The Diary of an Unintentional Puck Slut

May 5 2014

May 17, 2014

Dear Diary,

The day after I returned from Maine Brandon told me we were getting an unexpected house guest.

"Emme, my brother is coming to visit for a while," he said at breakfast.

"Why?" We're going home in a few weeks, why is he visiting? This seems suspicious.

"He wants to see the playoffs, and this is probably my last season with Pittsburgh, and it might be my last playoffs chance in a few years, depending on where I go." I could tell there was something he wasn't saying.

"Okay," I responded carefully, "When will he be here?"

"Um, this afternoon," he replied and quickly continued eating, as if I wouldn't hit him just because he was eating.

But I did. "Brandon Sutter!" I said smacking his arm. "You couldn't give me a head's up? I need to, like, clean and stuff."

"I'm sorry, he just called me last night, it was sort of last minute."

"Wait, when are you leaving for your game?"

"In a couple of hours, and then we'll be back in two days," he explained quickly, again worried that I would be mad.

"So he'll be here when you're not?" I was confused.

"Yes, is that a problem?" He asked looking up from his pancakes.

"No, not really, it's just kind of weird. I mean, what am I supposed to do with him?"

Brandon laughed, "Emme, he's a grownup he can take care of himself. I don't know, you guys will find stuff to do; he's fun, don't worry about it."

I hesitantly smiled. The one time I'd met his brother he'd seemed nice, though it was under rather odd circumstances.

"So you want me to pick him up from the airport?" I asked him.

"Yeah, if you're feeling up to it."

I spent the rest of the morning cleaning and making up the guest bedroom until Brandon had to leave.

After he left I started my usual baking frenzy that happened every away game. I baked banana bread and oatmeal raisin cookies, which finished just in time for me to leave to pick up Mark.

Mark is taller than I remembered. He's taller than Brandon, and Brandon is almost a foot taller than me, so I felt really short. Short and fat, something he pointed out when he first saw me at the airport.

"Wow, Brandon was not lying about you being prego with twins," he said as he leaned over to give me a hug.

He chatted with me the entire walk to my car, and then he laughed at the fact that I drove a VW bug.

"Wait, this isn't the same one Sid got you, is it?" he asked putting his suitcase in the trunk.

I sighed. "Yes, it is."

When we got to Brandon's, Mark was super excited that I had baked cookies.

"And you're Brandon's older brother?" I asked, implying that he was acting like a kid.

"Yup, two years older," he replied, and went back to eating cookies.

"That's awesome. I'm going to sleep, wake me up when the game is on." Sleeping in the middle of the day was normal for me now, but I was especially tired after dealing with Mark.

He woke me up at ten minutes before seven by gently knocking on my door and quietly saying my name over and over again.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked as I turned on the tv and found the right channel.