Chapter 5

Buffy slid over on the bleachers when she saw Marco making his way over to her.

"Hey," Marco greeted as he gave Buffy a hug. "How's it going?"

"Well, they're getting their butts kicked, but it's only the second inning."

"How bad?"

"6-0."

"Julian get up to bat yet?"

"He had a pop up fly."

"Well, even Babe Ruth struck out more than he hit home runs."

Buffy reached into the tote bag sitting beside her. She drew out a can of soda and handed it over to him.

"Thanks, Buff." He opened the can and took a long drink. "What would I do without you?"

"Pray you never have to find out."

"Hey, when you were on active duty, it was hell without you."

"Stop," she said as she waved her hand. "You still had Mama to take care of you. Which reminds me. When are you going to settle down? I'm dying to become an Aunt again."

"I should ask you the same thing. You think you could get something going with Antonio?"

"Don't know. I haven't even told him yes or no yet."

"Tell me yes or no what?"

Buffy heard a voice and turned her head. Standing beside the end of the bleachers was Detective Antonio Dawson. "Antonio. Hello," she stammered while she glared at Marco. He gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged his shoulders.

"Hello, Ms. Rodriguez. Tell me yes or no what?" he repeated as he waited for her to give him permission to join her.

"I'll get you for this," she muttered in Marco's ear. She turned to Antonio. "Tell you yes or no about having dinner on Friday."

"So, you've decided?"

"I have." She glanced at him still standing beside the bleachers. "Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to sit down?"

"Depends on your answer." She was making him work for this just a little too much. "Marco, you didn't tell me Buffy was your sister."

"Didn't ask, Bro," Marco grinned. "And I'm only going to say if you don't treat her right, you're gonna have me to answer to."

"She hasn't told me yes yet," Antonio reminded.

"But she hasn't told you no either," Marco reminded.

Buffy leaned over and whispered in Antonio's ear. He grinned and made his way up the bleachers to sit next to her. Julian's team was just heading for the dugout to start the bottom of the inning.

"Let's go, Julian!" Marco called as the nine fielders straggled into the dugout.

"Julian's your son?" Antonio asked.

Buffy nodded. "He's 9. First year of Little League."

"Diego's 10. He's into soccer."

"So is Julian. He plays fall league."

The first player on Julian's team came out of the dugout and headed for the batter's box.

"Who is that?" Marco asked.

"That's Bobby Cochran. He's good," Buffy said. "Watch him. He's going to be a pro someday."

Bobby kicked at the dirt with his cleats and started warming up his swing.

"Come on Bobby!" Buffy called. "Base hit!"

Marco looked at her. "You're cheering for someone who's not your kid?"

"He's Julian's teammate. Of course I'm cheering for him."

The game ended and Julian made his way to the bleachers. He hung his head as he approached his Mom and Uncle. "I'm sorry, Mom," he said.

Buffy bent down to his level. "Hey, Kiddo, it's okay. You can't win every game."

"But we got our butts kicked."

"So? It's one game, Julian. That doesn't mean the next time you play them they're going to kick your butts again. It just means that today they were the better team. That's all."

Julian looked up at her with his eyes full of surprise. "So you're not mad at me?"

Buffy reached out and hugged him. "Of course not. Losing a ball game is nothing to get mad about."

"Hey, Kiddo, do you want to go get pizza or ice cream?" Marco asked.

"Pizza. And ice cream."

Marco laughed. "Ok. We can do that."

Buffy stood up. "Julian, I would like you to meet someone. This is Detective Antonio Dawson."

Julian looked up at him. He held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Dawson. Do you work with Uncle Marco?"

"Afraid not, Julian. I work with the Intelligence Unit."

"Cool. What does the Intelligence Unit do?"

"Catches the bad guys just like the whole force."

"Julian wants to be a cop when he grows up," Marco said to Antonio.

"Do you really, Julian?"

Julian nodded. "I wanna be a Detective."

"We need detectives."

"That's cool!"

"Hey, Mr. Dawson, are you coming for pizza and ice cream with us?"

Antonio squirmed. He wasn't sure if he should go with them. While Buffy had accepted his offer of a date for Friday night, he didn't know how she felt about him tagging along on what seemed to be a family ritual after a baseball game.

"Please do," Buffy said as she noticed his hesitation.

"You'd better, Bro. Julian invited you and you can't say no," Marco chimed in.

"Then I'd be happy to."