Falling Fast and Breathing Hard

It's now Wednesday and my boys are set to play Tampa tomorrow and the Panthers on Saturday. I'm home alone with Kalea and about to call Vero to come hang out. I wanted to tell her the big news in person.

"Bonjour, Athena."

"Bonjour, Vero. I have a question for you."

"Oui?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to come over?"

"I'd love to! I haven't seen Kalea in nearly a week!"

"That's wonderful!"

"Now?"

"Two hours from now. Of course, now!" I said, laughing.

"Ok, ok. I'm on my way." she said, laughing.

It was noon and I had just finished feeding Kalea and was about to make something for Vero and I. I walked into the kitchen to make macaroni 'n cheese while I watched Kalea.

"Hi, cutie. Your Aunt Vero is coming to see you. How does that sound?"

She smiled.

"I love you, ya know that?"

She just kept on smiling and so did I. Fifteen minutes later as I was finishing my cheese sauce, the doorbell rang.

"It's open!"

She came in with a huge smile on your face. Damn. I love that girl.

"Athena!" she said with arms wide open.

"Vero." I said, doing the same.

She walked into the kitchen and hugged me.

"Hey, honey. How are you?"

"Wonderful. I got some news to tell you. You're gonna love it."

"Am I?"

"I'd be worried if you didn't."

"Ok. Tell me."

"In a minute. Let me serve lunch. It's mac 'n cheese with my homemade cheese sauce. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not."

Once I served lunch and got us drinks, I was more than ready to tell her.

"So, what's the news?"

I smirked and put out my left hand.

"Oh my God! When?"

"Saturday."

"Why the wait?"

"I wanted to tell you in person."

"How'd it happen?"

"Well, the story behind that... is um... crazy." I said, drawing off and looking away.

"What's wrong?"

"That day, I had a flashback to a day when I was four with my dad pushing me in my swing then that night, comforting me after a nightmare. That was after a moment Kris and Kalea. When I took my nap later, I dreamt about the day my father died. The common denominator behind those is that I considered him to be invincible and my superhero; obviously that's what I consider Kris. When he said, 'So, I'm your knight in a hockey jersey and ice skates and superhero.', I said that he was a lot of things to me. That's when he dropped to one knee and proposed."

"That is crazy."

"Tell me about it."

"But after your response to him being your knight in a hockey jersey and ice skates and superhero, that made it adorable!"

I blushed.

"Let me take another look."

Another show of the hand.

She giggled.

"It is gorgeous! Do you know how long he's been planning this?"

"He said the past couple weeks. He told me that Pascal had been helping him out."

"I've always liked him. He's such a great guy."

"Yeah. Definitely. You wanna hold Kalea?"

"Uh... yeah. Duh!"

I laughed and picked my girl up out of her chair causing her to fuss.

"I'll put you back in. Aunt Vero just wants to hold you."

She wasn't happy until she was in her arms.

"There you go. Now, aren't you happy?"

She moved her arms up and down.

"You just keep getting cuter, aren't you?" she said in a baby voice.

I smiled.

"I can't wait to have kids!"

"Which is why you and Marc need to get married and start popping out babies!"

She laughed.

"I can't wait for that to happen. I really can't."

"You're just gonna burst, aren't you?"

"Oui."

Today was a great day already and I hoped it would stay that way. My phone rang shortly after Kalea fell asleep. Kris.

"Hello?"

"Hey, baby."

"Hey. What's going on?"

"Not much. Just about to go eat lunch. How are my girls?"

"Wonderful. Kalea started her nap a few minutes ago and I'm hanging out with Vero."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. She called me a little bit ago and asked if she could come over."

"What does she think?"

He was obviously talking about the engagement, but I decided to mess with him.

"Think of what? I don't know what you're talking about, honey." I said, trying not to laugh.

"Athena. Seriously."

"Je suis sérieux aussi. Je ne sais pas." (I'm serious. I do not know.)

Vero was cracking up beside me.

"Athena."

"You have no sense of humor."

"Vous êtes une telle douleur, parfois, tu sais ça?" (You are such a pain sometimes, you know?)

"Ouais, mais tu m'aimes." (Yeah, but you love me.)

"That I do. Sounds like I have to punish you."

"In five weeks."

"That's too long." he groaned.

"How do you think it feels for me?"

"Yeah. I can wait."

"We're gonna have to."

"Hey, I'm gonna let you go. Talk to ya later?"

"Of course. I love you."

"I love you, too."

-click-

"Kris really needs to lighten up. He's such a tightwad sometimes." I said, sitting back.

"So, in five weeks?" she smirked this time.

"Vero! Shut up! I can't believe we talked about that in front of you. Well, I'm glad you didn't hear what Kris said." I said, mumbling the last part.

"What was it?"

She was all too eager.

"I'm not telling you that. Besides, Kalea's here. It's inappropriate."

"Whisper it then."

I rolled my eyes.

"Alright."

She smiled knowing she won. After I whispered it, she smirked again. She's gotta stop that; it's so annoying!

"You seriously gotta stop smirking! It's annoying." I said, laughing.

"Sorry. It's not gonna happen."

I sighed.

"Didn't realize you guys were that dirty."

"Vero! Stop it!"

She continued to laugh.

Come seven o'clock, Vero was gone and it was just me and Kalea. I held her in my arms while I watched Big Bang Theory. My phone rang just a few minutes later.

"Hello?"

"Bonjour, Athena!"

It was Kris' mother.

"Hey. Comment êtes-vous?" (Hey. How are you?)

"Grande. Vous?" (Great. You?)

"Fantastic. Vero arrêté par jour." (Vero stopped by today.)

"Comment est-elle?" (How is she?)

"Wonderful. Elle a vraiment apprécié passer du temps avec sa nièce." (Wonderful. She really enjoyed spending time with her niece.)

"Oh, je m'ennuie de ma petite-fille." (Oh, I miss my granddaughter.)

"Summer ne peut pas venir assez vite. Il ne peux vraiment pas." (Summer can't come fast enough. It really can't.)

"Vous pouvez le dire." (You can say that again.)

"Très bien. J'ai demandé comment vous et Vero étaient. Comment va Kalea?" (Alright. I asked how you and Vero were. How's Kalea?)

"Grande. Elle dort dans mes bras pendant que nous parlons." (Great. She's sleeping in my arms as we speak.)

She awwed.

"Pourriez-vous s'il vous plaît essayer d'envoyer une photo?" (Can you please try to send a picture?)

"Bien sûr. Donnez-moi juste une minute." (Sure. Just give me a minute.)

Somehow, I managed to take a picture. Ok. Send.

"Oh mon Dieu. Elle est belle." (Oh my God. She is beautiful.)

"Comme toujours." (Like always.)

We talked for nearly an hour when I decided to put Kalea to bed and call Kris.

"Hi baby." he answered.

"Hi. What's up?"

"Just up in my room. I wanted to be here and talk to you with no distractions, no noise."

"I love that. Thank you. I hope I don't get interrupted, but Kalea does sleep through the night most of the time. Thank goodness."

"I hope so too. I want my fiancée relaxed."

I smiled. Fiancée. That's gonna take some getting used to, but I love it so much.

"You're so sweet."

"Thanks." I could practically hear him blushing on the other side of the phone.

"My pleasure. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Hey. I talked to your mom a little bit ago. We talked for nearly an hour."

"What's she up to?"

"She was asking about me and Kalea and Vero since I mentioned she was up here today. I spoke to her in French the whole time except for three words."

"What were those?"

"Hey, fantastic and wonderful."

"That is great!"

"I know, right? I never thought I'd be able to do that."

"Well, I'm proud of you."

"Oh, I told her how Kalea was asleep in my arms. So, she asked for a picture and I managed to get one and sent it."

"Can I have it?"

"Of course. You're her father. You weirdo."

He laughed at the other end. I quickly found the photo and sent it.

"Oh mon Dieu. Veuillez poster que sur Facebook et Twitter. Vous deux êtes si belle." (Oh my God. Please post this on Facebook and Twitter. You two are so beautiful.)

I melted over him speaking in French about her.

"Will do, Monsieur Letang."

He laughed again.

"Oh, I miss you so much." I sighed.

"I miss you, too."

I laid back on the bed, laid my head on my pillow and put my phone on speakerphone before speaking again.

"I put you on speakerphone."

"Are you sure you don't wanna talk tomorrow?"

"Yes." I said immediately.

I internally groaned seeing as I sounded a bit irritated. That wasn't my intention.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"I seem irritated, don't I?"

"No. You just sound tired. It's okay. You're allowed."

I cried a little into my pillow. I don't know why.

"Are you okay?" he asked after a moment.

"I don't know." I said as my voice cracked.

"Athena..."

"It needs to be Saturday night already."

"I know. I'd be there if I could."

"Yeah. I know. I'm looking forward to that more than usual."

"Me too. It can't come any faster."

"Hey, you know what? I'm gonna go to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Ok. Goodnight. Sweet dreams! Tell Kalea I love her and miss her!"

"Will do. Love you! Goodnight!"

"Love you too! Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up and moved my phone. Not too soon after that, I fell asleep and hoped I would have a few more great days before Kris came home.

Lately I've been pulled down so hard
I can barely afford to miss out on you
I would be rich by now if I'd saved my breath
Careful it doesn't pay to be so
Incredible no I won't look back
And if I had the guts right now to take it
But I don't think I will make it

I want to kiss you so hard that your lips bleed
I want to hold you so tight that your ribs break
In the end we'll both know who we are
A body full of memories and battle scars

Blame me every chance that you get
I'm hopeful that this won't ruin us yet
You'll gladly risk your neck to tell me how
This will never work out

I want to kiss you so hard that your lips bleed
I want to hold you so tight that your ribs break
In the end we'll both know who we are
A body full of memories and battle scars

How will I leave when my veins are broken
I can barely see when I'm stuck in my moment
Coming undone to the back bone of our memory
Fall asleep to the promise of our melody
You'll risk your neck to tell me how
This will never work out

I want to kiss you so hard that your lips bleed
I want to hold you so tight that your ribs break
In the end we'll both know who we are
A body full of memories and battle scars

Memories and battle scars
(Yeah)

In the end we'll both know who we are
A body full of memories and battle scars

Notes

Eh...I'm not so sure about this chapter or the title. Hope you like it!
Chapter title and lyrics courtesy of Memories and Battlescars by New Found Glory.