Chapter 172: Tarheel State
Friday, January 13th, Evening
The games were over. Brooke stood up from the bleachers and looked around the foreign gym. Looking over to her left, she saw Bobbi-Lee talking with her sisters. To her right, Sam was walking out of the gym; she finished and ready to leave.
Brooke walked down the bleachers and stood on the parquet floor. She turned back to look at some of her grandchildren. What was coming up was the hardest part of her trips, saying goodbye.
Chase and Huck were coming down the bleachers with their children. Brooke looked at her oldest daughter and her husband. The wild child of her kids settled down quickly and soon had four children followed. Brooke always wondered why they had four children since every one of Chase's pregnancies was high risk.
One thing Brooke know about the marriage of her oldest daughter was they were very happy together. Over the years, Brooke had seen when one was down; the other carried them.
Once Chase reached Brooke, the two women smiled at each other. Brooke had to look up at Chase, as her oldest daughter, by a quirk of genetics Chase got her looks from Brooke, but her athleticism from her Dad.
"So, heading to New York tonight?" Chase asked.
Brooke nodded, "Yeah, we have the jet waiting for us," she said.
"So, have a good trip and give my love to Trin and Wyatt," Chase said.
"I will," Brooke said.
"Have a safe trip," Huck said.
"Thanks," Brooke said, Huck was tall, taller than Chase's dad. That also meant that most of their children were tall for their age.
"See you when you get back, Nana Brooke," PJ said.
"See you seen, PJ," Brooke said and kissed PJ's cheek.
"Bye, Nana Brooke," Key said.
"Bye, Key," Brooke said and kissed her on the cheek.
Brooke had to get down the last two of Chase's children. BB and Col were still young and didn't hit growth spurts. There was the usual exchange of pleasantries. Brooke kissed each and watched as they headed out.
Brooke sighed heavily and watched as Brett headed out to catch up with the rest of the basketball team. If Brooke felt short compared to Chase, she felt tiny next to Brett. Huck's oldest was a skyscraper compared to Brooke.
"Great game tonight," Brooke said.
"Thanks," Brett said.
"Have you thought about my offer?" Brooke asked.
"I have, I'm just not sure if my Mom will let me," Brett said.
"If you want to, I'll book you," Brooke said.
"What about my Mom?" Brett asked.
"If you want to do it, I'll take care of Momma Bear," Brooke said.
Brett nodded, "I'll let you know," she said.
"Don't take too long and go catch up with the team before you get into trouble," Brooke said.
Brett smiled and ran off. Brooke looked around for Lucas. She saw him talking with Izzy and her two children.
She sighed; all Brooke could hope is that Lucas is engaged this week. Usually, she wouldn't be worried too much, but Keith was away, and there was no one else. This separation was stress she didn't need. Brooke shook her head; through all this, she must endure.
Finally, she met up with Bobbi-Lee. Brooke looked up and smiled at her protégé. Bobbi-Lee was related to Brooke through marriage. The giant of a son-in-law called Huck. The tall redhead smiled at Brooke.
"So, how's the family?" Brooke asked.
"Well, you know Chase and Huck," Bobbi-Lee said.
"Sickeningly wholesome?" Brooke asked.
Bobbi-Lee shrugged, "At least to someone chronically single like me," she said.
"You stay single for your mental health," Brooke said.
"Yeah, but it does get lonely," Bobbi-Lee said.
"How could you be alone, you have two cats," Brooke said.
"Three cats, I know Rob is easy to forget since he hides," Bobbi-Lee said.
"Whatever," Brooke said, "Shouldn't you be able to date?"
"Maybe, my plants and pets are alive and happy," Bobbi-Lee said.
"Okay, well, are you going to be okay on this trip?" Brooke asked.
Bobbi-Lee nodded, "I took care of things today, and plan to refresh once we get back," she said.
"Well, when we're up there, you'll be sharing my private stock," Brooke said.
"Thanks, Brooke," Bobbi-Lee said.
"Bobbi, I know this is the first time in a long while since you've been up there for this thing," Brooke said.
"The New York trip isn't bothering me as such," Bobbi-Lee said.
"What is?" Brooke asked.
"Setting up my show, on this scale, at least," Bobbi-Lee said.
Brooke nodded, "It's your time to shine, and I wouldn't have booked your show if I didn't think you and your line weren't ready to stand on its own," she said.
"As I've said in the past, Thanks, Brooke," Bobbi-Lee said.
Brooke nodded, "Don't worry about it, Bobbi," she said.
"You know I can't," Bobbi-Lee said.
"Well, let's go find Sam before she tries to burn the place down," Brooke said.
"I don't think she'll do that," Bobbi-Lee said.
"Who knows? But she didn't want to be here," Brooke said and led Bobbi-Lee out of the gym.
Outside the school, they found Sam waiting for them. Sam looked at Brooke and Bobbi-Lee.
"We have to get going," Sam said.
"I know, we were just saying goodbye to our families," Brooke said.
"Well, we have to get going if we're going to make the flight," Sam said.
"Fine, fine, let's go," Brooke said.
Sam nodded, and they headed to the limo. The three women settled in the back seat. Soon, the car was off and heading to the airport.
Bobbi-Lee leaned back and looked for a bottle of water. Once she found one, she got comfortable. She watched to see Brooke curl up in the corner of the back seat. Sam leaned back and stared at the roof.
Bobbi-Lee nodded and took a sip of her water. It had been a long day for all of them; the day started a full workday, followed by dinner together, and some planning. Next, there were four high school basketball games, which they were leaving, catching a flight to New York.
Bobbi-Lee sighed and just drank her bottle of water; it's going to be an interesting trip.