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“Just to someone who really really knows you. You’re fine. I’m sure everyone else will just chalk it up to excitement about traveling.”
Good. I was usually a nervous flyer, but I was too worn out from all the sex to get too worked up. I probably should have gotten some more sleep last night, but I hoped that I could catch a few hours on the plane. We were flying out of Portland on a direct flight, which was a blessing. I couldn’t imagine trying to get this entire crew through an airport to rush and make a connecting flight.
The Bulldogs had flown out earlier than us, since the airport in Portland was so small that they couldn’t accommodate two entire cheer teams on one flight.
I wondered where Echo was in the sky, and if she would let me know when she landed. I wondered what it was going to be like to see her after everything.
We got on the plane with no incident, even though the kids were totally hyped up. They got a lot of nasty looks from some older travelers, but at least they knew not to take their fucking shoes off and wander up and down the aisles like some people.
The flight went well, and Dom took charge of them so I could catch some makeup sleep.
I had a text from Echo when we landed that she was in the hotel and the team had gotten here safely. If I said I hadn’t breathed a sigh of relief, I would have been lying.
“Stop sexting,” Dom said in my ear.
“I’m not,” I said, but maybe I would be later when I was alone in my room. Somehow both Dom and I had gotten our own rooms, free of cheerleaders. I wasn’t going to have much time to enjoy it because the second we got to the hotel near the conference center, my nerves kicked in.
“I'm freaking out a little bit,” I said to Dom as we checked everyone into the hotel and distributed room keys, and we registered for the competition.
“You’re going to be fine,” he said. “We’ve got this. I’ve been here before, even if you haven’t. I’ll show you the ropes.”
I nodded, but the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach didn’t go anywhere. It just kept getting worse as I sent the kids to their rooms to drop off their bags and then made them convene in an empty ballroom to do run through of the routine, with music, without stunts. I wanted to keep it so fresh in their mind that they didn’t even have to think about the counts and their muscle memory would take over.
After a few jitters, we had a good practice and went to dinner. The hotel was crammed with dozens and dozens of cheerleaders. It made me miss my youth a little bit, but also I was happy that my kids got to be part of this. They didn’t know how lucky they were.
Dinner was organized chaos, and it was a full-time job just keeping track and making sure we had everyone. This was when those matching outfits would have come in handy. Each team member did have a Corsica High jacket, but they weren’t wearing them inside in Florida.
“Next year,” I said to Dom as I wolfed down my second slice of pizza, “we’re getting multiple matching outfits.” We had one set that had finally come in for tomorrow, but that was it. I still needed to distribute them since I didn’t trust the team to remember to pack them. I’d flown down here with an entire bin full of backup shit including poms and uniforms and bows. Our team didn’t even use poms in the routine (they could be hazardous), but I’d brought them for the parents to wave in the audience.
“Speaking of matching outfits,” Dom said, using his drink to motion to the entrance to the restaurant, “here come the Bulldogs.”
I turned and looked over my shoulder. There she was, with her squad. They had their matching outfits and practice bows. Yes, they had special bows just for practice. That was another item I wanted to add to my list to get for my squad.
Echo seemed to be searching for something or someone and our eyes locked after a few seconds. I inhaled sharply, and a rush of warmth suffused my body. I felt my face going red.
“You’re blushing,” Dom sang. We were at a table by ourselves, thanks to some miracle, so we could talk relatively freely. The kids and the parents were all buzzing and laughing together.
“Shut up,” I said, shoving him, but he didn’t move.
“Just don’t do anything bad, again. Gotta stay focused.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I'm the head coach, remember? That’s my line.”
“I wouldn’t have to coach you right now if you hadn’t slept with the enemy.”
I groaned and finished my pizza. “Listen, let’s not talk about that, or her. It’s all about them.” I looked at my squad. My goofy, amazing, annoying, silly, talented squad. They’d all put their complete hearts into this season and I wasn’t going to let them down.
I stood up and walked to the center of the tables they’d pushed together and sat down in an empty chair.
“Hey, Tigers? Can we take a minute and do grateful?” Everyone said their gratefuls and then it came around to me.
“I’m grateful for all of you, I’m grateful for second chances, and I’m grateful for my three cats that I miss very, very much.” Katie and Penny were cat sitting and kept sending me periodic videos and pictures so I could make sure my babies were okay.
There were laughs about my cats and then one of the teens asked if they could go to the pool. I’d told them to bring their bathing suits just in case.
“You can go to the pool as long as people are willing to supervise,” I said. More than a few of the chaperones said they would, and I knew that I was going to send them thank you baskets when we got back for being so cool about everything.
“Okay, pool time!”
