Your Time

Chapter 52

{November 2032}

Billie had taken an interest in acting. As well as playing softball, Billie was in the school play. Early next year, they would be preforming Cinderella. It was now hard to tell what Billie liked better, acting, or playing softball.

Right now, she was outside playing catch with her boyfriend Taylor while reciting lines to him from the play. Taylor, who played the prince, recited his lines back.

As the lead in the play, she had to memorize plenty of lines. The show was in a month and a half, and she only had a few more lines to memorize.

When Taylor threw the softball back, Billie jumped and caught it, while doing a spin on the way down just like she would do in the play. "You're something Billie," Taylor said as she threw the ball back getting her to laugh.

After catching the throw from Taylor, Billie threw it back, this time the throw sailed over his head. "Billie!"

"Go get it!"

He did, throwing the ball back from the very backyard. Billie caught it off the bounce and threw a rocket to her boyfriend. He let the glove slip off his hand before shaking it out.

"Billie! That hurt!"

She laughed. "Come on tough guy. We're not done yet."

Taylor reluctantly put his glove back on. "I'll take it easy on you."

"Fine." He then threw the ball back to her.

It was a short throw. Before Billie could scoop the ball, Leia ran in front, grabbing the ball and running across the backyard with the ball in her mouth.

"Leia!"

Billie and Taylor both chased after the chocolate lab, trying to get the softball back. Seeing them chasing her, Leia continued to run, thinking it was some sort of game.

"Leia drop it!"

She continued to run. Taylor ran towards her, telling her to drop the ball. But when she didn't, he kept coming. As he closed in, Leia jumped to the left at the last minute, making Taylor trip and fall.

As Billie laughed, Leia barked, making fun of Taylor who now reached for the ball still in Leia's mouth. She backed away. "Leia!"

Hearing Billie's voice, she started to back away again. "Good girl."

Leia dropped the ball in front of Taylor and went over to Billie to get pet. Billie couldn't help but smile at her dog. She was one to tease her and Emma's boyfriends. Not too long ago, Emma and Jordan were playing with Leia. Jordan was playing tug of war with her. She ran around him and wrapped him with the rope before knocking him over and licking him. Another time, she tripped Taylor while they were running after a football.

After Taylor got up and brushed the grass of his clothes, Billie asked him if he wanted to catch for her.

"I don't know. You've got some pretty wicked spin."

"Come on."

"I don't know."

"You're scared."

"Fine, I'll do it."

A few minutes later, Billie was pitching to him. When she was throwing her fastball, he looked scared. "Taylor, I'm not going to hurt you."

"That fastball says otherwise."

Billie giggled. She threw pretty hard. When Taylor caught the next pitch, he shook out his hand. "Billie!"

"I'll throw changeup now."

The changeup was a lot better on his hand. Although it came in fast, it was hardly as fast as Billie's fastball. "That's more my style."

For the next half hour, Billie pitched to Taylor until he decided he wanted to try and hit off her. They went downstairs in the batting cage. She struck him out on three pitches.

"Come on, give me something I can hit."

"That was something you can hit. It was a fastball right down the middle."

Billie then threw him each of her junk pitches. Taylor didn't get the bat on any of those. It was no wonder schools like Florida and Alabama were already scouting her.

"Throw me a changeup," he encouraged.

"What? So you can hit it," Billie teased.

"Yeah."

This one he was able to foul off. "Another one of those."

Billie threw him another one. "Keep throwing those."

Instead of throwing a changeup, she threw him a curveball, which he totally missed. "Billie!"

"Fine, I'll give you another changeup."

•••

Meanwhile, upstairs in the kitchen, Harrison and Carrie where trying to make a cake while Ben played video games with a few of his friends.

They tried to make a cake. It wasn't going very well. Husband and wife already blew up one cake in the oven, which Carrie was currently cleaning.

Next month would be Adam's 21st birthday. Carrie found a few different recipes online and with all Ben's friends and Taylor over, they would have no problem eating all of the cake. So Harrison and Carrie decided to experiment with the different recipes to find the one they liked the best.

"How about this one?" He asked as she laid on the kitchen floor and cleaned out the top of the oven from the first exploding cake.

"Which one? There's 5 recipes up there!"

"The red velvet."

"We can try it." Then she laughed. "21 years together and we still can't cook."

"Sweetheart, we could just make a cake explode. That would be pretty funny."

Carrie sat up. "We can certainly do that." Hearing that made Harrison smile. "Although only if you promise to clean all the cake up."

"No thanks," he said as he helped her to her feet.

"Red velvet here we go."

For the next couple minutes, Harrison simply listened to her, and doing whatever she needed him to do. "Can you grab me the flower please?"

Harrison nodded, reaching down into the cabinet below and finding the flower that had been put back after the cake explosion. Carrie wasn't up for making another cake, but he was able to convince her.

Once they were almost finished, Carrie handed him the tray to put in the oven. "Please keep an eye on the timer so we don't have another episode of exploding cake."

He smiled. "Yes ma'am."

I tried photoshopping the pic at the top of this chapter. It sucks, I know. It's just that one spot on Harrison's neck. Both pics were in a different contrast and I couldn't find a way to combine them. I guess Harrison's face isn't meant to be on Paul Simon's body😂