Page 49 of Well Aware

Boone, who’d been pretty quiet up until now, said, “They’re going to win.”

I looked over at him. “We still have twenty-five minutes.”

“We’re going to win,” he repeated.

And we did.

We won 1-0, and the home team booed us.

I had a grin on my face when I bent down to focus on Iris. “I need to carry you through this crowd. Is that okay?”

She held out her hands for me. “Yes.”

I picked her up so that she wouldn’t be trampled, especially after yesterday, and made my way downstairs to the locker room.

We didn’t go inside, though.

Court, Boone, Iris, and I waited outside until they came out after getting dressed.

Nettie was the first one to come out, followed by Eddie.

She frowned as she looked around. “Where’s Weaver? And Margie?”

“Margie had a blowout.” Boone winced. “Weaver took her back to the hotel so I didn’t miss the game.”

Eddie blinked. “I’m sorry, did you just say that Weaver willingly took care of a dirty diaper?”

“No,” Boone scoffed. “I took care of it. She was just naked afterward, so he took her back.”

Eddie snickered.

Nettie looked embarrassed. “That kid has an ass like her daddy.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know I haven’t had a blowout in years.”

“Bullshit,” Eddie called back. “Didn’t I just hear that you shit yourself in the middle of Dick’s last month?”

Boone turned an accusing glare toward his wife. “I swear to God, is nothing sacred?”

Nettie shrugged. “It was funny. And this is my twin sister after all. She knows all.”

“Jesus.” Boone shook his head. “I’ll have you know that I was fasting, goddammit. I didn’t know I couldn’t trust a fart.”

“Goddammit is a bad word,” Iris called out.

The adults in the group turned to her.

They’d heard her talk before, but it was so rare that no one ever expected it to happen.

“It is, you’re right,” Boone agreed. “I shouldn’t have said it with a child around.”

“No.” Magnolia snuck up on us. “You shouldn’t.”

Boone winced. “I’m sorry, Maggie.”

Magnolia moved around the group until she was standing next to Iris and me.

She came to a stop next to me and said, “Did you have a chat with the head ref yet?”