8. The Things You Don't Know...

I don't know Spanish. I don't speak Spanish. I don't trust Google Translate, but hey, we do what we have to. Any Spanish in this update is not important so, don't worry if you don't understand it or if it doesn't make sense... I promise it's just filler lol.


Even though Emily had managed to put the crib together with expert hands, it hadn’t seen much use in the past three nights. Instead of sleeping lots and spending enough time getting rest, Cosmo preferred to keep Brooks awake. Constantly.

He tired not to let it bother him or make him cranky, after all, isn’t this what all parents went through? Of course a lot of parents didn’t spend their free time getting slammed around a rink by other grown men, only to come home and survive on two hours of sleep a night.
That was probably why it was no surprise, that when Emily brought up the idea of a ‘nanny’, Brooks was quick to agree.

And so now he waited in the living room, stretched out on the couch with Cosmo sitting quietly on his chest, as Mike squatted in front of the TV. “Do you think these baby Einstein movies work?” He asked as he held a DVD up in his hands, glancing over his shoulder and directing the question at Brooks.

“No” He replied simply as he reached out with a hand, steadying Cosmo and trying to prevent her from falling off of him.

Mike jumped up and turned around, the case still in his hand. “What?! Why not?! Why are you so cynical about everything? I saw on Oprah the other day that these were suppose to be really good for baby development like… make them smarter and all that junk.”

Brooks sighed and rolled his eyes, causing Cosmo to giggle as he grabbed her under the arms and hoisted it into the air. “Look Mike, Einstein didn’t have a DVD. He had a yoyo and dirt… you either have a genius or you don’t…” He explained simply, watching Cosmo’s face carefully as he spun her around, making sure that there was no fear, before he added, “…and judging by the fact that she laughs at your jokes. We don’t.”

“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with my Jokes!” Mike groaned as he headed into the kitchen for his weekly cleaning ritual.
The door clicked, but Brooks didn’t bother to get up; he already knew who it was, or at least he had a suspicion. His belief was confirmed when Mike called, “Hey Emily.”
The mere mention of her name causing Cosmo to squeal in delight as she flailed her arms around.

“Em-me! Em-me!” She cried, steadying herself enough that she could reach in the general direction Emily was coming in.
Brooks held her up higher, allowing Emily to take her out of his arms and cuddle her.

“Hi pretty girl! Are you gonna come have fun with me today?” She cooed as she rested Cosmo on her hip, as she headed into the kitchen to see what Mike was doing.

She watched him for a minute as he held a garbage bag in one hand, his other hand, busy rooting through the fridge.
Every few minutes he’d pull something out and discard it, seemingly with no rhyme or reason. “Umm, Mike-” Emily began to ask but Brooks cut in.

“Don’t ask him.”

She glanced at Brooks before turning around to look at Mike again. His next item was some red jell-o. “Mike, what are you doing?” She blurted before Brooks could stop her, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“I’m cleaning out the fridge.” He explained matter-of-factly, not bothering to turn form his duties to answer her.

Sighing, Emily pressed on. “Yes, I see that but, why? All that stuff is still good to eat, why are you throwing it out?”
Mike pulled out a few more things before he tied the bag shut and stepped back, pulling the fridge door open so Emily could see for herself. “So wait, you-”

“If it’s not green, it doesn’t stay in the fridge.” He grinned in response, and sure enough, the entire contents of the fridge were now green. Well, everything accept for a few jars of baby food at the bottom; at least Mike had the common sense to not throw those out.
Emily didn’t bother to say anything, as Mike looked at her expectantly. She glanced at Brooks and he only shrugged in a ‘told you so’ manner, before heading back into the living room.

She followed after him and didn’t bother to question Mike any further. Instead she sat down on the couch beside Brooks, positioning Cosmo on the cushion between them.
Nobody said anything as they flicked through the channels, coming to stop on ‘In the Night Garden’, which held Cosmo’s attention enough that Emily felt comfortable starting a conversation with him.
“Heard any news on when your mom’s coming to town?”

“Nope, not yet anyway…” Brooks answered honestly, already having had this conversation with her the day before. In fact, he hadn’t even talked to his mom since their brief conversation where he informed her what was going on.

Emily nodded, not bothering to press the issue, she wasn’t sure what his relationship was like with his mother and she didn’t want to get him agitated before the day he had lined up. Emily was going to be watching Cosmo for him, which was why she had gone over so early, so that he and Mike could interview a few people for the position of ’Nanny’.
Part of Emily wanted to stay for the process, figuring that neither of them would know what to look for in a potential care-giver; but she bit her tongue and decided it was best not to stick her noise where it most likely, didn’t belong.

She left a few minutes later, with Cosmo in tow, their destination the park and the nearby Baskin Robins.



“Hi! I’m Aaron, it’s so good to finally meet you in person!” The tall, tan twenty-something exclaimed excitedly as Brooks opened the door for him and ushered him inside.
He stood awkwardly in the living room; looking more like an Abercrombie model than an Au Pair. His hair was styled in a dirty blond fohawk, and he was sporting a tight white shirt and black vest, complimenting the tight black jeans he was wearing.

Brooks first impression was that he was probably gay. Not because he dressed nice or because he seemed to have some kind of feminine swagger, but because he kept giving Brooks ’that’ smile. The kind he always got from girls when they were trying to seduce him with their eyes.
Apparently Mike noticed too, causing him to cross his arms over his chest as he pouted; apparently unhappy in Aaron’s sudden interest in Brooks. “So… why are you qualified?” Mike snapped, in a tone that lead Brooks to believe no matter what the answer, Mike had already made up his mind as to whether or not they should hire this guy. That answer was most likely no.

“Oh well, I was an Au Pair in New York for three years, before I moved to become a personal assistant for Michael Grey, a very successful law attorney in New York City.” He explained, directing his answer at Brooks, and only Brooks. “I looked after three children, two girls and a boy, and we got along fantastically. I love kids, so I don’t have a problem spending lots of time with them… and my god you have fantastic pecks.” Aaron side as his eyes lingered on Brooks’ well built chest.

“Umm… thanks…?” Brooks said, his eyes darting between the gawking Aaron and the scowling Mike; his gratitude coming out more as a question than a legitimate thanks.

“Brooks. Kitchen. Now.” Mike grunted, turning on his feet and stomping off into the kitchen.

Brooks gave Aaron one last awkward smile before he moved around him, leaving a wide berth, and followed Mike into the kitchen. “What?” Brooks asked in an annoyed whisper.

“We’re not hiring him.” Mike said quickly, his whisper answering back with just as much annoyance. “Not.”

Brooks shrugged and glanced into the living room where Aaron was texting frantically on his phone. “I don’t know… he seems nice enough, and he looked after three kids, for three years…”

“You just want to hire him because he thinks you’re hot!”

“Oh, please!”

“Nice pecks? Are you kidding me?” Mike snorted, rolling his eyes as Brooks tired not to take offence.

“Ok fine!” He snapped, finally, before heading back into the living room. “Umm… alright well, it was nice meeting you… I guess we’ll check some references and then get back to you and… ah… let you know… and stuff.”

Aaron nodded, still ridiculously excited as he waved goodbye to Mike and Brooks, telling them, again, how good it was to meet him and offering his number to Brooks… again. “Just to make sure you have it!” Aaron explained as he jotted his cellphone number down on Brooks’ forearm.

Brooks watched him jog down the stairs, his forearm still extended as he stared down at it incredulity. He was about to go back inside the apartment when he saw an older lady coming up the stairs. “Hi! Are you Rosie?” He asked loudly, trying to catch her attention as she slowly climbed her way up the stairs.

“Oh, si, si… Mi nombre es Rosie. La agencia me envió para una entrevista de trabajo…” She said in a grandmother-ish voice.

Brooks stared at her, unsure of what to say. “Ummm… what?” He asked finally as she reached the landing and came to a stop in front of her. She was naturally dark and was only as tall as his chest. “Do you speak English?”

“Oh, si, si…” She said calmly, nodding her head and heading past him into the apartment. “Donde esta el bebe?”

“What the fuck is she saying?” Mike called out from the kitchen, before he appeared a few seconds later.

“Mike! Don’t curse in front of her!” Brooks said sharply, exasperated as he followed the small woman around his apartment.

“She doesn’t know what I’m saying… here let me try this… DO. YOU-O. SPEAK-O. EL ENGLISH-O?” Mike yelled as he came into the living room towards Roise.
She seemed startled, jumping slightly before turning around to smile at Mike. She leaned forward and grabbed his hand, patting him on it before turning back around and starting to pick up the random dishes on the coffee table.

Mike shrugged and watched her carry them into the kitchen before he flopped down on the couch. “Mike, we have to do something!” Brooks groaned as he glanced over his shoulder at the woman. “We can’t hire her and we can’t just let her clean our house when we- hey… she opened the dishwasher!” He said, watching as she opened the door and began to put the dishes in.
Brooks looked back at Mike who was already watching TV, and shrugged at no one in particular before dropping down onto the couch beside him.

He wasn’t sure how much time had actually passed, before he heard the door open and Emily came through with Cosmo. “Dada! Boots!” She squealed as Emily let her down on the floor, and there she hovered on her hands and knees; unable to go anywhere, but strong enough to hold herself up now.

“Hey princess!” Mike called over his shoulder as he threw a wink at her. Brooks stood up and moved towards them, suddenly feeling very awkward about seeing Emily.
It wasn’t like it was a surprise, or that he hadn’t already seen her that day, but he found it had been happening more and more. He could only assume that it had to do with the major change in the dynamics of their relationship.
Sure she was still pretty lame, and annoying at times. Not to mention demanding and degrading when she really got going… but she had also proved to be a valuable ally in the whole ’baby’ thing.

“Hey guys… how did the interviews go?” Emily asked, slightly breathlessly as she dropped Cosmo’s bag onto the ground beside her. “Still two left? Or did you find someone this morning already?”

Brooks groaned inwardly as he remembered that they still had two people coming to the apartment sometime in the evening, but he didn’t answer her; at that moment Rosie was coming back into the room, a hamper of laundry under her arm. “Oh! Ella es Hermosa!” She exclaimed as she caught sight of Cosmo.

“Si! Ella lo consiguio de su padre.” Emily answered back, her voice sure and her accent strong as she switched flawlessly into Spanish.

Brooks and Mike were more surprised than Rosie though, merely watching the two continue to talk with words neither of the boys understood.
They could only assume that Emily was thanking her for her time and explaining to her that there were still more interviews they had to do, cause shortly after Rosie was waving goodbye and smiling at them as she headed down the stairs.

“What was- how do-?” Brooks began but Mike jumped over the couch and into the conversation that was now taking place in the kitchen.

“You speak Spanish?!”

Emily reached down to pick up Cosmo, strapping her into her highchair and heading towards the fridge before she responded. “Yes, I took it in high school. Didn’t you guys have to take a language?”

“No, I played hockey.” Mike said, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
Emily rolled her eyes and pulled out a glass jar of massed carrots. “And you can’t just do that!” He continued as she moved back towards him, opening the jar and taking a seat in front of Cosmo.

“I can’t do what?”

“Go around like that, all willy nilly… speakin Spanish all over the place!” He yelled, throwing his hands out to the side.
Emily snorted, snapping back at him with some smart-ass remark, but Brooks wasn’t paying attention anymore.

He was leaning against one of the cupboards, watching them bicker; wondering what else he didn’t know about her.

7. What?

It was late and Brooks was more thankful then ever that he had Emily with him at Target. She’d come over a few minutes after he’d left her apartment, just as she had promised.
They were now walking side by side, down the aisle, trying to gather everything that she’d put on the list he held in his hand. “Ok so… now we just need to grab the crib, and call Mike.” Brooks said absently as he scanned the list one more time.

“Why are you calling Mike?”

Brooks shrugged as he leaned over to peer into the cart; checking to make sure Cosmo was still happy. “This stuff is bigger than I thought, I’m gonna need Mike to meet us here with his truck…” He explained as he pulled out his cell phone and hitting the ’2’ - it was the only speed dial he had in his phone. “Hey man, where are you at?” Brooks chirped into his phone as he continued to move down the aisle with Emily.

“Ah… not a whole lot, just got Denise on the other line but, that’s not really important…”

Rolling his eyes, Brooks continued on with the reason that he called in the first place. “How close are you to Potomac… and are you driving the Lambo?”

“Not too far, just left Theo’s house… why?”

“Cause if you have the truck, can you meet us at Target? I bought too much shit and I don’t think I’ll have room for it.” He explained as Emily stopped her cart in front of a row of cribs.

“We as in… you and Como?” Mike pressed and Brooks could hear the intrigue in his voice.

“Yah, and Emily.” He added, trying to sound as nonchalant about the whole thing as possible. He didn’t want Mike making a big deal about it when he got there, and he definitely didn’t want Emily to think that he had some kind of ’thing’ for her, that would just be awkward.
Sure, he appreciated her help and was glad that there was a girl living nearby who was willing to help out but, there was no way that was ever going to happen.
No way. No how.


“What are you going to do for tonight?” Emily asked Brooks as they waited inside the doors for Mike to appear. Brooks shrugged, giving her an appraising look to explain that he didn’t understand what she meant. “I just mean, some cribs are pretty hard to put together so… where is she going to sleep?”

“In the car seat until later… the crib’s got like three pieces, it’s not going to be too hard.” He answered dismissively as his eyes focused in on Mike’s truck, rounding the last turn towards them.
Brooks put a hand above his head and waved in Mike’s direction, grinning as his room-mate pulled up to the curve in front of them.

Hopping out, Mike greeted Brooks with their traditional fist-bump-explosion ritual, that they’d been using since the day they met. Emily sighed softly as she adjusted the baby carrier in her arms and waited for the boys to load up the truck.

When it was done, Mike turned around and reached out for Cosmo. “Well, I guess she’ll just come with me if you guys want to…” He wagged his eyebrows and Brooks could feel Emily stiffen beside him as colour spread through his cheeks.

“No. You can take Emily.” Brooks replied hastily as he ripped the car carrier out of her hands and turned his back on them; leaving them both standing on the curb as he headed back to his own car.



“So what the fuck was that about?” Mike asked quietly as he and Brooks sat on the living room floor, trying to assemble the legs onto the base of the circular crib.

Shrugging, Brooks kept right on screwing, never taking his eyes away from his project. “What was what about? It was no big deal.” He said quickly before setting down the tool and finally glancing at Mike.
His friend moved to say something, but Brooks cut him off. “I mean it’s fucking Target. It’s not like we were… whatever… whatever.” Shaking his head Brooks pushed the crib away from him.
“And this is impossible… it’s a god-damn crib, I should be able to snap this shit on and put her in it. Who the fuck designs these anyway?”

Mike tried not to laugh as Brooks continued to huff uncomfortably, mumbling to himself.
He wanted to say something else, but he felt his phone vibrate and he pulled it out, examining his new message from Denise. She was wondering what the plan was for when she got home on the weekend.
Grinning to himself Mike text’d her back, quickly stowing his phone away again.

Brooks got up and yawned, stretching his arms above his head and letting out a low grunt. It was Brooks’ turn to search for his cellphone then, as it went off somewhere in the kitchen.
He dragged his feet along the floor as he went, too tried to care that he looked like a zombie.

He was exhausted and stressed and worried and everything else that went along with being a new parent, a single parent and an unprepared parent. Finding his phone on the counter, he flipped it open and felt his brow crease in confusion, as a picture came into view.
Brooks only wondered for a minute, why someone would send him a picture-text of a snuggie, before he clicked down to the message. “U should were this w/ nothin else.”
He couldn’t help it, when he saw who the message was from.

“Mike? What the fuck is wrong with you?!” He yelled over his shoulder as he clicked back to the picture of the pink snuggie. “Number one, a snuggie? And number two, you spelt ‘wear’ wrong you retard!”

“Wha- oh. That wasn’t… ah… that’s not for you, that was for Denise.”

Snorting Brooks began to laugh. “It’s ok Mike, I always knew you had a thing for me.” He chortled as he set his cell phone back down and headed back into the living room towards Mike.

“It’s true Brooks,” Mike laughed, continuing on with the joke as he got onto his feet. “It’s always been you… I can’t hide my love any longer!” He said louder as he dramatically threw his arms to the side.

An awkward cough from behind Brooks, sent both boys spinning around. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Emily asked cautiously as she pushed the door open a bit further, her eyes glancing back and forth between both boys.

“What? No… that was just-” Brooks began, but he was cut off by Mike.

“We were just screwing around.” Mike chimed in, before backtracking quickly when he realized the innuendo. “Not screwing… I meant that we were just fuckin aro-”

“-anyway Emily.” Brooks reiterated loudly. “Is there something you were looking for?” He asked as he moved away from Mike, his cheeks burning red.

Emily allowed Brooks to reach out and pull the door open completely, before motioning for her to move into the apartment; which she did, hesitantly. “I was just coming in to see if you guys needed any help with the crib or with Cosmo… at all. I mean it’s just- ok look I’ll be blunt here.” She said quickly, waving her hand as if trying to ward away a frightening image.
Brooks tried to hide his shudder as he wondered what was coming next; for as long as he’d lived by Emily, he had never taken her to be anything but frank. “I don’t trust you with her. Alone anyway. I know that you mean well and you both have the best intentions, but you’re both kind of stupid and… I just couldn’t sleep.” She finished, huffing proudly as she ended her opinion sharply.

At first Brooks wanted to argue with her, but he decided against it, figuring it would be best for Cosmo and himself if he just spoke the truth. “We can’t get the crib together and… I keep thinking like I forgot something, but I don’t know what.” He shrugged, glancing back at Mike, who nodded absently at the comment.

“Well…” She said slowly as she walked into the room and took a seat on the couch, in between the unassembled crib and Cosmo, sleeping lightly in her car seat. “I can help with the crib and… she’s in her jammies at least.” Emily noted, before her nose crinkled and she leaned forward. “Umm… who changed her diaper?”

“What?” Came the reply as Brooks and Mike looked at each other, neither of them sure what else to say. Of course they had changed her, but it was more because she'd spilt spaghetti all down here front then an actual conscious decision to get her ready for bed.
And there definitely had been no diaper change. Not even close.

Sighing Emily shook her head, and Brooks thought that a verbal attack was eminent, but instead he saw a small smile spread across her face as she bent low to gather Cosmo in her arms. "Alright boys, follow me." She said as she headed down the hallway, peering into each open door until she saw the room that held Cosmo's bag. "Ok so... now I'm gonna show you how to change a diaper."

She laid Cosmo down on the bed and gently kissed her forehead as the sleeping child began to wake up; her large green eyes finding Brooks immediately.
She yawned and reached up, her tiny fists opening and closing in an attempt to get picked up again.

Normally Brooks would go to her, even now as he watched her, watching him, he felt an unnatural need to come to her rescue - even though there was nothing to be rescued from... but he didn't. He was too afraid of what was going to happen once Emily removed the bulking pamper that she was now tugging at.

"Wait, does it have to be on my bed?" Brooks said suddenly as Emily finally pulled off the diaper and tossed it backwards. It his Mike in the chest and he caught it on reflex, before quickly dropping it onto the ground with a yelp.

"Ugh! It touched me!"

"Grow up you guys, it's baby pee... deal with it." Emily chided, but even from the side Brooks could see the smile on her face.
"So... someone needs to get me another diaper, wipes, and some baby powder from the bag."

When no one answered she glanced over her shoulder at Brooks, who was staring at Mike. "No way man... this is all you... your baby... you touch the pee!" Mike said, raising his hands in front of him, palms out.

Sighing, Brooks went to the bag and began fishing through it with his hand. He found the box of wipes first and chucked them over to Emily who was now pretending to eat Cosmo's feet; an act that was sending the little girl into hysterical laughter.
After finding another diaper and the bottle of baby powder, he walked towards her slowly, worry evident on his face. "Brooks, it's not going to hurt you... think about it, you've probably touched worse."
Defeated, he shrugged, waiting to be told what to do. "Alright, tell you what... how about I do this one, and you just watch for now, kay?"

"You're the boss." He grinned, not bothering to conceal his relief as he watched Emily's hands moved around expertly; until Cosmo was fully dressed and snuggled back in her arms.

"Now, how about that crib?"



Brooks waved goodbye to Emily from the doorway and watch her move down the hallway until she disappeared through her own door; but not before she gave him a small, over the shoulder smile.
When he closed the door and returned to the living room, Mike was eyeing him suspiciously, having just returned from tucking Cosmo into her newly built crib. “What?” Brooks asked, feeling his exhaustion kicking in as he flopped down onto the couch beside Mike.

“What?” Mike asked back, feigning ignorance as he shrugged his shoulders.

“What?”

“What?”

“Ugh, knock it off Mike! You know ‘what’, why are you looking at me like that?”

Mike pushed himself off the couch, a mischievous grin playing on his lips as he headed down the hallway. “Nothin man… don’t worry about it.”

“What, Mike?” Brooks hollered after him one last time before he disappeared around the corner.
Part of him wanted to follow Mike, and demand to know what his annoying little, ‘know-it-all’ grin was about; but he was jut too tired.
Instead he turned off the TV and kicked up his feet, throwing his arm over his eyes as he allowed sleep to take him.

Until twenty minutes later, when Cosmo woke up.

Caught Up

Ughhh so far behind with updates! I have the next one almost done... but it probably won't be up till Monday night =( sorry guys! Still gonna try to have one up every night but I can't see there being much work done tomorrow. More Monday, promise =)

6. Did You Lose Weight?

Cosmo was asleep by the time Brooks got home. It wasn’t even late but, he’d imagined she’d had a long day…
What with switching homes, spending the afternoon with Sandra and then the forty-five minutes of pure hell it took for Brooks to get her car seat into the car.

He watched her now, as she let out a soft snore, her round cheeks placed perfectly on her formed jaw line; counterbalanced by the tiny little ’o’ her mouth was forming while she slept.
Her eyes fluttered softly as she dreamed on, nestled safely and securely in Brooks’ large arms.

It was the weirdest juxtaposition he’d ever been in. At times he felt like this was all crazy, there wasn’t even a chance that he could look after a child, not at all. It was illogical and stupid for him to think that he should be even attempting this… he wasn’t ’father’ material. Hell, he wasn’t even boyfriend material!
He hadn’t had a girlfriend since junior high, and that relationship was nothing more then phone calls and a few awkward dates to the movie theatre.
No, he was definitely not a relationship person, not with women anyway. And here she was, this tiny little girl that needed someone to be there for her, someone who could be a constant place of support, not someone who was gone all the time and had no idea how to raise a child.

He moved towards the couch, sitting down gently and allowing himself to exhale loudly as he shut his eyes. The other half of his mind began to take over as the room around him disappeared.
It was the other half of his mind that was throwing him off kilter; the half that felt relaxed, when he should be on edge.
He’d just found out that morning that not only was he a father, but that he was expected to raise his daughter alone; that would be enough to set anyone off. Yet when he held her like this, he felt clam, like it was right thing to do, the only thing he could do.

He held her tiny body and just knew that she was his; just this moment was enough to tell him it was true. The scariest part was, he was ok with it.

It wasn’t as if Brooks had spent a long time thinking about a future family, in fact, he had never really spent any time thinking about it at all. He had assumed that at some point he’d meet someone and get married, maybe have kids, but it was never something he looked forward to; more of a rite of passage, something he was expected to do.
His mother would never forgive him if he didn’t give her grandkids.

That thought should have comforted him, but it didn’t. His mother’s incessant request for grandkids was always followed first and foremost with the understanding that he would be married by that time. He wondered now what she was going to say when he called her.

Would she be too excited with the idea of a granddaughter to care that his relationship had been founded in a bar and survived only as long as his drunken stamina? Probably not, but no amount of sulking was going to change her reaction.

Laying the sleeping Cosmo down on the black leather cushions, Brooks got up softly and crossed the room. He lifted the cordless phone off it’s charger and dialled in the long distance number to his mother’s home in Canada.
That was one thing he’d probably never get use to - even though he’d been living in the states for a while - a long distance phone call home.

“Hey mom…” Brooks said into the receiver as the familiar sound of his mothers voice flooded the line.

“Brooksie!” She squealed in her trademark Fran Drescher tone. “Oh my god! I wasn’t expecting a call from you… is everything ok?”

Sighing deeply, Brooks pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “There’s nothing… wrong…” He said finally after a long pause. “I just, umm… what would you say if I told you that you were a grandmother?”

“Oh Brooksie! What? When is this happening?! Oy vey! I didn’t even know that you were seeing someone!
Is she nice? She’s Jewish isn’t she?”

“No mom… it’s not exactly a ’when’ it’s happening… it’s more of an ’already did’ sort of thing. And, I don’t think she was Jewish.” Brooks grumbled, wondering how all of this was going to go over.

“Already did? As in… she had the baby?” She asked, slowly, too slowly. He could just picture her now, dropping into a kitchen chair and pouring herself another glass of cooking sherry.
This was not going to be good.

“Ok mom listen… before you start asking more questions, just let me explain.” Taking a deep breath, Brooks tilted his head back and readied himself to expel every piece of information he knew, as fast as possible.
“I met a girl at a bar a long time ago and I guess, after our meeting, she was pregnant. She never told me and I don’t really know anything about her other then she was killed a little while ago in a car crash.
The child protection people just showed up here this morning and dropped this little girl off and… and I need your help…I don’t know what to do.”

There was no answer for a long time, to the point that Brooks pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the tiny screen, trying to see whether or not it was still working. It was.
When his mother finally answered, it was without her usual, excited, tone. “Oy vey! I mean, I can’t believe that you… or that this… a baby!? You said a little girl? Is she cute, does she look like you? What’s her name? How old is she? Where was she born?”

“Umm…” Brooks was unable to find the right words. He hadn’t been sure what to expect but he was thinking there’d be more time spent on the whole ’random girl’ aspect of the situation.
Now she was asking him questions, the most obvious of questions… but he had no answers.
Trying to stall, he murmured some unintelligible words into the phone as he frantically searched the counter for the information left by the child protective services.

Finally finding the birth certificate, Brooks held it up and tried to make it sound like he wasn’t reading off a sheet of paper. “Well… her name is Cosmo Starlight Laich… and she was born February 22nd of 2009. She was born in Baltimore and her mother’s name was Anna-Beth.” He paused, glancing over into the living room where Cosmo was still snoring softly. “And she does look like me… only… she’s perfect. She’s beautiful.” He said quietly, smiling in spite of himself.

“Oh… I don’t know… this is all so much to take in…” She sighed, and Brooks could easily picture the look on her face as she puckered her lips and thought the situation over. When she did that it reminded him too much of Emily. "Listen Brookise... I'm gonna call Janet and then we'll head down for a week... help you boys out... it's gonna be fine. Oh, I can't wait to tell your father!" She yelled as she began to plan out the week in her head; this was worse then Brooks expected. It was one thing for her to come down but the last thing he wanted was for her to bring Mike's mom - Janet - along too.

Inhaling deeply Brooks had a stroke of genius. Emily. She was the answer to everything. His mom began to talk again, trying to help figure things out, but he was almost positive he’d just done that. “Listen mom, I have to jet… I’ll talk to you in a bit after you figure your trip out… bye!” He half-shouted, slamming the phone back down and running towards the door. He threw it open and ran into the hallway, getting halfway down the hall before he remembered that Cosmo was sleeping on the couch.
The high couch that had no protection around it. “Oh shit!” He muttered, as he headed back into his apartment to retrieve his daughter off the couch.

With Cosmo in tow he headed back towards Emily, reaching out to knock on the door with a steady hand. He didn’t feel nervous this time.
Even though he was asking her for a favour, he felt safe; she couldn’t yell at him if he was holding a baby, right?

He almost backed off when she opened the door and he saw the look on her face though.
She looked annoyed and tired. Her hair was pulled back into the normal tight bun that he was accustomed to seeing, and she was wearing a pair of slacks and a grey sweater; somewhat casual compared to her normal, pulled together self.
The only thing that kept Brooks standing in front of her dagger-gaze, was how quickly her face softened when she saw the little girl in his arms. “She‘s gorgeous!” She cooed, reaching out and gently taking Cosmo’s hand in hers.
She smiled lovingly at the little girl until her eyes moved back up to Brooks.
“I didn’t take you as the babysitting type. Who is she? A niece?”

Swallowing audibly, Brooks shook his head. “She’s mine.” To answer the questioning glance, he continued. “I just found out today… a while a go I took a girl home from the bar-”

“-the blond girl, yah.” She said, surprising Brooks with her recollection of the night.
Feeling the change in atmosphere as Brooks shifted his weight, questioningly. “I mean, it’s just not that often that you took someone home with you… actually, she’s the only one I remember.”

Brooks nodded, he wasn’t disagreeing with her, she was right, but he was just surprised that she’d played attention that closely; she clearly had no life. “Anyway…” He continued, filling in the empty, awkward, silence. “I just came over cause… I… did you lose weight?”

Pause. “What?”

“You look, nice.” Brooks said slowly. His mother had always told him that if he wanted to give a girl a compliment on her appearance, he should always be specific, that way they knew you were serious; but Brooks just couldn’t find anything to support his statement. “Your hoodie brings out your eyes…” He said finally, when he was unable to find anything else.

“Umm… my eyes are blue, and my hoodie is grey…” Emily said, all the kindness wiped off her face.

Sighing Brooks dropped the ’good neighbour’ approach. “Ok look… I just really need your help. Please.”
He waited, as patiently as he could before clearing his throat, trying to prompt an answer.

“Fine. What do you want?” Brooks stared at her like she was crazy. He was standing in front of her holding a baby, clearly without any kind of idea as to what he was suppose to do.
Sighing, Emily finally understood. “I’ll be over in a minute.” She said, giving Cosmo one last glance before closing the door.

That didn’t exactly go as Brooks had planned it to, but it was close enough. He glanced down at Cosmo, surprised to find that she was awake and now struggling to sit up in his arms.
He leaned her forward, propelling her upwards until her tiny, chubby arms were around his neck and he had her firmly against his chest; his forearm acting as a seat for her.

He pushed the apartment door open and moved into the room, sitting Cosmo down on the couch and taking the seat next to her.
He turned on SportsCenter and started watching the analysis of the pre-season; their discussion trades, possible parings and anyone who happened to be out for an off-season injury.

He watched until the first commercial came on, before he glanced down at his daughter; who was snuggled in beside him, with her head titled all the way back so she could look at him. Her mouth was ajar and the image caused him to laugh.
The sound of his laughter, caused Cosmo to laugh, and soon they were both giggling together.

Realizing something, he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “I guess since you're mine, I’m allowed to do that… but I won’t… I mean… if you don’t want me to or something.
I don’t know how old kids are when they start hating their parents…”

For that, she had no answer, other than to stretch her arm up, extending a short finger as she pointed at him. “Dada.”

It was good enough for him.

5. … Oh Shit…

Ok some things needed to be added to this post... mainly some extras for your listening, viewing and reading pleasure.
I saw this on TV last night and a reader was kind enough to link it for everyone else to enjoy... I mean really... do you need more reason to love Brooks?

Also, I know we all love the Bromance and who doesn't want to watch a video about it? Oh and of course... the same place from Brook's POV

Lastly... I found this on google last night and the first thing that came into my head, was after the wedding when the bride and groom feed each other the cake lol.


And now onto the story...


“I can’t believe I have a baby…” Brooks sighed as he stood in front of the kitchen window, his daughter resting against his chest.

“I can’t believe she’s this cute!” Mike laughed, borderline giddiness as he stood beside Brooks, his finger tracing Cosmo’s cheek as she sucked her thumb.

Brooks wanted to stay in the wonderful blissful moment he was in, but he could feel reality beginning to cut in around his bubble world. “I can’t believe I allowed this to happen… what was I thinking?” He asked softly, more to himself than to Mike.

Not acknowledging the comment, Mike reached out for Cosmo, scooping the - almost - seven month old girl, out of his arms. “Awww who’s a pretty girl?”

“I can’t believe that… oh god, Mike.” Brooks groaned, leaning forward and bracing his hands on the counter.

Mike turned around and headed into the living room, “I think she kinda looks like me… I mean, I know she’s yours but… she definitely looks like me.” He mused as Cosmo giggled and reached up, grabbing onto his ear with a chubby fist.

Brooks followed after them, quietly keeping his distance as he spoke the words that he could feel himself choking on. “We can‘t keep her, Mike.”

“We have to keep her! She’s your daughter and I’m already attached! I’ll look after her if you don’t want to…” Mike shouted, startling both Brooks and Cosmo, as he turned on his room-mate, worry and stress etched on his face.

Brooks wanted to agree with him, find some way that this could work out… but it just wasn‘t possible. “Mike, she’s not a puppy! She’s a baby! We can’t look after a baby!”
When Mike didn’t say anything Brooks pressed on, taking advantage of his momentary silence. “Mike… look… I want to keep her, I do. Think about it though… what kind of father would I be? I can’t do this on my own-”

“-and you wouldn’t be alone. You have me.”

“That’s not what I meant Mike, I know that you’d be great with her… probably better than I’d be, but, who’s gonna look after her when we’re at practice? Or at a game? Or when we’re gone on a road trip?
There’s a reason most hockey wives don’t work… it’s because they’re like single mothers. They have to do everything on their own because we’re not around for them.
Who’s gonna look after her?”

Mike paused, blinking rapidly to keep his tears from spilling over. “Please Brooks… we’ll figure something out. She needs you.”
They both sat down on the couch, Mike moving Cosmo in between them; the body weight of the two boys causing her part of the couch to pop up.

“There’s a family out there that’d be better than us. A family that could give her all the love and attention she deserves.”

“But you’re her daddy.”

Brooks sighed, not wanting to argue with Mike anymore. It wasn’t that he agreed with Mike’s assessment, he just didn’t want to try and find reasons why he shouldn’t keep her; it wasn’t something he actually wanted to. “Dada.”

Brooks felt his breath catch in his throat as he glanced quickly at Mike, wondering if it was possible that that had just happened. Mike was staring back at him, his mouth gaping, as together they looked down at Cosmo.
She was smiling up at him, two tiny teeth in a mouth full of gum. Her green eyes watched his reaction as she waited for him to pick her up, which he did, before turning back to Mike. He took a deep breath before he spoke, his voice deep with emotion. “I guess she’s gonna have to stay now.”


“I’m not sure what we’re gonna do! This was such a bad idea…” Brooks sighed as he juggled their sticks, his bag, and Cosmo’s baby carrier, down the long hallways of the Verizon Center.

“It’s fine, babies love hockey. She can sit in the penalty box and watch us!” Mike grinned over his shoulder. “Won’t that be fun Cosmo? You wanna see uncle Mike knock your daddy down?” He cooed.

He was a few paces ahead of Brooks, his bag slung over his back and Cosmo clutched securely in his arms.

“Yah Mike, let’s just put her down on ice level with flying pucks and large men slamming into each other.” Brooks snapped, rolling his eyes as they continued down the hall.

“Well that’s why I said the penalty box! It’s covered in glass, she’ll be fine.”

Brooks didn‘t bother to respond to that comment directly. “We need to find Sandra, quick.” He said, making a comment about their coach’s wife, knowing that she would most likely be hanging around the rink. “She should be able to watch her until practice is over.”

“Umm… she’s right there… SANDRA!” Mike screamed, his voice echoing down the hall as an attractive, older woman came into view.

“And who is this!” Sandra squealed as she moved towards them, her arms already out stretched as she reached Mike, expertly pulling Cosmo out of his arms.

“Sandra, this is my daughter… Cosmo.” Sandra raised her eyebrows to appraise Brooks as he spoke. “I just found out a few hours ago… and… well… her mom’s dead. I guess she’s gonna be staying with us until we figure something else out…”

“Could you watch her while we’re at practice?” Mike asked, quickly getting to the point of the matter.

Sandra looked surprised and confused, but she didn’t ask any questions about the parenting of Cosmo, she just nodded. “Of course I will… now, where’s her baby bag at?”

“Her… ah… what?” Brooks and Mike said together, both of them looking at each other, trying to figure out what she meant.

“Her diapers, her food, a change of clothing… toys?” Sandra asked, as she rocked Cosmo back and forth on her hip. “You don’t have anything?”
They both shook their heads, feeling like idiots as Brooks silently cursed himself for forgetting something so obvious. “Ok… well then Cosmo, looks like we’re gonna go shopping!”


“Who did you fuck, rainbow bright?!” Poti laughed as the boys filled off the ice after practice. “Like seriously, Cosmo? Who names a baby Cosmo?”

“The real question, is who wanted to have sex with Brooks? Well other than Greener, I mean…” Theodore laughed as he walked by, slapping Brooks on the back of the head.

“Could you guys just knock it off? This is fucking serious, ok?” Brooks grumbled as he took a swat at Jose.

“I’ll say! I could hardly make it around that last lap… fuck. I am kinda out of shape now…” Mike sighed as he dropped down onto the bench beside Brooks. “That was exhausting.” He continued to complain as he undressed, not getting any kind of response from Brooks.

“So, what are you planning on doing? I mean, October 1st is a couple days away we have a game against Boston… who are you gonna leave the kid with?” At the question Brooks looked at Boudreau who was coming through the door.

“No can-do. Sandra’s got some kinda of red-lady-hat-group thing… or whatever it is that she does.” He explained, still looking sour with the events of the day. He stared Brooks down like he had planned this, his eyes accusing him of trying to bring down the team.
It made no sense, but Boudreau was under the impression that the sun shone out of Ovechkin’s ass, and he was the standard they were all held to. Ovechkin didn’t have any kinds, so that clearly meant that kids were wrong.

“I’ll figure something out.” Brooks said quietly before anyone else could criticize him or his parenting. At those words Sandra pushed in through the door, shielding her eyes as she cleared her throat.

“You’re safe.” Greener laughed and she put her hand down, adjusting Cosmo in her arms.
The room fell silent as she walked straight towards Brooks, handing the little girl over to her father.

The silent reaction was almost like no one had believed him, or Mike. Like the presence of an actual, living, breathing, child made her more real than his announcement that he had a child in the first place. “Alright well, are we still going out for dinner or what?” Alex asked, annoyed that the attention wasn’t on him and his fantastic performance at practice.

“Yah let’s go…” Greener said cheerfully, reaching over to mess the hair on top of Cosmo’s head.

Brooks sighed, not really feeling like going anywhere but also not ready to head home. He nodded finally, waiting as Mike finished changing before handing Cosmo off to him.
Brooks got dressed before meeting up with everyone else in the hall. “Listen Mike…” He said quietly as he took Cosmo back and headed towards the player parking lot with everyone else. “I think maybe I should just take her home… I have some things I need to do and, well, I don’t really feel up to it.”

“Yah, ok man… do you want me to just go back with you?” He asked, trying to appear unconcerned.

Brooks shook his head and waved away Mike’s worry. “No, you go out and have a good time… I’ll see you when you get home.”
Instead of arguing, Mike nodded, leaning forward to give Cosmo a quick kiss on the forehead before walking away.
He didn’t want to admit it to anyone else, but there was only one thing that Brooks had to do, one thing that he needed to do in order to figure all his shit out…and he really didn’t need Mike there when he called his mom to tell her.

4. Mr. Laich?

Ok, before ppl start coming at me with the 'this is improbable' or 'that would never happen' comments... I know lol. Trust me, I know.
I wanted to re-work this into a reasonable transition, but with the flow of the story I have planned, it works much better this way so... just keep the fanFIC reading hats on and go with it lol

<3 you guys! And thanks for the feedback =)

Everything Changes - Staind

“Why is the sink so fucking full?” Brooks yelled as he walked past the kitchen to drop his hockey bag off at the front door.
They didn’t have their first real practice for another four hours, at 2pm, but Brooks was excited to get onto the ice.
He felt like he hadn’t been playing in forever. Although they had had camp and some scrimmages through the summer, now that it was September, he could taste the regular season.

Mike appeared a minute later in nothing but his boxers, hair askew. He was rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms, walking in a crooked line down the hallway. “Umm… I’ll do them now…” He grumbled, sounding slightly annoyed.

“Do them? Why don’t you just put them in the new washer?” Brooks laughed, folding his arms over his chest as Mike headed into the kitchen.

“I ummm… can’t open the dishwasher.” He mumbled as he began to fill the empty half of the sink with warm water.

“You can’t what?” Brooks asked, not sure if he actually heard Mike right. He headed into the kitchen and came to a stop beside him, leaning his side against the counter.

“Can’t what?” Mike replied, his voice higher than normal as he tried to dodge the question.

Brooks shrugged, his face breaking into a grin. “Did you say you couldn’t open the dishwasher?”

“Fuck you.” Was all Mike could reply before he plunged his hands into the warm water.
Brooks snorted and squatted down in front of the stainless steel appliance. His hands ran along the top, searching for some kind of button or latch. When he couldn’t find one - after the fifth slide across - he grabbed onto the top and began to pull. “I told you it was impossible to open.” Mike said finally, as he finished scrubbing off the last dish and put it into the rack to dry.

“This makes no sense… you have to be able to open it! Why would they sell you a dishwasher that doesn’t open?”

“It has to open…” Mike squatted down next to Brooks, feeling the same ledge Brooks had just been feeling.

They stayed like that until Brooks got fed up and walked away, leaving Mike to shrug and stand up, retreating back into the bathroom to put on some pants; dishes be damned.

When Mike appeared a while later, showered and changed, Brooks was sitting on the couch; his eyes glazed over. “I think we should just call ourselves undomesticated and move on.” He suggested, trying to lighten the dark mood that was hanging over his room-mate.

Normally Brooks would have fought with the washer until he was able to force it open with sheer willpower; today was different though.
He needed to get into his normal routine. They were going to be getting back together on the ice to start of the season and he needed to be focused, no distractions.
“We’ll figure it out later. Do you have everything you need to head to the rink?”

“Ummm… no. We don’t have to be there for a while so, I was gonna go back to sleep for an hour then play some Wii.” Mike said trying to sound like his plan had already been made and wasn’t about to change.

“Well, let’s go early. We can grab some food and head into the rink early to hit the gym.”

Mike let out a pitiful groan before flopping down onto couch with a sigh. “I don’t want to.” He moaned, rolling onto his back and throwing his arm over his face. “It’s too early, and too hot out and it’s not even the season yet!”

“Ok chubby cheeks… you can just meet me there.” Brooks grinned evilly before turning around and heading towards his room. If there was anything that was going to get Mike up and moving, it was a weight comment.
The season wasn’t even in swing yet and he’d already received some comments about that from the coaching staff, players, and Don Cherry.

Brooks had changed into a pair of dress pants, and was just buttoning up his collared shirt, when he heard Mike shuffle down the hallway. “Do you really think I’m fat?”

“No Mike, you’re not fat.” Brooks chuckled as he turned around to face his sulking friend. “Now get your shit ready.”


They were laughing as they headed down the stairs together, both of them grinning widely as they excused themselves past a man, and a woman in business attire. “Mr. Laich?” The man asked as he spun around on the stairs, after catching sight of Brooks’ last name on his hockey bag.

“Ah, yah…” Brooks said slowly, trying to avoid any awkward fan meetings. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate his fans, it was just that he didn’t like the idea of one of them hanging around his residents. What if his address ended up on some forum?

“Mr. Brooks and…?”

“Mr. Green.” Mike grinned, enjoying the sound of the title as it rolled off his tongue.

“Are you two together?” He asked, his tone clearly full of innuendo.

Brooks shook his head, trying to explain that they’re room-mates and nothing more, but Mike spoke up first, unaware of any kind of hidden insinuation. He slung his arm around Brooks' shoulders and grinned widely. “We sure are, going on two years now!”

“He doesn’t mean-” Brooks tried to explain, but the woman spoke up first.

“Then maybe you should both have a little chat with us.” She said, her voice stiff as she continued up the stairs, stopping right outside their door.
It was then that Brooks noticed she was holding a baby carrier.

Something about the idea made him uncomfortable, and he tried to find an exit. “I really don’t think that this is the time, we have to be somewhere…”

“No we don’t! We don’t have practice for three hours!” Mike shouted, happy that it looked like they wouldn’t be heading to the gym. Brooks groaned as Mike moved past him back up the stairs, and all he could do was shake his head and follow after him.
Mike pulled open the door, dropping his hockey bag in the hallway and allowing the strangers into their home.


The pair stood uncomfortably by the door as Mike dropped down onto the couch and Brooks moved past them.
“So… what’s this all about?” Brooks asked, finally realizing that these people were not fans at all; more like lawyers, by the looks of it.

“Well Mr. Laich, there’s been a situation and we need your immediate cooperation.” The man explained.

Brooks shook his head, stealing a look at Mike - who was currently zoned out, staring out the window - before asking for the names of the two people in his home.

“I’m Allan Rogerson and this is Stephanie Lawrence. We’re with Child Custody and Protective Services.” He explained, nodding towards the small baby carrier that was now on the floor at Anna’s feet.
When Brooks didn’t say anything, they continued. “We brought your daughter with us Mr. Laich, you’re her legal guardian now.”

Brooks shook his head, looking back and forth between the lawyers, waiting for someone to shout ’just kidding’ or ’fooled ya’! But it never came, finally he spoke up. “No.” Was all he could manage to say, followed by a string of insanities. “No, no… that’s not possible. You’re- I don’t have a… I don’t have a girlfriend, or an ex-girlfriend or a child or… you have the wrong person.”

“Brooks Laich, of Washington, DC.” Allan Rogerson said simply, reaching into his pocket to pull out a piece of paper.
He handed it to Brooks who took it and unfolded it; a birth certificate.

Name: Cosmo Starlight Laich
Date of Birth: February 22nd, 2009
Mother: Anna-Beth Michaels
Father: Brooks Laich
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

“This is a mistake. I’m sorry but you have the wrong Brooks Laich. There’s probably a lot of them… so you should go like… look for… more…” He said quietly, still totally floored by even being accused of having a child.

“No Mr. Laich, we’re sure.” Allan reached into his pocket again, this time pulling out a picture.
The girl was one that Brooks didn’t recognize, of course, he also couldn’t see her face. She had her arms wrapped around him and he was holding on to her, laughing as he struggled to stand up.

“How does this-?”

“That’s her. That’s Anna-Beth, the mother of your child.” Stephanie said, finally speaking up. Brooks could tell that she was angry, but he didn’t care.

“This proves nothing… that’s not… this isn’t proof. This is me drunk at a bar!” He shouted, causing Mike to jump beside him. “In case you didn’t notice, I happen to be a famous, rich, hockey player… I don’t even mean that in a conceited way! There’s a lot of women that would lie about something like this to get money. This girl…” He said, pointing frantically at the picture, “this girl, is no one. I don’t know her!”

As if being drawn out of some deep-seeded concentration, Mike reached out, pulling the picture from his numb fingers. Brooks let it go, not bother to follow it with his eyes, until Mike made a comment. “Hey! I remember this night!”

“How could you remember that night Mike, you don’t know what night it was…”

“Yah I do… first off, you never get drunk… and secondly, that’s the sketchy bar Ovechkin dragged us to.” Mike paused and gave the picture a bashful smile before leaning forward and handing it off to the lady. “She’s the only girl you ever brought home since we moved in together, I remember because she tried to sneak out in the morning but I was already up.”

“Mr. Laich…” Allan began before Brooks could say anything else. “I know that this is a lot to take in, but this little girl needs a home, and you are her father.”

“I want a test then.” He said quickly, quietly, as he tried to look anywhere but at the small girl Stephanie was now un-strapping from the carrier. “I need a paternity test.”

They both nodded, but Mike was the only one to speak. “She’s so little.” His voice was full of excitement and wonder as he held out his arms awkwardly. Stephanie looked at him and then down at the girl before handing her over to Mike who cradled her gently in his arms.

“Why is this? I mean, shouldn’t you just be asking for money? Where’s her mother?” Brooks said, suddenly angry at Mike’s inappropriate interest in the child.

“She’s dead.” Stephanie said, her voice agitated as she watched Mike struggle to contain the sleeping child in a comfortable position.

“How?” Mike asked as he finally situated himself properly. Brooks glanced over at him, his brow furrowing. He felt himself heating up at the question. It had been on the tip of his tongue and he felt an unusual amount of anger towards Mike.

“Car accident. She was driving in a down pour and lost control of her vehicle. She wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the car. She died on impact.”

“I-” Brooks started to say, but he stopped, putting his elbows up on his knees and dropping his face into his hands. He didn’t know what to say, what to think, or what to feel.
He wanted to tell them to leave, to get out. He didn’t believe that this was possible and he didn’t want to think about it any more.

Yes, ok. Vaguely, somewhere in his mind he remembered something about a girl sleeping with him, that one time that he was drunk… but what were the chances…?
His mom had always said to use protection, that all it took was one time…

He tried to remember the girl… her face, her scent, the sound of her voice or the feel of her skin, but he couldn’t.
All he could recall was the darkness of her room and a pair of startling green eyes.

The eyes. Suddenly everything came back to him in a flash and he could remember her face; her pale, smooth skin and those deep, intelligent, green eyes.
The same eyes that were looking at him now as the child awoke in Mike’s arms.

She looked at him and he couldn’t help but see her for who she was. Of course he knew who she was, how could he not?
The more he looked at her, the more he saw. She had tiny little lips and a small, perfectly formed nose that sat between her large, round eyes.
She was the perfect little girl, feminine and petite, but he could still see himself; in the light curly pieces of hair that sat on her head, and the shape of her jaw. She was part him, in the form of a tiny, perfect person.

She reached a perfect hand in his direction and he reached back on instinct, scooping her into his arms and gazing down at her. Her smile widened as her fist closed around his pointer finger, causing his breath to catch in his throat, as he held his daughter for the first time.
He wasn’t aware that the man and woman had left, or that they said they’d be back in a few days.

All he could fathom was the wetness in his eyes when he looked up to meet Mike’s gaze.
He could see it all in an instant. Her first steps, her first day of school, the first time she played hockey, the first time she drove…

It didn’t make sense, it was too much to take in. When he woke up this morning he was focused on hockey and trying to work the dishwasher, and now he had this; this perfect little life in his arms.
He thought that if he was lucky, one day he’d win a Stanley cup, maybe have a break-out year, but none of that seemed impressive anymore… not with her smiling face looking up at him.

“I-” He tried to say, but he couldn’t think of the words. He shook his head and tore his eyes away from her to look up at Mike once more. “I’m a daddy.”

3. Women

I Got A Girl - Tripping Daisy

Mike couldn’t hear himself think over the sound of the music, but that was alright with him; it also meant he couldn’t hear the sound of Denise yelling at him.
At the thought he cocked his head to the side and glanced at his girlfriend, only to find her mouth still moving in big, harsh movements. Yep, she was definitely still yelling...

Looking for an out, he glanced around the room, catching sight of an uncomfortable looking Brooks. He was standing by the newly built TV stand, sandwiched in between Bradley and Steckel.
With one last glance at the infuriated girl, Mike headed across the room, grabbing two beers off the table as he went.
He didn’t bother to look back as he became swallowed up by the group of people in his apartment, separating him even further from Denise.

“Hey man.” Mike called as he neared Brooks. Nobody heard him, so he continued closer, incidentally pushing Steckel out of the way until he was squished in between them.
Brooks wiggled his shoulders until he was free of his team-mates.

“Why the fuck is everyone getting so close to me?” He yelled, leaning into Mike and clearly directing the question at him.
Mike shrugged, nodding behind Brooks, as if the approaching Denise should be an answer to everything.

Brooks looked behind him and groaned, rolling his eyes as he turned back around and grabbed onto Mike.
He pulled Mike behind him down the hallway, pulling open his bedroom door and slamming it shut behind him; clicking the lock for good measure. “Why did you even invite her here?” Brooks sighed, his voice finally audible behind the closed door.

“I didn’t! She got home yesterday and flys out again tomorrow so… she decided to stop by.”

“Stop by so she could yell at you all night in front of your team-mates?” Brooks snapped, dropping down onto his bed beside Mike. “She’s such a bitch, seriously.”

“Fact.” Mike agreed, his eyes darting to the door-knob as someone gave it a hard twist.
They both sat in silence as the door-knob turned a few more times, before it stopped completely, and they glanced at each other. “How’d it go with Emily?” Mike asked before flopping backwards, while stretching his arms over his head.

Brooks shrugged and dropped down beside him. “I dunno. She didn’t really say anything…”

“Well that’s good, at least she didn’t scream at you… I hate when they scream…” He added, his voice trailing off as he let out a small shudder.

Rolling his eyes, Brooks turned over onto his side to glance at his room-mate. “Why don’t you just break up with her?” He asked, as quietly as he could, without being drowned out by the thumping. It wasn’t that he was afraid anyone would hear him, not at all. It had something to do with the fact that it was a sensitive subject, and they were in the dark; everyone knows that you’re suppose to whisper in the dark.

“I don’t know.” He said finally, his voice sad and resigned. “I just… it wasn’t always like this, you know? When we started dating back in the day, she was so… fun. She was my friend… and now-”

“-now she’s crazy as shit. You can’t stay with someone because of the ’what was’ Mike. You need to take a look at the 'what’s going on now'.”

Mike clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth a few times before answering again. “It’s not so bad now, I mean, we’re getting along better…”

“We’re hiding in my bedroom. We're hiding in my bedroom, from your girlfriend.”

“So?”

“That’s not the sign of a good relationship… especially not when you only see her a couple times a month as it is.”

Mike laid still for a full minute before sitting up and pushing himself off the bed, signalling that the conversation had ended. Brooks didn’t bother trying to press the issue, this wasn’t the first time they had had this conversation, and he was positive that it wouldn’t be the last.
Mike was reaching for the door when a blast of cool night air hit him from behind. When he turned around Brooks was already facing the window, the same window that Ovechkin was now hanging through. “What the fuck are you guys doing in the dark?”

“What the fuck are you doing in here? How did you even get on the fire escape?” Brooks hollered, grabbing onto his chest and trying fruitlessly to calm his now racing heart.

“Semin bet me that I couldn’t jump from the deck to the fire escape. I was gonna go back but I saw you fags in here so I thought I’d come break up the sausage fest.”

“How is adding another guy gonna stop this from being a sausage fest?” Mike asked, his voice dripping in annoyance as he glanced back and forth between Alex and Brooks.

“Dunno.” Alex grunted, using his arms to pull himself into the room. “Anyway, as fun as hanging out in the dark with you two is, there are some sexy ladies out there to be had.”

“Oh please! Everyone out there is taken Ovie, as in, not going to sleep with you.” Brooks sighed, shaking his head at the antics of his big-headed team-mate. Mike might be able to deal with his egotistical ways, but Brooks certainly had no time for anyone like that.

Shrugging off Brooks’ angry tone, Alex headed towards the door, shooing Mike out of the way and pulling it open. “I dunno man, your neighbour’s fuck-able and Mike’s woman said she’s free.”

“Emily’s here?!” Brooks and Mike yelled at the same time, both of them running away from Alex and out the opened door.

When they got into the living room, the crowd had thinned out greatly and the music had been turned down to a hushed whisper. The only explanation that Brooks could think of, was the fact that Emily was standing in the middle of the room, her arms folded across her chest; a chest that was covered only in a barely-there nightgown.

He came to a complete stop in front of her and sucked in his breath; afraid but mildly surprised. Her long black hair was messy, and splayed out around her shoulders and down her back; startlingly different than her usual tight bun.

Emily’s eyes narrowed in on Brooks and he gulped, audibly. He reached out for Mike, trying to pull him up beside him, but he was gone.
Brooks spun around, watching hopelessly as Denise dragged Mike away down the hall towards certain doom; leaving him alone with the beast. “Uh… hey Emily, what’s up?”

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” She snapped, and Brooks felt his face redden, casting his eyes downward like a scolded dog.
He could feel everyone watching them, even if they were looking at everything but him. The people around him were all deathly quiet and he was sure that they were watching him through their peripheral vision.

“We were just having a team thing… like… one last hoopla before the season…” He explained lamely. “A shindig…” He added when she didn’t say anything.

He felt like an idiot. Here was a girl, yelling at him in his own house, in front of his friends… in reality he could just tell her to get out and shut up. The owner knew who Brooks and Mike were, as did the rest of the neighbours, all of whom didn’t care what they did in their apartment, as long as they could tell everyone that they lived with NHL players.
Emily didn’t fit into that category, she honestly couldn’t care who they were or how much money they made; all she wanted was quiet neighbours.

Part of Brooks wanted to mention that to her, to just ignore her and kick her out, but the other part of him remembered the look on her face earlier that day when he brought back the busted screw driver. “We’ll wrap it up, Em.” He said finally, giving her a weak smile, and waiting for her to smile back.

Her face never changed, if only to drop into a slightly darker scowl. “Don’t call me Em, my name is EMILY!” She snapped, spinning quickly on her feet, her dark hair fanning out behind her as she headed out the door.



When Brooks woke up the next morning, it was with the greatest of difficulty that he put the events and embarrassment from last night, out of his mind. With that thought, he gave his head a literal shake and rolled out of bed, swinging his feet down onto the floor.
He padded across the room, pulling the bedroom door open and stepping out into the hall; not bothering to don anything other than the boxers he fell asleep in.

He absent-mindedly continued into the hallway towards the kitchen, stopping only when he heard the middle of a hushed, heated conversation. “It’s not that I don’t love you! It’s just… Brooks gets me! He’s always there for me… I’m just not ready to move out yet. You can understand that, can’t you?” Mike’s voice sounded strained and tired, his tone allowing the repetitive nature in.
Judging by the compliance he was hearing, Mike and Denise had been having this conversation all night.

Her voice cracked out into the still morning air, the opposite of his; sharp and snaky. “No! You’re being an idiot!”

“Hey! Don’t call him an idiot!” Brooks couldn’t help but reply loudly, coming around the corner and dropping into the empty chair beside Mike.

“Oh right, sorry…” Denise grimaced sarcastically, “you’re the idiot.”

“Oh it’s on now! You can’t come in here and call us idiots… I think you should
go.” Brooks said, smiling as he folded his arms over his chest and laid back in his chair.
He knew she wouldn’t leave, but he didn’t care. He enjoyed pushing her buttons.

“He’s my boyfriend!” She snapped back, her eyes darting towards Mike, daring him to deny it.

“He’s my bestfriend!” Brooks answered before Mike could say anything else.
Denise and Brooks stared at each other for a full minute, both of them trying to find a way to get the last word in, but it was Mike who spoke next.

“Aw, I feel so wanted.” He grinned, too use to their bickering to take it to heart. He grabbed onto his mug of coffee and finished it off before getting up and carrying it towards the kitchen sink.

Sighing, Brooks turned back towards Denise. “Whatever… anyway, Dennis, why are you here?”

Denise threw her head back and pushed herself away from the table, crossing the tiled floor towards Mike. “My name is DENISE, not DENNIS… you retard!”

“That’s what I said Dennis, now why are you still here?”

“Are you gonna let him talk to me like that?” She shouted at Mike, pointing her finger behind her at Brooks.
She stared intently at Mike, waiting for him to champion her, but he only shrugged.

“You’re more of a hard ass then I am, if you got a problem with it, you say something.” He said, his confidence regained with the sudden appearance of Brooks; who snorted at the comment.

Rolling her eyes, Denise turned around and headed for the front door. “Anyway, I’m gone for the rest of the weekend with the mayor. I’ll call you when I get off the plane in Florida, and you better answer.” She called to Mike, over her shoulder as she grabbed her briefcase off the floor.

They both watched her go, waiting until the door closed behind her and the telltale click-click of her heels could be heard descending the stairs. “Lock that fucking door before another set of tits comes through it.” Brooks groaned, giving Mike the only amount of prompting he needed to cross the room and set the deadbolt. “Fuckin’ women.” He sighed as Mike returned and dropped down onto the chair next to him.

Mike had nothing more to offer than a nod of his head, before dropping his forehead down onto the table and closing his eyes; his head still pounding with the sound of Denise’s voice.