Loose Ends

Chapter 44

"Your turn," she told him with a smile. She held her excited toddler in her lap, who waved his little pompom with glee, and then draped her blanket over him while Ricky finished off the contents of the container. Placing the empty container back in the bag, he scooted closer to Amy, putting his arm around her waist with a smile. He was aware that several students kept looking at them curiously, as many had never seen their kid before, but he didn't care. Tonight was about doing something ordinary, and totally high school, with his girlfriend. However, unknown to him or Amy, several students were snapping pictures of them and texting them to their friends, surprised to finally see what Amy and Ricky's kid looked like.

Several bleachers away and a few rows higher, Ashley and Griffin were enjoying themselves people watching. They were eyeing the spectators and amusing themselves trying to pick out the diehard fans from the posers.

"Blue hat and gloves," Ashley said, indicating a girl four rows below them and several seats to their right. "She's definitely a poser."

"And why's that?" Griffin asked.

"You can tell she's never been to a football game before because she's only wearing a long sleeved t-shirt. We may live in LA but it still gets a little chilly at night this time of year and she didn't get the memo." Griffin chuckled and began gazing out over the crowd again.

"Front row, grey hoodie," he said with a smile.

"Because?"

"Look at him. He's so focused on that cheerleader's butt he doesn't care that the game's started." Ashley glanced at the guy in question and nodded in agreement. Towards the middle of the bleachers sat Grant and Grace, sharing a container of nachos.

"These are pretty good," Grace said, stuffing two cheesy chips in her mouth and chewing with satisfaction. Grant chuckled at her.

"Are we enjoying ourselves?" he asked teasingly, eating a couple of chips as well. Grace nodded.

"When I was on the squad we never got to go to the concession stand. We had to eat before the game and pack a snack for halftime." Grant swallowed the chips he'd been chewing.

"But I thought the cheerleaders performed during halftime?"

"We do, but we get a little break towards the end to go to the bathroom if we need to or scarf down our snack. I've never gotten anything from the booster club's concession stand at games," she explained. She wiped her mouth and took a drink of her soda. "You know it's kinda nice to just be a spectator," she told Grant with a smile. Suddenly the crowd began to cheer as the Lancers intercepted a pass and made a first down and Grace and Grant turned their attention back to the field. The game turned out to be pretty exciting, with the score staying pretty evenly matched for most of the game. Ricky explained what was going on to Amy when she asked him a question and he encouraged John to wave his pompom when the crowd cheered and clap along when the cheerleaders led the crowd in various chants. When halftime began Justin stood up.

"I'm making a food run. You want anything Madison? Lauren?"

"Ohhh! A hot chocolate please!" Madison said while rubbing her slightly chilled hands together.

"I'm good thanks," Lauren said, adjusting her Lancer blanket on her lap. Ricky glanced at Amy and saw that she was tucking hers a little tighter around John.

"You want anything, Amy?" he asked.

"Actually hot chocolate sounds great." Ricky stood to join Justin and they headed to the concession stand. Just as they reached the bottom of the bleachers, the announcer announced the start of the halftime show and, much to Amy's surprise, John was still wide awake. As the marching band began performing he pointed to the field excitedly.

"Mommy, moos-ik!" he informed her, looking up at her with a smile. She smiled down at him.

"I see 'em, buddy." John began clapping along with the rest of the crowd during the show. Ricky and Justin returned about halfway through the performance.

"How much do I owe you?" Madison asked Justin, taking her hot chocolate from him.

"My treat," he told her with a smile, kissing her cheek as he sat down and then digging into the chili dog he'd gotten for himself. Ricky shook his head at Amy before she could ask the same question, letting her know it was his treat. He set her hot chocolate on the bleacher next to her and held out his arms for John. Once John was transferred to his daddy's lap and once more nice and warm beneath his mommy's new Lancer blanket, he promptly dozed off. He was unaware that the Lancers ended up winning the game by one point. When the game ended, Ricky stood and shifted his sleeping son in his arms so he could help Amy stand up as well. They made their way to the parking lot hand in hand and Ricky walked her to her car. She put her purse in the backseat and then they waited for Ashley, who joined them a few minutes later. She kissed her nephew's cheek and then got into the passenger side while Amy kissed her son and boyfriend goodnight.

"I'll see you Sunday," she told Ricky quietly, so as not to disturb John.

"See you Sunday." He waited until she'd backed out of her parking spot before heading to his own car and securing John in his car seat. He didn't notice several students looking his way as they walked past his car, curious to see his kid up close. Once he got back to his apartment, Ricky quickly and gently got John changed for bed, glad that his son wasn't a light sleeper. After John was tucked in, Ricky quickly showered and changed for bed himself. He made sure to set up the baby gate in front of the bedroom door so John couldn't reach the doorknob and wander around the rest of the apartment if he climbed out of his crib again. As he drifted off to sleep, he couldn't help but smile. He and Amy had survived their first sporting events outing with John unscathed. Sometimes doing something like a normal teenager wasn't so bad.