AMY
"JOHN! Hurry up, your dad will be here any minute!" I called from the laundry room of our two story town home.
Minutes later the doorbell rang.
"That's him John! LET'S GO PLEASE!" I called again, making my way over to the front door. I unlocked the door and unbolted the top lock and sure enough there was Ricky standing on the porch almost soaking from the rain.
"Geez Ricky. It's called an umbrella. People use them, during inclement weather" I said, stepping aside so he could come into the house. He closed the door behind him and ran a hand through his wet hair a few times.
"I thought I'd just run in from the car, I didn't think I'd get this wet. Where's John?"
I turn towards the staircase, calling my missing 9 year old son for what seemed like the 10th time in the last 10 minutes.
"JOHN, DAD'S HERE" I turned back and rolled my eyes at Ricky "Honestly. I've called him like 10 times already, here come in for a sec" We make our way to the kitchen, and he takes a seat on one of the kitchen barstools.
"Did you want a coffee or tea or anything?" I offer.
"Nah I'm good. Clementine should be off work soon and we thought we'd take John out to the movies later"
"How's she liking it?" I asked him setting down the glass of cold water on the counter in front of him, which was also littered with crumbs from John's sandwiches earlier. I picked up a dishtowel to start wiping down the counter. "Her first full week on the job right?"
"Thanks" Ricky said before picking up the glass and taking a sip "Uh well, good I think. I mean I guess there's a lot to learn so it's been a stressful week. That's why we figured it'd be nice to have a night out after she got off"
"If you guys wanted a date night to celebrate the new job, we could have kept John another day this week, you know that"
"No that's alright, we wanted to have a family night – besides we've already celebrated tons alone…this week…if you get what I mean" Ricky said, and looked at me that with that ridiculous playful smirk of his. It's hard to believe that was one of the things that made her fall in love with him all those years ago.
I roll my eyes. Something I tend to do a lot when I'm around Ricky.
"Pig" I said with a playful smile and threw my dish towel at him. He caught it and set it back down on the counter.
"What I can't help it if women tends to you know, get a little uh shall I say this…" Ricky started trying to look thoughtful as he waved a hand in front of him "well lets say we say frisky, when they're overwhelmed. I mean you know - how women get - when you guys are stressed" Ricky said jokingly. I shake my head and retort back with my own quirky comment "Oh I'm sorry, has she been picking nothing fights with you all week?"
Ricky laughed at this, and I could tell I caught him a little of guard with that. "Alright" he said nodding in defeat "You got me there, you guys like to do that too. A lot. Too much actually".
Before I could respond I heard footsteps running down the stairs and seconds later John appears in the doorway carrying his school back pack, along with a duffel bag with things he usually had to bring back and fort between the two houses he lived in each week.
"Ah finally, there he is" Ricky said turning from his seat at the barstool to face him.
"Great of you to finally grace us with your presence" I say.
"Hey dad" John said walking over to the fridge to grab a few juice boxes. "I couldn't find my history folder, I have a project I need to work on this week". John opened up his backpack and dumped a few more things inside along with the juice boxes.
"Hey so I might not be able to come to swimming tomorrow, so Matt and I will see you at your baseball game Sunday alright?" I told him.
"Alright, but can you tell Dad we have to like leave early? I always get in trouble for being late for swimming whenever he takes me"
"What? Lies!" Ricky said, pretending to be shocked "It's not nice to tell fibs about your old man John".
Ricky got off the stool and playfully hooked John's head under his arm in a headlock and messing the brown hair that was almost identical to Ricky's own brown mop.
"Aw man, dad come on" John said from under his dad's arm as he made an attempt to pull himself out of the head lock.
Ricky let go and John jumped up onto Ricky's back hanging off his neck, and reached up to mess up his Dad's head. Ricky reached back and grabbed one of John's leg towards his body as he walked towards the door, supporting the bottom half of him as he carried his son on his back towards the foyer.
I could do nothing but shake my head as I watch this 'rough' exchange and followed the two 'boys' as they made their way towards the front of the house. On the one hand, it's great they get along so well. On the other, she wondered if Ricky was ever just going to grow up. He was still very much a kid which is probably why John and him gets a long so well. He was the fun parent and she was very much…not.
"Alright the pool is like what? 15 minutes drive? We'll make sure we leave an hour before. How's that?"
"Yeah right, would you even be awake an hour before my swimming practice?" John retorted back, jumping off Ricky's back and giving him a few playful punches on the side of his hip.
"Oooohh watch it Rocky, you really got me there" Ricky reaches out to mess up the top of John's head one more time, forcing John to push away the short strands off his eyes.
"Alright, alright" I said putting an end to this father son banter, and putting on my best 'mom voice' "Cut it out you two". I turned towards John to kiss him goodbye, "I love you bud, see you Sunday – and you need a haircut" I say before kissing the top of his head, fixing his hair a little and you – I turned to face the older 'boy', god they really do look a like. Especially when they both give me that 'what'd I do look', I point an almost wagging finger in front of him "Make sure he gets to swimming on time huh"
"Always" Ricky said grinning, a grin also almost identical to Johns, then finally turned to open the door to walk out with John "Alright well take care, we'll see you at the park Sunday yeah?"
"Yep we'll see you guys there"
Just then a black truck pulled into the driveway and Matt got out still wearing his work scrubs.
"Hey guys" he called as he got out.
"Matt" Ricky replied back holding his hand up as a greeting.
"You guys leaving?" Matt asked looking at Ricky when he got to the front of the house. The rain has turned into a light drizzle.
"Yeah, actually we're going to the movies in a little bit"
"You don't want to stay for a beer?" Matt offered.
"Nah, can't. We still have to meet Clementine at home. She's probably there now looking for us" Just as he said that, Ricky's phone buzzed "That's probably her now" he says taking his phone out of his pocket. Sure enough it was a text from Clementine asking where he was. "Yep, alright John we gotta go"
"Alright you guys take care. See ya bud" Matt said to John.
"See ya Matt" John replied.
Matt stood beside me and put an arm around my shoulder as we watch Ricky drive off with John. I can't believe how lucky I am. Ricky and I have an amazing co parenting relationship. Something I would have never imagined 4 years ago when we decided to call it split. On top of that Matt and Ricky got a long really well, making the co-parent thing even easier that it already was. It makes me feel a little guilty at not trying hard enough with Clementine, when she and Ricky finally got together a few years ago. I admit, I may have been a little bitter – at the time I was thinking it just confirmed my suspicions that I wasn't really Ricky's first choice. Still, I should have been a grown up, and been happy for them and try to establish at least some kind of relationship with Clementine, especially once I've known how serious their relationship had gotten. I have tried though, these past few months. But even I knew, she could tell it felt like it was a little force. Finally when the car was out of sight, I felt Matt turn and land a soft kiss on my forehead. "How are you babe?"
"Good, how was work?"
"It was alright. Slow. Long, but glad I'm finally home with you though"
"Well you must be hungry. I have lasagna in the oven. It should be ready soon" I said turning to walk inside the house, his arm still around my shoulder.
"Mmm I love Lasagna. But you know what else I'd really like for dinner?" Matt whispered, then pressing a soft kiss behind my ear as we made their way towards the kitchen"
He could never fail to send shivers up my spine this man.
"Mmm what's that?" I whisper back, turning to face him and pressing a soft kiss on his lips.
"How long till the lasagna's done?" He asked his mouth still pressed against mine.
"10 minutes"
"I could work with that" Matt said, before I felt him grab me from under my bum and left me up against him forcing me to wrap my legs around his waist.
"Babe, I don't want the food to burn!" I squealed as he moved to bring both of us up the stair case.
"Don't worry about it, I'll make sure we're done on time"
RICKY
I woke up with the bright, hot sun hitting my face. I was tempted to keep my eyes close and pull the comforter over my head but fought against it and opened my eyes instead. As usual Clementine's side of the bed was empty. I looked at the clock. 9:30. John's baseball game is at 11, still tons of time. Forcing myself out of bed, I grabbed an old faded shirt and put it on, before heading out of the bedroom into the kitchen. Clementine was sitting on the white leather couch, her fingers busily typing away at the computer sitting on her lap.
"There's some coffee in the pot, it should still be hot" She called from the couch not looking up.
I walk over and stopped behind the couch where she was sitting to give her a kiss on the head. "Thanks babe, what you working on already?"
"It's a new case my firm got. I want to get a head start on it so I have something to bring to the table tomorrow" She said, not taking her eyes off the computer screen.
"John still asleep?" I asked, pouring myself a cup of coffee.
"Yep. Like father like son"
"Hey it's Sunday. Sundays were made for sleeping in. I'm pretty sure it even says that in the bible. Thou shall sleep in on Sundays" I yell as I made my way over to the second bedroom of our condo.
I walk into John's bedroom. The blinds were closed shut so it was still dark in there. I couldn't see John but I could see his body formed under the blankets, and I could see parts of his hair sticking up from the top of the blanket. I grabbed one of his pillows that has fallen on the floor, as it did most nights before finding a space on the bed that wasn't occupied by a limb to sit on. He definitely inherited his sleeping style from his mother.
I pulled the comforter off him and John immediately reacted by trying to grab it back up over his body.
"Nope, time to get up buddy. You need to have some breakfast and shower, we have to be at the field in about an hour".
John moaned, but rolled over onto his back and opened his eyes. "What's for breakfast?"
"Pancakes?"
"I can live with pancakes" He said stretching his arms above him and giving out a wide yawn.
I laughed "Yeah? Alright smart guy, good to know. Now get up or no pancakes for you" I said getting up off the bed and headed towards the door. I turned the lights on to make sure he did get up, which was followed by another loud moan.
An hour later we pulled up on the dirt parking lot for John's baseball game. I noticed Matt's black truck parked on the other side, so that meant He and Amy were already around here somewhere.
"Alright bud ready?" I asked glancing at the rear view mirror, just in time to see John already opening his door getting ready to jump out.
I walked around the back of the car with John to grab all of John's equipment while Clementine grabbed the food and blankets.
"Ready?" Clementine asked, holding the blankets and the bag of snacks in front of her as I closed the back of the trunk.
"Yep" I said and gave her quick peck on the cheek. John was in front of us, already running towards his friends who were on the field, practicing throwing the ball around. The other team was doing the same on the opposite size of the baseball park.
We spotted Amy and Matt chatting with a group of other young parents who were already there. We were the youngest parents on the team, which of course isn't a surprise given that we had John at such a young age. However, there were a few couples, like Jillian and Dave who were only in their early 30s who we've developed a pretty strong friendship with.
Amy caught John trying to run past her. She stopped her conversation and called out to him.
"Hey John, give your mom a hug for a sec!"
I see John sigh but run over to Amy to give her a quick hug and then quickly toward the field to join his teammates.
Finally, Clementine and I got to where Amy and Matt were sitting. Clementine and Amy give each other a quick hug of acknowledgement.
"Here man, grab a beer" Dave offers, opening the cooler and grabbing a can to hand to me.
"Thanks" I nod, before opening it up and taking a sip. Clementine had already laid out the blanket and was grabbing some work files out of her work bag.
"What's with the papers?" Dave asked looking at Clementine
She smiles at him "You know how it is with a new job, gotta make an impression, but of course I don't want to miss John's game"
"Yep it's a big one" Dave replies back.
"Oh we're going to get to the state championship" Jillian replies, as she sat down the folding chair that was beside Dave's.
"Well aren't you the confident one. Please don't go crazy mom on me and start telling of the refs in the middle of a little league game. I don't want my wife turning out to be the next viral video"
Jillian shrugs, smiling "Hey, I call it as I see it. Which is something some of these little league refs need to start doing"
Just then something started beeping and Matt fished a pager out of his pocket.
"Shit, sorry babe I gotta go" He said reading some message from a little black device.
"What happened?" Amy asks, her forehead crinkling in curiosity. It's the face she always makes when she's more curious than upset about something.
"Not sure, just some kid coming in with abdominal pain. Sounds like an appendix"
"Well what can you do, you're on call. I'll see you later?" Amy replies, leaning into Matt's kiss while trying to sound nonchalant but there is a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Thanks babe, I'm sorry to miss John's game. You think you can find a ride home?"
"Yeah man, we'll drop her off" I offer. He looks at me then back at Amy for a second, before responding.
"Great, thanks guys" He says, slapping the side of my arm before running towards the parking lot.
"Amy, come sit beside me. You can take Dave's chair" Jillian calls from where she's sitting, after Dave has left.
"Oh nice of you to offer my own seat" Dave teases.
Amy laughs but takes a seat. You boys would be standing the whole time anyways, Amy says back. This was true. Dave and I usually just ends up standing, drinking our beers through most of the game.
"Clementine, want to join us?" Jillian offers "I have another chair in the van, I can make Dave go get it"
Clementine looks up from the computer, and gives Jillian a big smile. "Oh no, that's alright – I'm good here. I really need to try and get going with this" She says motioning to the growing pile of file folders beside her lap.
"Well don't work too hard. Try and enjoy some of the outdoors while you're out here" Jillian replies back.
Clementine gives her another big smile before pulling out a pair of large sunglasses, the one that covers almost her whole face and then gets right back to what she's been doing. Jillian and Amy continue their conversation about some sort of guacamole dip recipe and Dave changes the topic from the rising cost of home hardware tools which somehow led him into a rant about 'these damn, idiotic politicians'. His words, not mine.
I look back once at Clementine, completely aloof from the group. I love the girl but sometimes I wish she got along with my friends more. I get there was a bit of a clash in personality, but it would be great to see her mingling with the other wives like Jillian and Amy. I just want her to feel like she was part of the group. I was about to say something, maybe encourage her to join us, but the game was about to start and John's team was taking their positions on the field, so I decided to let it go for now.
