed and made my way up, but Kristen stopped me, "we can get her, don't worry," she said with Derick nodding behind her.

"Thanks," I told them as they started walking towards Haley.

"All right, princess, let's see what'll turn you into Sleeping Beauty," I heard Derick say as they walked upstairs.

I sighed again. I have no idea what I'm gonna do now.





xxxxxxxxxx


"Hey, Kaner, got a minute?" Derick asked him in the locker room after the morning skate.

"Anytime, bro, whats up?" Patrick asked as he walked over.

Derick had no idea how to put this delicately. The previous night, he had watched Orange Is The New Black in which Daya's mothers boyfriend told Bennett he was the father of her baby in a rather harsh way, but he didn't want to be that way with Patrick. He was just going to make this up as he went along.

"Um...so you know my sister-in-law, correct?" he asked him.

"Of course, I've met her like a million times," he said.

"And Haley?"

"Yeah."

"You like them both, right?"

"Of course!"

"Good! 'Cause you're actually Haley's dad."

Both men froze for a moment, but then Patrick erupted in laughter. "Shit, man...you're funny as fuck. You scared me there!"

Derick erupted in laughter as well. "Yeah, I'm really funny man, that's why Kristen likes me so much, cause I'm a fucking bitch to be around!"

The two men kept laughing some more, until Derick turned serious.

"But I'm not joking, you're Haley's dad. The woman you're drunk ass hooked up with on draft night was drunk Kat. Now you know, do whatever you please with this information."

Derick walked away, leaving Patrick stunned and alone. After a minute, he started walking quickly to the other side of the United Center to find the front office staff, and surely enough, he found Kat going over some paper work.

"Miss Stevens..." he said in hopes of appearing formal to everyone around. Kat looked up and froze for a minute.

"Did Derick talk to you?" she asked him. He nodded.

"So now we should talk, correct?"

He nodded again.

9// lost

Following the Chicago Blackhawks home opener, a group of guys, including Derick Brassard and Patrick Kane, celebrated with post game drinks.

"Shit, hell of a fucking game, Jackson," Patrick Kane told the rookie sitting next to him.

"Thank you, sir," Jackson told him politely.

"Fuck...sir?" Patrick then turned to Derick, "am I really getting that old around here?"

"You aren't that 18 year old anymore, that's all I'll say," Derick chuckled.

A bartender brought a round of drinks to them, everyone but Jackson jumping at the opportunity.

"Can't, I'm still 18," he explained.

"Fuck, it was your first NHL game and you were fucking amazing," Andrew Shaw had told him, "just take one drink, no one will tell."

Jackson thought about it, then sighed. "Fine...peer pressure wins again."

"Fuck yeah!!!!"

As the night went on and the drinks kept coming, and the men went reminiscing.

"Man...rookie's first NHL game, and he was only drafted a few months ago..." Derick said about Jackson. "Hey, remember draft day?"

"Shit, no one had a better draft day than Mr. 1st Overall himself," Shaw said, pointing to Patrick, who put a smirk on his face.

"Yeah man...June 22nd In Columbus... Best day ever," Patrick said, catching Derick's attention.

"Whoa, June 22nd in Columbus? That's where Kristen and I got married!" Derick told him proudly.

"Shit, that's awesome!" Patrick said with a smile.

"Yeah, and Kat got pregnant that night, too," Derick said lowly; he still got upset thinking about the fact that she couldn't remember who she had slept with.

"Damn," Patrick commented. "Well, she wasn't the only one getting fucked that night."

"Really?" Derick asked.

Patrick took a big sip of his drink before continuing. "So get this: after the draft, my cousin got me drunk as fuck. I stumbled back to the hotel and found this smoking chick with a name that rhymed with mine. She was slightly younger than me, but was all over me because I was a hockey player and just got drafted. Damn...brown hair, brown eyes and a good body...such a good fuck. And she had this sexy trampstamp of a black star."

Derick paused and thought to himself: this story seemed way too familiar.

Patrick was drafted the same night as he and Kristen got married.
Patrick had sex the same night Kat did. Neither of them remembered who they slept with.
Kat has brown hair and brown eyes. Haley has blonde hair and blue eyes like Patrick.
Kat says the guy she slept with was a bit older since he was 18. Patrick was 18 and slept with someone a little bit younger.
Kat said the guy told her he was a hockey player just drafted. Patrick said the girl was all over him because he said he was a hockey player who just got drafted.
Both of them said they slept with someone with rhyming names. Kat and Pat.

That's when Derick realized it; the only thing missing was the black star tattoo.

"I have to go...see you guys at practice," Derick said, quickly taking off.

It was a fifteen minute drive home, but he made it close to five with his ferocious driving. After he got the car parked, he saw Kristen and Kar watching TV together; Haley was asleep upstairs.

"Katrina, show me your trampstamp," Derick said sternly, catching Kat off guard.

"Whoa, how drunk are you? She doesn't have a trampstamp," Kristen defended her sister. She then looked at her and saw her scared look, "shit, do you?"

Kat sighed, before standing up and turning around. She pulled her pants about an inch down and lifted up the hem of her shirt, revealing a black star tattoo: Derick couldn't believe.

"What the fuck, Kat," Kristen said blankly as she stared at it.

"I got it when I was 16, and this was the only place on my body where Mom and Dad wouldn't see it," Kat defended herself as she got her clothing back to normal, then turned around at Derick. "How'd you know I had one?" Derick sighed.

"Because...I found out who Haley's dad is tonight...fucking Patrick Kane."

8// Lean On Me

"Hales, check out this page of a unicorn," I said as I flipped through some coloring book pages while she was on her hospital bed.

"I wanna color it....pink!" Haley told me.

"Yo, pink her up," I told Jamila. She got up from the chair and handed her the pink crayon.

"I'm really gonna miss getting to miss work to help take care of you, Hales. Telling people what to do wasn't as fun as I had hoped," Jamila sighed.

"I'll try and get hurt more often," Haley told her.

"Don't even think about it," I told her sternly.

Haley went back to her coloring book, right when Derick and Kristen walked in with two people wearing bright blue scrubs.

"Are you Miss Haley?" One of them asked her.

"Yes..." she answered cautiously.

"Hales, these are two of our friends we just made," Kristen told her, “and they wanna do something really fun with you!”

One of the guys came over to me and leaned in close, “Dr. Ramirez and the anesthesiologist are waiting in the OR, we’ll start surgery right away.”

Haley can’t deal with doctors, she just can’t. She absolutely lost it when I told her that we had to do surgery, and there’s nothing harder for a parent to see their child in so much pain and not be able to do anything about it. I ended up devising a plan with the staff so that we could have the littlest meltdown possible: we’ll take her around the hospital for a tour that will end in the operating room, where she’ll get knocked out by the anesthesia and they’ll start fixing her arm.

"So, we're gonna take you on a fun little tour of the hospital, how does that sound?" one of them asked her.

"I don't want to..." she told them.

"Hales, you can bring Ollie with you," I told her as I handed her Ollie, her pink stuffed owl.

She thought quietly for a moment before she spoke again, "well...Ollie thinks it would be cool to get a tour of the place...so why not."

"All right! It'll be tons of fun!" The guy told her enthusiastically.

Both of them moved up the armrests of the bed so that way they could use that to wheel her around in her bed...and so she couldn't escape.

"I'll see you after your tour ends, sweetie!" I told her before kissing her forehead.

"Bye mommy," she told me as she was wheeled away.

The four of us all waved at her as she was wheeled away. After a moment when we were sure she was gone, Jammy spoke up.

"So...this isn't just a tour...right?"

"Right..."



xxxxxxxxx

"Want more custard?"

"Yes!!!!"

Haley's surgery took about an hour, but afterwards she barely knew what happened because of the anesthesia. Derick went out and got her homemade custard from a local ice cream shop to celebrate.

"Anything for this brave kid," Derick said as he scooped her another bowl.

"All right, I gotta head out and prepare for work tomorrow," Jamila said as she stood up. She went to Haley to hug her, but tricked her and leaned in only to take some of her custard.

"Meanie," Haley told her.

Jamila made her way out the door, as someone was making their way in: Patrick Kane. Jamila smirked at me once she saw him, then left.

"Am I too late?" he asked with a big balloon in one hand and a teddy bear in the other.

"Man, whatsup?" Derick asked him.

"The team heard about what was going on, so we chipped in to get you some fun stuff," he said as he tied the balloon to her bed.

"What do you say?" I reminded Haley.

"Thank you," Haley said as he handed her the teddy bear.

"No problem," Patrick smiled at her, "us blonde hair and blue eye kids have to stick together."

"Thanks, Patrick," I told him.

"No problem, you have a good kid, why wouldn't I do something nice for her?" Patrick said to me.

"Ill show you out, buddy," Derick told him, then leading him out of the room.

It was just us girls and Haley, but she was busy with her custard, so Kristen decided to say something to me.

"He's totally daddy material...both kinds."


xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Thanks for coming out here, it really means a lot," Derick told Patrick.

"It's no problem, man," Patrick said. "I mean, I obviously know you and Kristen good, and I've met Kat and Haley and they're nice, too."

"Yeah...I did a good job of picking a wife," Derick smirked to himself.

"Yeah, and It's helping me out, too."

"Oh really? How?"

"I'm engaged," Patrick started explaining, "and my fiance' really likes kids. And I don't know...I'm not used to being around little kids, and Haley's cool, so if she helps make a good man out of me, that's cool...you know?"

Derick laughed as they got to the entrance of the hospital. "Don't worry, you'll be daddy material in no time, bro."

7// Make It Better

"Damn it, Derick! We have to get to UIC! Hurry the fuck up!" I shouted upstairs to him.

"I thought we couldn't curse in front of Hales?" Kristen asked me as she helped get Haley ready.

"Fuck off."

Derick finally was ready and came running down the stairs. "Sorry, I had to shave real quick."

"No you didn't, asshole," I told him.

"Calm down," Kristen told me from behind.

"Damn it, I gotta get to her appointment."

"We know, and we're gonna get there."

I sighed, "whose car are we taking?"

"Mine," Derick said, "now lets go."


It was a fifteen minute ride, but it felt like a million minutes. Haley kept her head on my shoulder the whole time; if anyone was morr scared than me, it was her. She doesn't like doctors or hospitals, and the thought of surgery would be too much to handle. I just need the best to happen for her.

Jamila met us at the hospital to help. Haley went for an x-ray first thing, which wasn't too bad since the technician wasn't one of her doctors from earlier. Afterwards, we waited in the Pediatric waiting room for the images to be read. The waiting room was kid heaven: a flat screen tv that was on Disney Channel, a fish tank full of small little fish, a bookshelf and a small little coffee table for other stuff. Haley found a book she was into, so she sat by the fishtank reading.

"So..." Derick began, "home openers next week. If she needs surgery, you guys still gonna come?"

"Shut up," I told him, "this is about Haley, not you."

"Yeah, Kat doesn't wanna think about her little hockey crush right now," Jamila said with a sly smirk.

"Shut the fuck up," I silently gritted through my teeth.

"Ew," Derick commented.

"Which one?" Kristen asked me with a huge smile.

"None of them," I said.

"The Haley look-a-like," Jamila said.

"You need to learn how to shut up right now," I quickly told her.

"Wait...who?" Derick asked.

"Oh! That Kane guy, right?" Kristen asked. Ever since Haley met Patrick, Kristen's thought it would be funny to tell everyone he's her dad, and Jammy has gotten in on it as well.

"Guess Kat loves everyone with blonde hair and blue eyes," Jammy snickered.

"Not if he's my teammate she won't," Derick said.

"I hope both of you go to-"

"Ms. Stevens?"

All our heads turned to the door, where Dr. Ramirez stood asking for me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know her father was here today as well, I don't believe we've met," she said while looking at Derick.

"He's my brother-in-law," I quickly explained.

"My apologies," she quickly explained. "If I could please get a moment with you," she said before she led me back with her.

One I left, Derick left out a big sigh. "Guess I can add her to the list of people who think I'm Haley's dad..."

Kristen shot him a hard look. "Now's not the time to be a judgemental prick."

Jammy picked up a magazine and started flipping through it. "A man isn't an essential part in a young woman's life." Derick turned towards her coldly, then rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ramirez took me back into an office and showed me a computer with x-rays.

"These are Haley's from a few days ago," she explained, then moved ahead a couple images, "and these are the ones from today."

"What's the difference?" I asked her.

"Exactly: there is none," she told me, causing me to sigh. "There's really no other option than surgery."

I rubbed my temples. "How early will it be?"

"I have an opening at 2:30 tomorrow."

"That early?"

"I'm afraid so," she said. "I'll give you a few minutes to explain this to Haley, but I'd like you both back in here to go over the plan for surgery soon."

"Will do," I said sadly before I walked out.

Upon walking out, Jammy, Derick and Kristen quickly stood up. They looked at me with hopeful eyes, and I just shook my head, before walking past them and sitting next to Haley.

"Hi mommy," she said once she saw me. She put the book down and I picked her up and placed her into my laugh, then sighed: this was going to be so hard.

"Hey, sweetie...we really need to talk."

6// thirty second phone call

"All right, so Brad wants to shoot his part tomorrow during the pre-season opener, but other than that, all we have left to shoot is Kane," I said as I went over film work for the new campaign with Ayela, one of my coworkers.

"He just got here for practice, so we can probably hit him up real quick," she told me.

"Let's go then."

We made our way to the lower level, near the player locker room. Out in the hallway, we saw Patrick grabbing a stick.

"Mind if we borrow you for a quick second?" I asked him. He turned towards me, then smiled.

"No problem, how can I help?" he asked us.

"You've heard of the new Whats Your Goal campaign we're doing, right?" Ayela asked him.

"You mean the one Kat thought of?" Patrick said with a smirk towards me. "Of course, it's all anyone here can talk about because it's so brilliant."

I really hoped I wasn't blushing, please no.

"So, we were just wondering if we could film you real quick, is that okay?" I asked him.

"Of course," he smiled.

We grabbed the camera man, and Patrick did his thing.

"My goal," he said into the camera, before turning away to grab a stick and then back, "is to make every night showtime."

"And cut!" I said with a smile. "That was great, thanks so much."

"Not a problem," he told me, "make sure to tell the little kiddo that her look a like says hi."

"Will do," I told him as he walked away.

I expected to go straight back to our office, but Ayela was giving me a weird look.

"Can I help you?" I asked her.

"You've been working here only a month and you already got a player in love with you," she said, "I just can't believe it."

"Are you being serious?" I asked her. "The dude has a girlfriend, and we just met. He totally isn't in love with me."

"Patrick Kane hasn't been known for being the most fateful boyfriend," she told me, before turning around and walking back.

I shook my head and began following her, but stopped when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. Once I got it out, a wave of panic hit me.

It was Haley's school calling.

"Hello?" I answered nervously.

"Mrs. Stevens?" A female voice asked.

"Miss Stevens," I told her, "what's going on?"

"I'm Michelle Patacki, head nurse at Kennedy Elementary School," she explained. "Haley got into an accident outside during playtime and we had to take her to the emergency room."

"My six year old is in the emergency room!?"

"She got really hurt and we needed to act fast, she's at UIC and I alerted paramedics to be on the look for you."

"All right, thank you for your time."

After I hung up, I started calling Jamila while also sprinting to the parking lot.

"Yoooo," she said upon answering.

"Please tell me you're free," I pleaded.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" she asked me.

"Haley's school called, she got hurt during playtime and they're taking her to the ER."

"Where at?"

"UIC."

"I'll meet you there ASAP."

Once I got into my car, I called Chris to let him know of the situation; he was really understanding and told me to take all the time I need. The only people I didn't tell yet were Derick and Kristen, because I knew they'd want to come even though they couldn't afford to since Derick had practice and Kristen had a deadline for the tribune.

It was a ten minute drive to UIC because of the slight traffic, but luckily once I got out of my car, I saw Jammy rushing to the entrance along with me.

"Damn it, I really hoped you beat me," she told me as we hurried inside.

As we made our way to the front desk, I was thankful I didn't hear any screams; Haley was doing okay.

"How may I help you?" the lady at the front desk asked me.

"My name's Kat Stevens, my daughter Haley Stevens was brought here by her elementary school," I explained.

"Ah, yes," she said immediately, "she's over in the north of the ER unit, room 124."

"Thank you so much," I told her as Jammy and I took off running.

The ER was surprisingly filled up today, but I could care less about them all: Haley was the only one on my mind. We ran through the hallways as fast as we could until we got to her room, and we ended up bursting in, only to see Haley holding tight onto a fleece blanket with a nurse by her side.

"Mommy!" she shouted upon seeing me.

"Baby, what happened!?" I asked her as I ran over and kissed her forehead.

"I fell off the monkey bars outside," she explained before lifting up her blanket to show me her injured; I gasped.

"Holy shit," Jamila said upon seeing it.

Haley's bone in her right forearm broke through her skin, one of her bones was showing.

"We administered a dosage of Morphine orally once she got here," the nurse explained, "and right now, we have a pediatric surgeon as well as an Ortho surgeon going over the treatment plan."

"Thank you so much," I told the nurse as she got up to leave.

"No problem," she said with a smile, "she's one tough kid, but she's wonderful as well."

"I know," I said as I slowly ran my fingers through Haley's soft blonde hair.

The nurse was nice, and Haley liked her. Then again, nurses were never the problem.

"How you feeling, kiddo?" Jamila asked.

"My bone is out of my skin, how do you I'm feeling?" Haley asked rhetorically. The two of us both laughed at her sassiness. Then, two females with white cloaks came into the room. Upon seeing them, Haley started hiding her head behind me the best she could, all while using her left hand to hold onto me tight.

"Good morning. My name is Dr. Ramirez, head of Orthopedics," one explained to us.

"And I'm Dr. Capshaw, co-chair of the Pediatrics department," the other one explained.

"I'm Kat, Haley's mom, and that's Jamila, one of her aunts," I explained.

"Nice to meet you both," Dr. Ramirez said. "Well, we've been looking over this case quite extensively, and luckily, due to the area of the break, we believe that it should go back in on its own within the next two days as long as we immobilize it, and then we can cast it for six weeks just like any normal fracture."

"That's fantastic!" I said with a huge smile.

"However," Dr. Ramirez said, making my smile fade, "if by chance it doesn't go back in on its own, we will have to surgically repair it immediately."

Upon hearing that, Haley started whimpering and holding onto me tighter.

"Shhh, it's okay, baby," I cooed to her softly.

"We're writing her a note to have her stay home from school the next two days, and Saturday afternoon at 1 we want to see her again to see what our next step will be," Dr. Capshaw explained.

"She'll need a constant caregiver, especially for personal hygiene," Dr. Ramirez informed.

"I have fridays off, so I can take her then," Jammy told me.

"All right, a nurse will be in soon to immobilize her arm and then she'll be good to go," Dr. Capshaw told us, "we'll see you again Saturday afternoon."

"Thank you so much," I told them. As they left, Haley's grip on me loosened. "Don't worry, you'll be okay, I promise."


xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"All right, we're gonna get you in bed, and then you'll get some ice cream," I told Haley as I helped her out of the car: her arm was absolutely immobilized, she couldn't even move it if she tried.

"Mint chocolate chip!?" Haley asked me.

"Whatever you want, sweetie," I told her as we walked through the door.

The first thing we saw as we walked in was Derick and Kristen sitting on the couch looking nervously, but they shot towards us as the door closed.

"Hi Uncle Derick and Aunt Krissie," Haley smiled as we walked in.

"Sweetheart, what happened to you!?" Derick asked as he and Kristen practically ran over.

"I fell at school," Haley told him.

"I'll fill you guys in once we get her settled," I told them.

"What can we do for you, sweetheart?" Kristen asked.

"Mommy told me I could get some ice cream!" she replied excitedly.

"I'll get it right now," Kristen told her as she walked over to the kitchen.

"Come on, sweets, let's get you up in bed," I told Haley as I helped her up stairs.

It took us about five minutes to get her fully situated, and once I was done Kristen joined us to give her ice cream.

"Thanks, aunt Krissie," Haley said with a smile.

"No problem, babe," Kristen told her, "just let me know if you need anything else."

As Haley nodded, I kissed her forehead. "We'll be right down stairs if you need anything," I said before we walked out. "Thanks," I told Kristen once we were out of the room.

She ignored me and walked straight downstairs. It caught me slightly off guard at first, but I shrugged it off and followed her to see her and Derick sitting together on the couch.

"She fell off the money bars at school and got a compound fracture," I started explaining, "I'm with her all day tomorrow and Jammy has her friday since the doctors are optimistic that it'll heal on its own. We go back Saturday afternoon and if it doesn't, then she'll need surgery."

They both looked at each other for a moment, then Derick sighed. "Thanks for letting us know."

"No problem."

"Though, we would have prefered you to tell us when it actually happened, though."

I fucking knew it.

I turned around and sighed. "Well, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, mom and dad. Oh wait, you guys aren't her parents, are you?"

"Kat, come on," Kristen sighed.

"No, she's my kid, I'm the one who's supposed to take off when she gets hurt, not you guys," I told them.

"You still should have told us," Derick said.

"She's our fucking niece, the only one we got," Kristen spoke, "if something's wrong with her, we gotta know."

"And you do know," I said.

"Yeah, like a million hours later," she said.

"Way to be dramatic," I rolled my eyes, "but be honest: if I told you about it after I got the call, you would have dropped everything to come be with her."

"Well duh."

"See, that's the thing, that shouldn't happen! I'm her mom, and when something goes wrong with Hales, I need to be the one dropping everything. I don't need you two getting in trouble at work because of a child that isn't even yours."

Derick looked like he was going to say something, but got inturupted by Haley.

"Mommy!" she shouted from her room. I sighed.

"Be right up, love," I shouted back to her. "Id you guys are free Saturday, then I want you at the appointment. There's a boundary between aunt, uncle and guardian, and I need her to have a different relationship with you guys than me."


With that, I left them and went upstairs to Haley.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kristen lay her head on Derick's shoulder, thinking about everything Kat had told them.

"We just want what's best for the two of them," she thought out loud.

Derick slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, but right now, I think this is just something that needs to be dealt with without us and within their little, incomplete family."

5// backyard-igans

"I got up twenty minutes late, and now I'm rushing like a menstrating bitch to a bathroom to get ready," I said on my bluetooth to Jamila as I scrambled around my room to find converse to wear. "You should really by a watch, it could come in handy for you," Jamila told me. "Shut up," I told her with an eye roll. "What's on your schedule for today?" "Getting an incoming high school freshman into shape for baseball season, followed by high school football player who was kicked off his team for being a washed up alcoholic, OH! And I got roped in to teaching a swimming class to people Hales' age," she told me. I chuckled. "You sound so excited about it all," I commented "Oh, I'm fucking bursting," she told me with her casual tone of sarcasm. "You should bring Hales over here before you three leave soon." "Can't. she's coming with us," I told her. "Apparently, there's a lot of kids on the Hawks team and Derick's hoping she'll make more friends." '"Damn it, I don't wanna go to work today," Jamila told me. "I wanna sit on my couch, eat my food, drink and binge on Grey's Anatomy," "No one watches Grey's ever since April and Jackson fucking ran off together," I told her bitterly. "I don't know where the fuck you get your information from but that's extremely wrong," she told me. "Whatever," I told her; now's not the time to get into the discussion of my Grey's Anatomy boycott. "I gotta get ready, Derick will freak if we show up late." "Oh no, a bunch of hockey heads will eat all the meat without you, how ever will you survive?" "Shit, you really aren't in the mood for today..." "It's a damn Saturday and I have to go to work, of course I'm not in the mood." I chuckled again, "You'll survive," I told her before I hung up. We had a Team Barbecue to attend at the Coach's house, as a way for the players and their families to bond together for the upcoming season. I was expecting to stay home with Haley today, but Derick told me he wanted us to come as well. Now, I'm hauling ass trying to get ready to leave on time. I got Kristen helping Haley so we don't have another outfit disaster like on the first day of school again, and Derick's doing whatever Derick's do. I settled on wearing a black tank top with jean shorts and black converse. As I put on my sunglasses, the door shot open with Haley running in. "You're going slow!" she told me dramatically, wearing jeans shorts as well along with sandals and a Disney Princesses t-shirt. "Watch you attitude," I warned her. "But it's true!" she told me, "Uncle Derick keeps saying it!" I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Come on, let's go so he stops talking," I told her as we walked out and downstairs where we saw Kristen sitting down while on her phone and Derick pacing around the living room. "We're ready!" Haley shouted with a smile. "Bout time," Derick mumbled while giving me a dirty look; I rolled my eyes as we walked out of the house and into the SUV, making our way to the Coaches house. xxxxxxxx

I don't think I've ever felt this uncomfortable in my life.

Everyone here was a big part of the team in some way, and I felt like a big elephant in the room as I didn't know anyone and I was the only sister-in-law around. I found myself sitting down at a picnic table by myself, sending texts to Jamila that got no response due to her schedule, but it was better than looking like I had nothing to do. Haley was making friends though, so that's all that matters.

As I was trying my best to ignore everything, someone decided to stop by and take a seat next to my picnic table.

"Haven't I seen you lurking around before?" a familiar face asked me.

"Yeah, I just got a job with the organization recently," I told him, "and I'm pretty sure I've seen you around..."

"Patrick Kane," he told me with a smile, "if that rings any bell."

"Oh, Kat Stevens, if that rings any of your bells," I told him. We both laughed for a minute.

"So, are you a girlfriend or fiancee?" he asked me.

"Neither," I replied, "I'm a sister in law."

"Really? For who?"

"Derick Brassard."

"Brassy? Lucky girl," he told me. "He seems pretty cool.

I shrugged. "He's decent, I guess..."

Patrick laughed. "Well, If you're gonna be here, you should do some bonding with the team family."

"I'm the only sister-in-law here, I got nothing in common with anyone else here,"  I told him.

He was silent for a moment, then pointed across the yard to two women. "Over there is my girlfriend Leslie with Jonathan Toews' girlfriend Ashley. Go talk to them, you'll love them."

I sighed, "you're pretty pushy, man."

"Nothing wrong with pushing," he said with a smile.

I rolled my eyes, getting off of the picnic table and heading over to the other girls, who immediately took notice to me.

"Hey, are you a new wife or girlfriend?" the one with long, brunette hair asked me.

"Um....I'm new, but that's about it," I told them.

"Huh?" the one with blonde hair in a bob asked.

"Sister-in-law of one of the new players," I explained, "Kat Stevens."

"Leslie Nelman, I'm Patrick Kane's girlfriend," the blonde told me.

"And I'm Ashley Taylor, Jonathan Toews' girlfriend," the brunette told me.

"Nice, so how long have you been dating them?" I asked them.

"We met at a bar almost two years ago after the lockout ended," Ashley explained. "I work as a bartender."

"And we met after he won his second Stanley Cup on vacation in Mexico," Leslie told me.

"Nice."

"So, who's your family?"

I went over and pointed at Derick and Kristen, who were making their way around the yard meeting with people. "Derick, he just got traded from New York."

"Oh yeah, he does pretty good at practices," Ashley commented.

"So, what about you? What do you do for a living?" Leslie asked me.

"I actually just got a job with the organization, I'm with public relations and marketing," I explained.

"Awesome!" Ashley said with a smile, "the girlfriends and wives actually do a lot with them because of charities and stuff, looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other!"

"That's cool!" I said with a smile aswell. "Uh...I'm gonna head back now, but it was cool meeting you!"

"Yeah, see you later!" Ashley told me; Leslie kept quiet as I made my back to the picnic table where Patrick was at with a smirk.

"See? Socializing isn't too bad," he told me.

"Fuck off," I told him with an eye roll.

"You're welcome," he laughed.

I was about to give him a retort, but Haley came running up so my attention went to her.

"Can I get ice cream?" she asked me, "everyone else is."

"Did you finish all of your lunch?"

"Yes!"

"Even the veggies?"

Haley stayed quiet, then looked down to her feet, causing me to sigh. "Hales, you know the rules."

"But mom!"

"No buts, you know the rules, you have to eat everything for dessert."

"Whoa," Patrick stepped in, catching both of our attention, "today's a special day, why not bend the rules for one day?"

"Yeah, mommy," Haley said with complete sass, even putting her hands on her hips, "It's a special day."

"You need to watch yourself," I warned her.

"Come on, mommy!" she started begging, "I always eat my veggies every night, this is my first time not!"

"Come on, cut her some slack," Patrick told me with a smile.

I thought about it for a moment, then sighed. "You can get one bowl, but that's it until dinner tonight."

Haley grew a big smile on her face. "Thank you so much!!!!" She ran over and hugged me quick, before looking back at Patrick. "Thank you for helping me."

"No problem, kiddo," he smiled at her, "us blonde haired-blue eyed kids gotta stick together."

"I've never met anyone else with blonde hair and blue eyes before!" Haley told him excitedly.

"Really?" Patrick asked her, shocked. "What about your-"

I quickly started shaking my head. I knew exactly what he was going to say: "what about your dad?" We're having a good day, and I don't want to get into the topic of him. Luckily, Patrick caught on and didn't finish his sentence, but just smiled at her.

"Blonde hair and blue eyes are supposed to be rare, so I guess we're lucky to have met," he told her instead. Haley smiled really big, before running off to get ice cream.

"Thank you so much," I told him.

"No problem," he said, "I'm not positive what's going on, but whatever it is, I'll respect it and mind my own business.

I was about to say something, when I heard a faint "Patrick!" being shouted across the yard. We both turned to our left and saw Leslie calling him over.

"I think that may be my cue to go," he told me. "but I'll see you around the United Center."

"Yeah, totally," I agreed.

We smiled and waved at each other as he left, and Kristen came to replace him with two red cups in hand which were filled with I presume would be alcohol. I gave her a weird look.

"Derick's driving back home," she told me.

"Thank God," I said as I grabbed the cup and took a sip.

"So, you and Hales are bonding with Patrick Kane?" she asked me.

"Yeah," I told her, "he's pretty cool, and Haley's so fascinated that he looks like her."

"Really?" she asked me with a smirk. "Maybe that's your baby daddy."

I rolled my eyes, "shut the fuck up, don't even joke about that.

Kristen cocked her head, "you never know, little sis."

She then walked away from me. I thought about it for a moment, then shook my head; she was being crazy. I didn't meet Patrick until last month, there's no way. Haley's dad is probably roaming around taking advantage of other girls. But it's not Patrick, he isn't that type of guy.