Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for the squeal-inducing feedback and awesome ideas! You're the best, ladies!
Readers and REAL McRollers - can you believe it's the seventh visit to Jacob's class?! Thanks for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.
Hope you enjoy!
Commander Steve Goes to Sixth Grade (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
Steve pulled into the middle school parking lot and spotted a familiar van.
"Jenna, hi," he said after he'd exited his truck.
Jenna Allen smiled warmly. "Hi, Steve." They both looked over as another familiar vehicle entered the parking lot. A moment later, Catherine and Cody stepped out and joined them. Catherine and Jenna exchanged a quick hug before Jenna squeezed her oldest son's arm and Steve gave Catherine a quick kiss in greeting.
They headed inside to sign in at the main office and were directed out the back of the building.
"Are we ready for this?" Catherine asked with a knowing smile, motioning for them to head towards the giant sports field where throngs of sixth graders were already gathering.
"Oh definitely, I finally get to be here for one of the famous 'Commander Steve and Lieutenant Catherine days'," Jenna said, linking arms with Cody and grinning over at Steve and Catherine who had joined hands as they walked.
"One of our favorite traditions," Catherine said, and Steve nodded.
"6th Grade Field Day," Cody said, shaking his head. "I barely remember when we did this. But Jake's been working so hard."
Jenna sighed happily. "My baby boy, one of the students on the planning committee. Who would've guessed that?"
"Kinda seems right up Jacob's alley," Steve observed as they neared the field and could see cones, hoops, buckets, and more set up all around.
"The king of obstacle courses," Jenna agreed.
Cody grinned. "I think Dylan might argue with you there."
Jacob spotted them and hurried over. "You're here!"
"Of course we are," Catherine said warmly as Jenna brushed a quick hand over his cheek in lieu of hugging him in front of his whole grade.
Jacob smiled gratefully at them. "I'm really glad you all came."
"What's going on, Jacob?" Jenna asked, immediately spotting his uncharacteristic nerves.
Jacob looked over his shoulder and then leaned closer. "When we got outside, I overheard some people saying that the events look 'stupid' and 'babyish,' " he told them.
"Oh, honey," Jenna said, squeezing his arm and forgetting her promise to herself to keep the potentially embarrassing endearments to a minimum.
"They're just being middle-schoolers," Cody told him. "They don't want to risk looking silly in front of anyone. I'm pretty sure I was the same way at that age."
Steve nodded. "Yeah, once they get going I'm sure they'll all get into it."
Jacob bit his lip. "If they get going," he murmured, looking around nervously as the adults exchanged their own look.
"Don't worry about it, buddy," Steve said reassuringly.
Cody matched his tone. "Yeah, Jake, it's gonna be great."
Another student approaching them overheard him and asked, "Jake? I've never heard anyone call you that."
Jacob straightened and smiled proudly. "Only my brother does."
Cody smiled back as Steve, Catherine, and Jenna exchanged another look, this one pleased.
The other student, a girl named Majia, nodded. "Ohh. Well, anyway, Mr. Iona says it's almost time to start and we should go to the front."
Jacob's eyes widened and he took a deep breath. He looked at his contingent of supporters anxiously.
Steve smiled his encouragement. "Lead the way."
They were introduced to the physical education teacher, Ray Iona, and a few of the other teachers who helped the student committee plan the day. Before coming outside, the sixth graders had been divided into seven groups of ten, with one of the student coordinators in each group to explain each activity and a few adults to help make sure things ran smoothly.
Jacob's group, which of course included Steve, Catherine, Jenna, and Cody, started at the far end of the field which had the most cones, hoops, and other paraphernalia set up. There were a few familiar faces in the group, including Jacob's long-time classmates Ameera, Keone, and Jadon's youngest brother Reggie who had all been very excited to be placed with Commander Steve and Lieutenant Catherine.
"Okay, Jacob, you're up," a teacher, Ms. Herman, said.
Jacob took a deep breath, glancing at his family who stood behind the students for support before beginning.
"This is the Blindfolded Obstacle Course," he said. "Everybody will be in pairs, and one person will be blindfolded and stand at the starting line, and their partner will be at the finish line calling out directions to lead them through the obstacle course. There'll be two pairs at a time and you have to do every obstacle on your course or it doesn't count. The first pair to get across the finish line wins."
"I've heard of that," Ameera said. "Isn't it called 'Minefield'?"
"Sometimes," Jacob admitted. "But we wanted to change the name because there are real minefields in the world and they're really dangerous and serious so we didn't think we should name a game after them."
"Jacob suggested it," Ms. Herman said quietly to Jenna, Steve, Catherine, and Cody.
Steve looked over the heads of the students to Jacob and gave him a proud nod which brought a more confident smile to Jacob's face.
That smile quickly disappeared when another student, Adrian, called out, "That's impossible. No way anyone finishes all those obstacles blindfolded."
Jacob swallowed nervously, his eyes darting around, unsure what to say as a few of the other students agreed.
Steve and Catherine exchanged a quick look, nodding to each other, and stepped around the students to join Jacob at the front.
"We'll go first and demonstrate if you want, Jacob," Steve said, holding his hand out for the blindfold.
There were murmurs from the students and Jacob exhaled in relief, eagerly handing the cloth over.
Steve gave Catherine a nod and proceeded to tie the blindfold over his eyes as Catherine jogged down to the end of the course.
Ameera clapped excitedly and Keone elbowed Adrian. "You' about to get schooled, bro," he said, then more loudly, "Somebody time 'em!"
"I got it," Cody said, taking out his phone.
"You ready?" Catherine called.
"Yep," Steve answered, bending his knees slightly in preparation and lowering his head to listen.
Jacob grinned excitedly and said, "Go!"
"Okay, three steps 20 degrees northwest from your position," Catherine said. "You've got five small cones to weave between, each approximately three feet apart straight north."
Steve quickly navigated the cones and Catherine was ready with the next set of instructions.
"Five steps north, then four pairs of hula hoops about three and a half feet in diameter placed side by side. Step in each one." She nodded as Steve easily completed the task. "You got it. Four steps twenty degrees northeast, then combat crawl through the tubes for approximately twelve feet."
"They're pool noodles!" Ameera cried from the starting line.
Catherine grinned. "Through the pool noodles, then."
Steve chuckled as he dropped to his stomach and made his way through the noodles that were staked into the ground in arches. "At least these have more room than that tunnel back when Jacob was in first grade."
"You still sore about that loss, Commander?" Catherine teased.
"Just tell me the next direction, Lieutenant," he shot back with a grin as he finished the pool noodle arches and stood up.
"He's gotta pick up the red bean bags and bring them to the finish line, Aunt Catherine!" Jacob called. "I forgot to say!"
She gave him a thumbs up and turned her attention back to Steve. "Okay, five steps north and stop. Pick up the beanbag at your two o'clock. One step west and pick up the bag at your three o'clock. Two steps 30 degrees northwest and pick up the bag at your eleven o'clock. Three steps 20 degrees northeast and pick up the last bag at your ten o'clock." She smiled when Steve grabbed the last red bag and said, "Eight steps north to me, sailor."
Steve took six steps, turned, placed the stack of beanbags on his head and held out his arms as he made the last two steps backward. Catherine rolled her eyes but couldn't help grinning.
"Showoff."
He took the blindfold off and grinned at her. He dropped the beanbags back in their approximate locations while the two made their way back to the starting line where most of the onlookers were clapping and cheering.
"Told you it's not impossible," Jacob said.
"I bet he could see through the blindfold," one student, Kamara said.
"Nope," Steve replied, giving her the cloth to check for herself.
"But wasn't you a Navy SEAL?" Adrian countered after Kamara had verified the cloth was indeed opaque. "You probably memorized where everything is."
"I had a rough idea," Steve acknowledged. He folded his arms. "But you've all now had the chance to do the same. In fact, you've had even longer while Lieutenant Catherine and I were doing the course."
"We should rearrange the course while you've got the blindfold on so you can't see," Keone said. "That'll show everybody!"
Steve looked over at Ms. Herman. "Do we have time?"
"As fast as you two do the course, yeah, I'd say so," she replied.
"Yes! Do it!" Ameera said.
"Do it! Do it!" several of the other students joined the chant.
Steve shrugged and held his hand out again for the blindfold. He kept his back to the course even with the blindfold on while Jacob and a few of the other students moved the obstacles around.
When they were done, Catherine again expertly led him through the course with precise instructions and he finished even faster according to Cody's timer.
"Convinced yet?" Keone asked Adrian when Steve and Catherine returned to the group.
"But you said we gotta do it two at a time so it's gonna get confusing. He didn't do it two at a time," Adrian complained.
Another student, Isaac, rolled his eyes. "Dude, I'm pretty sure whatever you say, he's gonna be able to do it."
Reggie, normally quiet in large groups, spoke up. "Yeah, that's why my brother calls him SuperSEAL."
Steve smiled over at him, then looked at the others. "It's all part of the challenge. You've gotta block out everything but the sound of your partner's voice and trust their directions."
"Yeah, he got great directions from Lieutenant Catherine," Ameera said, folding her arms. "I want Lieutenant Catherine to be my partner."
Catherine smiled. "Fine by me."
"Are you all finally ready to give it a try?" Ms. Herman asked.
While there were a few who hung back, most of the students voiced the affirmative and they quickly divided themselves into pairs with Catherine partnering with Ameera, Jacob with Steve, and Reggie with Cody. Jenna opted to take photos and video, and the challenge was on.
No one could come close to Steve and Catherine's time, but Kamara proved to be quite good at giving directions to her partner Sasha. Only two pairs had to start over for missing an obstacle altogether, and one student stopped to whip off her blindfold irritatingly and review left and right with her partner before continuing.
"Well, Adrian," Ms. Herman said with a knowing smile when all the pairs had gotten a chance to run the course twice, switching positions so both people had a chance to give and receive directions. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
He grumbled a not-quite agreement, not-quite disagreement, and the group moved on to their next event.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Keone said, spotting the stacks of pizza boxes on a long table on the other side of three sets of cones. He grinned. "A race to eat the most pizza."
Several of the kids cheered while Jacob waved his hands. "No, no, they're empty!"
"Empty?!"
"What?!"
"That's bogus!"
"Listen up," Ms. Herman said, and nodded to Jacob to continue.
"It's the Pizza Box Relay," Jacob said quickly. "We'll line up in three teams. The first person runs through the cones and grabs a pizza box and runs back and hands it to the next person in line. That person runs down and grabs another box and runs with them both back. And you keep adding boxes until you've got ten boxes. If you drop a box, you have to pick it up before you go on. The first team with all ten boxes back at the starting line wins!"
"Wins what?" Sasha asked.
"Umm …" Jacob said.
"Bragging rights," Cody supplied.
"I'd rather have pizza," Keone said.
"Well, we are having pizza …" Jacob began.
"We are?!" Keone said excitedly.
"But everyone gets it for lunch," Jacob said. "Not just the winning teams."
"You should have said that! Let's go!"
They divided into teams, with everyone participating this time aside from Ms. Herman. The teams took a moment to strategize on how to line up. When Ms. Herman started the race, the first three runners took off through the cones toward the table. The first few pizza boxes were easy, but the empty boxes started flying when they got to the sixth and seventh boxes, causing lots of laughter from everyone. Jacob seemed to relax as it was clear the students were having a good time.
After the Pizza Box Relay, they switched up teams for the Hula Hoop Pass. As Jacob explained it, the teams would all hold hands and try to maneuver a hula hoop all the way down the line without letting go.
Ameera grinned at Steve. "You can hold hands with your wife. You don't get to do that during the day a lot cause you got little kids, right?"
Steve quirked an eyebrow, well-used to Ameera's personal questions after six years of visits to Jacob's school.
"We don't get to do that because we're at work all day," he replied.
"And because you got little kids," she countered. "So you gotta hold their hands a lot."
He smiled, taking Catherine's hand as she approached. "We hold hands plenty, don't you worry."
"Are you on our team, Ameera?" Catherine asked, offering her other hand.
She shook her head. "I'm gonna be on Jacob's brother's team," she said. "What's his name again? He's cute."
Without waiting for a reply, she wandered off in search of Cody. Catherine chuckled at Steve's surprised expression and reached over to rub his arm consolingly.
"How's it feel getting thrown over for the younger model?" she quipped.
"I–" he began, shaking his head. "That's not–"
She laughed and he sighed, his face breaking out into a smile.
"As long as I still got you," he said, leaning down and kissing her cheek.
"You do," she said and smiled. "Even when there's no gummy bears."
He laughed, his grin widening when he spotted Cody's deer-in-the-headlights look under Ameera's barrage of questions.
After the Hula Hoop Pass, they moved on to the water events. First up was the Sponge Relay. Jacob explained how the teams would line up between two buckets, one full of water and one empty. The person by the full bucket would dip in a huge sponge and pass it down the line to the last person who would squeeze as much water as possible into the empty bucket before sending the sponge back down the line. They'd continue until one team collected enough water to reach the fill line on their second bucket.
"And this is why Jacob said to wear old clothes," Jenna commented after they'd finished, nodding down to the t-shirt and shorts she'd changed into before leaving work. Both were splashed with water as was true for everyone.
"I think the next one might be even wetter," Catherine said, having spotted another group during the Cup to Cup Relay before them. She, too, had changed before leaving her office to drive over with Cody.
"Did you miss the memo?" Cody asked Steve, whose usual t-shirt and cargoes were as wet as everyone else's clothes.
Steve shrugged. "It's a warm day, they'll dry." He grinned. "This is much better than getting a whole planter full of dirt dumped in my lap or getting covered in cornstarch," he said, thinking of past visits to Jacob's class.
"This one is really fun!" Jacob said excitedly, ready to explain the next event. "It's kinda like the sponge relay, but this time you're gonna fill a cup and pour it over your head to the person behind you who's gonna catch as much of the water as they can in their cup and then the next person and the next person to the end to fill the empty bucket. And you don't have to wait for the sponge to come back since everyone has a cup!"
Steve wrung out his t-shirt that had gotten soaked when Jacob in his excitement had smacked the giant soaking wet sponge into his chest. "Oh yeah, definitely gonna get wetter," he said.
Shrieks and squeals of laughter filled the air minutes later as his prediction came true.
"You're too tall!" Keone laughed from behind Steve as he tried to catch as much water as he could in his cup and splashed himself in the process.
Steve laughed, looking back over his shoulder. "Hey, I'm the same height, you're the one who's grown! At least we didn't try to do this when you were six."
After the Water Balloon/Spoon Relay in which Jenna's team managed to break all of their balloons and was disqualified but couldn't stop laughing enough to care, they arrived at their final event for the day.
"This is the Balloon Pop!" Jacob said, practically vibrating with excitement as he held up a laundry basket full of inflated latex balloons. "The first person in each line will take a balloon and run down to the chair. You put the balloon on the chair and sit on it until it pops, then run back to your team to tag the next person. The first team to pop all the balloons in your basket wins!"
"And then it's time for pizza lunch," Ms. Herman said before Keone could ask as he had at all the previous events.
"Oh, this oughta be hysterical," Jenna murmured to Catherine as the students started getting into their teams.
Adrian, to everyone's surprise, volunteered to go first for his team, and raced Ameera and Isaac to the chairs with their balloons. Isaac's balloon bounced off his chair before he even had a chance to try and sit on it and while he was trying to grab it, Ameera's flew to the side when she misjudged its position. Adrian, having successfully popped his balloon when he sat on it, ran back to his team to their cheers.
The relay continued, devolving into hysterical laughter as kids and adults alike had to chase down their balloons eventually causing some students to miss the chairs entirely and end up on the grass because they were laughing so hard.
Catherine and Jenna had tears in their eyes from laughter after Jacob intentionally rolled off his chair on top of his balloon which had fallen to the ground. He grinned and pushed himself up on his stomach.
"Run, Jacob!" Cody yelled, waving for him to finish the relay for their team.
"Oh yeah!" He sprang up and narrowly beat Reggie who had managed to stomp on his balloon with a foot after it nearly blew away and Sasha who had taken several tries to sit on her balloon back to the starting line, all three laughing uproariously.
It hardly mattered which team had ultimately won, everyone agreed it was the perfect way to end the competition and Jacob received multiple high fives and fist bumps for his efforts, both in the Balloon Pop and throughout the day.
After all the groups had finished their final events, Mr. Iona gathered everyone around and stood on a chair so he could be better seen and heard.
"So how was Field Day?" he asked with a big grin.
He was answered by a nearly universal and near-deafening cheer.
"Is it time for pizza now?" Keone called over the din to even more approval.
The teacher held up a hand for quiet. "Before we eat, we need to say a huge thank you to our planning committee who worked so hard to put all this together for you. Can you all come forward?"
He started naming each student and their specific contributions even as the students and adults cheered. Cody squeezed his brother's shoulders and pushed him forward with a proud smile when it was his turn.
"And finally, Jacob Allen, our unofficial captain of the planning committee who kept everyone excited and enthusiastic throughout the whole process. Anything you want to say, Jacob?"
He looked out at the faces of his fellow students, so different from the many seemingly bored and dubious expressions at the start of the day, and finally to his family who were all grinning proudly at him. He beamed at them, knowing they'd played a big role in changing those reactions from his classmates.
Surprisingly, the hundred plus group quieted enough for him to be heard.
"Can't wait for next year!"
Hope you enjoyed!
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