The Hockey Life
Parental Problems
PART TWENTY-SEVEN: PARENTAL PROBLEMS
In Lena’s P.O.V:
It took a few days for my family to discover that I was becoming famous in the most unfortunate way. Brian found out from Patrick apparently, and he just had to tell our parents. Of course, he told them just in time too; they found out a day before they had planned to come and visit me. Naturally, they made comments about it as soon as they got to my apartment.
“Hola los padres.” I greeted them in Spanish when I opened the door, showing off my memories of only the most basic level of Spanish that I had learned in high school.
“Hello. It’s good to see you, Ms. ‘I Got Accidentally Famous Overnight!’” my dad said.
“So Brian told you about that, then?” I guessed as my mom and dad walked into the living room.
“Yeah. I guess we have to believe that you and Kaner are actually together now, since there’s picture proof,” my dad joked.
“Well, I have to say that you two do make a cute couple,” my mom decided. I never thought she would approve of me dating him, so I was glad to hear that from her. I just hoped that she would think the same things after she formally met him.
“They do, don’t they?” Tess said, joining in on our conversation as she came out of her bedroom. “Hey Marion, hi Joe,” she said. She always called my parents by their first names. Both my parents, but my dad especially, always told my friends to do that rather than calling them Mr. and Mrs. Stratton. After getting to know my friends so well, to them it sounded too formal and strange.
“Hello Tess, how are you?” my parents wondered.
“Pretty good. What are you guys doing today?”
“I think we’re just getting lunch and then hanging out in the city, right Lena?” my mom asked.
“Right.”
“Let’s get going. I’m starving,” my dad suggested. I was hungry too, so I grabbed my purse and put on my coat and shoes.
“Bye guys, have fun!” Tess said before I headed out the door with my parents.
For lunch, we went to Noodles and Company. My parents very kindly paid for my food, even though I was supposed to be treating them. After lunch, we decided to just browse the city until we found somewhere we wanted to go. Shortly after leaving Noodles and Company, though, we found ourselves passing the United Center.
“Hey, you should take us to the UC, Lean. Give us a tour!” my dad suggested.
“That would be fun,” my mom added.
“You probably wouldn’t have much fun, Mom.”
“I think I would. I’ve been there before, Lena. For games, with your father. Believe it or not, I enjoyed myself. I’d like to go there again, since it’s been so long,” my mom explained.
“Come on, Lena. Let’s go!” my dad said. I realized he sounded a bit like a little kid, pleading me to take him somewhere.
“I wish I could, but I don’t even know if anyone’s there. The Hawks have a day off, and I doubt that Brad’s there. If you came back tomorrow, I’d say we could go,” I said.
“We can’t come back tomorrow. That’s a shame, too. It would have been nice to meet Patrick,” my mom said solemnly.
“You’re telling me!” my dad said. He would be in absolute heaven, meeting just one member of his favorite team, but since I was so close with Brad, my parents could have met every player. My dad would have fan-boyed maybe even more than I fan-girled on my first day with the team. In fact, as I drove past the United Center and towards other shops and attractions, I realized how embarrassing my dad would be. He’d probably welcome Patrick into the family as soon as he met him, but he’d be very overbearing and obnoxious about it. Maybe it was a good thing that nobody was at the UC. I wanted Patrick to meet my parents, but he would have to be prepared for it.
As I drove my parents through the city, I made plenty of suggestions of places to go and things to do. However, my mom shut down every one of them and assured me she knew where we should go. Once we got close to Shedd Aquarium, she prompted me to pull into the parking lot.
“What are we doing here of all places, Mom?” I wondered.
“Your dad wanted to see the jellies,” she answered.
“Guilty,” my dad laughed.
“And plus, this was one of your favorite places when you were younger, Lena. You used to beg us to take you every week,” my mom said.
“Yeah, that was when I was like, seven, Mom.”
“Well, it’s not like there’s an age limit. It’s a family attraction, Lena. It’ll be fun,” she assured me. I gave in, so we got out of the car and headed inside. Once again, my parents paid for me. I finally decided that my mom had realized that I wasn’t little anymore. She must have had an epiphany about the fact that I was almost done with school and I would be going into my career soon. I would be supporting myself completely and I wouldn’t have as much time to spend with my parents anymore. I was sure that her reason for taking me to Shedd was to enjoy time with me and to make me cherish the youth that I had left in me. I wanted to be annoyed by that, but I wasn’t. As we walked through the different exhibits and saw all the different sea creatures, I felt nostalgic. I was glad to be back there. I realized that I had honestly missed going there, and I had a fun time with my parents.
After our Shedd Aquarium visit, we got coffee from Starbucks and headed back to me and Tess’ apartment so they could go home. By the time they left, I decided that it had been a successful day. It had been a day without Patrick though, and he even had free time the whole day. I knew he wasn’t happy that he didn’t get to see me, because he had texted me earlier and hinted at making plans. I decided I should apologize for that.
>It’s ok, I understand. Did you have fun w/ your parents at least
>Haha really?
>Really? That’s funny, my parents are bugging me about meeting you
>Ik. I just told my parents that it would happen whenever you were ready. I feel like it’s kinda soon, so I didn’t want to promise them anything
>Why? What’s wrong with your parents
>Haha even tho idk him, I really don’t see him fan boying, if that’s even a thing
>He can’t be any worse than you were when you met me
>It means that your dad passed a certain fan-girling trait down to someone…
>You couldn’t even get me water without fumbling it
>And you had trouble talking, too
>And your cheeks were SUPER red
>Ok, I’ll stop. But seriously, it’s not a bad thing. I thought it was adorable, obviously
>Idk, but it definitely wasn’t annoying when it was you
>Yeah haha
>It’s okay. Hey, we could still do something. Or we could even just hang out at your place or my place
>Ok. Do you even want to come over then
>Ok. Do you need time
>Alright, I’ll see you in a few then
“Alright, I’ll be back later,” I announced, grabbing my purse.
“What do you mean? You’ve only been home for a few minutes!” Tess said.
“I know, but Patrick had a day off today and he wanted to hang out,” I explained. “I told him I had a morning class, don’t worry,” I added.
“Alright, no funny business over there,” Tess warned me.
“Yeah, sure,” I mumbled before I went out the door.
************************************************************
The winter air really got to me. After a day out and about in the city, I hadn’t fully heated back up, and going back into the cold didn’t help. By the time Patrick answered his door, I was sure that I would never be warm again.
“Hey. You’re shivering!” he said.
“I know. I’ve been cold all day,” I revealed.
“Well, take a seat. I’ll go get a blanket,” Patrick said. I sat down on his comfy couch and curled up into a ball. Luckily it wasn’t long before he returned with a soft, warm blanket.
“Okay, it’s not a very big blanket so we’ll have to be close to each other to share it,” he said. Real smooth, Pat. Real smooth. He sat down next to me and I caught him grinning at his terribly cheesy move. He put his arm around me and pulled me close to him.
“What, you’re not going to use the whole yawn and stretch trick?” I asked.
“Not today. I think the blanket trick was good enough,” he decided.
Despite the cheesy, cliché moments, I really enjoyed the short amount of time that I spent at his place. We pretty much spent the whole time cuddling under the blanket, watching TV. I finally got warmed up, and I definitely couldn’t complain about the circumstances. Of course, I got chilled again as soon as I was outside, but once I was in my bed, I just imagined I was back in the apartment that seemed to be my second home lately and I drifted off into a cozy sleep.
In Lena’s P.O.V:
It took a few days for my family to discover that I was becoming famous in the most unfortunate way. Brian found out from Patrick apparently, and he just had to tell our parents. Of course, he told them just in time too; they found out a day before they had planned to come and visit me. Naturally, they made comments about it as soon as they got to my apartment.
“Hola los padres.” I greeted them in Spanish when I opened the door, showing off my memories of only the most basic level of Spanish that I had learned in high school.
“Hello. It’s good to see you, Ms. ‘I Got Accidentally Famous Overnight!’” my dad said.
“So Brian told you about that, then?” I guessed as my mom and dad walked into the living room.
“Yeah. I guess we have to believe that you and Kaner are actually together now, since there’s picture proof,” my dad joked.
“Well, I have to say that you two do make a cute couple,” my mom decided. I never thought she would approve of me dating him, so I was glad to hear that from her. I just hoped that she would think the same things after she formally met him.
“They do, don’t they?” Tess said, joining in on our conversation as she came out of her bedroom. “Hey Marion, hi Joe,” she said. She always called my parents by their first names. Both my parents, but my dad especially, always told my friends to do that rather than calling them Mr. and Mrs. Stratton. After getting to know my friends so well, to them it sounded too formal and strange.
“Hello Tess, how are you?” my parents wondered.
“Pretty good. What are you guys doing today?”
“I think we’re just getting lunch and then hanging out in the city, right Lena?” my mom asked.
“Right.”
“Let’s get going. I’m starving,” my dad suggested. I was hungry too, so I grabbed my purse and put on my coat and shoes.
“Bye guys, have fun!” Tess said before I headed out the door with my parents.
For lunch, we went to Noodles and Company. My parents very kindly paid for my food, even though I was supposed to be treating them. After lunch, we decided to just browse the city until we found somewhere we wanted to go. Shortly after leaving Noodles and Company, though, we found ourselves passing the United Center.
“Hey, you should take us to the UC, Lean. Give us a tour!” my dad suggested.
“That would be fun,” my mom added.
“You probably wouldn’t have much fun, Mom.”
“I think I would. I’ve been there before, Lena. For games, with your father. Believe it or not, I enjoyed myself. I’d like to go there again, since it’s been so long,” my mom explained.
“Come on, Lena. Let’s go!” my dad said. I realized he sounded a bit like a little kid, pleading me to take him somewhere.
“I wish I could, but I don’t even know if anyone’s there. The Hawks have a day off, and I doubt that Brad’s there. If you came back tomorrow, I’d say we could go,” I said.
“We can’t come back tomorrow. That’s a shame, too. It would have been nice to meet Patrick,” my mom said solemnly.
“You’re telling me!” my dad said. He would be in absolute heaven, meeting just one member of his favorite team, but since I was so close with Brad, my parents could have met every player. My dad would have fan-boyed maybe even more than I fan-girled on my first day with the team. In fact, as I drove past the United Center and towards other shops and attractions, I realized how embarrassing my dad would be. He’d probably welcome Patrick into the family as soon as he met him, but he’d be very overbearing and obnoxious about it. Maybe it was a good thing that nobody was at the UC. I wanted Patrick to meet my parents, but he would have to be prepared for it.
As I drove my parents through the city, I made plenty of suggestions of places to go and things to do. However, my mom shut down every one of them and assured me she knew where we should go. Once we got close to Shedd Aquarium, she prompted me to pull into the parking lot.
“What are we doing here of all places, Mom?” I wondered.
“Your dad wanted to see the jellies,” she answered.
“Guilty,” my dad laughed.
“And plus, this was one of your favorite places when you were younger, Lena. You used to beg us to take you every week,” my mom said.
“Yeah, that was when I was like, seven, Mom.”
“Well, it’s not like there’s an age limit. It’s a family attraction, Lena. It’ll be fun,” she assured me. I gave in, so we got out of the car and headed inside. Once again, my parents paid for me. I finally decided that my mom had realized that I wasn’t little anymore. She must have had an epiphany about the fact that I was almost done with school and I would be going into my career soon. I would be supporting myself completely and I wouldn’t have as much time to spend with my parents anymore. I was sure that her reason for taking me to Shedd was to enjoy time with me and to make me cherish the youth that I had left in me. I wanted to be annoyed by that, but I wasn’t. As we walked through the different exhibits and saw all the different sea creatures, I felt nostalgic. I was glad to be back there. I realized that I had honestly missed going there, and I had a fun time with my parents.
After our Shedd Aquarium visit, we got coffee from Starbucks and headed back to me and Tess’ apartment so they could go home. By the time they left, I decided that it had been a successful day. It had been a day without Patrick though, and he even had free time the whole day. I knew he wasn’t happy that he didn’t get to see me, because he had texted me earlier and hinted at making plans. I decided I should apologize for that.
>It’s ok, I understand. Did you have fun w/ your parents at least
>Haha really?
>Really? That’s funny, my parents are bugging me about meeting you
>Ik. I just told my parents that it would happen whenever you were ready. I feel like it’s kinda soon, so I didn’t want to promise them anything
>Why? What’s wrong with your parents
>Haha even tho idk him, I really don’t see him fan boying, if that’s even a thing
>He can’t be any worse than you were when you met me
>It means that your dad passed a certain fan-girling trait down to someone…
>You couldn’t even get me water without fumbling it
>And you had trouble talking, too
>And your cheeks were SUPER red
>Ok, I’ll stop. But seriously, it’s not a bad thing. I thought it was adorable, obviously
>Idk, but it definitely wasn’t annoying when it was you
>Yeah haha
>It’s okay. Hey, we could still do something. Or we could even just hang out at your place or my place
>Ok. Do you even want to come over then
>Ok. Do you need time
>Alright, I’ll see you in a few then
“Alright, I’ll be back later,” I announced, grabbing my purse.
“What do you mean? You’ve only been home for a few minutes!” Tess said.
“I know, but Patrick had a day off today and he wanted to hang out,” I explained. “I told him I had a morning class, don’t worry,” I added.
“Alright, no funny business over there,” Tess warned me.
“Yeah, sure,” I mumbled before I went out the door.
************************************************************
The winter air really got to me. After a day out and about in the city, I hadn’t fully heated back up, and going back into the cold didn’t help. By the time Patrick answered his door, I was sure that I would never be warm again.
“Hey. You’re shivering!” he said.
“I know. I’ve been cold all day,” I revealed.
“Well, take a seat. I’ll go get a blanket,” Patrick said. I sat down on his comfy couch and curled up into a ball. Luckily it wasn’t long before he returned with a soft, warm blanket.
“Okay, it’s not a very big blanket so we’ll have to be close to each other to share it,” he said. Real smooth, Pat. Real smooth. He sat down next to me and I caught him grinning at his terribly cheesy move. He put his arm around me and pulled me close to him.
“What, you’re not going to use the whole yawn and stretch trick?” I asked.
“Not today. I think the blanket trick was good enough,” he decided.
Despite the cheesy, cliché moments, I really enjoyed the short amount of time that I spent at his place. We pretty much spent the whole time cuddling under the blanket, watching TV. I finally got warmed up, and I definitely couldn’t complain about the circumstances. Of course, I got chilled again as soon as I was outside, but once I was in my bed, I just imagined I was back in the apartment that seemed to be my second home lately and I drifted off into a cozy sleep.
@hockeygirl07
Thank you so much! :)
11/1/14