A/N: This chapter is completely dedicated to Rebecca and Jad! *hugs both*
Chapter 255: Patty XVIII—Smittens
To be honest, Patrick felt cleaner, almost as if he had taken a long hot shower after a long sweaty day. He felt lighter, he saw himself in the mirror and he felt attractive in a completely different way. He didn’t realize until he saw himself how bored he had become of his face. The rail thin, fake breasted blond, with the brittle looking perm smiled as she pulled the cover from around his body so he could admire his haircut. He tipped her, thanked her but he didn’t smile as he left the salon.
None of it took the sting away from the fact that he had just lost and rather badly this afternoon, and he didn’t like getting excuses from the press and teammates about it. He had been given the option of sitting the game out in light of what had happened to his daughter. He had refused; he wanted to contribute to the team. And he couldn’t sit out, not when he knew he would just run over the possibilities of what could have happened to his little princess in his head.
The man was dead, fortunately Jana had seen little to none of what had happened. She seemed in good spirits, and extremely attached to Cecile, her savior. Patrick had a lot to be thankful for, but he could only think of those what ifs. He could only wonder at the possibility of her little voice gone, her tantrums gone, her blond braid gone, and the glitter of her gone. And that was not something he ever wanted to think about.
You will die before your daughter, and she has only a day after that.
If that were true, he was glad that he would be first.
The game’s loss was entirely his fault but today everyone was giving him a free pass. He didn’t like that. He didn’t like their pity. He didn’t want to think about this anymore. His head was hurting; he had a raw soreness in his muscles and a burning desire to be with someone warm and inviting. He had even avoided visiting Jacquelyn today because he was in no mood for her artificial niceties.
Michele and the children were not at the game today. The boys had more hockey practice, Cecile was out rediscovering her love for Danny and Jana was glued to her mother. Perhaps he didn’t want to see them today, it would only remind him of the what ifs.
Patrick glared at the yellow police tape tacked over Jana’s doorway. His own daughter chased from her bedroom. She was glowing that morning however, beaming about Cecile’s engagement ring and that she was there to see her receive it. She didn’t seem perturbed about her lost room. Resilience, his children were all resilient.
The police called as he was stripping most of his clothes and sinking into bed. They informed him that the plumber, William O’Conner had a history of complaints against him from another state. Families did not appreciate his conduct with their children. There were no reports of him acting violently or crossing a line. Perhaps it was his first attempt at acting out his fantasies, he had selected Jana, and Cecile had been there to stop him.
Patrick listened to them and he didn’t want to hear any more. He politely thanked them and could only think to himself that he didn’t care, as long as his daughter was safe and the man was dead. They could have peace of mind now.
Patrick fell asleep quickly, his body savoring the soft comforter, the warm bed, even the feel of the puppy’s teeth sinking into his arm as she snarled at him with her attempts to chase him off what she no doubt assumed was her bed.
A sweet smell of a deliciousy, almost syrupy perfume, soft hands and soft lips, soft words smoothing through his ear. Patrick could feel himself smiling when he woke up. He half expected Michele to be there, next to him, grinning with a cat’s smile. The bed was empty, the house still felt empty. Michele had not been there at all, it must have been a dream. A sweet, sensual dream that was a product of his stress, relieving him.
Patrick laughed quietly to himself, he was thirsty and he pulled on his shirt. He could hear the puppy snarling and yapping about something. He shook his head, what had she found now? He hadn’t heard the doorbell. Crazy dog.
As he stood up he noticed something sitting on the nightstand. He frowned. They were large, soft looking, burgundy and blue mittens. He didn’t remember seeing those before, or for that matter seeing anyone wearing them. He picked them up, they were incredibly soft and a static like thrill went up his arms, and made the hair on them stand on end. Patrick grinned and pressed them to his cheek, they smelled sweet, almost like Michele’s perfume. They were attached to each other by a yarn string and feeling goofy, he hung them over his shoulders.
If they weren’t someone’s before, they were his now.
And the puppy was still yapping.
“What dog!” he called out as he went downstairs, “Gigi come here!” The puppy made no sign of responding, she just kept barking in the same tone. “Gigi shut up and come here!” he said switching to English. The puppy continued to bark.
Patrick rolled his eyes but didn’t feel the anger he usually did when it concerned the dog. How odd was that? He just inhaled the sweet smell of the mittens and walked rather casually to the sounds of Gigi’s yapping.
“Gigi what is it!” He exclaimed.
“Oh we’re terribly sorry Your Highness we know we shouldn’t have!”
Patrick’s eyes widened when he saw the girl standing in the parlor. She was wearing a garish, rather costume like dress in bright colors and had large, dark eyes and long dark hair. She seemed terrified and apparently was the source of Gigi’s snarling.
“What are you doing here!” Patrick yelled, enraged that someone would dare sneak or break into the house when they were probably aware of what had just happened here.
“I….” The girl said weakly. “I….”
“Tell me!” Patrick snarled. “What made it alright in your tiny brain to come to my house and….”
The girl burst into tears.
“Don’t you dare cry!” Patrick yelled and by that time Gigi had fled the room. “You have no right….”
“Don’t yell at her!”
Patrick stared in shock at yet another girl who came into his field of vision. She had reddish hair and brown eyes and was also dressed in a silly costume. They almost looked as if they’d walked off a theater production of some Shakespeare play. The new girl glared at him and hugged the crying girl, trying to comfort her. “She’s sensitive don’t be screaming at her you leprechaun ogre!”
Patrick felt his eyebrows skid upwards so high his forehead hurt. “What?” he hollered. “What are you doing here? How did you get in here?”
“We’re only trying to help,” a third voice said.
Patrick felt rather helpless now as he saw a third girl join the other two. She had dark hair and greenish eyes and was also in a voluminous, colorful dress. He had to admit they were very attractive young women but what were they doing here?
“Who are you?” Patrick said in a low, menacing voice, trying to calm down.
“We were bringing you a gift,” the third girl said and she stood in front of the other two, obviously the more dominant one. “You can have the graciousness to appreciate it, seeing as you’re wearing it, sir!”
Patrick put a hand over one of the mittens; of course, they had brought them into the bedroom. It all became clear to him at that moment and he felt his anger beginning to dissipate rapidly. Obviously these girls were some sort of fan club, he had received gifts before from complete strangers, and these girls had just taken it too far.
“You know what happened here yesterday?” Patrick said, trying to sound gentle.
“Yes,” the green eyed girl said, her chin was tilted out.
“Then you should realize,” he said, “That it is in poor taste to trespass into my home unlawfully and disrupt my peace of mind.”
“We apologize, your highness, I mean sir,” the sniffling girl said, “We were only trying to do a nice thing for you. Those mittens were made special for you!”
Patrick sighed. Calling the police on these girls would be like setting a firing squad to a flower bed. “If you leave now,” he said, “And never come back, I will forget this incident, yes?”
“You’re not even going to thank Rebecca!” the angry girl snapped. “After all she went through to….”
The green eyed girl elbowed the angry girl and snapped, “Let’s just get out of here, we’ve done our job!”
Patrick lifted an eyebrow and he was beginning to feel amused. “Your job?” he asked. “Someone sent you?”
The girl shrugged. “Erm… Oh lords would you lookit that!” She pointed and Patrick could not believe he had the gullibility to look behind him. When he turned around, the girls were gone, all three of them. Patrick looked around for them, and he could find no more evidence of them. He checked the doors which were locked and the windows. Patrick thought about calling the police and he knew what it would sound like as he described to them three girls who looked like creatures off the cover of a romance novel. He decided against it, but how could they break in and disappear?
Patrick laughed to himself. “It’s finally happened, Casseau,” he said. “You’ve gone insane.” And to celebrate his newfound insanity, Patrick did the only thing he could do. He drank a cold beer, held onto his mittens and went back to bed.
“Oooo pretty, pretty can I have them?”
Patrick opened his eyes and grinned into his daughter’s face. Jana was grinning back, her eyes squinted and she had one of the mittens in her hand and she was pressing it to her cheek.
“They’re my mittens,” Patrick said simply.
Jana’s eyes widened. “Are they lucky?” she asked.
Patrick frowned. He hadn’t considered that. “I hope so,” he said.
“Heeeee!” Jana grinned. “They’re your lucky smittens.”
Patrick sat up and hugged her close, and he felt tears in his eyes with the knowledge that she could have been gone forever, or horribly damaged.
Patrick heard the sounds of children laughing as he came down the stairs, dressed and relaxed. He had forced himself to leave the mittens on the bed. He recognized the baby squeals, that were Kamryn and Chase, they were being chased by Freddy through the hallways. Patrick was met by Michele, and her smile cheered his heart.
“Patrick!” Michele said, “You got a hair cut!” She pressed her hand over her breast. The gesture annoyed him.
“Eh?” he said.
Michele laughed. “Debbie come look at Patrick he’s a new man!”
Debbie
appeared, smiling with a large mouth and eyes, looking cool and pretty. “Wow!”
she said, her
Patrick frowned. “Oh be quiet,” he snipped.
Debbie and Michele both laughed and Patrick passed them by as he went to the kitchen. He peered into the fridge and saw that there was no more cold beer. He turned around in annoyance and then he saw little Mitchell Sakic, sitting at the table. Patrick smiled. “Hey buddy,” he said.
“Hey,” Mitchell said as he lifted a sugar pie and took a bite.
“What ya eating there?” he asked.
“Sugar pie,” Mitchell said in a casual voice. He lifted up his sippy cup and held it to Patrick. “I don’t like it.”
Patrick grinned and took it. He took a swig from it. Fruity and thin, almost like powerade but it tasted better. “Mmm,” he said emphasizing his acceptance of the drink. Mitchell giggled. “What is it?” Patrick asked him.
“It’s pedialyte,” Mitchell said. “You can have the rest if I can have some milk.”
Patrick laughed and went to the fridge. “It’s a deal,” he said. “One milk just for you.”
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