Hair, Nails & Hockey

Chapter Three

"Auntie!" Jake smiled as he got up from the ground and ran over towards me.

"Hi buddy," I smiled as I bent down and hugged him, "Where's Uncle Ian?"

"Kitchen," Missy said as she walked over.

"Hi sweetie, how was school?"

"We got to color!" she smiled and I matched her smile and kissed her headed.

"Did you do your homework?" I asked as I ruffled Jake's hair and took my coat and snow boots off and placed them in the closet.

"No," Jake muttered and I sighed.

"Come on, get your things, I'll help you," I said and he nodded his head and ran into the other room, "Missy, did you give Rocko a treat?"

"Yup," she said and I smiled and walked into the kitchen and saw Ian putting something into the oven. I sniffed the air and smiled towards my brother, "Smells good, Ian."

"Hey, I didn't know when you would be getting home," he said as he leaned against the counter.

"Thanks for picking them up," I said as I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost seven thirty, "I never would have made it in time."

"You know that they'll wait for you," Ian laughed and I sighed.

"I know, but it didn't seem fair to have someone else wait, that's why you're my first speed dial," I said and Ian snorted, "What's for dinner?"

"Chicken nuggets," he said and I laughed and then stood up and patted my brother's back, "Hey! It's like the only thing I can make!"

"Whatever," I laughed, "I'm going to go change, can you help Jake with his homework?"

"Sure," Ian said and I walked up the stairs and towards my room.

I sighed and then collapsed onto my bed, I was so tired, working late the third time this week. I pulled my tip money out of my back pocket and saw that I made over three fifty today. I smiled, '...Vero's too good to me...'

I walked over towards my dresser and opened the top draw and dug my finger to the bottom where there was a secret latch and a false top. I pulled it up and pulled out the small tin box and opened it to see the tips from this week so far, there was at least a thousand dollars there. I stuffed the money in the box, closed the lid and fixed the drawer to make it look like nothing changed.

Since I worked late, and I'm too busy in the morning, I'm too busy to go to the bank to deposit my tips, so when I get my paychecks on Friday, I got to the bank Saturday morning and deposit everything. I work Monday through Friday, nine to five thirty; although most of the time I'm staying later.

Because I was able to get a job at a high end spa, a place where a lot of wealthy people go regularly, I managed to get a big salary, plus with the tips, I'm able to live a comfortable life with my family. The nicer I am to the clients, the higher the tip, also the nicer you are, the more they come back, and like Vero, they request for you.

I changed out of my black V-neck t-shirt and black jeans, the dress code of my job, and into some sweats and a Broncos hoodie. I threw some heavy socks on and walked downstairs to see and smell that dinner was ready. I sat at the table with Missy, Jake and Ian, and started to plate everyone and then walked over towards the fridge to pour everyone some milk.

We sat at the table, had some small talk about how each of our day was and then helped the kids eat their nuggets and fries.

"Oh Ian, Veronique was in today," I said and Ian smiled.

"Your favorite client," he said and I nodded my head.

"She told me that you got a new job!" I said and Ian nodded his head.

"Yeah, sorry, I forgot to tell you, I work for the Pittsburgh sports network, I take pictures for the Penguins, Pirates and Steelers," Ian said and I smiled brightly.

"That's awesome!" I said and Ian blushed.

"I met the team two days ago, they're really nice, a bunch of pranksters," he said and I giggled, "It's a really cool job and it pays really well."

"Do you have to go out of town?"

"I have to follow the guys around, go to all of the home games and away games," he said and I sighed.

"Most of the games start at night Ian, you'll probably have to be there- What?"

"I have to be there at five," he said and I sighed.

"What am I suppose to do about the kids?"

"I don't know, if anything, I can pick them up from school and bring them to work with me and you can pick them up at work," he said and I sighed.

"Ian, work is no place for kids," I said and Ian shook his head.

"The guys bring their kids all the time."

"Well their millionaires that's why!" I said and Ian sighed.

"Just let me talk to Mario, all right," he said and I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing who he was talking about, but just going along with it.

After dinner, I cleaned up while Ian took Rocko, our Rottweiler for a walk around the neighborhood. Jake and Missy were sitting at the table, Jake doing his reading homework, Missy coloring. When the clock struck nine, I sighed and looked at the kids, it was way past their bedtime.

"All right guys, come on, time for bed," I said and then smirked when they whined.

"Five more minutes, Auntie?" Jake asked and I shook my head.

"Nope, did you finish your homework?" I asked and Jake nodded his head and handed me his workbook, "Very good, now come on, bed!"

We walked out of the kitchen just in time to see Ian walking in with Rocko. Ian rubbed Rocko down with a towel, trying to get as much snow off of him that he could. Jake and Missy said goodnight to Rocko and I chased them up the stairs, laughing when they screamed that I was a monster.

Missy and Jake at the moment shared a room, too scared to be away from each other. We didn't have a lot of room at the other house, so Jake and Missy shared a room. When we told them that they could each have their own room, well, they didn't want it, at least not yet.

It took a while, but by nine thirty, they were in bed and fast asleep. I kissed both of their heads and closed their door, leaving only a crack so that Rocko could push it open and go in during the middle of the night. As I walked down the hall towards my room, Ian was walking up, his laptop in one hand and camera in another.

"Work?" I asked and he sighed and nodded his head, "Night."

"Night," he said and then walked into his room, across from the kids, and I walked into mine, at the end of the hall.

I still had a lot to do before I went to bed, I usually was in bed around midnight and was up around six thirty. My routine was to lay my clothes out for the next day, get the kids clothes ready, clean the house a little, get the laundry sorted and then finally take a nice long bath in my attached bathroom. My favorite time of the day, soaking in my large tub.

I stripped down from my sweats and hoodie, folding them and placing them on the top of the dresser, because that's what I change into when I get home from work. I turned the water on in the tub, stripped my underwear and bra off, brushed my teeth, brushed my hair and then put it up in a messy bun, trying not to get it wet. I threw some bubbles into the water and then climbed into the tub, allowing the warm water to soak my skin and help me relax. I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost eleven thirty, I sighed and then laid my head back against the towel that I placed behind my head and relaxed.

I had my eyes closed and was moving my hand around in the water, thinking about my life when I heard a knock on the door. I looked down and saw that there were still a lot of bubbles left in the water, "Who is it?"

"It's me."

'...Ian...' I thought and then saw the door open and Ian walked in.

"Oh, sorry," he said and I shook my head.

"Yeah, I didn't tell you to come in," I laughed and Ian sighed and sat on the ground, his back against the tub and facing me. Ian pulled out his iPad and started to show me all the pictures that he took at the Penguins' practice.

"They're so cool, Sar, you wouldn't believe on how fast these guys can skate," he smiled and I giggled and looked at all of the pictures.

"Who's that?" I asked as I made him stop at a picture.

"Oh, that's Sidney Crosby, that's the Captain of the team, he's really good with handling the puck."

"He can handle my puck anytime," I laughed and Ian groaned and shook his head.

"You're one crazy horny virgin!"

"Shut up!"