Keeping It in the Family (Linstead)

Chapter 92

Jay and Erin had only stayed at Molly's for one drink with the rest of the team. Although it had been a pleasant experience, Jay had felt like he wanted to get home. It had been a long, stressful, unpleasant day, plus he had wanted to get home in time to see Clementine before her bed time, and to unwind in his own environment.

"We're home!" Erin called out, leading Jay into the apartment.

"Hi! We're in the living room!" Kayla called back.

Jay took his coat off and hung it up as Erin did the same, stuffing her gloves into a pocket. They went through to the living room and found Clementine and Kayla watching baseball highlights on the TV, possibly the least surprising turn of events of all time.

"Hi!" Clementine said, getting off the couch to come over for hugs. Jay suspected she was quite affectionate for a twelve year old, and how happy she was to see them always made him feel a kind of happiness that he would struggle to put into words. As was almost always the case, she went to Erin first.

"Hey, Clem," Erin said, crouching down for the hug. "How was your day?"

"School sucked. But I did my homework with Kayla, and she let me put baseball on afterwards."

"Hi, Clem. I missed you today," Jay said when she came to him. They hugged.

"I missed you too."

"Why did school suck?" he asked her.

"They wanted us to talk about what job we want to do when we get older. I didn't know what to say. I don't know what I want to do. I mean, I want to be a baseball player but that's not going to happen because I suck."

Jay chose not to remind her that she had talked about wanting to be a cop soon after the mall shooting. Policing was dangerous work, and only getting more so with the passage of time. He didn't particularly want his daughter to get into it, although he would support her if she did want to. Since she hadn't mentioned it in months, he doubted that she was even thinking about it at this point.

"We had this conversation earlier, and I said she could look at going into broadcasting," Kayla said. "They have interviewers, announcers, hosts, all kinds of things on baseball coverage."

"I think I've suggested that before too," Erin said. "Would you like to do that, Clem? I think you could make a great announcer. You sure know your baseball."

Clementine shrugged. "I don't know."

That struck Jay as a very typical twelve year old response. At that age, needing to work for a living seemed like it was a hundred years away. It was their job as parents to nurture her interest in baseball, and if she so desired at a later date, help her pursue a job in that field.

"I didn't know you guys would be back by now. I've not cleaned the kitchen up yet after dinner," Kayla said.

"It's fine, Kayla, I got it," Erin said. "You can take off. We'll see you in the morning."

"Are you sure?" Kayla asked, obviously surprised to be relieved of the task.

"Yeah. Clem and I will do it together."

"We will?" Clementine objected, and everyone had to laugh.

"Yeah," Erin said. "When you're a bit older you're going to have to do chores by yourself, so you might as well get some practice in. Besides, we can chat and have fun while we work."

Jay said, "And when you're done you can take your shower, then I'll read a chapter of Lord of the Rings to you in bed. How does that sound?"

"I was hoping you would," Clem said, brightening up straight away.