by Jenna Payne
“Two minutes Mommy,” he said sternly and then walked over to the kitchen. I smiled and chuckled to myself as I finished up my email and hit send. I quickly ran back to my bedroom to put on some shoes, a sweater, and to grab my purse. Caleb was waiting by the front door with the small container of apples in hand.
“Are you ready?” I asked him and he gave me a dramatic sigh.
“I was ready before you,” he said a bit saucily and I smiled.
“Oh that’s right, I’m sorry. If it weren’t for you I’d always be running late,” I said and he nodded as if that were completely true.
“And you’d always forget your keys too,” he added and then handed me my set just before I could realize I didn’t have them in my purse.
“Well, that’s because I think you always take my keys,” I said and he shook his head.
“No, I keep them for you because you always lose them, and birds could get them like that hawk. Remember?” Of course the hawk story came up again. A year ago Caleb and I had been having a picnic at a park nearby and a hawk simply swooped down and grabbed my keys from on top of my purse. I then proceeded to chase the hawk until it landed in its nest high up in a fir tree. Luckily there was an odd character nearby; a white guy with long dreads and no shoes. He offered to climb up and retrieve my keys, which he actually did despite my protests. Ever since then that’s been a major moment in Caleb’s life that he still to this day often refers to.
Caleb and I went to a nearby pizza parlor and shared a medium cheese pizza. We were discussing his habit of taking my keys. One thing I’ve learned as a mom was that I had to rationalize with Caleb on certain things or else he would continue to go against me.
“Ah, excuse me miss?” both Caleb and I looked up at our waitress who was standing at the end of the booth and holding a white envelope. “Someone brought these to the counter and asked us to give them to you…” she said and then handed me the envelope.
“What is it?” Caleb asked as I opened it and pulled out two tickets, courtside it seemed like, to a Chicago Red’s game! “Are those tickets mommy?” he pressed and I nodded then looked up at the waitress.
“Oh my goodness, who dropped these off?” I asked and the waitress shrugged.
“He didn’t say, he looked like a regular guy to me. Must be one of those good Samaritans or something you know. Like the ones who pay for people’s meals at a restaurant or give like huge tips or something,” she said and I looked down at the tickets again in shock.
“Wow, that’s this is quite generous of whoever that was,” I said and looked across at Caleb who was standing on the seat and leaning over the table to see the tickets. “They are tickets to a Red’s basketball game,” I enthused and his entire adorable face lit up with excitement. “It’s for tomorrow night too.”
“Wow Mommy that’s so cool!” he yelled and I shushed him a little and motioned for him to sit down properly. The waitress giggled at Caleb’s excitement and then left us to our dinner. As I safely put the tickets in my purse and told Caleb not to steal them for ‘safekeeping’, I remembered that not too long ago I had woken up pretty much naked next to Miles Anderson. How coincidental was that?
“You know what?” I said conspiratorially to Caleb and he lit up in interest.
“What, what?”
“I think we have to go and buy a couple of Red’s jersey’s,” I said and Caleb exclaimed in enthusiasm once more before I shushed him again. We quickly finished our pizza after that and then took a trip to the mall. All Caleb could talk about was how tall basketball players were and if they are actually giants. Any chance I could get to make my son happy like that I took, because moments like those were so precious to me.
*****
Miles
“Anderson I need you focused tonight. We have to keep our record intact from here on out in order for us to keep our spot in the playoffs,” Coach had pulled me aside just before the team went out onto the court and stressed to me the importance of not fucking up my shots. It was unlike me to be distracted on the court so I could see how he’d want to make sure I was focused.
“Alright coach, I got it. I won’t fall short,” I said and he nodded, satisfied with my answer.
“Good, now get out there,” he motioned for me to leave his office and he followed me out. The announcer had just started to present us to the crowd out in the stadium. The team jogged out to the court and as usual the volume of the cheering home crowd was pretty deafening. Our fans were some of the best, win or lose, even though there were more wins than losses, they were always cheering for us. We were playing against Cleveland that night and I was up against another of the best forwards in the league. It was bound to be a good game, but a hard one that was for sure.
Before I knew it the warm up drills were over and the whistle was being blown to start the quarter. I was on the starting lineup and went into my zone as soon as the ball was tipped. Defense was pushing hard from both teams and for the first quarter it was a low scoring game. I picked up the pace in the second quarter and managed to get around my defender more often to make space for perfect shots. Every time the basketball sank through the hoop for our team the crowd went wild. Then a member of the other team was trying to shake his opponent off of him and must have tweaked his ankle because he went down hard and the whole stadium took a collective gasp. Time out was called and the medics swarmed the court.
“He looks alright, though, maybe he just tweaked it,” one of the guys said and I nodded.
“Yeah that what it looked like to me…” I said and then glanced to the left and took a double take. There sitting in a second row floor seat was none other than Christina! “Holy shit,” I muttered and then before I even realized it, I was walking quickly towards her. She was wearing a Red’s jersey and dark colored jeans with matching kicks. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she looked just as beautiful as I remembered her. She was also wearing big square glasses that did resemble the ones SpongeBob sometimes wore.
“Mommy, Mommy look!” a little kid to her left that looked somewhat like her, what with his full lashes and blue eyes, pulled on her shirt. He appeared to be four or five. He had light brown hair and it was clear to see that he would be a handsome guy when he got older just from the shape of his youthful face. Christina turned her attention from the scene on the floor and her eyes widened when they met mine.
“Miles…shouldn’t you be on the court?” she asked a bit nervously and her son simply looked up at me with wide eyes and an awed gaze.
“You know my Mommy?” he asked, in shock and I chuckled then lowered into a crouch in front of him.
“I do and I need your help a little bit,” I said to him and he simply nodded. “I met your mom the other day and well…I like her very much, but I couldn’t call her because I didn’t get her number,” I explained to him and he actually laughed at me and hit his hand to his head.
“That’s silly!” he said and I couldn’t help but laugh. Even the kid knew what was up when it came to talking to girls. I heard Christina giggle and glanced up at her with a grin.
“I know, so I was hoping you could help me out and convince her to give me her number,” I told him and he gave his mom a considering glance before looking back at me.
“Are you shy or something?” he asked me and by that time the people around us had tuned in to the conversation and laughed at the kid’s comment.
“I guess so little man.”
He nodded as if that were understandable and then looked at his mom.
“Mommy would you give him your phone number so he can call you, he was just shy that’s why he didn’t ask before,” he said earnestly, and I looked to Christina who had an unsure expression on her face. “He’s a tall basketball player and he didn’t fall once!” he continued to rationalize to his mom and I couldn’t help but think the kid might grow up to be a lawyer just like her.
“Not once,” I chimed in and Christina chuckled and then ran her hand over her son’s hea
d.
“Alright then, I guess I can give him a shot,” she said and then pulled out a scrap of paper from her purse and quickly wrote her number on it.
“Yes!” the little man exclaimed and offered his hand for a high five which I gave. Christina handed me the piece of paper and I took it from her with a grin. She shook her head at me, but smiled anyway.
“Thanks little man. Hey, what’s your name?” I asked him.
“It’s Caleb, what’s yours?” he asked and I introduced myself. The sound of a whistle went off and then I glanced across the court and saw my coach shaking his head at me. “Well I gotta get back, I’ll see you soon Caleb and you Christina,” I said and flashed her another grin before jogging over to the bench to safely hide her number in my bench clothes.
“Anderson, get on the floor!” Coach yelled at me and I held my hands up in surrender, at least a third of the crowd laughed and I glanced up and saw they had the cameras on me and everything was being projected on the jumbotron. I quickly got back into the mindset of the game and made sure not to piss the coach off by missing simple shots. Thankfully we went on to win the game and I definitely got the prize of the night.
*****
Christina
“Mommy where are we going?” Caleb asked me curiously after I told him to get dressed.
“We’re going bowling with Miles,” I said and Caleb’s entire face lit up as he all but jumped from his bed and went straight to his dresser.
“Wait a minute, is it a date?” Caleb turned around and gave me a pointed expression and I tried not to laugh.
“Well he wants to take the both of us out for a date at the bowling alley,” I told him and his expression cleared up.
“Will there be pizza?” he asked me and I giggled.
“Yes there will be pizza and sticky bun bites,” I said and Caleb got excited all over again. He was jumping up and down while I walked over to help him pick out something to wear. Getting Caleb dressed was that much easier because he was eager to go. Getting myself ready with Caleb rushing me was less easy than it should have been.
Caleb and I met Miles at the bowling alley. He looked great of course, wearing jeans and a form fitting t-shirt. I bet anything Miles put on would make him look good.
“Christina you look great,” he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and then gave Caleb a high five.
“Thanks, so um…do you bowl often?” I asked him and he gave me an amused smile.
“All the time! This is my spot, how about you guys?” he asked and Caleb shook his head while looking way up at Miles.
“This is my first time ever bowling,” he said and Miles promised to teach him the ropes. We went inside and Miles led us right up to a lane he had set up for us already.
“Look mommy pizza!” Caleb exclaimed when he saw the boxes of pizza on the table near the ball return machine.
“Yes baby, there will be plenty of time for pizza, how about we try bowling first?”
Caleb said okay and then ran over to Miles who was picking out bowling balls from the rack and bringing them over. He let Caleb hold a smaller one and bring it over while I changed into bowling shoes. I glanced at Miles’s feet and saw he was already wearing his.
“Do you own your own pair of bowling shoes?” I asked him with a smirk and he grinned at me.
“Yup, and I ain’t ashamed,” he said and I cracked up.
“You must be a pro then.”
Miles nodded, his expression turning a little smug.
“I am, but don’t worry we don’t have to compete or anything,” he said and I chuckled.
“See now you just made this a competition,” I said and Caleb chimed in.
“Me and Mommy against you Miles!” he said and then Miles laughed.
“Alright, if I get more points than you guys then…”
“Then mommy can make you her yummy buns!” Caleb suggested and both Miles and I laughed.
“That sounds fair and if you guys win then…I’ll cook you my special burgers,” he said and Caleb jumped up and down in excitement.
“Deal!” he said and Miles laughed. Caleb quickly changed his shoes and then took a couple of practice lessons on how to bowl from Miles before we actually started counting up points.
“So how about you, do you need a practice swing?” Miles asked me while Caleb took a little break for a slice of pizza.
“Actually yes, I have a technique, but…I’m afraid it’ll make me look silly so you’ll have to teach me how to bowl like an adult,” I said and Miles cracked up.
“Please tell me your technique is what I think it is,” he said as I took a bowling ball and walked over to the lane. I held the ball in both hands, slightly spread my legs apart and then swung the ball back between my legs and then let it go on the upswing. Miles cracked up until I hit a strike and then that shut him up.
“I guess my technique works!” I said and then taunted Miles who waved his hand dismissively.
“That was just a lucky shot,” he said and then the competition was on, my technique came in handy a few times, but mostly Caleb and I sucked compared to Miles who seemed like he could knock down pins in his sleep. I found it so wonderfully quirky that Miles loved to bowl. It was clear that he went to that bowling alley so often that many of the other patrons that were regulars didn’t seem too awed to see him there. Though a few people still went up to him for an autograph or a picture. When we all were walking back to our cars it was clear to see that Caleb was already growing attached to Miles, who didn’t seem to grow tired of Caleb’s questions and stories about kindergarten. I was definitely in trouble because if Miles had enough patience for my son and got along well with him, well that was pretty much half of my heart already.
Miles walked us to my car and I got Caleb strapped into the backseat, but before I could get in the car Miles tugged on my hand slightly.
“So burgers at my place…say Saturday? Caleb can play in the pool too,” he said, hope clear in his eyes and I nodded.
“Of course that sounds fun.” Miles smiled at me and his almost shy expression made me giggle.
“And how about tomorrow night we go out for dinner, just the two of us?” he asked.
“Definitely,” I grinned.
Miles laced his fingers with mine and then glanced in the back seat at Caleb who was preoccupied at the moment with his tablet. Miles then leaned towards me and pressed a soft kiss to my lips that left them feeling all tingly.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he said softly and then grinned at me while he backed away and then walked off towards where he parked. I took a deep breath before I got into the car and then began the drive home.
“Mommy I like him,” Caleb said, his voice a little sleepy sounding. I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw Caleb start to doze off.
“Yeah, I like him too baby.”
*****
Miles
“Miles come look at my room!” Caleb barely even said hi when I got to Christina’s house to pick her up. The babysitter had answered the door and the shock on her face was a little priceless. Then Caleb came running up in his pajamas and pulled me through the living room and down the hall. I passed by Christina’s room and saw her putting a finishing touch on her makeup. I kind of leaned back and saw that she was wearing a bangin’ form fitting skirt and killer heels that made both her legs and ass look amazing. The blouse she wore showed off a little cleavage and I almost forgot Caleb was trying to tug me towards his room.
Christina glanced at me and smiled, “I’ll be right there promise!” she said and I nodded, kind of speechless like a teenage idiot or something.
“Come look, I have a basketball hoop in my room!” Caleb said and then I stepped into his room and saw the little hoop set up at the top of his closet door and the mini basketball.
“That’s awesome little man, do you know how to dunk?” I asked him and he shook his head and handed me the basketball. “Alright, I show you one dunk and then you can try it,” I said
and he smiled at me eagerly and nodded. In slow motion I stepped towards the hoop and did a twist, then pulled an exaggerated Jordan pose and dunked the ball through the hoop which successfully got Caleb laughing.
“Now you try,” I said and he pointed to the hoop.
“It’s too high for me,” he said and I dismissed his concern.
“Don’t worry about that, as long you believe you can do it we can make it happen,” I said and then handed him the ball, he imitated me, spinning in slow motion and when he got close to the closet door I picked him up so that he could dunk the ball.
“I did it!” he exclaimed and then gave me a high five while I put him back down.
“Alright, I’m ready,” Christina cut into our fun and Caleb pouted a little. “Don’t even Caleb, I told you we’re going over to Miles’s house this weekend, we’ll spend the whole day with him,” she said and Caleb sighed dramatically. The kid was funny.
“Okay…” he said still a little glum and then Christina went to give him a hug and spoke softly to him before she gave him a kiss and told him to be nice to the babysitter. After that we were out and headed to the restaurant.
“So how are you, how’s the job search goin’?” I asked her and she sighed.
“Well it’s going, I’ve been applying and sending out everywhere I can think of, I haven’t gotten any calls for interviews yet, but I’m hoping to find something soon,” she said and then my next question kind of came out without me thinking about it.
“So how are you on like bills and stuff? Is Caleb’s dad around?” Then I realized what I said and I glanced at her with an apologetic expression. “You don’t have to answer that if it’s too…personal,” I said and she waved away my concern.
“Don’t worry about it…well currently my brothers help out a lot with bills and such, they are all successful doctors and one is an engineer. Just until I finally get a job at a law firm… And Caleb’s dad left us when Caleb was two. The crazy thing is that Caleb still remembers his dad. But Neal barely even calls Caleb on his birthday,” she said and instantly my chest got hot with anger at the fucking deadbeat that left Christina to raise a child all on her own.