Hello my lovely peeps! I have a confession to make. I know absolutely nothing about baseball. I have never played it (or softball), watched it, been interested in it, anything. I had to watch a few youtube videos to write this chapter. That being said, I apologize if anything is inaccurate!
I appreciate all of the support and feedback so much!
Have a great day! XOXO
The next week
"Alright recruits, this week we're going to work on throwing. Do you think you can handle it?" Peter asked.
"Yes coach!" Noah yelled, ready to learn some more.
"How about you Olivia?"
"Yes coach" She said in a far less enthused tone. This is where she really needed to pay attention. She had no idea what the correct form was for throwing and she knew Peter would be frustrated if she didn't correct Noah when they were alone.
"I need you both to watch me very closely" He instructed as he picked up a ball. "Be ready to catch this one Liv".
He wouldn't throw as hard as he did when he was a pro, right?
"There are three steps we're going to go through here. We're going to call the first step "break". All you're going to do for this one is put your hand in your glove, grabbing the ball. Everybody got that so far?"
Olivia could see Noah mimicking the motions out of the corner of her eye, and she could only hope he was that good in school.
"Next we're going to bring our arm down and around, making sure we check our knuckles and adjust accordingly. The goal is to have our fingers look like bunny ears on the ball. That will give us better control".
He nodded at Olivia, letting her know to raise up her glove to catch his throw.
"The last step is to point our elbow at our target. Noah, you see how your mom is holding up her glove? Her glove is my target. Once you get really good at this, she should barely have to move to catch the ball, if she has to move at all. We're going to look over our elbow at our target and then we're just going to throw".
Olivia flinched when he let go of the ball, but calmed down the second it landed in her glove. She didn't have to move at all. He threw it just hard enough to get to her. In fact, she barely even felt it.
"Alright Liv, now throw it back".
She did each step exactly as instructed, surprised that she had only missed his glove by a few inches.
"Very nice Liv. I'm going to throw it to you Noah, try to catch it. Just keep your eye on the ball and make sure you keep your other hand right by your glove so the ball doesn't bounce out and hit you in the face".
Much to her surprise, he caught it with ease.
"Did you see that coach? I caught it!" Noah cheered.
"Very nice Noah! Now throw it back to me". Peter took a step forward, expecting the throw to come up short. "Can you tell me the steps?"
"First is break" He said as he got in to position. "Then we go up and around".
Peter jogged over to him and put his arm into position. "It's down and around, but you're doing great so far". He ran back over to his spot, ready to catch the ball.
"Then we point our elbow at our target and throw".
Noah threw the ball right to Peter's glove, shocking both adults.
"Way to go Noah" Olivia congratulated.
"That was awesome bud" Peter said, running back over to give him a high five. "I think your mom could use some more work on it though, so why don't you two partner up and I'll go get us some waters". He winked at Olivia, trying to tell her that he was only teasing. They were both doing great so far.
As Peter made his way over to a vendor nearby, Olivia took the opportunity to see how Noah was liking his practice.
"So Noah, do you think that working with Peter is fun?" Her next throw was a bit off, forcing him to chase after the ball.
"Coach is a lot of fun! What about you momma?" He threw another one perfectly to her glove and she had to admit that it seemed like he had a knack for it.
"I'm having a lot of fun". And she was. It was great to spend quality time with Noah, and it was nice seeing Peter outside of work.
"Looking good guys" Peter complemented with his hands full of water bottles. "Let's take a drink break and if you're up for it Noah we can start working on fielding. That means you'll have to hit Liv. Do you think you can handle that, or do you need me to teach you quickly?"
She knew he was being smart with her, but she decided to have some fun with it. "Oh yeah, you need to teach me quickly. I'd never be able to figure it out on my own".
"If you insist". He raised the tee as high as it could go, which was only up to her knees. Olivia grabbed the bat and held it left over right, knowing that that was the wrong way and stood up completely straight next to the tee.
"Am I doing it right?"
Peter chuckled and shook his head. "You are a piece of work Benson". He stood behind her, reaching around her to first fix her hands. "Dominant on top" He clarified, referring to her hands.
"That's the way one would expect it" She quipped.
Her cheeks turned bright red. Did she really say that out loud?
Unable to control himself, Peter laughed. Loudly. "That's a lap Benson".
"It was worth it". That's right, play it off like you meant to say it.
He managed to regain his composure and continue with his instruction. "Now bend your knees a little".
"One again, exactly how one would expec-"
"Shut up" He interrupted, trying not to laugh again. "Make that two".
She didn't know what was up with her today, but they both seemed to be enjoying it. It was obvious that she was starting to let her guard down, but she didn't expect that to be the first thing to come out.
"Step with your front foot and swing, keeping your eyes on the ball and following through with your hips". She could feel her skin tingling under his touch, but she had to ignore it. He guided her arms, helping her to keep her form. The ball soared through the air, flying over the fence for the park.
"Oops" She said with a shocked look on her face. To be fair, maybe they shouldn't be facing the fence to begin with. That and they should have brought more than one ball.
"Well it looks like I have to get balls this week" Peter deadpanned, knowing exactly what he said.
Olivia busted up laughing, not caring how childish that made her look. "I know, I know. Three laps. I don't care. I couldn't hold it in". She wiped away the tears that had formed from laughing too hard.
Noah looked back and forth between the two adults, completely lost. "What's so funny?" He asked Peter.
"It's nothing bud, your mom is in a very silly mood. That's all. Why don't you help me clean up while your mom does her run?"
Her legs felt like jello when she was finished, telling her just how out of shape she had gotten over the years. She grabbed her water bottle and took a swig, trying to ease the slight pain in her chest. It took her a moment to catch her breath. When she was ready, Peter handed her their gloves and bat so he could lift Noah up to sit on his shoulders and carry the tee.
"Pizza?" Peter offered, knowing that they were ready for lunch.
"PIZZA" Noah yelled, throwing his fist in the air.
"My son has spoken, pizza it is".
Peter carried a sleeping Noah up to Olivia's apartment, doing his best not to wake him up . They had tuckered him out and his belly was full, the perfect recipe for a nice afternoon nap.
"You can put him down on his bed" Olivia said as she carefully took off his sneakers.
He came back a moment later with a smile on his face. "You have a really great kid LIv. Thank you for letting me teach him".
He was thanking her?
"You're amazing with him Peter. I was actually worried that you wouldn't be able to break things down enough for him, but I had no reason to worry. He looks up to you, and I can't thank you enough for that".
"Like I said before, he's a great kid...And you're a great mom".
There was that fluttered again.
"That means a lot to me".
They stood there, just looking at each other for a second before Peter cleared his throat.
"Well I guess I should get going".
Olivia flopped down on her couch as soon as the door shut, burying her face in a throw pillow.
She was crushing on the coach.
Hard.
I do not own Law and Order SVU or the characters.