We’re in the championships for the softball league. Kira has been talking about this game for days. Emily made everyone shirts to support the team. She even has a design ready for shirts if they win the game.
“Dad, I’m nervous.” It’s still weird hearing her call me dad instead of daddy. When did my baby girl grow up? I’m pretty sure I forbade it at her last birthday party. She laughed before rolling her eyes. Pre-teen attitude is already here to stay.
“Why? Y’all have practiced and you know you can play. You’ve got this.”
“But what if we lose? We go to school with some of these girls. They might make fun of us.”
I bend down until we are at eye level. She’s grown so much, I don’t have to bend quite as far as I used to.
“The way I see it, both teams have bragging rights. Y’all beat how many teams to get here?” I place my hands on her shoulders. “What do I always tell you to do before a big game?”
She groans, but knows I won’t let her go to the dugout until she repeats it. “Take a deep breath, shake it off, and clear my head.”
“Exactly. You’ve got this. Your team has this. Go out there, have fun, and play ball. That’s all you can do.” I pull her into a quick hug and let her go. She’s not a fan of too much parental affection in public. She says it makes her look like a baby.
She nods and walks away from me, running into Emily on her way. She stops and Emily says a few things to her. Kira gives her a high five and hurries to my side.
“What did you tell her? She didn’t seem that excited about talking to me.”
“I told her to kick ass and have fun. They’ve got this in the bag.”
“My talk was basically the same thing.” I side-eye my wife. “Why didn’t she have the same reaction?”
“Because you did it in ‘dad’ speak. I said it in a more fun and entertaining way.” She wraps an arm around my waist. “You’re just upset she likes my pep talks more.”
She’s not wrong, but I don’t have to like it. We turn toward our little section by the dugout. At this point, there are too many of us here showing support. The kids move to the bleachers so we don’t take up too much space. Mom and Dad are even in their travel rockers. We got them for them as gifts one year after Mom gushed over the one Caroline has.
The game begins and we’re in the outfield first. Emily is yelling for people to catch the ball, and no longer needs any of us to explain what the calls mean.
As the game progresses, Emily gets more excited because we’re up by five. It’s Kira’s turn to bat, and once the ball connects she takes off to first base. Emily runs alongside the fence cheering for her. I swear one of these days this woman is going to get us kicked out of the ballpark.
Kira loves it, though. As soon as she’s safely on base and knows she can go any further, she gives Emily a thumbs up. I always worried about how the relationship between the two of them would go. I’m happy they get along so well.
We get three outs in the last inning and the girls jump up and down. They’ve won the championship. All of us are out of seats cheering for our team.
After shaking hands with the other team, Kira runs out of the dugout and pulls me and Emily by the hand to come onto the field with her. My parents and Emily’s mom follow after us. During the ring ceremony, she holds her head up high and accepts the ring before motioning for the two of us to join her for a picture.
As we’re walking back to join our family, she glances between the two of us. “Thank you.” Those two little words have the both of us beaming.
Who knew I could have this amazing little family.