Adventures Of Kate and The Sitter
Chapter Eight – Bowling
After the week they had had at work, Jane and Maura decided they needed to do something fun. At breakfast that morning the family had decided that they would like to go bowling. They hadn't been bowling in a while so everyone agreed.
Kate walked up to Kelly, "Kelly, I don't remember bowling. I know I have been once but I don't remember the rules."
"It's okay, Kate. We can help you remember, okay?" Kelly tried to assure her. She knew Kate was a little perfectionist and liked to be good at everything she did, just like her mama.
"Okay, thank you Kelly."
"You are welcome, Kate. I will always help you with anything you need. That's what friends are for, right?" Kelly asked Kate.
"Best friends, Kelly, we are best friends not just friends." Kate adamantly reminded Kelly.
"Yes, that is what best friends are for." Kelly reworded her statement. She needed to remember that the word 'best' in front of friend meant the world to this four-year old little girl.
They arrived at the bowling alley and rented four lanes right next to each other. Two lanes would be occupied by Jane, Maura and Kelly and the other two by the children. Angela went with them but she didn't want to bowl she just wanted to watch.
Kate being Kate decided when she wasn't bowling, she would be over at the other lanes watching her mommies and her best friend bowl. She wished that they would have let her bowl with them.
"Mama, why did you say 'Kelly had a turkey' I don't see any turkeys around here?" Kate asked as she climbed up in Jane's lap, this was only her second time going bowling and she wasn't familiar with the terminology.
"Because she got three strikes in a row." Jane explained.
"Is that good, mama?" Kate asked because she couldn't remember.
Jane responded, "Yes, it is Kate."
Kate told Kelly, "Congratulations Kelly."
"Thank you, Kate."
"Mama, does that mean she is beating you at bowling?" Kate asked as Jane moved her off of her lap as it was her turn to bowl.
"Right now, yes she is winning, however, the game is not over." Jane replied as she released the bowling ball. Jane only hit five pins. On her next shot she knocked another three pins down for a total of eight.
Kelly laughed and said, "Go ahead Jane, keep telling yourself that."
"Come on Kelly, you know the game isn't over yet." Jane told her as she sat back down and pulled Kate back on her lap. Kate had gone over for her turn to bowl and had returned already. Kate wanted to watch her mommies and Kelly bowl.
"If you keep bowling like that, I will be able to beat you with no problem." Kelly stated as she glared at Jane. Jane just hugged Kate and gave her a kiss on the top of the head. Maura was the first bowler, then Kelly followed by Jane.
"Mommy, get a strike." Kate told her mommy as she got up to bowl.
"I will try sweetheart." Maura said as she leaned down to give Kate a kiss. Jane blew her a kiss and she blew one back. Kate reached up and pretended like she was catching Maura's kiss.
"Hey, little one that was my kiss to catch." Jane told Kate as she glared at her. "Mommy gave you a kiss before she went up to bowl."
"No way mama, mommy was blowing the kiss at me. Mommy loves me and is always blowing me kisses." Kate informed her mama as she leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Maura rolled a strike and walked over and gave Jane a kiss and then gave one to Kate. "I was blowing the kiss to both of my loves."
"Congrats, babe on the strike." Jane told Maura as she pulled her in for another kiss.
"Yes, congratulations on the strike mommy. Are you beating mama also?" Kate asked and Jane just stared at her again.
Maura looked at Jane and reached out and held Jane's cheek and said, "Yes, Kate, I am presently beating your mama and Kelly." Jane playfully slapped her butt as Maura went to sit down.
MJ called over, "Kate, it's your turn to bowl."
"Maybe, I should just go over and bowl with the children. They love me." Jane said as Kate jumped off of her lap so she could go over to the next set of lanes and take her turn.
Kelly was quick to say, "Yes, you might do better with the bumper rails up." Maura and Kelly both laughed as Jane went over to sit with the children. Pouting the whole way. Kate knocked down nine pins and then missed the last one. She sat down on Jane's lap.
Angela leaned over and told Jane, "Baby, it's okay, you don't have to win every game."
"I know ma. Maura and Kelly are just having so much fun laughing and beating me. I think I just want to stay over here where I am loved."
"Janie, they love you. Just go back over and concentrate. Don't worry about what the score is just have fun." Angela told her distraught daughter.
"I guess, I am just feeling like I am getting picked on two days in a row. Yesterday Kelly picked on me about the fact that I didn't teach MJ how to fish and that Arthur did, and now today, they are teasing me about my bowling score. I just want to have fun and not get teased."
Angela could tell that Maura and Kelly's teasing was getting to Jane. She pulled Jane into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Baby, just go back over, kiss your wife and give Kelly a light slap on the arm and try and bowl a strike, okay?"
"Okay, ma, I will try." Jane did exactly what her mother told her, kissed her wife and gave Kelly a slight slap on the arm and bowled a strike.
"Wow, a strike, way to go Jane. I didn't think you had it in you." Kelly told Jane as she approached her seat next to Maura. Maura leaned over and gave Jane a kiss and then rose to take her turn. Kate came over and gave Jane a kiss and then sat next to Kelly at the scorer's table and talked about the score with her.
Maura bowled another strike, then a nine and then picked up the spare to finish her game. She teased Jane when she got back. "There, I am still beating you." Jane was going to give Maura a congratulations kiss but after that remark she didn't feel like giving her anything. Maura just sat down after high fiving Kate.
As Kelly rose to take her turn, she told Kate, "Your mama is going to have to strike out to win the game."
Loaded with this information, Kate left the scorer's table and went and sat in Jane's lap. "Mama, you need to strike out to win. Do you think you have some more strikes in you?"
"Yes, Kate, I think I do." Jane stated with determination.
When Jane rose to start her tenth frame Kate stood up on the seat and pulled her mama in for a hug. "Mama, this is a hug for good luck."
"Thank you, Kate." Jane went up and threw a strike. Kelly and Maura just smiled and didn't say a word, they just whispered to each other. It pissed Jane off a little.
"Mama, please come back over, I need to give you another good luck hug." Kate said as Jane made her way over to her daughter who was standing up on the chair again. Kate gave Jane a great big hug and then Jane went up and rolled another strike. "Mama, you got a turkey, I saw the turkey flash across the scoreboard."
Jane walked back over to Kate so she could give her another good luck hug. One more strike and she would win. Maura and Kelly both looked at Jane and Jane didn't say anything to them. She looked back at Kate who blew her a kiss. She blew a kiss back to her and then went up and threw another strike. She beat Maura by one pin and Kelly by two pins, the game was that close.
Jane walked back over and hugged Kate who had been supporting her the entire 10th frame. Kelly and Maura hadn't said a word of congratulations to her. She put her borrowed bowling ball away and changed back into her shoes and sat there for a few minutes. Neither one of them said congratulations to her. She looked at both of them and said, "Way to show the children good sportsmanship. You could have congratulated me." In her mind, she had given them enough opportunity to say something and neither one did.
Kelly and Maura were surprised by Jane's statement. Still neither one said anything and Jane got up and said, "You know what I don't need this right now. I'm leaving." She grabbed her jacket and started walking out of the bowling alley. She had placed the keys to the SUV on the scorer's table. She pushed the buttons on her cellphone and ordered an Uber. The Uber was close and would be there within two minutes.
When Maura realized that Jane was really leaving the bowling alley she stood up and went after her, yelling for her to stop. Jane kept walking. The children were upset they had never seen their mama act like this. She never ignored their mommy. They were further upset because their mommy was crying and yelling for her to stop and their mama was ignoring her and walked out of the bowling alley. Kate had ran after Maura and caught up to her and when Maura stopped at the entrance to the bowling alley, Kate wrapped herself around Maura's legs.
Jane had such long legs and was walking fast, Maura couldn't catch up by the time she stepped outside of the bowling alley, she saw Jane getting into an Uber. She tried calling Jane's cell but Jane silenced her phone once she got into the Uber. When she reached her destination, she turned her phone off. She needed time to think.
She knew she might be acting petty, but she was tired of being teased. She thought it would have been nice if they had been good sports and congratulated her instead of saying nothing. She sat at the Dirty Robber by herself for the amount of time it took her to have two beers. Several people had said hello to her. They weren't used to seeing her in there anymore as she rarely came to the Dirty Robber anymore, let alone by herself.
Angela, Maura, Kelly and the children all went home. The children kept asking Maura, "where's mama?" Kate was upset because she wanted to congratulate her mama on winning. Jane had given her a quick hug and then had got up to put her bowling ball away. Kate had to step over to the other lane to bowl and when she came back her mama was walking away.
It took Maura a few minutes when they got home to get the children settled down. She wasn't sure where Jane was or when she was coming home. Jane hadn't left her like that since before MJ was born. She sensed that Jane's mood was a little off and knew she shouldn't have teased her so much but they were just having fun. Kate was glued to Kelly, if she couldn't have her mama, she was going to make sure that Kelly didn't leave her either.
About forty minutes after Maura got home with the children Jane came home. Maura could tell that Jane had had a few beers. She wasn't mad at Jane for having a few beers but she was upset that Jane had walked away from her and left her at the bowling alley with the children. She thought they were done with the days of Jane running away. When Maura approached Jane she said, "Hello love, congratulations on your finish tonight."
"Don't you think you should have congratulated me at the time?" Jane said as she saw Kelly try to leave and go to the guest house. "Kelly, I think you and Maura, both owe me an apology. You two were teasing me. You knew I was not playing around, you don't have to be a detective to know when I am not in a playing around mood. I didn't tease you back. I didn't bad mouth any of your missed attempts at getting a strike."
"Jane, I'm sorry. I was just joking around with you. You are right I should've been able to detect that you were not playing back. I saw you slouched in the chair next to your mother. I saw her comforting you and I should have stopped. I didn't mean to upset you." Kelly explained.
Maura hugged Jane and said, "Love, I am sorry. I know you better than anyone and I should have noticed that you were not in the mood to play around. Please accept my apology."
"I appreciate your apologies, but the last week hasn't been a good one and I just wanted to have some fun tonight with the two of you and the children. I am also sorry for leaving you at the bowling alley without stating my destination and the fact that I just needed a little bit of time to settle down."
Jane, Maura and Kelly hugged and then Kelly went out to the guest house. Jane and Maura walked upstairs hand in hand and Jane visited the children's rooms to say goodnight to them. Kate didn't want to let go of her mama. Jane was holding her and Kate said, "Mama, I was so scared. You left me and I hadn't finished my congratulations to you. You did great mama, I was so proud of you."
"I'm sorry Kate. My leaving had nothing to do with you. I have been having a bad week." Jane reassured her daughter.
"I know mama, but don't leave me. If you have to leave you need to take me with you and I will protect you. I love you mama." Kate told her mama with Maura standing right beside her. "Mommy, I love you but we need to be careful with mama."
"Yes, Kate, mama had a bad week and I shouldn't have been teasing her. I have already apologized to her and I will be cognizant of her mood before I tease her again." Maura told Kate.
"Thank you, mommy." Jane gave Kate a huge hug and kiss and laid her back down in her bed. She then leaned down to MJ and gave him a kiss goodnight. She had already checked in on AJ and Lilly.
Jane and Maura walked to their bedroom and completed their nightly routine and then cuddled up in bed. Maura made sure to provide Jane with extra kisses. Jane fell asleep with a smile on her face. She doesn't like when things like this happen. Hopefully nothing like this will happen again. She knew she was the one that left but she needed Kelly and Maura to understand that they also have to be careful of how they interact with her when she is having a bad week.
A few hours later, Kate was cuddled up in between her mommies. She was hanging on to Jane, she wanted to make sure her mama didn't get away from her again. When Jane woke up, and saw Kate cuddled up with her she knew that Kate was upset and would be clinging to her all day. She had been so careful to not let her feelings interfere with her relationship with Maura and the children but she had a bad week and let herself slip. She would find a way to make it up to her family and Kelly.