Chapter 14

Philip walked out of the bathroom and went to the sofa where Lee and his mom were sitting snuggled up, talking to Jamie. "The bathroom's all yours." Jamie got up, and Philip sat in the chair across from them. "So, Lee. How'd you do it?"

"How'd I do what?"

"Ask Mom to marry you?"

"Well, we were down by the water, and it reminded me of our first kiss in Paris, and I thought it was perfect timing. I said a few things, got down on one knee and asked her to marry me."

Philip gawked at him. "Lee! What kind of things did you say?"

Before Lee could respond, Amanda spoke up, "Oh, Philip. It was all beautiful, but I do have to say, there was one part that made my heart skip a beat."

Lee looked down at her, "Only one?"

She elbowed him lightly. "No, sweetheart, it all did. But this one line, in particular, got me."

"What was it, Mom?"

"Well, I'll never forget it. He told me, 'I spend most of my time trying to catch the breath you take away.'" She lovingly gazed up at him as Lee slowly brought his head down and softly kissed her lips.

"Wow, Lee! That was a good line."

Lee sincerely looked over to Philip and said, "Well, it's not hard to come up with good lines when you speak the truth. Make sure you remember that."

Philip grinned and nodded as Amanda turned to Lee. "Don't you think he's a little young to be worrying about stuff like that?"

"You can never start too early," Lee smirked. "This way, you can make sure they don't get any bad habits."

Philip rolled his eyes as Amanda added, "Don't roll your eyes, young man. You can learn a lot from watching Lee. And not just how to treat women." Philip nodded while Amanda shrugged her shoulders and instructed Philip. "Now, why don't you go get your things packed up and remember to leave a change of clothes for after the game."

Philip got up and traipsed over to gather his things. As he packed, he hollered back to them, "Hey, Mom. I forgot to tell you. There's something gross on the wall of the shower. I'm not sure what it is, but all I knew was I wasn't going to touch it."

"I don't remember anything on the shower wall. What was weird about it?"

"I don't know. It was white and appeared sticky. I didn't get too close of a look at it."

Lee started choking at Philip's comment as Amanda gave him a mischievous grin. She answered over her shoulder, still eyeing Lee with a grin. "Oh, I'm sorry, honey. My shampoo got stuck in my bottle, and when it finally came out, it got all over the shower wall. I thought I cleaned it all up." She poked Lee when she said the last part. He gave her an apologetic expression as a slight blush crept onto his face.

Philip shrugged his shoulders and went back to packing. "That makes sense."

Lee finished packing the Wagoneer and headed back up to the hotel room. He opened the door and found Jamie and Philip on the sofa but couldn't find Amanda. "Well, everything's packed. Where's your mom?"

Jamie nodded over his shoulder while he rolled his eyes. "She's doing a final walkthrough. She does this every time to make sure we don't leave anything behind."

"And it's a good thing I do because you left your toothbrush on the sink," Amanda stated as she made her way out of the bathroom. She scanned around the room one more time and nodded in satisfaction. "Well, that's it. Everyone ready to head to the ballfield?" The small group nodded and started towards the door.

All of the player's families were sitting in the stands waiting for the game to start. The boys came running up the stairs to Amanda and Lee as Philip excitedly announced, "Mom, Lee, Coach just told me I'm pitching this game."

"That's great news, honey. Congratulations!"

"Yeah, that's fantastic!" Lee added.

"Thanks." He shot a look at Jamie and asked, "Jamie, will you help me warm-up?"

"I don't want to. Ask Charlie. He's the catcher."

"I did, but Coach has him doing something else right now." Philip smiled at Lee. "What about you, Pops? You want to help me warm up?"

Lee was completely caught off guard and shocked at Philip's proclamation, "Pops?"

Philip shrugged his shoulders and remarked, "Yeah, you're going to be my stepdad. I feel strange calling you Lee all the time, and dad didn't seem right, so I decided on Pops."

Lee brilliantly beamed with pride, "I like it, and I would love to help you warm-up, but I'm a lefty, and I can't use Jamie's glove."

"Philip, go ask Nick if you can borrow his glove. He's a lefty," Jamie added.

Philip nodded and went to find Nick. Lee got up and started to follow Philip down the stands. He glanced at Amanda quickly. "I'll be back in a little bit." She nodded with pride at what just happened as she watched the two of them start to build up their bond.

Amanda was brought back to the present when she heard Janice behind her. "Amanda? Did I just hear Philip say Lee is going to be his stepdad?"

Amanda smiled down at Jamie and turned to talk to Janice, but before she could answer, Jamie jumped up and proudly stated, "Yeah, Lee proposed to Mom last night! Mom, show her your ring." Amanda shyly held up her left hand, so Janice could see the ring. As Janice stared at it, so did all the other moms in the stands. Congratulations were heard from everyone. Janice elbowed Barbra Anne and said, "Amanda, that is an absolutely gorgeous ring. Isn't it, Barbra Anne?" Barbra Anne smiled politely, but Amanda could tell she didn't have too much concern behind it.

Amanda reached over and put her hand on Lee's knee. "Relax, sweetheart."

Lee gawked over at her with widened eyes. "Relax?! Amanda, how can I relax. It's the bottom of the ninth, the Bombers are up by one, there's a runner on second, and there's one out." He turned back to the game. "Come on, Philip, you've got this." Lee clapped with his encouragement. With the next pitch, the batter hit the ball. It was a soft blooper right between second base and centerfield. Jamie ran straight for the ball to make sure the runner from second couldn't score. At the last minute, he dove for the ball and crashed to the ground. He looked up at his glove and was surprised to see the ball lying in his glove. He quickly stood up and threw it back to the infield to keep the runner from advancing. Everyone in the stands stood and cheered. "Way to go, Jamie," Lee hollered. He excitedly hugged Amanda. "Did you see that catch? Wow, what a great catch!" Amanda and Lee shifted their focus back to the field. "Okay, Philip, one more."

Philip took a deep breath and pitched the ball. "Ball!" The umpire called out. The next pitch came in. Crack! The ball zipped down the third-base line, just landing foul. Philip lifted his cap and wiped his brow, knowing how close that hit was to potentially tie the game. He stepped on the mound and threw the next pitch. "Strike!" The umpire called out. The crowd cheered, and Philip could hear Jamie from the outfield. "One more, Philip, one more!" Philip nodded to him then faced the batter. He quickly glanced up to the stands to see his Mom and Pops watching and cheering him on with encouragement. He nervously swallowed hard and started his windup. The batter swung as the ball sailed past the moving bat, and the muffled sound could be heard as it hit the catcher's mitt. Thump. "Strike three!" The umpire declared. The boys ran towards Philip on the mound jumping up and down with excitement, as all the parents in the stands cheered and hollered.

Lee and Amanda were gathered with the parents as they waited for the coach to finish talking with them. As the kids ran to their parents, Philip and Jamie hugged their mom and then faced Lee. Lee grabbed both of them at the same time and lifted them with a huge hug. He sat them down and exclaimed, "What a game, guys! You both played great!"

"Fellas, we're so proud of you!" Amanda excitedly chirped.

"Thanks, Mom. I thought I lost us the game until Jamie dove for that blooper. That was an awesome catch!" Philip praised his brother.

"Thanks, Philip. You pitched a great game, too!" Jamie grinned up to Amanda and went on to say, "Mom, everyone is going to the Pizza Palace close by to celebrate. Can we go?"

Amanda questionably peered at Lee then back towards her boys. "I don't know, fellas, it's a long ride home, and Pops and I have to work tomorrow." She winked at Lee as he smiled back at her.

"Please, Mom," both boys begged.

"Oh, alright, I think we can do that." The four of them headed towards the parking lot with the boys in front of them, still talking about the game. Lee put his arm around Amanda as she did the same. As they continued their trek to the car, Lee felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see who it was. "Hey, Jack."

"What do you say, Lee? Rematch at the Pizza Palace?" Jack asked with a huge grin on his face.

Lee smugly smiled back and answered, "You're on. See you there."