Rain Check?

~6~

Dempsey POV

  Carly gently holds my hand as I tell her the bare minimum about losing my father when suddenly she's waving someone over with her opposite hand. She drops mine before moving her glass between her hands and again waves at the person. 

  I take the moment to drop my head to my chest and blink back the tears that have been threatening to fall ever since I admitted mine and my dad's shared love over Cap. But, I do hear her husband whisper out, "Seriously?"  Carly shushes him just as I notice a new pair of feet join our small group, brown boots to be exact. 

  I keep my gaze lowered and fidget with the shield on my arm, the feeling of being completely out of place more prevalent than I felt earlier. I hear a deep voice speak up in greeting. "Hey again, sis."

  I feel Carly's hand on my shoulder, causing me to lift my head again looking straight at her. "You didn't get to meet this meatball at the game but, Dempsey this is my brother Chris."  She motions over to him, which I allow myself to finally look over at him. 

  "Nice costume," he says in which I can hear a cross between smugness and teasing wrapped into one. 

  But yet beyond his words, what I see is a stunningly tall brunette trying to imitate Crocodile Dundee, causing me to not pay much attention to his so called compliment. I notice Ryan trying to hold back a laugh when Chris holds his hand out to me. I accept and shake, eyeing him with curiosity. "Is it dead?" I ask him.

  He grins back at me with perfectly pearl teeth shining. "Well, if he isn't I'm gonna have a hell of a job skinning the bastard." 

  Carly and Ryan both look back and forth between us, oddly concerned by the interaction. "At least you know the movie," I tease when he finally releases my hand. 

  "Of course! 80s movies are in a whole category of their own," he tells me, still with the perfectly straight smile behind an even more perfect beard. "How do you know each other?"

  "Oh, right! Dempsey is Ethan's teacher. I would've introduced you at the game but Scott said you were on a 'work call,'" she continues with our introduction, putting quotes around the work call.  "She was the pitcher that night for the elementary teachers."

  Chris nods his head in approval of this information while pulling a bit at the necklace that's hanging around his neck adorned with fake alligator teeth.  Immediately I now notice the hint of tattoos peaking out from under the vest.

   I speak up before he can. "So you're the Disney loving uncle Ethan told me about today."

  He scrunches up his nose and points to himself, "That would be me." 

  "So then you are also the one who steals his jellybeans?" I cock my head to the side, attempting to cross my arms as much as I can while the shield is still attached to my wrist. He looks slightly panicked when I mention it. "So whose idea was the 'Parent Tax?'" I ask, looking back and forth between all three family members. 

  I chuckle lightly as Chris ducks his head behind his hand which is pulling his hat down a little further, while Carly and Ryan both look very pointedly at him. "You aren't even the parent!" I joke aloud.

  "But I reaaalllly like jellybeans," he tells me with a wide toothy grin and boisterous laugh. I can't help but roll my eyes at the boyish look that has taken over this grown man's face. He takes a pull from his drink, licking the excess left on his lip. "What else has the little heathen said about me?"

  I think back, trying to remember if there was anything else other than Disney and jellybeans. "That's it, I think." Suddenly I remember and snap my fingers. "He said you like vintage Disney. How vintage are we talking? Like Snow White era or Little Mermaid era?"