The Girl Next Door Chapter 5

Up until Wednesday, Kate and Neal only talked to Sidney once, on Monday. They asked him about how his first day of rookie orientation camp was, and planned to hang out later in the week. Kate, of course, would be with him Wednesday night, when she babysat the Lemieux children.
“Okay,” Nathalie said on Wednesday night. “You know our numbers, know where everything is, and bed time tonight is ten o’clock. We’ll be home by midnight. We’ll call if we’ll be much later.”
“Sounds good,” Kate said with a smile on her face.
“Teach Sidney here the ropes,” Mario said, winking at Kate. “But don’t worry, you’re not losing your job.”
“That’s good to know,” Kate said, laughing.
“Well, we’ll see you later,” Mario said. “Oh, and Kate?”
“Yes, Mario?” Kate said.
“Sidney’s upstairs in his room,” he said. “I think he was going to take a nap, but he’s been up there for awhile now. If he sleeps much longer, he won’t be able to sleep tonight…wake him up and tell him to get moving,” he added with a laugh.
“He’s up on the third floor,” Nathalie said. “The guest room up there.”
“Thanks,” Kate said. “I’ll go up there now.”
So, Kate went and checked on the kids, who were in the basement watching a movie. She asked Austin to come upstairs with her to wake Sidney up, so they walked upstairs to the third floor, and she had Austin knock on his door.
“What?” Sidney asked, clearly having been woken up by them.
“Mommy says you have to wake up to help Katie baby-sit,” Austin said. “I’m opening the door, you have to wake up!”
Kate started to laugh as Austin opened the door, only to find Sidney sitting on his bed, with only sweatpants on, starting to reach for a shirt that was on the chair by his bed.
“Sorry to wake you up,” Kate said, starting to back away, but not taking her eyes off his body, which, she discovered, was pretty ripped.
“No problem,” Sidney said, smiling at her, and pulling his shirt on. “I had to wake up anyway. I have to ‘learn the ropes’, right?”
“Ya,” Kate said, laughing. “There isn’t much to learn, actually.”
They headed downstairs to the basement, where they asked the kids what kind of pizza they wanted. Kate got the phone, and ordered two large pizzas: one plain, and one pepperoni. They then got the kids to go outside to play until the pizza got there. They all grabbed hockey sticks and played three-on-three for over half an hour, and had a ton of fun. Of course, Sidney’s team, which had Alexa and Lauren, won, but Kate’s team with Stephanie and Austin came close. The pizza came, and all of the kids ran inside to the kitchen to eat. Playing had worn them out a little bit, and both Kate and Sidney were thankful for that, hoping they’d fall asleep more easily that night.
For the rest of the night after dinner, they played a little more hockey and then watched a movie. When ten o’clock rolled around, there was some fuss, but, for the most part it went smoothly.
“Finally,” Kate said to Sidney after the kids went to bed. “Time to relax.”
“Well said,” Sidney agreed, grabbing a glass of water with Kate and moving into the family room.
“What do you wanna watch on TV?” Kate asked him.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” he said, sitting down on the couch. “What’s on HBO?”
“Let’s check,” Kate said, picking up the remote.
“Entourage!” Kate said, after turning on the television and changing the channel. “Great show.”
“Never seen it,” Sidney said.
“Really?” she asked. “It’s hilarious, my whole family and I watch it every week. It’s something we all can agree on, besides hockey.”
“How big of hockey fans are you guys?” Sidney asked.
“Huge,” Kate said, smiling. “Both of my parents are from Minnesota. My dad’s from northern, and my mom’s from southern. My dad won the NCAA championship for Minnesota in seventy-six and seventy-nine. He was in his first year of medical school the second time around, he had had a medical red shirt his freshman year.”
“Whoa,” Sidney said in disbelief. “That’s awesome! I was thinking about going to Minnesota. So he got to play with all those guys, like Neal Broten?”
“Yep,” Kate said, “and my brother’s actually named after Neal, Broten’s his godfather. They got to be really good friends, my dad was kinda his big brother on the team.”
“Wow. Why’d you guys move here?” Sidney asked, still in disbelief.
“Well, my dad finished up with med school,” Kate began, “and married my mom, who was teaching high school. He got a job offer out here in 1982, and took it.”
“Wow,” Sidney said, smiling. “So your rec league, is it competitive?”
“Oh ya,” Kate said. “Checking, the whole works. We’re just in it for fun, but we do have state playoffs, and a championship and all.”
“That’s cool,” Sidney said.
They ended up talking about hockey for a while longer, and then they watched television. Sure enough, around midnight, the Lemieuxs came home from the benefit. They paid Kate, and asked her if Sidney had learned the ropes.
“I think he’s got it down,” Kate replied, smiling.
“Sidney?” Nathalie asked. “Would you walk Kate home? I know it’s not far, but still.”
“No problem,” he said. The Lemieuxs thanked Kate, and then Kate and Sidney walked out the door.
They walked to Kate’s, where the porch light was on, waiting for her to return.
“Well,” Kate said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, around seven? I think Neal and I are just gonna rent movies, we’ve both been working every day this week, and obviously, so have you.”
“Ya,” Sidney said, laughing. “Seven’s good.”
They both stood at the door for a few seconds, looking at each other, having one of those awkward silences.
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Kate said, opening the door. “I’ve gotta work tomorrow at nine.”
“Okay,” he said. “See you and Neal tomorrow.”
Kate waved bye, closed the door, then went upstairs, and went to bed.