I’m running late from work. This is not what I need on the first day of practice as team mom. I really wanted to be at the fields by five-thirty even though practice isn’t until six, and now I’ll be lucky if I get there by six. I called Jesse to let him know I was on my way but was running late, and he offered to pick Jason up, but I really wanted time to talk with him. We left Jesse’s kind of late last night, and he was exhausted from running around with Gabe. It took him maybe five minutes to pass out in the car.
I hurry through the door to find Jason standing there with his new football bag ready to go. “I need two seconds to change, buddy.” I run past him to my room to throw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and I grab a sweatshirt. I hurry into the living room with my sneakers, plopping myself down on the couch. “Did you get a snack?”
“Yeah, I made a man sandwich.” He chuckles. He calls it a man sandwich because he packs on a bunch of lunch meat and cheese. It’s usually a mix of ham, turkey, and salami.
“Good. I’m just going to grab a granola bar and I’ll be ready.”
“You mean one like this?” He holds one up. “I already got you one.”
I laugh. “You are the best.”
“I got you, Mom.” He tosses the bar at me, and we hurry out the door.
As soon as we’re in the car and on the way, I decide to start the conversation. “Jason, I want to talk to you a second.”
“Does it have to do with Grace catching you and Jesse kissing?”
“It does. Would you be upset if we started dating?”
“Nah. I actually think it’s pretty cool. Dad is being a dick, so whatever.”
“Jason! I know you’re upset with him, but please don’t talk like that. I raised you better than that.”
I see him roll his eyes in the rearview mirror when I pull up to the light. “Okay, I’m sorry. He just makes me mad.”
“I get it and you have a right to be mad, but don’t let it define you or change who you are. You’re better than that.”
He sighs. “I won’t, I promise. I don’t want to be like him. I can’t believe he didn’t call me back again.”
The remainder of the ride is silent. Lucky for me I don’t hit much traffic, so I actually make it to the field with ten minutes to spare. Jesse is already here, but there doesn’t appear to be too many parents around. We both grab our stuff and make the short walk down to the field below. When I get down there, Jesse gets up from the blanket they appear to have been eating on and approaches us. “Hey, Jason.”
“Hey, Coach.”
“Gabe is throwing a ball around if you want to join him.”
“Cool. Later, Mom.” He runs off.
“How is he?” I know he’s asking if Jason is good with he and I dating. I told Jesse last night that I was going to talk to him about it.
“He’s good. Actually, he was happy. He said he is glad I am dating.” I can’t help but chuckle at his comment. “He called his father a dick.” I lower my voice, but Jesse bursts into laughter. “It’s not funny.” I slap him on the chest with laughter in my voice. It’s one of those moments that it’s hard not to laugh at.
“I’m sorry. You’re right it’s not, but it kind of is.” He puts his arm around me, and we make our way over to the field where the boys are tossing the ball around.
“Bring it in, boys.” The few players huddle around, giving Jessie their full attention. “When you get here helmets go on the line, but first we need to label them. There are too many of you for us to remember all your names right away. This will help us learn who you all are.” He puts a piece of tape on Jason’s helmet and labels it.
“Jason,” I hear someone call out. When I look, I see DJ running down the hill with Trystan and Stella following behind him.
“Hi, DJ.” Jesse holds his fist out, and they bump. “Let me label your helmet, and then I want you to put it on the white line with the others.”
“Okay, Coach.” He runs over to put it on the line, and then he takes off with the other boys.
Stella gives me a quick hug as does Trystan. “Stella, you remember Jesse from the other night.”
She nods. “How are you?”
“Good, thanks.”
“Trystan, this is Jesse, the head coach.”
He holds his hand out. “How’s it going, man?”
“Good, thanks.”
“Listen, I never played football, but I did coach baseball this year. If you need any help, let me know.”
“Actually, we could use some help. I have two other coaches, but they are both new as well and it’s always great to have an extra hand.”
“Great. Let me know what you need me to do.”
The guys continue talking, but Stella pulls me aside. “How’s it going?” She gives me a look telling me she wants the scoop.
I laugh. “We had dinner at his house last night.”
“Really?” she questions, and before I can answer, Misty, Stacey, and Lori all come walking down the hill together. “Look at this…” Stella points to the three women. “Did we miss something?”
Misty laughs. “Nah, we just decided to follow each other.”
We all hug, and Stella brings us back to our conversation. “So I take it dinner went well?”
“Yeah. Of course, we talked about taking it slow and all was going good.” I giggle. “I was just his friend to the kids until Grace caught us kissing.” The look on her face when she saw us was priceless.
“Wait, what did we miss?” Misty asks, excited.
“Karen had dinner with Jesse last night.” Stella fills her in.
Misty claps her hands. “That is so awesome. Now you can tell Brian to fuck off.” We all look at Misty, shocked. “What? He’s an asshole for treating her that way.”
“According to Jason, he’s a dick.” I’m filling them in on my conversation with Jason on the way to the field when I hear Jesse blow his whistle. It must be six. Sam, one of the teammates, runs down the hill to join the team. He looks panicked that he’s running late, but Trystan encourages him with a fist bump.
The four coaches, Jesse, Trystan, Derek and Blake all gather around to hear what he has to say. We can’t hear him, but the boys are full of excitement and are listening closely. “Karen, can you join us a second?” he calls me over. Arien gives me a quick hug in passing and joins the girls.
“I’ll be back.” I run over to the circle of kids.
“Boys, this is Karen. She’s our team mom. You will see her at the end of every practice in a single line. You’ll point out your parents to her and when she sees them you will be released.”
“Yes, Coach,” they all shout.
“Good.”
“Thanks, babe.”
“You got it.” I walk back over to Stella who has a huge grin on her face. She asks me about my responsibilities as team mom, and I go into some of the details of what I have to do. It really sounds worse than it is. I’m hoping we have a good team of parents because the toughest part is going to be lining up volunteers for home games. Team parents are required to volunteer for at least two home games and if they don’t, their child can actually be benched. The exception is myself, the coaches, and the board members because we do enough volunteering already.
“Let us know what you need help with. You know we’ve got your back,” Lori says, and they all agree.
“Thanks. There’s going to be a mandatory parents meeting here at the field next week during practice. It’s going to explain what is expected of all the parents. It will reiterate some of the stuff I put in the email, like not leaving your kids here without adult supervision, but some will be new info.”
The six of us sit in some lawn chairs and watch the practice. The kids are running various drills to get them prepared for the tougher practices. It’s a really warm day so Jesse has them stop to drink water frequently.
“They look exhausted already,” Lori points out.
“I know, right?” They pull their helmets off revealing a bunch of soaking wet heads.
“They are going to smell so bad.” We all burst into laughter.
My face screams disgust when I say, “I don’t even want to think about it. It’s only going to get worse.”
“What do you mean?” Stacey asks.
“Just you wait, I got an email. They’re going to be issued white practice pants that they’re required to wear four nights in a row.” They all look at me with disgust.
“Not only is that gross, but you want us to keep white pants white?” Stella asks.
“Not my call. Don’t shoot the messenger. Besides, they’re only the practice pants. Our uniform pants will be green.” I hold my hands up in a defensive manner.
Jesse blows the whistle. “Suicides from cone to cone.” Trystan is dropping cones for them. He blows the whistle and the first person in each row starts, and they continue down the line until each boy is done.
“Twenty jumping jacks, GO!” Jesse blows the whistle, and they do their jumping jacks counting in sync. When they get to twenty he shouts, “Drink water,” in a drill sergeant’s tone.
“Are you boys still excited to play football?”
“Yes, Coach!” they all shout, but they’re no longer as loud as they were before.
“Good, hit the hill; last one down owes me ten pushups.” They drop their water bottles and run to this huge hill. Some of them are really struggling to get up the hill, but none of them give up. They tag the fence at the top and run back down. When they get to the bottom, one of the kids falls to his knees. “What’s wrong, Brendan?” Jesse asks. He rips his helmet from his head. I hurry over as team mom to make sure he’s good. The kid heaves. “Take a knee!” Jesse shouts to the team. The kid heaves again, this time he vomits water. “You okay, Brendan?” Jesse asks in a gentle tone, taking a knee beside him.
He nods, and I look at Jesse. “This is very normal, Brendan. Take a minute to get yourself together and join us when you’re ready.”
“Yes, Coach.”
I help the kid to his feet, and we walk over to the side for him to take a quick break. I hear Jesse explaining to the team that what Brendan is going through is normal. That if anyone is feeling sick from exerting their bodies, they need to let him know. “This is why I told you in the beginning to drink your water, but don’t chug tons of it. That’s what happens. You’ll puke it up.” He looks around. “Everyone else good?”
“Yes, Coach.”
“Good. We’re going to make four lines behind the cones.” He collects two from each line leaving two cones per row. “Each coach is going to be throwing the ball toward the second cone, but to the left of it. You’ll run down to the cone, cut over, and make the catch.” He picks up a ball and hands it to one of the coaches. “Derek, throw me the ball.” Jesse runs down to the cone and cuts over; turning toward Derek, he snags the ball and runs it back to him. “After you make the catch, you are to sprint back as fast as you can. Any questions?” When no one says anything, he blows his whistle and tells them to begin.
“Look at them go.” We’re all cheering for the boys as they make catches. The boys are amazing. They cheer and encourage those who miss the ball.
They have about thirty minutes of practice left. The night has flown by thanks to my girls chilling with me. I’m so lucky to have this amazing support.
“Daddy!” I hear Grace shouting behind me. I stand to see her running at us.
“Hi, Grace.”
She waves. “Hi, Karen. I just got done with my first cheer practice.”
“You did? That’s exciting.” Jesse’s mom is hurrying after her.
“Yeah, can you get Daddy? I want to say bye. Grammy says I have to go home.”
“That’s right, young lady,” Josephine says. “Karen, how are you, dear?” She gives me a hug.
“I’m good, ma’am. How are you?”
“I’ll be better when you get past this ma’am stuff and call me Josephine,” she says lightheartedly.
“Will do.” I chuckle.
I squat down in front of Grace. “You wait right here, okay.” I wink at her and jog over to Jesse.
“Jesse!” I call out, and he turns his attention to me. “Grace wants to say bye before she leaves.”
“Okay.” He blows his whistle. “Get a quick drink of water and then get ready to wrap this up.” He walks back over with me. “Thanks, babe.”
“No problem. She’s quite excited about her practice.”
“I’m sure she is. She has been begging me to let her do this, but it was hard for me to say yes.” He looks down at me.
“I’m sure it was, but you’re a good dad. She’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.”
“Daddy.” She runs at him, and he scoops her up. He is amazing with her. Anyone who watches them can instantly tell he’s an amazing father. “Daddy, I did a good job at cheer today.”
“Oh yeah?” He looks at his mom. “Is that true, Mom? Was she a good girl?”
“She was a very good girl.”
He gives her a high five. “Good job, princess.” He hugs her tight and checks his watch. “Listen, it’s already seven-thirty. I want you to go home with Grammy, have a snack, and get cleaned up for bed.”
“Do I have to go to sleep?”
“I’ll tell you what. You take your shower and brush your teeth and then you can watch TV in bed until I get home.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
He kisses her on the head. “You’re welcome, baby girl.” He puts her down, and she skips off to her grammy.
“Bye, Karen.”
“Good night, sweetie.” I wave.
“She is precious,” Stella says when I take my seat next to her.
“She is.”
“What’s his story?” Stacey asks.
“He’s a widower, but I don’t want to say much more because it’s not really my story to tell. We had a connection back in high school and never took the time to see where it would go mainly because I was dating Brian. Now that we’re both single, we’re going to give it a try.” I shrug. “I can tell you this... our last relationships left us both with scars; however, I feel like fate brought us back together. Despite the fact I said I wasn’t looking to start a relationship, I can’t walk away from him again.” I smile, watching him interact with the boys.
When practice is finally over, he blows the whistle and tells the boys to line up in front of me. I stand and wait for them to line up. As they do, a lot of the parents come over and introduce themselves letting me know which kid is theirs. It takes a few minutes, but we finally manage to match all the kids up. Jesse walks Jason and I up to our car. Jason throws his bag into the back and climbs in. All they had to wear today were helmets, shorts, and t-shirts, but he’s disgustingly dirty and he smells pretty ripe.
“He did a great job tonight.” Jesse smiles down at me, leaning on my car.
“It looked like they were all doing good.”
“They did. It’s the first practice and I worked them pretty hard, so he may be sore tomorrow.”
“I’ll give him some Tylenol, but I’m sure he’ll live.”
He presses his lips to mine. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“You will. Have a good night.”
He smiles. “You too.”