Chapter Twenty One

Amber sat at the large family dining room, just observing the organized chaos. She had been firmly instructed not to help but as she watched Nathalie, the house keeper and the rest of the family set the table, bring out the food, fill the wine glasses and wrangle the children, she felt a pang of guilt for not helping. To Amber's surprise, Nathalie put every kid to work with some menial task, even Sid had to pour the wine and put out the napkins. She always imagined rich kids to be catered to hand and foot but these kids seemed somehow normal. She felt a little like a princess herself, not having a job to do.

"Go tell your father to get off his phone and come and sit down," Nathalie instructed Stephanie.

Amber's heart rate increased as her meeting of Mario Lemieux loomed closer. She knew he was really important to Sid and that his opinion mattered potentially more then his own father's. She had been introduced to Alexa, the youngest, who quickly insisted on sitting next to her at the dining room table. 'At least I have one who likes me', Amber thought to herself. Austin and Sid were talking about a hockey camp that Austin was attending, while walking in and out of the room with bowls of food from the kitchen and barely acknowledged her. The last of the Lemieux children had yet to come in but had been sent on the hunt for lost paperwork for her parents.

"Here mom," Lauren walked into the room and handed Nathalie a stack of papers.

"When were these due?" Nathalie asked her oldest daughter, who sat down at the far end of the table.

"I dunno… I gave them to dad but he just put them down on his desk," Lauren shrugged.

"But they are your responsibility…"

"But if I gave them to Dad, then my responsibility is done, its not like I am paying the tuition…"

"Drop the attitude young lady," Nathalie warned, heading back into the kitchen.

"Fine, whatever," Lauren leaned over the table and switched her empty wine glass for Sid's full one. "Oh, hi, you must be Amanda?"

"Amber. Hi, " she corrected, smiling at the young lady, as she took a sip from the cup. Sid came around the corner and promptly removed the glass from her hand and took it to his side of the table, shaking his head.

"Awww… come on…" Lauren whined after him.

"Nope. Nice try though," Sid stated simply sitting down at the table beside Amber and taking her hand. 'He really does fit in like family', she thought.

"He said he'll be right down," Steph came in and plopped down in a chair across from Amber.

"No ipods at the table," Sid reminded her. She rolled her eyes and pushed the cords down her shirt.

"Tada," she replied sarcastically.

Sid just shook his head and squeezed Amber's hand.

"When's your house going to be done?" Lauren began to play the role of the diplomat, sensing the tension.

"Hopefully soon," Sid offered.

"Have you been to see it?" Lauren asked Amber.

"No, I'll probably take her after dinner," Sid replied for her.

"If Dad lets you out alive?" Lauren laughed. Amber gave a terrified look and Austin and Steph both laughed, as if they knew what she was in for.

"I'll protect you," Alexa declared, as she stuck her head under Amber's arm.

"You think I'm going to need it?" Amber asked, smiling down at the cubby head now mostly in her lap. Alexa nodded.

"Come on you guys, stop it!" Sid argued. "Your dad will be just fine…"

"Yeah right," Steph laughed, then turned her attention to Amber "You're from Ottawa? Dad hates Ottawa… all stuffy Canadian politics."

"No," Amber corrected them. "I worked in Ottawa, I'm from Montreal."

The girls exchanged looks then both rolled their eyes. Sid just smiled.

"You're such a brown noser!" Steph threw her napkin at Sid.

"What?" He laughed.

"Montreal? Did he pick her out for you too?" Lauren teased.

Amber looked at Sid, "What's this about?"

"Mario sends the girls to Quebec every summer, in hopes that they will find a good French boy…only a boy from Quebec will do for his 'petites princesses,'" Sid explained.

"Ohhh, so you're what? Just leading by example? Bringing home a good little French girl?" Amber teased.

"You could be from butt-fuck Winnipeg, it would make no difference," Sid squeezed her hand.

"SWEAR JAR!" Austin yelled, pointing at Sid.

"Piss off!" Sid warned him.

"It's the rules! Give me a dollar!" Austin jumped up from the table with his hand out. Sid dutifully reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. After flipping through his wallet, he settled on a $5. "Here brat," shoving it into Austin's hand. "I'm paid up for four more…" Austin quickly ran off to place it into the swear jar.

"That's how I pay for room and board…" Sid explained to Amber. The girls agreed.

"Hold on to your hats, here comes Dad," Steph mumbled.

Mario walked into the room and sat down at the table, scrolling through emails on his blackberry. Nathalie came in behind him and cleared her throat. Mario looked up to meet his wives disproving look and put his phone away, knowing not to argue.

"Where's Austin?" He asked.

"Adding my daily contribution to the swear jar," Sid admitted. Mario shook his head and glanced at Amber.

"So you must be the famous Amber we've all heard about?"

"I suppose I am…" Amber admitted.

"Well then, Beinvenue à Pittsburgh," Mario stated. Amber tried to read some sort of approval or disapproval but there was no facial expression.

"Merci de m'accueillir dans votre maison," Amber replied.

"Ah, vous parlez francais? Where are you from?"

"Je suis de Montreal," Amber answered. She saw the girls roll their eyes from across the table. Nathalie exchanged looks with Mario and smiled.

"She grew up next door to Max," Sid added, giving a frame of reference.

"Were you friends growing up?" Lauren asked.

"Max was my best friend," Amber admitted.

"Was? How does he feel about you dating Sid?" Steph sat up and asked, finally intrigued.

"It's an area of contention…" Sid offered, flashing Steph a warning look.

"Oh?" Mario raised an eyebrow. "Anything we should be concerned about?"

"No, its fine, we are working it out," Sid reassured him.

"I'm sure you will," Nathalie cut them off. "Can we say grace and start dinner please? It's going to get cold."

Mario reached for the hands of the people on each side, as everyone at the table did the same and bowed their heads. Mario spouted out a quick grace, followed by Amen and the kids begun passing around bowls.

Sid leaned into Amber and whispered "That may have been the worst of it. The Montreal thing really helped. Now you can just win him over with hockey knowledge."

Amber looked him in the eye and smiled. 'If that was really the worst of it, then freakin halleluiah!' She thought. 'Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.'

-.-

Dinner progressed spectacularly. The entire Lemieux family quizzed her about every aspect of her life, where she worked, where she went to school, who she knew, how they met, about her family, friends, - everything. It was like a rapid fire interview. Stephanie seemed to have warmed up to Amber and Lauren was making plans to show her the best shopping. Austin couldn't care less. Alexa barely made it through dinner without climbing into Amber's lap and pulling out her notebook to show off everything she was doing in school.

Mario just sat silently, taking everything in. Every now and then Sid would catch him out of the corner of his eye, exchanging knowing looks with Nathalie – like they had some kind of secret. It was making him nervous.

After dinner was finished, Nathalie stood up to start clearing the table and Amber quickly rose to help her. The kids quickly disappeared, as they almost always did when it was time to clean up. Mario sat back with a relaxed look on his face and quickly dug out his Blackberry. Sid sat nervously, trying to figure out the best way to broach the subject that was plaguing his mind.

"So you're really not going to say anything?" he finally blurted out.

"She seems lovely." Mario stated calmly, not looking up from the screen of his phone.

"What were those looks between you and Nathalie? I saw them."

"Looks? There were looks?" Mario teased, looking up at Sid. Sid nodded.

"I wasn't aware there were looks…" Mario smiled. "We are just glad that you have found someone who makes you happy… and quite frankly, someone who doesn't seem like a complete nut case."

"She's not…"

"She also seems to have half a brain, which is a bonus, I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"You're sure she's not just playing you? That is the problem with smart girls…"

"No. She's not playing me."

"You're positive? We've seen it happen…"

"I'm not an idiot," Sid hissed. "I'm not about to fall for some stupid puck bunny. She's not like that… she's not playing me. You don't know what I had to do to get her here."

"Oh, she made you work for it? Good for her… she really is a smart one," Mario chuckled to himself, turning back to his phone.

Sid just starred at Mario and grit his teeth. It couldn't be true. He knew her. He knew that she wasn't like that. She couldn't have played this out. Mario was just testing him, he told himself. Sid had watched him do it to his kids all the time. He wasn't going to let him get under his skin.

"She's not like that… you'll see," Sid said quietly, standing up from the table.

"For you're sake, I certainly hope so…" Mario added, while watching him leave the room.

-.-

Sid walked into the kitchen where Amber and Nathalie were laughing and cleaning up. He stopped in the door way and just watched for a second. Amber seemed relaxed and like she was genuinely enjoying herself, most importantly, like she was fitting in. When he had gotten home earlier, Nathalie had gushed on and on about how great Amber seemed and then hugged him and congratulated him on finding a 'good one'.

"Hey Sid, you just going to stand there, or are you going to help?" Nathalie asked.

"Umm… sorry, I was just thinking… what do you need me to do?" Sid apologized, walking into the kitchen.

"Nothing, I was just teasing… I think we are pretty much done here," Nathalie waved him away.

"Oh, okay, sorry…" Sid shrugged then turned to Amber. "I was wondering if you wanted to go see the house?"

"Sure, that sounds great," Amber agreed, folding the dish cloth that she had been using to wipe the counters. "I hear I'm going to get a great kitchen?"

"If he ever picks a counter top…" Nathalie reminded her.

"Hahaha… I will…" Sid rolled his eyes. Amber and Nathalie smiled and giggled a little.

"You know what? Maybe you can pick the counter top!" Sid pointed at Amber. "Yeah, I like that plan… I am done making decisions! You're turn!"

"What? It's your house!" Amber protested.

"Our house… it's our house…" Sid reminded her. He watched her cheeks turn red, as Nathalie wrapped her arm around her shoulders warmly. 'No,' he thought to himself. 'She is the real deal, she loves me.'

"Come on, I can't wait to show you!" Sid reached out for her hand, which she quickly obliged and he led her towards the door.

-.-

"I was right, wasn't I? She's great!" Nathalie stated, walking into the dining room, to where –surprise, surprise – her husband had yet to move from.

"Ummhmmm… she seems okay…" Mario agreed, scrolling through his email on his blackberry.

"I sense a but…."

"But, there are a lot of good actresses in this world," Mario said in a knowing voice.

"Oh come on, it's not like this girl has been standing outside the arena waiting for her time to strike!"

"She hasn't? How do you know? What do we know about her?"

"Oh come on! It's not up to us to know anything about her. I am sure Sid knows enough about her to make an informed decision… It's none of our business," Nathalie reminded him firmly, putting her hands on her hips to emphasis her point.

"Except that it is my business… I can't have some scheming bitch coming in and distracting my investment," Mario stated.

"I'm sorry? Your investment? You seem to forget that he is a 23 year old young man, not a stock to pay you dividends. He deserves to have someone to make him happy, to take care of him."

"I'm not saying he doesn't. Quite frankly nothing would make me happier then seeing Sid with a good woman, I just want to make sure that this particular woman is the right choice," Mario reassured his wife, who he could sense was not seeing his point of view. "I'm just going to look into it a bit… do a little research…"

"Leave it alone Mario," Nathalie warned him sharply, turning on her heels to head out of the room. She then stepped back into the room. "You didn't say anything to Sid right?"

"Anything? Anything like what?" Mario asked innocently. "He asked what I thought of her and I gave him my honest opinion. I just reminded him to keep his guard up."

"Vous êtes un trou du cul! You couldn't just be happy for him, could you?"

"Its better then him getting screwed! You may thank me later!"

"Later? Later when what, Mario? When Sid has obsessed over every little detail of their relationship, second guessing every move she makes, never trusting her? When she can't take it anymore and leaves him? You think he's going to thank you when he's alone and devastated? AHHH! Tabernac! I can't believe you sometimes!" Nathalie stormed out of the room.