-X-

Carson woke up early the next morning. Her room was quiet, which was nice, but she wished Greta was sharing it with her. She got up, brushed her teeth, brushed her hair, and got dressed. Then she grabbed her gear and headed to the field. She wanted to get some practice in on her own. She hadn't really had too much time to practice during her time off and she felt a little rusty.

It took her twenty minutes to ride to the field. The sun was barely visible over the stands as she started warming up. She pulled out her bat and took a few practice swings. Then she reached into her bag and took out a ball, tossing it up to herself, and swinging. She managed to make some good hits, even one or two that would've gotten her some homers, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was off. After two hours practicing on her own, she gathered up all the balls she could find, threw them back into her bag and made her way into the locker room.

She grabbed a few things out of her bag and placed them in her locker, glancing up at her own name. The chalk was a little faded, but still readable. Carson looked down passed a few more lockers and spotted Greta's name. She stepped a little closer, smiling to herself and noticed that something was still in the top cubby. Greta's hat sat in the corner of the cubby. It also had a thin layer of dust, but most of it fell away as Carson picked it up. She took the hat in both her hands and sat down on the bench, quickly double checking that she was alone, then brought the hat up to her nose.

The smell of Greta's shampoo still lingered, hidden slightly by the natural scent of her hair. Carson sighed softly; her thoughts drifted back to their night at the monastery. How soft Greta's touch was, her lips, her hands, her curves.

Carson was brought back by the sound of knocking. She threw her hands behind her, still holding onto Greta's hat.

"Woah, relax Shaw. It's just me." Lupe said, stepping out of the doorway.

"Lupe," Carson breathed a sigh of relief. "I-it's not – not Shaw anymore. Just Carson," she said, fiddling with the hat in her hands. "Please."

Lupe nodded. "Okay," she motioned to the bench. "You mind if I sit?"

Carson nodded, sliding over slightly to make room on the bench. "You haven't heard anything from her, have you?" she asked suddenly.

Lupe looked over at Carson, shaking her head softly. "Sorry coach."

Carson nodded. "No, that-it's alright. I was just," she took a breath. "Just hoping she would be here."

Lupe swung one leg over the bench, facing Carson. "You think she's not coming?"

Carson shook her head. "She told me- "she broke off. "She'll be here. She will."

Lupe nodded. "Okay," she rested her hand on Carson's shoulder. "Then she'll be here. But until then," Lupe stood up and leaned against one of the support beams. "We need to figure out a practice schedule."

Carson raised an eyebrow, stood up and crossed her arms. "We?"

Lupe nodded. "Yeah. Look, Carson," she said, uncrossing her arms. "You are a good coach. There's no denying that. But you are still soft," Carson opened her mouth and closed it again. She knew Lupe was right. "But you are very observant. You know all the other teams tells, their weak spots. We're gonna need that." Lupe said

"Alright," Carson said after a minute. "Co-coaches?" Lupe nodded and stuck out her hand.

-X-

Carson lifted her head as she heard a knock on her door. "Ms. Carson," Beverly said. "You weren't here for mail call."

Carson nodded. "Lupe and I were figuring out practice schedules. Plus, no one's really sending me that much mail. Anymore."

Beverly pulled a letter out from behind her back. "You might be mistaken. The writing looks familiar. I think you may want to take a look at it." She held the letter out to Carson.

Carson stood up from her bed and took the letter, looking down at the envelope. The return address was in New York. She smiled and nodded at Beverly. "Thank you." Beverly nodded and took her leave. Carson shut the door behind her and sat down on the bed, staring at the envelope.

She took a few deep breaths, feeling the warm crinkling of the paper under her fingers. Slowly, she turned the envelope over, seeing the familiar colour of Greta's lipstick on the flap. Carson carefully opened the envelope and unfolded the letter, leaning back against the wall her bed rested on to read the letter.

My dearest Carson,

I was so excited to see your letter in the mail. All of your letters. I am so sorry that I haven't had a chance to write you back. Things are very busy here in New York indeed. I'm not mayor yet but things are looking good. There are so many things that I want to tell you, but I don't want to write it in a letter.

I do attend so many meetings. It's quite exhausting, but it's all worth it. Everything is so busy; I want to be honest with you. I don't know when or if I will manage to get down to Rockford for the season. I know I said I wouldn't miss it for the world, but this, what I'm doing here – it's a different kind of excitement. I can't leave, not just yet.

I hope you will forgive me; I really do miss you.

Yours,

Greta

Carson's heart sank as she put down the letter and stared over at the empty bed on the other side of the room.

-X-

Two Weeks Later:

-X-

"Alright ladies, good job, good job!" Carson called as the team rallied around her and Lupe. "Now I know things are different. I mean, we've got new girls and missing girls and," Lupe elbowed Carson in the side. "S-sorry. What I mean to say is, we've been doing really well. Practices are going great! We've got a couple kinks to sort out, and then we'll be ready for our first game next week!"

The team cheered and clapped. Carson nodded. "Um, okay. We've been working really hard for the past couple weeks, I think, you know what?" Carson turned to Lupe and nodded. "Yeah, you know what, tonight is a night off! Take the evening and find something fun to do girls, alright?"

Lupe cheered. "Yeah, alright! Let's go Peaches!"

Carson smiled and stuck her hand in the middle of the team circle. "On three!" she said.

"Ready, one, two, three, GO PEACHES!" the girls shouted.

Carson lifted their hands up, cheering and shouting as the girls ran off to find some fun for the evening. She glanced over at Lupe. "Hey," she murmured. "Bar?"

Lupe looked back at Carson out of the corner of her eye, smiled and nodded. "Bar." She agreed. "Jess!" she called over. "Lets all head to the bar."

-X-

Jess opened the door and let Lupe and Carson lead the way into the front half of the bar where a stern looking man eyed them up and down. "Are you a friend of Dorothy?"

Lupe nodded. "Yes, of course, we are all very good friends of Dorothy." She responded.

The man nodded and gave them a knowing smile. "Have a wonderful night." He said, opening up what looked like a cupboard.

Carson, Lupe and Jess ducked into it, and quickly made their way into the new bar. "Vi!" Lupe called.

The bar owner turned around and smiled at the women. "Ah, the Peaches are back once again!"

Carson nodded. "We are."

"Any more word from your girl?" Vi asked. Carson shook her head. Vi sighed softly. "I'm sorry Carson. Come here, I'll grab you a drink on the house." She said. "Oh by the way, Lupe, Jess, the twins were looking for you."

Lupe elbowed Jess, smiling, but then looked back over at Carson. "You alright on your own coach?"

Carson nodded. "No, yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just gonna have a drink and go back I think."

"You sure?" Lupe asked.

Carson nodded. "Yeah, it – it's been a long day."

"Alright," Lupe said, socking her in the shoulder softly. "Hang in there. We'll catch you tomorrow."

Carson sighed, grabbing the glass that Vi placed in front of her. "Was I an idiot?" she asked suddenly. "I mean, was she really coming back?"

Vi sighed, resting an elbow on the bar. "Look, it's hard. Especially for people like us. But if you find that person that you think is the perfect one for you, then maybe you gotta just give her a little more time."

"Yeah," Carson nodded, "Yeah, maybe you're right."

"But," Vi said, "You need to be able to know when enough time has passed, to be able to let go."

Carson looked up from her drink. "You think I should just," she paused. "Just let her go?"

Vi shrugged. "Look slugger. The first is always powerful. She's you're first. So hold on until you can't wait any more. Give yourself time to heal. And then go from there."

Carson nodded, staring back down at her glass. "Right. Yeah, Vi, okay." She took the glass in her hand and downed it. "How much?"

Vi shook her head. "It's on the house tonight."

Carson nodded. "Thanks." She said, grabbing her jacket and making her way back outside.

-X-

Carson hadn't planned on making her way back to the field, she had been lost in her own head and found herself walking towards the gate. She walked out into the middle of the field and laid down, staring up at the sky.

The wind blew gently, rustling through the grass. Carson thought about her conversation with Vi, Greta's letter, the time that had passed by without even a letter from her. All of the things that ran through her head made her more confused and frustrated.

"What if it meant more to me than it did to her?" Carson wondered out loud. "What if she found someone else? Am I being stupid?" She asked, wrapping her hand around a small rock, and chucking it across the field.

"The only stupid thing your doing is talking to yourself." A voice called out.

Carson scrambled up, smoothing out her shirt and skirts, ready to apologize for being on the field to late. "Sorry, I was just," she froze.

She was even more beautiful than Carson remembered. Her red hair pulled back slightly, skirt and blazer tailored to fit her curves perfectly. Her face was soft, concerned, apologetic. "Carson, I am so sorry – I,"

Carson shook her head and ran to Greta, throwing herself in the taller woman's arms. "You came back." She said, half sobbing against Greta's neck.

Greta pulled Carson to look her in the eye. "What are you talking about? Of course I came back." She said, smiling softly.

Carson nodded, smiling, tears in her eyes. "I never should have doubted you."

Greta wrapped her arms around Carson tightly, spinning her in a small circle. "I got your letters." She murmured. "I just – didn't know the right words. Writing them down, nothing seemed right. I just wanted to tell you everything in person."

Carson nodded. She pulled back from Greta and smiled. Slowly, her hands found their way into Greta's hair, pulling the bobby pins out, letting her hair fall down around her shoulders. "Your hair is different." She breathed, watching as Greta nodded. Carson pulled Greta to her, breathing in her smell, tangling her fingers in the taller woman's hair. "We're sharing a room." She murmured before kissing the red head.

Greta sighed softly against Carson's lips, nipping softly at the shorter woman's bottom lip. Her hands dropped to Carson's wrists, pulling them both softly down to the grass. "I missed you." She murmured, laying down on her side next to Carson.

"I missed you too."

-X-