I Get A Kick Out of You

Chapter 59

"Ben! Do you have the tickets?" Ben quickly shuffled through his pockets and sighed in relief when he pulled out two tickets. "Thank God," he breathed out. "Yeah, I've got them!" He watched as Cassie came down the stairs with her hand over her four month along belly.

Even though she wasn't that far along, the hormones have been hitting her harder than any other pregnancy she's had. Ben's been especially helpful and understanding about all of it, which oftentimes made her feel terrible. She'll blow up on him for his socks being on the floor by the bed.

He knows she doesn't mean it. He just says his "yes, dear" and does anything he can to make her less emotional. More times than not, she ends up sobbing out apologies.

Today, however, she was all smiles. It was Ethan's last baseball game and there were going to be scouts in the stands just for him! They went to a game last weekend to watch a kid on the opposing team, but ended up paying more attention to Ethan. Word got around in the scouting world and the stands are going to be filled with them today!

"Ready?" Ben asked as he took her hand. With a wide smile, he told him, "Yes! I'm so excited for him, Ben!" Chuckling, he said, "I know, as am I. Cill, we're going!" Cillian came out and gave them both a hug. Since no one was able to come over and watch the kids, he volunteered.

"Thanks again, pal," Ben told him. "We'll let you know how it goes!"

Cassie was giddy the entire way to the school. Not only was this happening for her son, but he's graduating next week! Everything was coming so quickly! So much so that she started to tear up.

"Oh no, what's wrong?" Ben asked, worry etched in his voice. She shook her head as she told him, "Nothing. It's just all happening so fast, isn't it? The boys already have their rooms packed up, it's Ethan's final game. I don't know, you know?"

Ben smiled and put his hand on her leg. "Believe me, baby, I know. It's hitting me, too. What's getting me through it is the fact we've got three more chances. Yeah, it's bloody hard because they're our first borns, but they're not going anywhere. They're still our babies and they always will be."

Cassie tried to give him a tough smile and dabbed away her tears. "Besides," he continued, "if the scouts like what they see, Ethan won't have to go to college!" That got her to smile, but still said, "He would be moving away though. It's either going to be Florida or Arizona and I've already been looking at homes there."

Ben chuckled and put his hand over her's. "I know," he told her, "I've been getting the dozens of emails a day. Honestly, honey, whichever one you like go for it. It's not like we'll be living there full-time. Actually, you'll be there more than me, I'm sure. Have you decided on the apartment in New York?"

Sighing, she told him, "No, not yet. There aren't any available that have five rooms or more. I would like to have at least six just in case we have guests, or if Cill and Ethan want to stay with us." As he pulled into the parking lot of the school, he said, "I get it. I'll make some calls, I know some pretty damn good real estate agents over there."

He could barely put the car in park before she was out and heading to the field! "This woman is going to give me a heart attack," he muttered to himself.

When he eventually caught up to her, he found himself amazed at all of the people in the stands. Usually there were a few parents, the occasional teacher and one or two homeless people, but this was certainly not that.

"Are these all..." He gestured to the many people with different baseball hats on. "Scouts," Cassie told him with a wide smile. "Come on, let's see if we can get a spot at the top." As she and Ben went over, a few men quickly stood up and said, "Mrs. Cumberbatch! Such a pleasure to meet you!"

Once one of them said it, every single scout came down to greet her. Ben was shocked and a bit overwhelmed, but watched in awe as Cassie handled it flawlessly. She shook every hand, thanked every scout for coming, hyped up Ethan in the most humble way imaginable. It's like she's dealt with this before!

When they eventually took a seat—every scout offering her a spot next to them—he asked, "How were you so calm back there?" She gave him a tiny shrug, then shyly said, "I...may have had something like this happen to me when I was younger. Except it involved surfing and...well, being in the pros. I had advertising agents offering me deals."

Ben turned his entire body to her and stared in shock. "And why am I just learning of this? Why don't you like to talk about your surfing days?" She looked to the field and smiled when she saw Ethan. "Because," she said, "I don't like to talk about how...had I not gotten pregnant...I would've taken up the offer those ad agencies offered. I don't know, I always thought it might make Ethan feel bad. He loves hearing stories about it, but I've never told him I quit because I got pregnant. Sure, I could have continued after he was born, but back then...a postpartum surfer was not sexy or appealing."

She waved when Ethan spotted her. He waved back, but then gestured for her to come over. Without any hesitation, she went down the bleachers and up to the dugout.

"Hey," she said, "you okay?" Ethan leaned his forehead against the fence and took a deep breath. "What if I'm not good enough today?" He asked. "What if this is my worst game of the season?" Cassie put her fingers through the fence and told him, "That's not going to happen. You are going to go out there and you are going to play like you always have. And if you don't...so what? You've still got a full ride to Florida! You've got a second chance to learn, to grow and to show them who you are. No matter what happens out there, I'm so proud of you, baby."

He gave her a small smirk, but then sighed. "What...what if they find out I'm gay?" He whispered. "How many gay players are in the Major League? They'll tear me apart!" Cassie put her head to the fence and sternly said, "If they do, you know I will not hesitate to murder them in their sleep."

That got him to laugh. "I know you will, mom. Thanks. Fuck, I'm so nervous! Is dad here?" Cassie looked out into the stands and didn't see any sign of Joel. He promised he'd be here, but Cassie knew to take that with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, Ethan forgot to.

"I'm sure he will be," she told him. "But don't worry about that. Focus on this game and this game only. Don't think about me, Ben, your dad, Cill, what Brook did to piss you off this morning..."

Once again, he laughed. "Okay," he told her. "I'll see you on the other side."

When Cassie got back up to the stands—scouts stopping her every bit of the way—Ben knew that all of her attention was now going to be on this game and nothing else.