On the Court #Wattys2015

CH 17: The Fifth Year (part one)

"Toni..." he awed first.

He swept his gaze from top to bottom and back up again. Toni nearly sighed in relief when she thought of what she had on.

Black heels, dark gray jeans, black off-the-shoulder sweater and make-up to cover the bruising.

Not to forget the haircut that let wind blow across her neck. The glossy bob actually suit her.

"Darren," she finally croaked out.

"Uh, I...How've you been?"

"I've been...okay."

"Mama Nia, you drop jelly," Rory whined. Toni blinked a few times and took her gaze from Darren's and turned to the little girl.

"I know, sorry baby. How about grilled cheese instead of PB&J this week?"

"Yay!" she squealed, making Toni smile.

"Your daughter?" Darren quietly asked.

Toni cautiously turned back to him. "In a way, yeah," she nodded. "So, uh...what are you doing here?"

"Grocery shopping," he densely replied with a slight quirk at the corner of his mouth.

"I meant in Maryland," she lightly smiled.

"My mom's getting married and, for some reason, she likes this place."

"That's sweet."

He rolled his eyes, not really wanting to talk about his mom getting married to an immature...ugh!

Toni saw Darren's eyes shift down and to her side and watched as they slightly widened in awe. The next second Toni felt something lightly tap her arm. She looked to see Joseph there looking at her with a saddened smile and two candy bars held up to her.

He's still upset about practice.

Toni took the bars. "Mama Nia, up!"

Toni sighed and turned, getting Rory out of her seat and settling her on her hip.

When she turned back around she saw Joseph staring at Darren with his jaw dropped.

"You're..." Joseph couldn't even talk. He gulped down his little nerves and held up his ball. "Can you please sign it."

Darren knew...he just knew. It was in the hair and, god, the eyes.

He smiled down at the boy, "I'm afraid I don't have a marker."

"Mom," Joseph said, looking at Toni expectantly. She gave her purse to Joseph who rummaged through it until he found a sharpie. He gave the ball and marker to Darren and bit his lip impatiently.

"You're an...amazing player," Joseph said in complete awe.

"Thanks," Darren chuckled. He gave the ball back and the marker to Toni. "You play?"

"Y-yeah...sort of. I just started but-"

"Can you please clear the area so we can clean this mess," a store employee said the words politely.

They stepped back and watched the man clean the mess. He made it known he was checking out Toni and once he reached her eyes, he winked. She pursed her lips and flicked him off with her ring finger. He stood up after the mess was clear and his eyes widened.

"O-oh, you're um...you're Mrs. Anderson."

Toni nodded, feeling Darren's eyes on her.

"Kyle is like...the coolest guy ever."

"That's my daddy!" Rory shrieked.

Toni shook her head, "How do you know him?"

"I meet up with him every now and then with my brother. They work together. He parties-"