Chapter 8

Antonio paced back and forth in front of Wrigley Field waiting for Buffy. It wasn't that she was late, he had arrived early to make sure he would be able to find a place to park. He figured she had to drop Julian off at the sitters and do the other stuff women do to primp for dates. He turned around when he heard his name being called.

"Hey," he greeted as he walked to her and gave her a hug. "Thanks for coming."

She hugged him back. "Thanks for inviting. And thanks for agreeing to the change in plans."

"Nothing like a ball game," he said and she handed him the tickets. "Especially when it's courtesy of St. Ignacious."

"Yeah, I still can't believe I won the raffle."

"You're the first person I know that did."

"That's because it's usually the rich people who buy a bunch of tickets."

"The way it always goes," he agreed as the entered the stadium. Once they were through the turnstiles, he checked the tickets to see where they were going to be seated. "Hey, Buff, these are pretty decent seats."

"Uh huh. St. Ignacious has season tickets just for the raffle."

"And you know this how?"

"My bestie is the church secretary."

"Ah, the lady is connected."

"No, I just have a bit of insider information. All I do is work Bingo one night a month."

Antonio nodded. He was well aware that parents often volunteered their time at the church to get a reduction on their kids' tuition. Somehow, he couldn't see Buffy working Bingo. "What do you do at Bingo?"

"Anything they want me to do. Usually I work the kitchen."

They settled into their seats and waited for the game to start.

"Would be nice if they won," Buffy said, knowing that the Cubs were currently on a losing streak.

"But we love them anyway. Everyone in Chicago loves the Cubs."

"That's true. But it would be really nice if they would win a World Series in my lifetime."

"Everyone's dream."

Buffy smiled. "I don't think Chicago would know what to do with itself if that ever happened. But still we can dream."

Three hours later, they exited the ball park, happy with the results that the Cubs had beaten the pants off of the Pirates.

"Want to grab some coffee?" Antonio asked. They had eaten the usual ball park offerings during the game, but he didn't want the evening to end.

"Sure. Julian is spending the night, so I don't have a curfew."

"Mom sitting?"

She nodded. "Marco offered, but I hate to ask him. I hate to put a cramp in his social life."

"You know he'd cancel a date with a supermodel if you asked him to sit."

"I'm sure he would. But I really want him to find a nice girl and settle down. If he's sitting Julian, he's not out finding a nice girl."

Antonio was touched with her admission. It was very obvious that the Hernandez siblings loved each other dearly. It was refreshing to hear good things about siblings and not the usual not getting along, not speaking to each other, we hate each other dysfunction that seemed to run in modern families.

He opened the car door and waited till she was settled in the seat before walking around to his side of the car. As he got in and buckled his seat belt, he looked over at Buffy. "I can bring you back to get your car."

"Sounds good."