Chapter 69

By the time I walked through the door in the morning, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through breakfast without falling asleep. I looked at my watch; 6:40. Enough time to take a quick shower to rid myself of that hospital smell and hopefully rejuvenate a little.
I let the hot water flow over my shoulders and run down my back, relaxing my tired muscles. I lathered my hair with my favourite tangerine shampoo and did a quick scrub with the pomegranate body wash Lily got me hooked on. I could have stayed in there for at least another hour but the sound of Jake and Alex stomping down the hallway quickly brought that fantasy to an end. I turned the water off and quickly dried off and threw on my favourite penguin pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt, wondering if I had time to throw a little make up on before Sid got there.
The sound of the boys squealing Sidney's name answered that question for me.
"Sidneeeeeeey!" I heard as I came around the corner just in time to see Alex give Sid a high five and Jake wrap himself around Sid's leg.
"Wow! That's quite a greeting," Sid chuckled as he pried Jake of his leg and lifted him up so he could give him a proper hug.
"We haven't seen you in like, forever!" Jake said enthusiastically. "Wait, what are you doing here so early?"
Lily came out of the spare bedroom and down the hallway to join me in watching this heartwarming scene unfold.
"Well, I just got back from my road trip last night and the first thing I wanted to do was come and see you guys."
"Cool! Mom had to work last night so Aunt Lily's here with us."
"Actually, we're both here now," I said as we appeared from our 'hiding' spot.
"Okay, come here rug rats. Give your Aunt Lil a hug and kiss goodbye."
"Oh man, do we have to?" was the universal response.
"Only if you ever want me to let you stay up late or read you bedtime stories again."
"Fine."
"Aren't you going to stay for breakfast?" I asked.
"Can't, gotta run. My shift starts in half an hour."
"Thanks for staying with the boys last night," I said walking her to the door and giving her a hug.
"No problem. It's not like I have any other men in my life anyways! I'll call you later," she said giving me that knowing look."
"Bye Sidney," she said as she walked out the door.
"Bye Lily, good to see you again," he replied politely.
"Alright troops," I said. "Breakfast. What does everyone want?"
"Scrambled eggs," Jake said climbing onto a stool at the counter.
"No way, eggs are gross!" Alex replied sitting next to his brother. "Pancakes."
"Scrambled eggs!"
"Pancakes."
"Scrambled eggs!"
"Pancakes!"
"Alright you two that's enough." I looked over at Sid to see him laughing hysterically at what was happening. "Why don't we let our guest decide. Sid, what'll it be, scrambled eggs or pancakes?" I asked.
He looked at both boys who were each looking at him with pleading eyes. Not wanting to choose one over the other, he sheepishly answered "French toast?"
The three of us just looked at him.
"What? French toast is one of favourites!"
"Thanks for the help, " I said giving him a playful punch in the stomach. "That's it. Cereal for everybody!" I said turning around and opening the cereal cupboard.
"But Mom!!!" not two but three voices rang out in unison.
"I am not but mom! You two have half and hour to go watch tv, so scram!"
"K!"
"And you, mister are absolutely no help!" I said poking him in the arm.
"How am I supposed to pick between those two adorable faces?" he asked wrapping me in a hug.
"You smell amazing," he whispered into my neck. "There's just one problem."
"What's that?" I asked pulling out of his strong grip.
"That shirt. You have to lose the shirt!"
"What's wrong with it?" I questioned looking down at my black t-shirt and not seeing anything wrong.
"It's Nike."
Okay, now I was really confused.
"What's wrong with Nike?"
"Seriously?" he laughed. "Look at me."
"I am looking at you."
"Notice anything?"
I looked him up and down. What the hell was he talking about?"
"Nope."
"Look at what I'm wearing."
I took another look, this time paying attention to what was covering that amazing body of his. Hat-Reebok. T-shirt-Reebok. Warm up suit-Reebok. Socks-Reebok.
I smiled at him. "Is your underwear Reebok too?" I laughed.
"Why don't you come here and find out," he said wrapping his arms around my waist again.
"Sidney! What happened to playing it cool in front of the kids?" I asked playfully hitting him.
"They're busy watching tv, besides you're driving me crazy!" he said kissing my neck.
"If this is the way it's going to be, you won't be allowed over here," I said trying to pull away.
"Come on, just one little kiss? Pleeeeeeeeeease?"
Damn those puppy dog eyes!
"One, that's it! Then I have to make breakfast, before it's lunch time."
"Better make it a good one then," he said before pulling me in close to him.
He was so strong, he moved me around like a rag doll. He slid his fingers up into my still damp hair and pulled my face in close to his, pausing and looking directly into my eyes. Before I knew what was happening, his lips were on mine, gently at first, then slowly, his tongue parted my lips. I grabbed on to both of his wrists for no other reason but to keep myself from falling. Warmly and sweetly, the kiss continued as I let him take complete control. Our tongues intertwined with one another like they were meant to be one. And when it was finally coming to an end, he took each one of my lips in between his; first the top one, gently caressing it with his tongue; then the bottom one, gently sucking on it before placing one final sweet kiss on them.
As he pulled away, I still had hold of his wrists and I stumbled forward when I didn't have his body right in front of me to support my weight.
"Are you okay?" he whispered in my ear as he caught me.
With my eyes still closed, I barely managed a "mmm hmm"
He rested his forehead against mine. "Wow," he whispered.
I was silent.
"I've never kissed anyone like that before," he said softly as he lifted my chin so I would look at him. "Never," he repeated looking into my eyes.
"Me either," were the only words I could manage.
"Mom, is breakfast ready yet, I'm starving?" came bellowing through the house.
SNAP! Right back to reality!
We both jumped back but were relieved when there was no body that came into the kitchen to accompany the question.
"A few more minutes," I yelled back.
I looked at Sidney and we both kind of chuckled. "Guess I better get to work," I said turning to get some pans out of the cupboard.
"Guess you'd better," he replied giving me a gentle tap on the butt.

After Jake had his scrambled eggs, Alex had his pancakes, Sid had his french toast and I had a bit of everything, the boys got dressed for school and Sid helped me with the dishes that couldn't go in the dishwasher.
"That was amazing," he complimented as he dried the last pan. "And I can't believe you had real maple syrup!"
"Of course I have real maple syrup, I'm Canadian too remember!"
"I always knew it'd be a good old Canadian girl I fell in love with," he said smiling at me.
"Who you calling old?" I asked hitting him in the butt with a rolled up dish towel.
"Oh you did not just rat tail me!"
"Oh yes I did. Whatcha gonna do about it rookie?"
"Is that a challenge?"
"It sure is."
"Oh it's on now!" he said twisting his towel as tightly as he could.
"Are you sure you want to do this Crosby? I am the undefeated champion of the rat tail snap."
"Oh you are so going down Jones!'
"Bring it on!" I said twisting my towel until I couldn't twist anymore.
We stood almost like we were about to take a face off.
He took a swipe at me and I slid out of the way before he was able to make contact.
"Nice try," I said as I quickly snapped my towel and got him on the bare arm.
"Owe! Shit that hurt!" he said rubbing his arm.
"Hey, watch your language!" I said as I gave him another quick snap on the hand."
"Owe! Sorry. No fair!"
"No fair? What do you mean no fair?"
"You can't strike again until I'm ready."
"What kind of pansy ass rule is that?" I asked getting my towel ready again.
"Hey, hey, hey language!" He said taking a snap at me and missing.
I caught him a few more times before he started getting really pissed.
"Ah, poor baby! You're not gonna get beat by a girl again are you?"
"That's it!" he said and before I knew it he was coming right at me.
I took off around the breakfast bar and back into the kitchen taking refuge behind one of the stools. No use. He kept coming and this time caught me in the butt before scooping me up in his arms and twirling me around in circles until I couldn't see straight.
"Say I'm the new champion and I'll put you down," he said still spinning around.
I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe.
"Never."
"Say it," he said starting to turn faster.
"No way," I squealed closing my eyes.
"Say it. Say 'Sid you are the champion. You're my hero.'"
"Not a chance!"
"What the heck are you guys doing?"
Alex's voice startled Sidney and we both fell to the floor laughing hysterically. When the room finally stopped spinning, we both looked up to see the boys looking at us like we were out of our minds.
"We were having a rat tail fight," Sid answered breathlessly.
"A what?" Jake asked.
"And you think we're the kids," Alex said.
Sid and I looked at each other before breaking out into laughter again. When we were able to catch our breath, we saw both boys shaking their heads.
"Can we go to school now?" Alex huffed.
Sid offered me his hand to help me up off the floor. I looked at him and he looked at me and we both knew what each other was thinking. In one swift motion Sid picked up Alex and I picked up Jake and we started spinning around in circles and tickling them. All four of us fell into a heap on the kitchen floor. When I looked at the boys, each of them were laughing and smiling like I hadn't seen them do in quite a while.