Chapter 66
Shelby had Sunday brunch with her aunt and uncle and cousins at the diner per the deal. The boys wanted to help introduce their cousin to the basics of soccer, so they begged Luke to let them take Shelby for a couple hours. Since Jess had gone off to run some errands, Luke couldn't send him this time. Rebecca assured him though, nothing was going to happen and that no one was going to bring up Rachel. It took a lot to get him to say yes. It helped when Luke asked Shelby what she thought of going to the park with them alone and said she didn't mind and admitted she wanted to go. So, he let them take her. It made him a nervous wreck for sure, but then what didn't? Thankfully, it worked out well and Shelby had a great time learning the basics of soccer. They had to go to the sporting goods store for a soccer ball, which the boys let Shelby keep, thus gaining another new ball. They even helped Luke out and got her a pair of socks, shin guards, and soccer cleats, which was what Luke needed to get, anyway.
Her first practice ended up being on Tuesday, a couple hours after Shelby got home from school. Leaving Caesar and Jess in charge, Luke and Shelby drove over to where the practices and games were being held, parking beside the field. The minute Shelby spotted her teacher, she dashed over to him.
Instead of sitting with the soccer moms, Luke turned his truck around and parked backwards, sitting on the tailgate to watch.
Mr. Harris had the kids introduce themselves first before starting some stretches and warm-ups, then taught them some drills, starting with the basics. The first time the kids took a water break, Luke had to whistle to her to grab her attention and waved Shelby over when she found him. Shelby hurried over to take the water bottle they brought with them.
"Doing great out there, kiddo," he praised, passing her the water bottle.
Shelby took a long drink before thanking her dad.
"You like it so far?"
She gave a quick shrug. "It's okay."
"Well, just remember our deal. Stick through the season, then you won't have to play again if you don't want to. Gotta see things through until the end without quitting," Luke reminded her.
Shelby nodded. "Okay, Dad."
"Besides, you can use this as practice for basketball. You know, like moving around the court and passing, and stuff like that."
Her eyebrows rose at that. "This can help me with bas'i'ball?" she asked in surprise.
"Sure, you bet. There's some similarities between the two," he said.
That got her excited once again. Once Shelby had her fill, she handed the water bottle back to him and Luke told her to hustle back to her team.
This time around, there were a few other girls besides Shelby, on her team, instead of just boys. Any time Mr. Harris asked for a volunteer to help demonstrate a drill or move, Shelby would raise her hand to volunteer, jumping up when he called on her. She still said nothing, but was a good little assistant, trying her best.
While the practice continued, one of the soccer moms came over to Luke. The mom really looked the part, too. Down to the jogging suit, to the fancy, white-framed sunglasses on top of her head. She also wore Nikes tennis shoes.
"Luke Danes, right?"
Luke stood up from the tailgate to shake her hand. "That's right." He then pointed out his kid as the one with the backwards baseball cap.
She smiled, sweetly. "I kind of figured she was yours. Just a hunch." The woman gave him a friendly wink. "I'm Caitlyn Hudson. Mine is Jacob," she pointed over to a boy with short, light brown hair. "He's the one with the freckles all over his face."
Luke looked over, spotting the kid. "Okay," he replied.
"I was just going around meeting all the parents, making sure everyone signs up," Caitlyn got right down to it.
He stared at the soccer mom, confused. "Sign up for what?"
"To bring the snacks, of course." She says like I should know this. "There are twelve kids and twelve games, so each game, a parent is required to bring some kind of snack along with a drink. No soda or anything high in sugar, please. We don't need a bunch of seven-year-olds bouncing off the walls." Caitlyn laughed as if she had said a joke.
"I limit the soda and sugar my kid has, anyway," he shrugged off and tried to go along with the joke. "I would prefer not having one kid not bouncing off the walls."
"Perfect. So which game would you like to have?" Caitlyn handed him a clipboard with a list of the games and a space to sign his name next to. Luke took it, looking the list over. "If you, for whatever reason, cannot make the game you pick, please call me the night before, and I can bring something for you. Otherwise, they won't have anything."
He glanced up at her from the clipboard.
"I'll make sure there's a contact list when the uniforms are passed out at the next practice on Thursday," she assured him.
Since he seemed to be one of the last ones who hadn't chosen a game yet, Luke had to choose one of the later games in the season. He went with the first game in May, signing his name before passing the clipboard back to Caitlyn, who thanked him.
"And I will also make up a calendar as a reminder for everyone which day is theirs. Us parents all have a thousand things to remember at once. So, it's easier to have a calendar to put on the fridge to remind us."
"Sure," he replied, hoping this conversation would end soon.
"Well, it was nice talking with you, Luke." Caitlyn shook his hand one last time before turning to leave. Once she left, Luke turned back to the practice, sitting back down on the tailgate. So, guess he was going to have to figure out what to bring for a dozen little kids as a snack. At least he had a couple months to think about it.
The practice went on for about an hour until the kids were dismissed. Shelby hurried over to her dad once again.
"Hey, kiddo. What do you think overall now?" Luke asked, passing the water bottle.
"Be'ter. Did you see I was helping Mister... I mean Coach Harris?"
"Yeah, good job volunteering out there," he praised.
She smiled brightly at the praise.
Thursday's practice was a few more drills before playing a scrimmage game for the rest of the time. Shelby ended up being on the team who had to wear the netted shirts on over their clothes to tell the teams apart. The kids did well, but still had a lot to learn. It was only the first week, though.
The second practice ended up going for an extra fifteen minutes while the uniforms and schedules got passed out. This time, Shelby's team color was red, so the shirts were all red with a black trim around the bottoms of the sleeves and around the V-shaped collar, and had three lines going down the tops of the sleeves. The uniforms also came with black soccer shorts.
"Don't forget, parents," Mr. Harris called out once the uniforms were all passed out, catching them before everyone left. "Our first game is right here at nine AM. Please be here at least thirty minutes early to have the kids warm up before we play." With that said, the kids were dismissed.
Luke let Shelby climb in on his side, sliding in once she had scooted over. "You ready for your first game on Saturday?" he asked, starting the truck. Since Luke was already facing outward as he had done during the first practice, it was easier pulling out of the parking lot.
"I hope so. Coach Harris told us to be thinking abou' wha' to name our team," she said. Her uniform and everything were on the seat between them.
"What are you thinking? If it were up to you, what would you name your team?"
Shelby looked up towards the ceiling of the truck as if to ponder on the question. "The firebol's, like Harry Po'ter's broom'tick."
"Why?" Luke questioned.
She shrugged. "I think i' sounds cool for a team name." Things went quiet for a few minutes before Shelby broke it again. "Um, Dad?"
"Yeah?" he acknowledged her, glancing out of the corner of his eye as Luke drove.
"Can Nicole come on Sa'urday?"
"You would have to ask her, but sure if she wants to," he shrugged. "Are you gonna invite Lorelai and Rory?"
To his surprise, Shelby shrugged. "Sure, if they wan' to come."
Luke stared over at the kid for a moment, quickly returning his gaze to the road ahead. "But you usually want Lorelai and Rory to come to your games."
"Yeah, bu' I know they don' like 'por's. Jess don' have to come either. I know they like to spend time with each other alone." Luke couldn't help think back to the cousins' conversation he partly overheard. The next morning after that night, Luke hadn't been sure if he had been dreaming or not.
"I mean, I'm sure if you ask them, they'll come to your game. Lorelai and Rory seem to enjoy watching you play at least, and Rory went to the hockey game, remember?" he reminded her.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, they can come," she nodded her head.
They didn't see the Gilmores until the next morning when they came for breakfast. By this point, Luke had made up new menus, adding a few more items than before. Most importantly, salads. Both Lorelai and Rory, and Lane who joined in the fun, gave him a hard time about it, teasing him about how Nicole had him menu-whipped, which he irritably argued against. When he eventually got the old menus out to satisfy Lorelai, she still gave him a hard time with everyone having a new menu and not her. Luke just walked away slowly without saying another word. It was a wonder the guy didn't have high blood pressure at this point.
"Tha' was mean," he overheard Shelby scold Lorelai, interrupting the laughter.
"What? We were just poking fun at him," Lorelai assured the little girl with one last snicker.
"I's 'till mean." She then turned and stated only Rory and Lane were allowed to come to her first soccer game on Saturday.
Lorelai let out a fake gasp. "How come I can't come?" she asked, hurt.
"Because you were mean to my dad."
"But I wasn't picking on him to be mean. You know I wouldn't intentionally do anything mean to him on purpose," she reminded Shelby, sincerely.
"Bu' i' was," Shelby argued, as if she, too, was hurt by all this.
"Okay. Would you like for me to apologize, sweetheart?"
"To Dad? Yes, please."
"Okay." Lorelai stood up and wandered over to where Luke was standing at the counter. "Luke, I would like to say I am sorry for teasing you about the menus." She tried to be sincere as possible while keeping a straight face.
He thanked her for the apology and for the effort, but wasn't sure why Shelby got upset over this when she was usually joining in the fun, picking on him, laughing along with them.
Lorelai turned back to Shelby. "Is that better?" she asked in a better sincere voice for Shelby.
She nodded.
"So, does that mean I can come to your game tomorrow?"
That time, Shelby thought on it before agreeing. "Yes, you may," she nodded once.
Lorelai kneeled to her level. "How come you're upset with me picking on your dad?" she asked with curiosity. "You never got upset before."
Shelby held her hands behind her back, staring at the floor.
"Hm?" Lorelai ducked her head to meet the little girl's eyes. Shelby chewed on her lip. "What's going on, sweetie?"
"I... I jus' don' like you picking on Dad anymore," she just shrugged it off. "A' leas' no' too much."
"But it's fun," she snickered.
"No' fun for Dad," Shelby pointed out, making Luke smile at what he was doing.
"Okay, I'll try to ease up on your dad," Lorelai reluctantly gave in. "It'll be hard, but I will try my best."
Shelby thanked her, politely.
"Can I have a hug?" she asked.
Shelby nodded and gave Lorelai a hug.
The following morning, Shelby had to be up bright and early for the first game of the season. Luke made sure she had a well-balanced breakfast before getting dressed in her uniform, helping her with her socks and shin guards.
"Dad."
"Hm?"
"Did you play soccer when you were a kid?" she asked curiously.
"Nope," he replied. "Only baseball and hockey. Then later, in high school, I did track." Luke nodded his head over towards his trophies that now shared space with his kid's T-ball and basketball participation trophies.
"How come you didn' try other spor's? You didn' wan' to?"
Luke just shrugged as he pulled the last sock up over her shin guard. "Just wasn't interested in any other sport."
"Oh, okay." She accepted the answer. "I like baseball and bas'i'ball."
"That's good, kiddo," he told her with a smile. Luke got her cleats ready, loosening the laces so Shelby could get her feet inside. They finished getting ready so they could leave on time for the game.
Luke had to ask for Shelby if Nicole wanted to come since he picked her up for their date. Nicole was happy to come cheer Shelby on and told him she'd meet them there. Having worked late the night before, Jess got out of going, but promised he would catch at least one game during the season when he got the puppy dog face that made him squirm.
Of course, Shelby still had her usual cheering squad that has come to most of her T-ball and basketball games, sitting on the sidelines with the soccer moms. Having no bleachers to sit on, everyone either brought blankets or folding chairs while the kids sat in the grass until the coaches swapped them in with another player to give everyone a chance to play.
Luke continued to sit back alone on the tailgate.
"Not interested in sitting with the other parents, I see?" Nicole asked, sitting with him. He had put down a blanket to sit on, instead of directly on the tailgate.
"Not particularly fond of hearing about the latest soccer mom gossip," he stated. "I mean, who cares if Susan changed her hairstyle. It's not hurting you, so why do you have to think something's wrong at home? It's none of your business, am I right? Maybe Susan just wanted something fresh and new."
Nicole nodded in agreement. "I can see where that can be annoying."
"I can see why the husbands would rather be home watching the game. It's not that they don't care about their kids' game. They just want to be as far away from the petty gossip as possible." Luke quickly realized he was ranting again. He looked up in time to see Coach Harris switching Shelby in the game, and cheered her on, clapping for her. "Sorry," he said after a minute.
"For?"
"Well, you know. I tend to go off on rants," he explained. "I wasn't sure if that was a problem or not."
Instead of confirming it, Nicole just laughed. "I think it's cute. And you're right. Gossip's a waste of time, especially when they should be here supporting their child, not shooting the breeze about petty things."
That made Luke smile a little. This lady kept surprising him.
The kids' soccer game continued with the teams switching sides halfway through. Shelby's team ended up agreeing on being called the Red Rebels. It was a close game, but the Yellow Jackets ended up being victorious over the Red Rebels, in the end.
When Shelby came over after grabbing her after-game snack, Luke could get a better look at the state of her uniform and all the grass stains. The side of her right leg was also skinned up a little where he remembered seeing her slide for the ball. By this point, the kid didn't mind a little pain and blood. It still made Luke squirm, though.
"You did good out there, Shelby," Nicole praised first as Luke passed the water bottle.
Shelby thanked her. "And thank you for coming," she also added.
"No problem. I've never been to a soccer game before, so it was a treat to experience my first time at your soccer game."
"I's my first soccer game, too," Shelby stated with excitement. It was a surprise to see the kid freely talking to Nicole on her own. However, Shelby must have realized it too as they continued, and ended up muting herself after that. Nicole said nothing about it and went along with it. It just showed Shelby was becoming comfortable around the woman.
After the game, Luke made the mistake of offering to let the players and their parents come by the diner to celebrate their first game. The diner was full of loud seven-year-olds and the gossiping soccer moms. He slipped an extra refill of coffee for the husbands who had come along, giving them his deepest sympathies. He got into a heavy discussion about baseball with a few of the husbands, so it wasn't all bad.
Luke had survived his first week of pee wee soccer. Now there were just eleven more weeks to go.
