A/N- Good morning, I'm blown away by the amazing response to the first chapter, so thank you so much for that! Enjoy this next one, and bask in the glory that I actually updated in a reasonable time frame.
She watched Doctor Mills keep her arms locked around the blonde's neck and press her lips to Professor Swan's in a chaste kiss.
Friends don't do that. Kathryn was so surprised by the action she completely misjudged how close she was to the sideline, and before she could do anything, she was tripping over a water bottle, and landing flat on her ass. In the fall, she let out an involuntary yelp which came out through the whistle in her mouth as a loud shrill hiss...
When she got up, it was with a guilty expression on her flushed red face. She refused to look at either woman from her university as she brushed Killian off, assuring him she was fine.
Kathryn managed to avoid meeting the eyes of her professor and future dean for the rest of the second quarter. When time was up, and she met back in the middle of the field with Killian, he had an unsettling smirk, "Are there a lot of water bottles on the sideline over there?"
"Yeah, it's, um dangerous."
"Right." His smirk only grew as he noticed how the other referee was putting a distinct effort into not looking at the parent's sideline.
Kathryn noticed, "Stop smirking."
"Stop blushing."
Instead of replying, Kathryn blew her whistle and the teams settled back out onto the field. She did a good job of avoiding making eye contact with the two women, until she was setting up a member of the green team for a corner kick. The little boy wound up and drop kicked the ball as hard as he could, right into the head of one of the blue players.
Kathryn was blowing her whistle and kneeling next to the boy in seconds, "Hey, are you alright?" The shot from the ball landed the kid back on his butt, holding his hands to his small nose. Of all the children on the field, it had to be the boy who had been dragging Professor Swan across the field earlier. He wasn't crying, more just stunned.
"Hey kiddo, can you tell me what your name is?"
"Henry." When the boy took his hands away from his nose to reply, Kathryn was shocked to see blood pouring down his face. He had a bloody nose.
She rubbed his back in reassurance to make sure he didn't freak out with the amount of his own blood, "Well you're a very brave little boy, Henry."
Kathryn took her own long sleeve and used it to wipe some of the blood from the boy's chin. He watched her skeptically before rendering his judgement, "You're pretty."
"Thank you." The blonde couldn't quite get over the oddness of her situation, sacrificing her shirt to the bloody nose of her professor's son. A professor who was married, yet kissing the head of the political science department.
"What's your name?" He asked. Even dripping blood like a faucet, the kid had great manners.
"Kathryn. Ok, Henry, we're going to go over to your coach for a little bit."
"Can I go to my Mommy?"
"Sure." Kathryn stood and lightly placed a hand on the boy's shoulder to lead him out of the gaggle of kids that had formed, she began walking him over to the sidelines, "We got a bloody nose." She told Killian on her way over.
Once Henry had gotten out of the group and the parents could see him, Doctor Mills was on her feet and half running across the field in her heels, Professor Swan was right behind her.
"Henry!" The brunette dropped next to him, and held both his shoulders, "Oh my goodness."
"Are you ok, Hen?" Swan asked. She stood behind the brunette and ran a comforting hand across the older woman's back in reassurance.
"I'm ok, Momma." The boy insisted. The blonde handed the kneeling woman some kleenex which Doctor Mills used to wipe the boy's face of whatever blood wasn't already decorating Kathryn's shirt sleeve. Once he was cleaned, she pinched the bridge of his nose.
"We just have to keep your nose like this for a little bit." Doctor Mills smiled at Kathryn in thanks. She didn't recognize her, as the student's interaction with the intimidating brunette was limited to catching glimpses through her open office door or scurrying out of the way when Professor Mills was striding purposefully down the halls of the humanities building.
"Carry me, Mommy?"
"Alright dear." The brunette agreed, standing up and lifting the boy onto her hip.
Kathryn kept her impassive smile plastered on as her mind went into overdrive, the kid just called Professor Swan Momma, and then he called Doctor Mills Mommy and she picked him up. So they're both his mothers.
She turned and went back to the field, "I'm going to change." Kathryn told Killian, briefly detouring to her car to grab a her spare shirt.
The boy just shrugged in indifference, nodding that they could resume the game. Henry stayed out for the remainder of the third quarter, sitting in the dean's lap, but by the fourth quarter, he was back out, eager as ever.
Throughout the fourth quarter, Kathryn noticed a certain pint sized brunette that seemed to be glued to her elbow. The small boy provided her with idle chatter, and by the end of the game, he hadn't touched the ball once, but Kathryn knew more than ever about elephants, cacti, and Australia (Henry's current favorite subjects).
After the game, Kathryn tried, and failed, to distract her attention by talking to Killian. She found herself sneaking glances at the two women over his shoulder, taking in the way they packed their things up together, the way Professor Swan shouldered both folding chairs and Doctor Mill's bags, the way Professor Swan wrapped an arm around the dean's waist as they waited for the boy to return from getting his snack from his coach.
"Earth to Kathryn." Killian said, waving a hand in front of the girl's face and succeeding in getting her attention back.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"Are we referring on Friday together as well?"
"Yeah, I think we are."
"Great." He groaned in annoyance, "Don't look now, but we've got company."
"Excuse me?" A voice asked, echoing lethally across the grass.
Kathryn's eyes unconciously snapped to where she had been watching the couple earlier, but it was deserted and she didn't see the two anywhere.
She faintly heard a throat clearing behind her back, and watched as Killian's face turned sour, and he backed away.
Kathryn whirled around to see her dean, standing with the most severe expression that one can have while balancing a napping five year old on her hip. Professor Swan was right behind her with a kinder smile. Once Killian had backed far enough away, Doctor Mills turned her intimidating stare on to Kathryn, the girl internally shrunk under the stare, "Doctor Mills, is Henry alright?"
The boy was totally knocked out and a line of drool was dangerously close to dripping on the dean's blazer, "Yes he is fine, thank you."
"That's good." They stood awkwardly for a moment, Kathryn wanting nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow her, as Doctor Mills eyed her critically. Professor Swan just shuffled awkwardly behind the brunette.
Finally, it seemed as though the english professor could stand it no longer, "So Kathryn, here's the thing, Regina and I are together."
The twenty year old was unsure what took her more by surprise, hearing her uptight dean referred to as 'Regina' or the admission that she was indeed 'with' the eccentric english professor. Kathryn tried to mask her shock, but failed miserably, "I thought you were married." She blurted before she could stop it.
"She is," Doctor Mills, Regina, affirmed, "to me."
Finally, everything seemed to click in Kathryn's mind and she released a short "Oh". She nodded, encouraging Professor Swan to continue.
"But nobody knows that." Professor Swan went on, stating the obvious.
Dean Mills rolled her eyes lovingly and jumped in, "The point is, nobody can know that we're together because Professor Swan is being reviewed for her tenure." It went unspoken, the insinuation that the blonde would not be receiving that tenure if their relationship was not concealed. "I assume we can expect your silence on the matter?" Her tone was severe and left no doubt in Kathryn's mind that she would remain silent, regardless of what she thought.
She nodded nonetheless, "Of course, yeah. I won't say anything."
"And that boy you were refereeing with?"
Kathryn had totally forgotten Killian, but now she rolled her eyes slightly, "Don't worry, he's going to the community college down the road. Not that there's anything wrong with community college, just that he won't say anything to anyone important. Not that I'm important, it's just, yeah."
Professor Swan smiled reassuringly at the mumbling mess her student had turned into, "Thank you." With that, she placed a hand on the small of Regina's back to prompt her to break her intense glare at Kathryn and head away towards the cars, "I'll see you in class tomorrow!" Professor Swan offered over her shoulder.
Kathryn gave a weak wave in response.
A/N- Poor Kathryn, but our girl is hanging in there ;) Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorite, and followed this story!