Slugger

29: And Suddenly, I'm Pregnant

I prepared myself for my dad and McKinley wearing me out but I did not think about one other variable: Jackie.

When he found out that I was leaving for the day to support Dante's game, he burst into tears and demanded to come with us, saying that he won't let me go. He's become really clingy lately and I don't know why. I call up McKinley since we're taking her car and she mutters something about an extra t shirt before she tells me that he can come along.

"Take some sandwiches for your brother," My mom busies herself with his little backpack and a water bottle with his name on it. "Jackie, listen to Kennedy and do not wander off."

He nods gleefully and puts his baseball hat on. Though he looks cute, there's nothing more I'd like to do now than run away from him and his booster seat.

McKinley calls and tells me that she's almost outside. I put my hair up in a ponytail and take Jackie's hand, leading him and his seat to where she's parked. My dad's already in the front seat, wearing his favourite yellow sunglasses and a rainbow baseball hat.

"Hey Uncle!" Jackie grins and shows off the gap in his teeth. He and my dad high five each other through the open window. "I'm coming today too!"

Dad gasps. "Yay! It'll be so much fun! That means we can grill Kenny's boyfriend for as long as we want!"

"Been there, done that," McKinley says as I belt Jackie up. "The kid's practically perfect. Anaya told me embarrassing stories but he's still a nice guy,"

"Nicer than the one from last year?"

"Everyone's nicer than the fart from last year."

I roll my eyes. "Okay, can we get going? I feel like we're going to be late and I told him we'd get there before warmups."

McKinley cackles. "You shouldn't make promises like that when a kid and an old dude is involved."

She pulls out of her parking spot and starts down the road, tapping something into her navigator. "Why not?" I ask, not really knowing what she means.

She smiles smugly and keeps on driving. "You'll see,"

-

So my first mistake was not telling Jackie to pee before we left. My second was giving him water as soon as we were driving comfortably and my third was passing one of the spare bottles to my dad. We stop three times to let them pee and I finally realise what McKinley means by not making promises when it hits one and we're not even halfway to the stadium.

Luckily enough, both my dad and Jackie fall asleep and I get to sit up front and worry about making it before Dante's first game in peace.

"Relax, Ken, I told Anaya we're going to be late."

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "We shouldn't be this late though!"

She shrugs. "It'll only be ten minutes at most. Hopefully I'll find somewhere to park – hey remember when my soccer team won for the state and you and mom spent an hour trying to park the car?" She laughs out loud.

I remember that day. Luckily enough for us, we had anticipated this and were there an hour and a half earlier than we needed to be. McKinley would've had a freak out if we missed even two seconds of her playing.

"That was a wild day," I sigh. "You remember dad blowing his kazoo when you scored a penalty?"

"Didn't he get kicked out because of that?"

I chuckle. "Almost. I pretended not to know mom and cried and they let him stay with me."

We laugh as she finds a parking space and wake up dad and Jackie. He demands to be carried and because the other two manage to escape, I'm forced to give him a piggyback. He falls asleep as soon as his head hits my back.