Hat Trick

Thud!! Pauly saw the wiffleball hit his car before he heard it. He laughed and climbed out of the car. He picked up the plastic ball. He saw three sets of identical eyes staring at him from the hedge row. He strided over towards the boys trying to keep a straight face. The West triplets were the bane of everyone in the neighborhoods existence. But, since he was used to rowdy hockey players he found the unruly seven year olds endearing. Plus, they were still better behaved than pre Tori Lynn, Nealer.

"Hey Pauly!" called Daylon "Can you throw the ball back?"

"Umm, not sure that's a good idea" laughed Pauly "You already hit my car."

"Deacon was supposed to catch it" ribbed Devon "But, he can't catch anything."

"Leave Deac alone. Some people aren't baseball people" explained Pauly


"But, he isn't a baseball, football, or hockey guy" taunted Daylon.

"Yeah, well you two monkeys be nice to your brother. Some day you are going to need a lawyer or bail money. Deacon will be your best bet." said Pauly smiling the littlest of the triplets. Deacon reminded Pauly of himself at that age. He was rail thin, he possessed wild blonde hair with a cowlick near his bangs, and tiny wire rimmed glasses. Pauly always told Deacon that he would get bigger and stronger. But, the little boy took a lot of ribbing from his brothers. He tossed the ball to Deacon, who promptly bobbled it and dropped it. Pauly ruffled his hair before climbing back across the hedge row.

"Who gave you monsters a bat and ball?" asked Pauly

"Mike our new nanny" said Deacon "Mike said go outside before we destroy the house."


"Mike sounds smarter than the last nanny." laughed Pauly. The West boys went through nannies the way the Pens went through Gatorade. Maybe they wised up and got a male and drill sergeant to wrangle the boys. "I'll make you a deal. If you go inside and are good until I get home from cleaning out my locker I will bring you guys some stuff home from the locker room?"

"Sid stuff?" asked Daylon

"What about Geno?" piped in Devon

"I'll see what I can do. But, not if there are busted windows or property damage." said Pauly climbing into his BMW "Promise?" he called at the triplets.

"Deal" they yelled in unison.

Pauly shook his head. He hoped Mike was prepared for the carnage that was the West triplets. Pauly kept the boys at his house sometimes when Dana and Meredith were desperate. He didn't mind when he didn't have practice or a game. In fact, he enjoyed the triplets. Neal called them the Hat Trick of Horror. Pauly had it figured out. He would play outside with them and then run practice drills until they were exhausted. Run them through the shower, feed them, and they would pass out. He figured it worked with Neal and Bortz. He headed toward Consol. He hated clean out day. He just wanted the media over. He had no idea if the Pens were going to re-sign him. He just wanted to let them know he liked it in Pitt and that he would be spending at least part of the summer here. He wanted to keep playing with Sid, Geno, and Tanger. He hated not knowing.

Micah heard yelling and screeching in the rec room. She came downstairs to find the boys wrestling for the remote. "Hey" she called from the stairs "No Royal Rumble on the couch. Wrestle in the floor." She then re-accessed "Actually, no wrestling at all."

"We want to watch the Pens clean out" squalled Devon and Daylon "We want to see Sid and G."

"I'm hungry" said Deacon.

"Okay, you can watch the Pens while I make lunch then we'll pick a movie" she answered "Peanut butter and jelly okay for lunch?"

She heard the boys lobby for strawberry and grape jelly. Oy, this was going to be a long spring and summer. She was pretty sure the West triplets were Satan's minions. Micah had only been with the boys for less than 24 hours. She was damn sure that they were her punishment for lying on her resume and faking her way into this job. Micah could survive this. She had a teaching degree and she basically liked kids. So what, if she couldn't cook and wasn't much of a housekeeper. That's what Pinterest was for. They had survived breakfast. Pancakes were easy. Now PB&J for lunch and pizza for dinner until she made a grocery list. The kitchen was a little dirty. Who knew it took so many bowls, cups, and pans to make pancakes. But, after lunch she would tackle the dishes. How hard could it be there was a dishwasher.

Micah pulled her waist length auburn hair up into a knot on her head. No way was she getting peanut butter or jelly in her hair. She was certain it had maple syrup in it already. The major positive for the summer was she didn't really have to get dressed. It was yoga pants, shorts, and t-shirts as a uniform. Mrs. West told her to dress warm for hockey practice. She still wasn't sure why they needed to be at hockey practice at 6 am three days a week, but it was part of the gig. She was a mess already. She had on black yoga pants with pancake batter on the knee and a white Ohio State tee was nearly thread bare. It was one of her favorites. She had packed it keep her mom from tossing it. Her family thought she was insane taking this job until they heard how much it paid. So, she was now a live in nanny in Pittsburg to Satan's triplets with the chance of it becoming a permanent gig while she worked on her Masters. She just had to survive the three tiny boys currently arguing who the best hockey player in the world was. She finished slapping together the pb&js. She fixed them plates with a grape and a strawberry sandwich each, she add carrots and ranch, a few grapes, and a glass of milk before calling them to the table.

"The best hockey player in the world is Gretsky, Orr or Lemieux. Move your booties, lunch time."

"Mike, we don't eat carrots" said Devon looking at the offending orange vegetables.

"You do now" replied Micah "I have to keep you alive while your parents are in Europe. In order to do that we have to eat some veggies. Dip them in ranch it will be fine. Do you want your mother to find you a 300 year old nanny from the crypt? Because that is the next step after me."

Micah laughed when they all started eating their carrots. She listened to them argue back and forth over what they were going to watch. They all three jumped up and ran to the window when they heard a car rumble past.

"Can we go to Pauly's?" asked Daylon "Pauly promised to bring us stuff and we might get cookies."

"Pauly makes the bestest cookies" replied Devon "I wish Pauly was our nanny."

"Thanks a lot" said Micah

"Pauly sometimes takes us to Pens games" said Deacon "Pauly can cook too."

"Well I'm sure this Polly would like to get in the door before being attacked by the triple threat." replied Micah.

"Awww Mike" they said in unison.

"Finish your milk. Plates in the sink. Then we will watch my favorite kid movie."

"Miiike" they exclaimed.

"We don't want to watch a girl movie" said Daylon

"Good because it's not. It has a dragon and everything." she announced. Daylon was on one end of the couch with Deac at the other end. Devon stretched out in front of the couch. She turned on the NeverEnding Story and settled in between Daylon and Deacon. Micah was busy on her phone pinning things to Pinterest. She could totally do this nanny thing. Fake it until you make it, right? Micah noticed that Devon had fallen asleep in the floor. Both Daylon and Deacon were engrossed in the movie. Micah decided to tackle the mess she had made in the kitchen.

Micah rinsed the dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher. She wiped down all the counters. Finishing her glass of milk, she loaded it into the top rack. She looked for the powdered detergent that her mom used but couldn't find any. So, she loaded the dispenser with the green apple dish soap. Micah wrote dishwasher detergent on the list on the fridge. She set the dishwasher on a 30 minute delay because that is what Mrs. West showed her. She headed into the living room and flopped back down between Deacon and Daylon. Micah was busy pinning things. She had a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack board. She apparently needed a crock pot. If she couldn't find one here she would just buy one. Judging from Pinterest she could have dinner ready most nights before they got home from school. The entire house smelled like green apples. Micah couldn't remember her mom's dishwasher soap smelling that great.

"OH" exclaimed Daylon nudging Devon with his foot. Devon eyes got big and he crawled onto the couch with Daylon.

Both boys started giggling. Micah was still pinning things when Deacon tapped her shoulder. She turned around and gasped. There were bubbles everywhere. It was headed to the living room. The bubbles were up to the countertops and covering the entire kitchen. Daylon and Devon jumped off the couch and ran into the piles of bubbles. Great, she couldn't even see the boys. Fuck. She was beginning to panic. She had no idea what to do. How does one deal with a foam party in the kitchen? Oh hell!

"Don't worry! I'll grab Pauly. Pauly will fix it" said Deacon pulling on his rain boots."I'll be right back." He was out the door before she could grab him. Hopefully this Polly would take pity on her and the boys.

Paul hurried to the door because someone was thumping on it. Paul pulled the door open and saw a wild looking Deacon. He grabbed Paul by the hand and pulled "Come on we need you. Mike is panicking. The dishwasher is puking bubbles, and I can't see Devon or Daylon! Please?!"

Paul couldn't imagine what the kids did to make the dishwasher puke bubbles, but from the look on Deacon's face he was scared. If this nanny quit Paul wasn't sure who would take care of the triplets with their parents in Europe. He slid his feet in his flip flops and let Deacon pull him along.

Paul followed Deacon into the rec room. Whoa! Puking bubbles was an adequate description. How in the hell had the triplets done this? He grabbed broom and opened the patio door in the breakfast nook. Paul started pushing bubbles and following giggles. He managed to snag a wet soapy Devon. He packed him out to the patio and sat him on a plastic chair. He was covered in bubbles and soaking wet. He waded back in and captured a bubbly Daylon. He placed him with his brother and dared him to move. Where the hell was that nanny? Did he run away? Deacon was still motioning for Pauly "Help Mike, Pauly!" He explained.

Paul again waded into the bubbles. He managed to get over to the dishwasher and pull the door open. He heard the machine whirl to a stop. Then, heard several curse words come from a pile of bubbles to his right.

"Did you find Mike? Mike is little like us!" called Deacon from his perch.

"Mike is way short, Pauly!" yelled Daylon

"Don't let Mike drown!" squealed Devon.

Paul moved closer to the cursing ball of bubbles. He reached out and got a hold of Mike. Fuck, Mike was tiny. He hauled Mike towards him. They both managed to get their legs tangled and fall in a heap in the kitchen floor. The boys were hysterically laughing.

"Are you all okay" asked Deacon?

Paul was fine, however he was afraid he might have crushed Mike. This dude must be around 5ft tall. Paul put his hand out to make sure Mike was okay. His neck seemed okay. Paul's hand skimmed lower. UMMM! Mike had breasts. Pauly jerked his hand back and pulled Mike on to it's feet and tugged them free of the bubbles to the patio.

"Pauly saved Mike!" exclaimed Deacon joining them outside.

Paul scrubbed the bubbles from is face. He tossed his Pens hat on the patio table. He then looked at Mike. Paul was sure his mouth was hanging open. At no point and time had the terrors mentioned Mike was a woman, and a tiny one at that. She was at least a foot shorter than Paul and he was sure he outweighed her by a hundred pounds. He probably squashed her. "Are you okay?" he asked. She was busy swiping bubbles out of her face and hair. "Are you hurt?"

"Just my confidence" she replied facing Paul. She had realized in the melee with the bubbles that Polly was a Pauly. So much for the sweet little old lady next door.

Paul started laughing "Well, that we can fix along with the kitchen." Deacon came out of the house with a towel and handed it to Pauly. Paul looked at Mike. He couldn't tell much about her, but he had already memorized all the curves and red lace underneath her sopping wet Buckeyes football shirt. "Here" he said tossing her the towel.

"No, keep it you're the guest" she said handing it back. Paul nodded at her shirt. Fuck now she was in a wet t-shirt contest. "Fuck my life" she murmured.

"Mike said the big bad word!" yelled Daylon "Get the soap!!"

Pauly picked him up by the shirt collar as he buzzed by. "Enough soap for one day. How did you all manage to do this to your new nanny?"

"We didn't. Honest" said the triplets in surround sound.

"It was all me" said Micah. She had wrapped the batman beach towel around her torso so that she was no longer flashing the neighbor. "I'm Micah Preece. I'm the new nanny, and you are obviously not an elderly neighbor lady named Polly."

"Nope" said Pauly popping his p. "Paul Martin, neighbor and occasional referee and baby sitter to the hat trick of horror over there."

Micah looked at him and realization hit her. She was standing in front of the Penguins defenseman Paul Martin, and she looked like a drown rat. "This day can't get worse. I'm so sorry, Mr. Martin. I'll keep them over here. I had no idea who the neighbor was. Did they hurt your car? I am so very sorry. I promise I can take care of them. It's only been 13 hours since their parents left." she promised "I..." Her word vomit stopped. Her bottom lip wobbled. Oh hell, thought Paul.

"It's okay." he said taking her by arm and leading her to the door "Don't let them see you cry. They are like dogs they sense fear. You go up stairs change into something less... I don't know, less. Me and the D-Men will start pushing bubbles out of the kitchen. I've got this."

Micah didn't know whether to hug him or run from him. Why was he being so nice? Satan's minions had pulled him into the foam party from hell. "Go on" he said "Take your time. They'll think it's a game." She turned and trudged up to her room. Did he make it a habit of rescuing the triplet's nannies? She didn't have time to ponder that question before she heard the boys squealing and Paul barking orders.

Notes

I know I need another story. LOL. Can't help it had to get it down. Plus Geno's will end in one chapter until the sequel.