Agnes 7

Author's Note: This is just a short, fun one. Please leave a review.

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"Come on Agnes, you've got this," Aram yelled next to him as he clapped.

"She needs the fucking tee," Don said as he watched the adult pitcher move closer to her.

"They seem to think…" Aram started.

"She hasn't hit a free pitch yet," Don said nervous for her.

"Oh," Aram said, suddenly worried as well.

The woman lobbed and under hand pitch and Agnes swung and missed.

"Shit," Don said under his breath.

"She'll get the next one," Aram said as he nervously patted Don's knee.

"They need to get the tee," Don said as he looked toward the bench and saw the coach talking to a parent, not even paying attention.

Another pitch was lobbed, and Agnes swung and missed.

"Maybe we should go down there and talk to them?" Aram said as he watched Agnes stand there, looking down at her bat as if it had betrayed her.

Don made a move to get up and then stopped himself. He wanted to intervene but knew this was a lesson she needed to learn, that she wasn't going to be good at everything.

Since she joined little league, late, she had been trying her hardest to catch up to the other players. Don saw that Agnes had a competitive nature in her and that bode well for an athlete. He had practiced catching with her in the park and had looked online for used baseball T's so they could practice her swing, but they hadn't gotten to that part yet.

"Shit," Don said as he watched her raise her bat again. The pitcher was speaking with her, probably instructing her. "Come on…"

The ball was lobbed, and Agnes swung, catching the edge of the ball and knocking it up.

"Fly!" Don cheered as he stood.

Aram stood with him and clapped, not knowing if that was a good type of hit.

Someone yelled "Run!" and Agnes ran to first base. The kid covering the ball missed and she was safe.

Aram hugged Don and they both laughed.

"Congratulations!" A man behind them said with a smile.

"It's her first hit," Don said proudly as he turned to look at the man.

"Oh, my god, I think I'm going to throw up this is so intense," Aram said with a laugh.

"You both should be proud of your girl," the man said with a smile.

It was then that Don realized he and Aram had their arms around each other's backs and this man assumed they were a couple.

"Oh," Aram said, coming to the realization the same time as Don and pulling his arm away. "She's not mine, I'm her uncle Aram."

The man shook his head, "Sorry, I assumed…"

"Her mom's out of town on work," Don said with a smile. "But he would be my type…"

The three of them chuckled and Don and Aram sat down.

The next player failed to hit, they had reached their outs, and Agnes' team was called back in.

Agnes looked at Don and Aram as she was walking toward the bench and smiled huge.

"Way to go Agnes!" Don cheered as he clapped for her.

"Yay Agnes!" Aram cheered.

She skipped a little as she ran to the bench and Don knew that she was proud of herself. He would need to get that T so they could work on her hits more; he wanted to see her smile like that again.

The rest of the game was uneventful, and Agnes did not get up to bat again. At the end of the game, she ran to Don and he picked her up.

"Look at you, baseball star!" He said with a smile as he poked her stomach.

"I hit it!" Agnes said proudly.

"It was the best hit, like, ever," Aram said.

"It was!" Agnes yelled.

Don winced at the piercing sound next to his ear.

"Not next to my ear Agnes," he said. He had been warning her about this a lot lately, she seemed to forget that someone was right next to her when she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Sorry," she said as she patted his ear.

"Thanks," Don chuckled.

"I'm thinking this deserves ice cream or a cupcake or…"

"Ice cream!" Agnes yelled.

"My ear!" Don said.

"Sorry," Agnes said again as she patted his ear.

Don gave her a small smile.

"We will go for ice cream, but no more yelling," Don said before he placed her on the ground, and she grabbed each of their hands.

"Swing me!" She called.

Aram and Don laughed and timed their arms so she swung back, pulled her legs up tight and then she swung forward laughing.

"See you next week slugger!" The man who had been sitting behind them called to Agnes as he passed. "See you too dad."

Aram looked at Don across Agnes swinging between them and Don caught his eye.

"It happens a lot," Don explained. "I don't correct it because, well, it's no one's business."

Aram nodded, knowing there was more to it than that, possibly that even Ressler didn't acknowledge.

Don and Aram swung Agnes all the way back to his car and, as Aram was buckling Agnes into her seat a mom called over to him.

"See you dads next week!" She said before she got in her car and started it.

"Jesus Christ," Don said beside him. "You're not allowed to come to anymore games with us."

Aram shut the door and took Don's hand in his, "Don, you can't keep me from my child." A chuckle coming as he said the words.

Don laughed and pulled his hand away and got in the SUV while Aram got in the passenger seat. Another mom honked and waved at them as she drove from the lot.

"When Liz gets back, we are going to be the talk of the baseball team," Aram said as he waved back, and they pulled out from their spot.

To be continued….