Disclaimer: Disney owns PRJF. I am not making any profit by writing this.
A/N: So, I loved, the dynamic, rapport, whatever you want to call it, between Josh and Casey, hence this story.
Casey's Cub
A woman in her mid twenties walked into Jungle Karma Pizza. She had short, light brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. She had brown eyes and was fair-skinned. Following behind her was Josh.
Upon seeing Josh, Casey got down on Josh's level, and the two gave each other a high five.
"Hey Josh," Casey said.
"Hey Casey," Josh replied.
"Oh, so you are Casey! Josh has told me so much about you. I'm Josh's mother, Julia," the woman said introducing herself and offering Casey her hand.
Casey rose to his feet and shook hands with her. "Nice to meet you, Julia. What brings you two by?"
"Well, Josh here wants to try out for little league baseball, but I don't know anything about it. Anyways, he thought I could ask you to help him out," Julia explained.
"Oh, well you're in luck. I used to be the catcher on my baseball team," Casey answered.
"I know it's short notice, but if you're not too busy, why don't you come with us? We're about to head home."
Lily walked over to where Casey, Julia, and Josh were located. She offered Julia her hand to shake.
"Hi! I'm Lily. Casey's—" the yellow ranger started to say before she was interrupted.
"Friend! Yep, Lily and I are buds," Casey stated.
"Oh, so you two aren't like dating or anything, are you?" Julia asked.
"Ha! Of course not!" Casey replied.
Lily smacked him on the shoulder as he said "ouch!"
"It's just…never mind. So, are you ready to go, Casey?" Julia inquired.
"Sure. Have fun working, Lil," Casey called out as he, Julia, and Josh left Jungle Karma Pizza.
"Have fun working Lil," the cheetah said imitating Casey mockingly.
Theo walked over to Lily.
"Someone's jealous," the jaguar commented.
"I am not jealous! Did you see the way she was looking at Casey? She was so into him! They better not hook up because she is way too old for him! Plus, there's the whole she has a kid thing! I mean, Casey is not ready to be a father!" Lily rambled.
"I don't see what's wrong if she is into him. I thought Casey was like a little brother to you?"
"That's not cool, T! You know how much I hate it when you throw my own words back in my face!"
"I'm just saying," Theo said holding his hands up in defense.
"All I'm saying is she better not try to get to first base with him. Or for that matter, second or third base."
"Just admit it, Lil. You're jealous."
"I'm not jealous! Don't you have some tables to wipe down?"
PRJF-PRJF-PRJF
In Josh's backyard, he and Casey were throwing a baseball around. The red ranger knelt in the grass, and Josh had a baseball glove on his left hand waiting for the ball to be thrown.
Casey lightly tossed the ball underhand, and just like all the prior occasions, Josh dropped the ball.
"Oh, almost. Remember to keep your eye on the ball, Josh," Casey said.
Josh took off his baseball glove, and chucked it out of anger. He folded his arms over his chest, and plopped his butt on the lawn.
"It's no use. I'm never gonna get picked!" Josh pouted.
Casey went over to Josh, and put a hand on his shoulder. He insisted on staying at Josh's level so that way he didn't come across as an intimidating figure towering over him.
"Hey, I'll let you in on a little secret. When I was your age, I played little league baseball too. When I first started out, I couldn't hit the ball. I couldn't catch it either. I practiced and I practiced, and soon I was pretty good. You just have to keep working at it. Never give up. Sometimes doing what you want to do isn't easy, but that doesn't mean it's impossible." Casey said.
A few attempts later, and Josh caught the ball for the first time. A big smile spread across his face. He kept the ball in his baseball glove, and ran in to show his mom.
"Mommy, look. I caught it! See? There's the ball!"
"That's great, sweetheart! Want to show mommy how you can catch baseballs now?"
Josh eagerly raced back outside, and his mother followed behind him. After Josh gave Casey the ball, he backed up. Casey tossed the ball underhand, and Josh caught it. They repeated the process five more times in a row.
"Wow! You're a really good catcher, honey!" Julia beamed proudly.
"Thanks to Casey. He told me to keep practicing and never give up," Josh responded.
"Why don't you go upstairs, and wash your hands. Dinner's almost ready."
Josh ran back inside. Casey stood up on his feet as Julia walked over to him.
"Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it," she said.
"It's not a problem. Josh is a good kid too," Casey stated.
"Yeah, he is."
"If you don't mind me asking, where's the father?"
Julia looked down at the ground and remained silent.
"I'm sorry. It's not my business. You don't have to answer," Casey said apologetically.
"No, it's okay. I had Josh when I was 16. His father wasn't ready to be a father and wanted to have nothing to do with him, so I ended up raising him on my own."
"Well, you've done a great job. You're an excellent mother. Really, you are."
"Sometimes I feel bad that Josh doesn't have a sort of father figure in his life, you know?"
"What and you want me to be a father figure to Josh?"
"No. I mean, if you wanted to, that would be great. Josh really likes you. You're pretty good with kids yourself."
"Well, that's because I have younger sisters."
"Do you want to stay for dinner?"
"Sure, if it's not any trouble."
"No. No trouble at all."
"Good. Josh and I still have to work on his hitting now that he's got catching down."
PRJF-PRJF-PRJF
After dinner, Josh and Casey were back in the backyard. This time, Josh had a wooden bat. There was a tee set up, upon which was a baseball.
"Okay, now open up your elbows. There, just like that. Spread your feet apart. No, not that much. There, that's better. Bend your knees. Great, now aim for the center of the ball," Casey instructed.
Josh swung his arms, and the rest of his body went along for the ride. The bat slipped out of his hands and hit Casey, who was kneeling in the grass a few feet away, in the face.
"Oops! I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Josh asked running over to him.
Casey laughed it off. "Yeah. I'm okay. You've got quite an arm there. Let's try it again. This time, try to hold on to the bat."
Josh tried a second time, but again, he swung and he missed. On the bright side though, he held on to the bat this time.
"Hold on. I'll be right back," Casey said before heading inside.
A few moments later, he came back out with a neon orange smiley face sticker. Casey stuck it on the center of the baseball.
"Okay, now all you have to do is aim for that orange smiley face," the red ranger said.
Josh picked up the bat, got into the proper stance, and swung again. He proved that the third time is the charm as he hit the ball off the tee.
"Okay Josh, it's time to come inside now. It's starting to get dark out," Julia said.
"Bye Casey," Josh said giving Casey a hug.
"See you later chief," Casey replied.
Josh ran inside. He stopped on the porch, and turned around.
"Tryouts are tomorrow. You're gonna be there, right?" Josh asked.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Casey answered.
Josh's face lit up after hearing that. He turned back around and headed inside to his waiting mother.
A few minutes later, after Julia had tucked Josh in for bed, she came out to the back porch where Casey was sitting.
"You're free to leave anytime you know. Thanks again for doing this. It really meant a lot to Josh," Julia said.
"No problem. I'd do anything for that kid," Casey responded.
The next thing Casey knew, Julia leaned her head in and kissed him on the lips. It must have been out of instinct because a few seconds later, she pulled her head back.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," she said.
"It's okay," Casey replied reassuringly.
"No, it's not okay. I'm 25 and you're—how old are you?"
"18."
"18?!"
There was an awkward silence. All the color seemed to have drained from Julia's face. She now looked as white as a ghost.
"I should be getting back. I'll see you tomorrow at Josh's tryouts. Uh…where are they by the way?" Casey asked.
After not getting an answer, and realizing that Julia wasn't even blinking, Casey waved a hand in front of her.
"Hello?"
"Huh? Did you say something?"
"Where are Josh's tryouts at?"
"The Ocean Bluff Park at 11 o'clock."
"Great. I'll see you then."
PRJF-PRJF-PRJF
The next day, at Josh's tryouts, Casey and Julia were sitting in the front row of bleachers. It was Josh's turn to bat.
"Okay Josh. You can do it. Remember where the orange smiley face was when we were practicing last night?" Casey asked.
"Yeah."
"Pretend it's there, and aim for that."
Josh got into a stance just like Casey showed him to. He tightened his grip on his bat. He pulled his arms back, and swung. The ball was hit off the tee, and flew a reasonable distance.
Casey rose to his feet and gave Josh a standing ovation. "Way to go, Josh!"
Later, in tryouts, it was Josh's turn to catch. The coach prepared to toss him the ball.
"Let's go, Josh! You got this! Just like last night. Keep your eye on the ball." Casey said.
The coach threw the ball underhand, and Josh caught it with ease in his baseball glove. Casey jumped up out of his seat and gave Josh another standing ovation.
"Way to go, chief!" he shouted.
When tryouts were over, the coach had all of the kids line up in front of him. He had a clipboard in his hands. On it were the names of the kids who made the cut. He started calling out some names.
"Josh Taylor," the coach said.
A look of pure joy was apparent on Josh's face. Even though there were only two of them rooting Josh on, Casey and Julia cheered like nobody else's business.
Not too much later, they were heading back to the car. Josh grabbed Casey by the arm, stopping him.
"I did it Casey! Thanks to you," Josh said.
Casey got down on his knees so that he was looking at Josh face-to-face.
"Nah. I only helped. You're the one who did all the work. You're the one who put in all the practice," Casey replied.
"Are you going to come over for dinner again tonight? Because my mom couldn't stop talking about how she kissed you last night. She thinks you're hot," Josh stated.
"Okay, Josh. Time to go home. Bye, Casey."
"Sorry buddy, but I have to work tonight. Maybe some other time though." Casey called out as Julia ushered Josh to her car like there was no tomorrow.
The End