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Chapter 50: Mimi VII
Don’t be so goddamn stubborn! Just take my advice and everything will be fine!
The bellow cracked through her dream and snapped Michele awake. She was curled into a fetal position on the bed when her eyes opened. On her tongue was the ghost of a bloodied salty skin taste and it made her tighten up in a ball. There was a hollow, almost rattling pain in her chest, and a eerie crawling prickle on her right ankle. She reached down and rubbed the feeling out of her ankle. When she sat up, she was trembling and sticky. She crouched forward, clutching her stomach and closing her eyes. Nightmares were so exhausting.
"Another dream?"
Michele fell back on the bed, looking into Patrick’s sleepy, half-lidded gaze.
"Yes," Michele said softly, "How did you know?"
Patrick yawned. "You were crying a little bit, I thought about waking you up...but I didn’t think it would be safe. Was it the same dream?"
"I don’t know," Michele sighed, "Fear, stress, it all shows up in our dreams does it not?"
Michele closed her eyes as Patrick ran his fingers lightly up and down her arm. "Maybe I should stay?" he said. "If you and the children were.... While I was away..."
"No," Michele said. "No. We will be fine. I am sure of it."
"Really?" Patrick asked. "And you know this because?"
Michele rolled to her side, and she kissed Patrick on his forehead. She frowned and blew his increasingly shaggy bangs out of his face. He still hadn’t gotten around to a haircut. He had promised her before the first game of the season that he would get a haircut and still here he was.
"We have the security system at night. We’ve changed our locks. The police are patrolling more. Our neighbors are watching our house now like hawks," Michele said. "And more importantly, one thing tells me that we won’t have a sniff of him while you are gone."
"And what is that?" Patrick asked, lifting her hand and kissing her palm.
"Is it a win streak?" Michele asked, staring at his hair. "Is that why you haven’t cut it? Are you playing Samson?"
Patrick wrinkled his nose like an uncomfortable boy would. Of course he wouldn’t want to say it out loud, the superstitious lout.
"You haven’t lost yet this year have you? Have I stumbled on your little secret? Don’t fall asleep after the next time we make love," Michele said with a grin. "Or I’ll cut it all off! Just like Delilah did."
"You would!" Patrick grumbled. "Little harlot."
Michele laughed and hugged her pillow to her chest. "I’m serious!" she said. "I’m tired of you all shaggy. When you least expect, my love, I will run my hands up your back and I will have the scissors and snip, snip!"
Patrick narrowed his eyes and reddened. Michele laughed harder and bopped his face with the pillow. Patrick caught it and tossed it back at her where it bounced harmlessly off her face.
"How do you know?" Patrick asked again.
"Because," Michele said, "The last two times he has tried to hurt us, you were not on a roadtrip. You were right here."
Patrick wrinkled his brow. "Why do you think that is? You would think he would come when I’m away, if he were smart that is."
"He could be just stupid." Michele said staring at the ceiling.
"Or?" Patrick asked.
"Or," Michele answered, "I don’t want to think about it."
Cecile hopped off with Danny before breakfast and Alex came over for breakfast. Alex kept the kids and Patrick occupied with all sorts of nonsense, he was smiling and goofing off with them that Michele lost count of all the times someone started choking on their toast or cereal. They were having so much fun that Michele got up to answer the phone so they wouldn’t be interrupted.
"Hello?" Michele chimed brightly into the phone.
"Yeah," Debbie’s voice cracked on the other end. "Mimi you have some serious explaining to do!"
Michele raised her eyebrows. She could hear the angry tone in Debbie’s voice. "Debbie!" she exclaimed. "What’s wrong?"
"Ooooh you know perfectly well!" Debbie snapped.
A nervous twinge darted through Michele’s stomach. She couldn’t think of anything she could have done to Debbie recently. Always make a point to remember every detail of how you’ve wronged someone, because the ones you have forgotten always come back to haunt you. It was a motto to live by, and so it made Michele uneasy to hear Debbie’s anger. What had she done?
"Well, Debbie," Michele began uncertainly.
"Just get your skinny butt over here!" Debbie snapped and hung up the phone.
Michele pulled the receiver away from her ear and looked at it as if it were a strange object. "OK," she murmured to herself.
Debbie answered the door with a colorless face and a tight mouth. Michele didn’t know what to say until she looked at what Debbie was holding.
"You know something about this!" Debbie snapped.
An absolutely gorgeous, tiny, fat, fluffy, silver little foxy puppy was squirming and panting in Debbie’s arms. Michele’s heart instantly melted.
"Oooooh!" Michele squealed. "How beautiful! How adorable!"
She leaned forward and kissed the grunting puppy’s raccoon mask of a face, "Hello!" she cooed. "Oh Debbie he’s charming! Where did you get him?"
"I was hoping you could tell me," Debbie said.
Michele left off the puppy and looked into Debbie’s angry eyes. Had she ever seen Debbie really angry before? She actually looked good angry.
"You should get angry around Joe," Michele said passively, "I bet he would like it."
"Arrrrgh!" Debbie growled. "Mimi I’m serious!"
Michele shrugged. "Why would you think I would know where he came from. I didn’t send him to you."
"I know," Debbie said. "But I have to blame someone. Come in."
Michele followed Debbie into the house and into the kitchen where Mitchell and the twins were playing with an identical puppy on the tile floor. It was yipping and growling and wagging its curly little tail. Michele put her hands to her mouth and giggled as Mitchell picked it up and hugged it.
Debbie handed the other puppy to Michele and walked to the kitchen table where a huge wicker gift basket was sitting. Michele closed her eyes and hugged the fuzzy little puppy to her face, inhaling its freshly groomed puppy scent. Giving it another quick kiss she placed it on the ground where it hopped over to the children and started hopping and yipping at its sibling.
"This is what I mean," Debbie said putting her hand on her hip and handing Michele a small card. "You know something about this?"
Michele opened the card and looked at it, "You love cute and fuzzy. This is just for you. Love, Modo," read the card.
Michele bit her bottom lip and fanned herself with the card. Honestly, she had thought Patrick had been kidding. Modano was really in love with Joe? This was too much. She grinned and looked at Debbie, she had to tell her now, she supposed.
"It came this morning," Debbie said. "After Joe left for the country club. Thank God it did! I mean goodness! I barely even know Mike Modano and here he is sending me this! If Joe would have seen this... I wouldn’t even know who to explain this! And don’t tell me you haven’t known that Mike was up to something like this, because you know everything!"
Oh! Michele thought stifling a full out laugh. She thinks it’s for her? Of course why would she think it was for Joe!
Michele looked into the gift basket at the puppy toys and books and food in there.
"The little darlings came in this?" Michele asked.
Debbie nodded. "Mimi! What is this all about! Is this some trick of yours?"
Michele shook her head. "Non my love, not at all. You should be flattered really. Just keep the puppies, they’re darling! What breed are they?"
Debbie picked up the puppy book. "Keeshond," she said. "Mimi I can’t keep them!"
"Mommy! Why can’t we keep them!" Mitchell cried. "Mommy this is my puppy! Please if I can’t have her I’ll die forever and ever and ever and ever!"
Mitchell started crying and hugging the girl puppy. Debbie put her hands on her head. "Oh, dear," she muttered.
"See," Michele said. "You have to keep her. Just tell Joe that I gave them to you. It’ll be fine and we can both tell Monsieur Modano to stay away. See, is facile is easy."
"Oh no no no no!" Debbie said wagging her finger. "Not that easy! If I’m keeping one than so are you!"
"Non!" Michele cried. "We can’t have a puppy!"
Debbie glared a truly piercing and intimidating glare.
Michele threw up her hands and laughed. "Alright but Patrick won’t be too pleased!"
"Neither will Joe," Debbie said. "Mitchell, honey, you can keep her." She looked back at Michele. "There, we’re in this together! Oh honey please don’t tell anyone about Mike. Honest to God I’ve never spoken with him for an extended period of time, I don’t know why he would...."
"Safe with me," Michele said scooping up the remaining puppy. "We haven’t had a dog in a while, Patrick will love it...Yes he better love it, because I think I do!"
He’ll love it as soon as I tell him where it originated, Michele thought. Mon Dieu Modano is flakier than I thought!
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