Trip to Your Heart - A Hockey Fanfiction

Some of Them Want to Use You

I wasn't even conscious and my head was pounding as if it were an anvil and someone was taking a hammer to it. I could feel myself coming to, but I didn't want to wake up, because that would just increase the pain in my head and the rolling of my stomach. And I'd have to face the truth. That woke me up in a flash and I sat up much too quickly. A groan escaped my lips as the light hit my eyes and my head spun with the sudden movement. I lurched out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom, making it to the toilet before my stomach decided to expel all the booze from the night before. My stomach felt better afterwards, but my head still hurt. I sat against the wall, breathing in and out, and trying to make the pounding settle down.

Claude startled me by coming to lean in the doorway. He had his arms crossed over his chest and the expression on his face reflected the curiosity and disapproval I knew I deserved. His hair was disheveled from lying in bed and there were circles under his eyes, which were probably my fault. "Hi," it was all I could say. I didn't know what he wanted to hear. Was I supposed to apologize for my reaction? Wouldn't he have done the same if he had found out that he had a kid he didn't know about? Should I apologize for missing the game? Probably, but I wouldn't have been all there even if I had been in the arena; I would've been useless, less of a help than a hinderance.

Claude raised his eyebrows at my inadequate greeting, "Want to explain what happened last night?"

"Not my best night, I'm sure," I replied.

"You came home around two, long after the game was over, mumbling about some daughter that doesn't exist and more drunk than a sailor on shore leave!" He wasn't angry, at least not at me; he was worried, which was a very Sid move, not that I'd tell Claude that.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I missed the game, I shouldn't have reacted like that, and I'm sorry I worried you, but I didn't know what else to do," I was still slumped against the wall and Claude came to crouch in front of me.

He sighed, "It's okay. I was just worried. What happened that made you go off like that?"

"I have a daughter," I said bluntly.

"That isn't possible, unless it was a long time ago and you put her up for adoption at birth and didn't tell me," Claude said, rationalizing everything.

"I didn't think it was possible either. She was born a little over nine months after I left Pittsburgh from what I gathered-"

"What are you talking about?" Claude was flabbergasted by the idea that I had  had a daughter without actually getting pregnant.

"Hear me out, I didn't believe it either at first-"

He interrupted again, "But you do now? Stella, this is crazy. Are you sure someone didn't just drug you yesterday?"

"Claude, hang on, just let me explain. Remember how I donated my eggs to research at the university?" He nodded. "Well, there were other research opportunities outside of stem cells. I didn't believe anything could come from them, none of us at the University besides the researchers did. It was just whispers of something at the time. Genetic engineering was- is, a touchy subject still."

"You can't have a child without a male and a female because you need the DNA," Claude cut in, shaking his head.

I sighed and frowned. This was a lot to spring on a person, I knew how it felt because it had happened to me less than twenty-four hours ago. "Yes, you need both sets of genetic information, but you don't need a woman to carry the child anymore, apparently."

"So, a test tube baby? You're telling me you have a child grown in a lab and somehow the Penguins knew about it before you did? How is that even possible? Who is the father?" Claude was attempting to wrap his head around the idea.