Chapter 24

Karen got upstairs and walked into the room to be greeted by Sidney singing in the shower. She laughed to herself and went to change into her pants from last night. She thought about changing back into her tank top, but wanted to keep Sidney's shirt on all day. After she was done, she sat on the bed and waited for Sidney to get out of the shower. When he was done, he dried off and walked into the room naked.

Karen watched him get clothes to put on "can't you just stay like that all day?"

"I could but you would have to be this way too. But then of course, we'd have to stay inside all day."

"Oh I don't know about that. It would be a great way to get more fans to watch the next round of the playoffs."

"Maybe during the finals."

Karen could see Sidney blushing and got up to go over to him, moving her hands over his chest and abs "but then again, I think I'll keep this all to myself." She kissed his cheek and then went into the bathroom as he got dressed.

When they were both ready, they stopped at Karen's house so she could change into a pair of jeans and freshened her make up. While she was occupied, Sidney grabbed a couple of things and put them in the car so Karen wouldn't know what he had planned. Karen came down a few minutes later and they headed out.

"So what are we doing today?"

"Just being together."

"But what are we doing together?"

"You'll see."

"Stop torturing me and tell me" Karen said like a whining child only to get a laugh out of Sidney.

Sidney didn't say anything else, he just drove to their first adventure. Karen was watching where they were going and when she saw a sign, she smiled. Sidney looked at her and smiled, turning into the parking lot.

"Do you like your first surprise?"

Karen stood there and looked at the sign "you brought me to the zoo?"

"I figured we could walk around, talk, and see some animals in the process."

"You are the cutest thing ever. I love the zoo."

"Well lets go then."

They went in and Sidney paid even as Karen tried to protest. They started walking around and he loved seeing her smile at all the animals and how they were acting. Sidney spotted a bench off the walkway and led Karen there.

"Can we talk about something baby?"

"Yeah. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I just need to know something" Sidney took her hand in his, but didn't look at her "the last few times we've been together, especially last night, we didn't use anything. Not that I wouldn't mind if something did happen, but we need to be more careful so it doesn't happen."

"Sid, when I told you a week ago that I was sure we were fine, I meant it." Karen let go of his hand and stood up, taking a deep breath "we're fine because I can't get pregnant." She didn't look at him when she said this but soon felt him wrap his arms around her urging her to go on. "After the miscarriage, there was some complications during the night and they had to do emergency surgery to stop all the bleeding." Karen wiped off the tear that fell down her cheek "having a baby isn't in my future."

"Baby, I'm so sorry."

"It's ok, really. I knew after the first time we didn't use anything and the concerned look in your eyes that it was going to worry you. I knew I was going to have to tell you to convince you that you had nothing to worry about."

Sidney turned her around so he could look into her eyes "I just want us to becareful and not ruin what great thing we have going. I love you, but you know I am not ready to be a father."

"I know you're not. I probably would have freaked out more after that night if I knew something would have come from it. Like you said, everything is going great for us. I for one wouldn't want to be the one to spoil that."

"Me either. Come on, let's go look at the rest of the animals so we can head your second surprise."


They walked hand in hand and found themselves heading to the Penguin exhibit. When they walked in, there was only a couple other people there, but then left. Karen saw a couple of the penguins come over to them, only to have a few more come too. They were all standing in front of Sidney and Karen couldn't stop the laugh from coming out.

"It's like they know" she said laughing and looking at Sidney. "The Emperor Penguin has made an appearance."

"This is surreal that they are all coming towards me." Sidney walked away and a few followed before they all did. "Will you stop laughing, this is so cool."

"I know it's cool, but it's funny that they are drawn to you like they know who you are."

Sidney walked back to Karen and kissed her to the dismay of a few penguins that they began to squabble. "Apparently they don't like the Emperor praying on another female" she said with a giggle.

Sidney turned to the glass "sorry ladies, but she's mine." They watched them waddle away, almost as if they were sulking.

"Aw, you made them sad. I think you need to come visit them often."

"Yeah, ok. When I'm not at the arena or travelling, I'll be here at the true igloo." He kissed her on the forehead "you ready to go?"

"Yeah. Can we stop and get something to eat? I am starving."

"That is actually stop #2 on the way to stop #3."

Karen just smiled at him as he took his hand into hers and they left. On the way to his second surprise, Sidney stopped at this cafe and told Karen to stay in the car since the order was already done. A few minutes later, he came walking out with a couple of bags and put them in the back seat so Karen couldn't snoop. Sidney drove around and found a parking space. They got out and Sidney grabbed the food. He led her over to the grass and sat under a big tree to eat lunch.

"First the zoo and now lunch at Point State Park. Is there something going on you'd like to tell me?"

Sidney pulled her back up against his chest and put his arms around her "I tried to think of something that we could do and just be normal."

"I am normal" she said as she looked at Sidney who gave her an 'are you sure' look "ok, most days I'm normal."

"What ever you say baby. I meant, my life gets hectic and even a day off is never a true day off, that I wanted a day to just slow down life with you. You can't get any more perfect than this. A walk through the zoo and now a quiet lunch, how could you not love this."

"I did love today, but then I love every day I get to spend with you. Are you just savoring time with me knowing you'll be heading home soon?"

"Yeah, I think I am."

"I'm going to have to find something to do with my weekends once the playoffs are over. It'll be hard not seeing you when I'm so used to it."

"I know. We might have to have some very long conversations by phone."

"Yeah, I can imagine what type of conversation you'll want to have." Karen looked into his eyes "thank you for today, I had fun" she said and then leaned in and kissed him with a soft kiss.

"Well you've got one more surprise coming so we can either head there now or in a few minutes."

Karen cuddled back up to him "in a few more minutes."

Sidney kissed her head and they stayed in an embrace looking out at their surroundings. An hour later, they got up to head to the last place. Sidney soon pulled into the parking lot of the arena.

"Ok, you get today off yet we end up here. Is this my third surprise?"

"Yep." That was all Sidney said as he got a bag from the back and they walked inside. They headed to the locker room and Sidney gave Karen her skates to put on as he put his on. Just then, a worker stopped in and told Sidney that everything was ready and they could head to the ice. Karen gave him a quizzical look and he just took her hand and led her to the ice. When they got closer, Karen could tell the arena was dark but there was some illumination of lights. Sidney let Karen go out onto the ice first and she stopped and saw where there were candles on the boards that went along the whole ice. She also heard music playing as she turned around to look at Sidney standing behind her. "You like your surprise?"

"I love it."

Sidney took her hand as they skated around, almost dancing to the music playing. After a while, they stopped at center ice and held onto each other. Sidney leaned down and kissed her, letting it get more passionate the longer they kissed. A few minutes later they were interrupted and told they needed to leave soon. Sidney had the worker turn on the lights so they could clean up before heading out.

Sidney took Karen home and he walked her to the door. "Go change into something dressy and I will be back for you in exactly one hour."

"Where are we going?"

Sidney kissed her and walked back to his car "just go get ready" he yelled back to her and then left to get ready himself.

Karen just shook her head and went inside to get ready. She knew how long it would take to shower and get dressed, but finding what to wear would be the challenge. She looked through her closet and found a dress that would be perfect. She pulled it out and hung it on the door, finding the shoes to match it. Karen undressed and got into the shower, replaying the days events as the water fell over her. She got washed up and then stepped out, drying off herself and her hair. She went to put on her underwear and a strapless bra before going to put on her makeup and fix her hair. Karen blowed her hair dry and then curled it, smiling at herself in the mirror knowing Sidney had never seen her dressed up and hoped he liked it. She went to put her dress on, then a few pieces of jewelry. She looked at the clock and knew her hour was up in about 2 minutes and laughed when she heard Sidney pull up to the house. She put her shoes on and did one last check in the mirror, stopping at the dresser and putting on some perfume before walking out the door. As soon as she was at the top of the steps, she saw Sidney walk in the house, yelling for her.

"Your hour's up baby, let's go."


Karen walked down the steps "I'm right here, you don't have to yell."

Sidney was taken back by how beautiful Karen looked. She had on a deep purple dress that stop above the knees but flared a little at the waist. He saw her hair was down and curled and she had on the right amount of makeup. Karen walked up to Sidney who stood in a midnight blue suit and light blue tie.

"Wow. I mean, your beautiful."

"Thanks, you look sexy as always." He went to kiss her but she pulled back "it took me an hour to look like this, you aren't messing it up already."

"Just one little kiss" Sidney all but pleaded. Karen smiled and grabbed his hands, holding them to his side and kissed him.

"So where are we going?"

"I was thinking this nice Italian restaurant."

"Sounds perfect."

Sidney led her to his car and they went to the restaurant. There weren't many people there and they were seated in a corner away from almost everybody. They ordered their drinks and looked over the menu. When the waiter came back, Sidney ordered their food and they were left alone.

"I'm glad you took today off" he said taking her hand into his.

"I'm glad you wanted to spend it with me."

"There's no one else I'd rather spend it with and I hope this shows it." Sidney reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a long velvet box. "When I saw this, I instantly thought of you so I bought it for you."

Karen took the box and opened it. Her eyes lit up when she saw a gold bracelet. It was made up of small hearts and the clasp looked like a heart shaped lock. "This is beautiful Sidney. It's so stunning yet simple to wear everyday."

"Well, that's one reason why I liked it. It's a way to wear it everyday and think of me." He took it out of the box and put it on her. "The hearts represent our love for each other and when you connect it, the lock binds the hearts together."

"Sid" was all she managed to say with tears filling in her eyes.

"I hope by the look in your eyes, you like it."

"No" she said carefully wiping around her eyes, "I love it. Thank you." She leaned in and kissed him only to be interrupted when their food came. They talked throughout dinner about the rest of the playoffs and other topics. When they were done, Sidney paid the check and he took her back to her house.

They were standing on the porch, kissing "I can't believe you have to leave in a couple of hours."

"I know, but since we spent today together, Friday night will be here and we can see each other again. Do you want to stay with me until I have to go?"

"Well that was a stupid question with an obvious answer."