Agnes 5
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Don sat with Agnes next to him watching the ball game unfold wearing matching Nationals hats. Agnes was sitting on a booster seat that Don discovered existed to help little kids see better. He had originally sat Agnes down in her seat and huffed when he saw the large man sit in front of her. Then he noticed a couple of kids across the aisle sitting on plastic tubs. A short inquiry, a trip with Agnes back up the stairs to the mezzanine, and she had a booster that allowed her a far better view of the game.
"Now, if he misses this one," Don said. "He's out."
"Out where?" Agnes asked.
"He can't try and hit the ball anymore," Don explained.
"But what if he wants to still try?" Agnes asked.
Don smiled down at her. "Sweetie, that's not how it works. He only gets so many tries and then, if he doesn't hit it, he has to go sit down and wait his turn."
The batter didn't swing and the man next to Don yelled "Ball"
Don looked at the game and then back at Agnes with her confused expression. His explanation didn't work anymore.
"That one didn't count," Don said.
Agnes looked at him perplexed.
"The man who is throwing it threw it too high," Don said. "So, it wasn't a fair throw. That's why he gets another shot.
Agnes nodded in understanding.
Agnes sat and watched the game for a while eating her popcorn before she spoke again.
"Where are the girls?" She asked.
The man next to Don looked over at Agnes as well as Don.
"Uh," Don stammered.
"Good luck with that one, dad," the man next to him snickered.
"This is just for boys," Don said. "There's a girls baseball league as well…"
Don had no idea what it was called, or if it was even still in existence.
"Do they play next?" Agnes asked.
Don rubbed at the back of his neck. "I don't think so."
"The Senators play across town at Layola field," the man next to Don offered. "They're part of the Eastern Women's Baseball Conference"
"Thanks," Don nodded to him, appreciating the input.
"Maybe we can go see them play too? Would you like that?" Don asked.
Agnes nodded.
"For now, is it okay if we watch the boys?" Don asked, not sure if the lack of girls meant Agnes wanted to leave.
"Okay," Agnes nodded.
"Thanks," Don said as he sat back.
"You don't think of these things until you have a girl," the man next to him said. "My daughter made me look at things differently too."
Don was about to correct him, that Agnes was not his daughter, but he didn't. Partly he thought, what was the point? Also, he didn't have a child of his own, and it was kind of nice being her dad. Over the last week and a half, they had really enjoyed themselves. They had watched a lot of cartoons, she had been easy as far as food went, and he had actually enjoyed her company. It wasn't all a cake-walk, taking care of another person was a lot of work, a lot of time he didn't get to himself, and a lot of responsibility he carried with him at all times. But, overall, it had been good.
"Would you like to try playing baseball Agnes?" Don asked her.
"Yes," she smiled at him.
"Let's look into a league or something," Don said.
"DC Girls Baseball," the man next to Don offered.
"Just for girls?" Don asked.
"Best league for girls," the man offered.
"Agnes, would you like to play with only girls or girls and boys?" Don asked.
"Just girls," Agnes said.
"Told you," the man next to him said.
Don nodded.
"Okay, let's see if we can get your registered."
Agnes smiled at him.
They got to the third inning before he noticed Agnes was getting antsy.
"What's up?" Don asked her.
"I have to pee," Agnes said quietly.
"Oh, okay," Don said as he stood and took her hand and shuffled to the end of their row. When they got to the washrooms Don was confronted with an issue. In the few times he'd had to take her to the washroom in places other than his apartment or the Post Office it had been a single stall, he stood outside and waited while she went in and asked her if she washed her hands when she came out. But the washrooms at National Field were large, busy, divided by gender and had multiple exits.
"Come on," Don said as he walked toward the men's washroom. He got to the door and knew they would be greeted by a bunch of men peeing into a trough-like urinal.
He picked Agnes up and looked at her. "Close your eyes and don't open them until I say so, okay?"
She nodded, thinking it was a game with a surprise and he carried her inside, quickly walking past all the men peeing and toward the stalls. He opened one, saw it was disgusting and went to another, same story. Finally, the third stall was clean enough to use and he placed her inside on her feet.
"Okay, I'll be right out here when you are done," Don said as he pulled the door shut and stood with his back to it, guarding her as she peed.
He heard the flush and immediately realized his second dilemma. He needed to get her past the peeing men again to get to the sinks. The door clicked open behind him and he blocked her view.
"Close your eyes again," Don said as he picked her up.
"My hands," Agnes said.
"I'll get you to a sink, don't worry," Don said as he carried her again past the peeing men and toward the banks of sinks.
"There you go sweetie," Don said as he plunked her down in front of a sink and she started to wash her hands. Don stood next to her as she washed them, trying to cut down the amount of men she may see in her peripheral vision. But, when he looked down at her she was standing there with wide eyes and her mouth open.
"What's the matter Agnes?" He asked her, confused.
She pointed to the mirror and Don swore under his breath. In all of his work to keep her from seeing a bank of men peeing, he had missed the mirror in front of her that had given her a perfect view.
"Are they peeing?" Agnes asked.
"Uh, yeah," Don said. "Boys pee differently then girls."
Agnes looked at him and wrinkled her brow.
"Girls don't pee together," Agnes said.
"I know, it's pretty gross that boys do," Don said.
Agnes nodded.
"Come on," Don said as he took her hand and led her out, knowing that there was no need to block anymore. He turned to see Agnes looking back over her shoulder, amazed by all the peeing men.
He got them hot dogs and himself a beer and they went back to their seats. By the fifth inning she was bored, kicking the chair in front of her, and asking when they were going home.
Don sighed, he was not going to get to see the entire game.
"Okay," he said as he rose and reached for her hand. They shimmied out of their row and made their way downstairs. Outside of a candy hut on the mezzanine Agnes abruptly stopped and pulled on his hand.
Don looked toward the candy hut and shook his head. If she had more sugar she would be hell to get to bed.
"No Agnes, you've had enough sweets for today," Don said before he started to walk again.
She yanked harder on his hand.
"No," Don said clearly.
"Yes!" Agnes yelled.
Don, taken aback by her first show of defiance, didn't know what the parenting experts would say in this instance.
"Agnes, you are not getting anything, and yelling is not going to get you anything," he said.
"Yes!" Agnes screamed even louder and let go of his hand to run toward the candy hut.
"Agnes!" Don yelled as he ran after her and quickly scooped her up in his arms while she kicked and screamed about gummies.
Don was initially worried, thinking everyone would think it was a child abduction as he tried to keep hold of the kicking and screaming five-year-old but then the man at the candy shack till said to him.
"Happens all the time."
Don relaxed. He could handle this. He threw Agnes over his shoulder in a fireman's hold and let her kick and scream as he calmly walked from the stadium to his car. She tired by the time they got outside.
"Can I put you down or will you still throw a tantrum?"
She seemed to have all the fight gone and went limp in his hold.
Don carefully placed her down on the ground and looked at her.
She had tear marks all over her face from the fit.
"Sweetie," Don said as he wiped at her eyes as he crouched before her. "You weren't getting any more candy. Throwing a fit just made it worse, not better."
She sniffled and nodded.
"I don't want you to be sick," Don said as he looked at her little sad face.
Agnes hiccoughed.
"I know," she started to cry harder.
"Sweetie," Don said as he pulled her into his arms.
"I miss mummy," Agnes said as she cried and cried and held onto him for dear life.
Don swallowed hard.
"I know you do," he said as he held her tight. "I know."
"When does mummy come back?" Agnes asked as she cried.
"It's going to be after the summer, I think," Don said as he kissed the side of her head. "I'm sorry, but mummy is working and…"
Agnes cried a little harder.
"Oh Agnes," Don said as he pulled back and looked at her little red face and sad expression. "I know you wish mummy was here. I do too. But she will be sooner than you think, okay?"
Agnes nodded and Don lifted up the bottom edge of his t-shirt and wiped at her eyes and her snotty dripping nose.
She nodded.
"Want to go to the park for a bit and play?" Don asked. "I bet there will be some kids your age there."
Agnes nodded and sniffled.
"Okay," Don sighed as he stood and took her hand in his.
They went to the park and Agnes immediately found a group of kids to play with and Don relaxed on a park bench. He opened his phone and went onto the app and looked at the images he had sent Liz, Agnes' art, her video message to her mom, video of Agnes talking about making a barometer with Chuck, and a picture of him and Agnes with their caps on and hotdogs at the game today. He hadn't heard from Liz since that first call and he was starting to worry. All they had received was a video message three days ago of her talking directly to Agnes telling her to be a good girl and listen to Don and she was coming home as soon as she could.
Don texted. Need to talk ASAP. The roaming foot.
He snapped his phone shut and waited as he watched Agnes climb the ladder, jump down off a platform and run after another child. This park was in his neighborhood and less dodgy then the one by his work, which they still went to everyday at lunch. He saw the number of kids and parents when they approached and knew one of them had to have checked for anything that could hurt a child and he could just relax for once.
His phone buzzed and he looked down at it. There was a call coming in from Liz.
"Thank god," Don said as he started the video call.
"Where are you?" Liz asked.
'The park," Don offered.
"She's okay?" Liz asked.
"Yes, well, yes and no," Don said.
"What happened?" Liz sounded alarmed.
"She's fine, physically," Don said quickly. "But she misses you. She just threw a tantrum at the game and broke down sobbing."
Liz's face fell.
"She's okay now, but I think she really needs to see you, to speak with you," Don said.
He watched Liz wipe at her eyes.
"I'm sorry Liz, I thought she was doing okay, but…"
Liz nodded.
"Can I get her?" Don asked, not sure if Liz was ready to see Agnes with the raw emotions he saw running across her face.
"Yeah, can you?" Liz asked, her voice thready.
Don nodded and stood up.
"Agnes!" He called to her as she stood at the top of the slide.
"Agnes, mummy is on the phone," Don called to her.
Agnes' face lit up and she slid down and ran toward him, out of breath.
"Here you go sweetheart," Don said as he handed her the phone.
"Mummy!" Agnes said cheerily.
Don heard Liz greet her back and walked away, he kept an eye on Agnes, but knew that they needed space to talk, just the two of them without him invading that conversation.
He circled around the playground area, watching Agnes talk to her mom.
"Business trip?" A woman holding a baby in her arms asked him as they stood by a bench.
"Yeah," Don nodded.
"Get a video app," she advised him. "We did for all of my husband's trips and the kids like seeing him."
Don nodded.
"She travel a lot?" The woman asked.
"Yeah," Don said.
"It'll get easier," she said before she walked away from him.
Don sighed and watched as Agnes got up from the bench and ran toward him smiling.
"Mummy wants you," she said as she handed him his phone and ran back toward a bunch of kids she had been playing with previously.
"Hey," Don said as he looked at Liz on the phone.
"Hey," she said with a smile. "I miss her so much."
"I know you do," he said.
"I'm sorry about the tantrum, five year olds…"
"Yeah, just caught me by surprise," Don chuckled. "Maybe I need to read a book or something."
Liz chuckled. "Nothing can prepare you for a tantrum."
Don chuckled.
"Thanks for being so good with her," Liz said. "I know you didn't sign up for…"
"Liz, just stop," Don said.
She looked at him strangely.
"When you get back," Don said as he looked around to see if anyone could hear. "I don't want to sneak out at 6 am anymore."
Liz looked at him, surprised.
"What this has taught me, so far at least, is that I like being in Agnes' life," Don said. "I don't know what you think about that but…."
Liz covered her mouth with her hand.
"What?" Don asked, scared he had said something wrong.
"I would love you to be in Agnes' life," Liz said honestly. "Don, I…I'm glad you want that."
"I do," Don said.
"Then I think this time together is good for you both, for all of us," Liz said with a smile, her eyes watery.
"Why do you look like you want to cry?" Don asked.
"Because I'm happy," Liz said with a watery grin.
Don smiled back at her.
Liz chuckled. "The roaming foot?"
Don smiled. "It roams."
"I beg to differ," Liz said.
"Liz, wherever you sleep, even if you are on the other side of the bed, I wake up to your cold foot on my calf every single time."
"Maybe it likes your calves," Liz offered with a sheepish grin.
"Well, my calves like it, even if it's cold as ice," Don smiled at her before he noted a bunch of parents grabbing their children. He looked up at the clouds rolling in.
"Liz, I'm gonna have to go," Don said. "There's a storm coming in quick. Agnes!"
Don watched as she finished her climb up the ladder and walk toward the slide.
"Agnes!"
"I miss you both," Liz said. "Thanks for getting me to call. I wasn't sure if it was better or worse for her to see me on video."
"It's always better," Don said absently as he watched Agnes walk toward him. "For both of us."
"Call us again soon," Don said. "She needs it."
"I will," Liz said as she watched Don walk.
"Be safe Liz, I love you," Don said as he met Agnes and held up the phone for her.
"Say goodbye to mummy," Don said to her.
"Bye mummy!" Agnes waved at the phone.
"Bye Munchkin I miss you!" Liz said.
"I miss you too mummy!" Agnes said as Don handed her the phone and crouched down in front of her. "Hop on sweetie."
Agnes got on Don's back and he started to walk quickly with her toward his car, the first drops of rain already starting.
"Liz, Agnes is going to have to hang up," Don called over his shoulder.
"I love you both! I'll call soon!" Liz said before he heard Agnes press the button and disconnect the call.
"Ready to run?" Don asked her over his shoulder as the heavy downpour started.
She nodded.
Don ran with her on his back toward his car, the rain growing heavier and soaking them through by the time they reached it. He got Agnes in the back seat and buckled her in before he launched himself into his seat and they sat, soaking wet in the car.
Don handed her a box of tissues, the only thing she could use to dry herself and looked at her smiling face.
"You liked that did you?" He asked as he pushed hair off his face.
She then started to giggle.
"You liked getting soaked?" Don asked, his voice exaggerated and his smile large as he reached back and tickled her knee.
She burst into an even bigger fit of giggles and Don laughed.
"Well, next time it rains," Don said as he started his car. "We'll go outside."
Agnes' peels of laughter roared through the car and Don laughed with her. It had been a good day after all.
To be continued…