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“It was either you or Violet, and when we asked Violet, because of her relationship with Caleb, she threw the tickets at me and told me to ask you. Apparently you embarrassed her last time she watched a game with you?”
“Not my fault she didn’t know which team to cheer for,” Whitney defends herself.
“Will you protect me if I do the wrong thing?” I whisper over to Mason.
“With my life, babe.” He puts his arm around me, kissing the side of my head as we anxiously await the kickoff.
Whitney gives me a high-five when they make a first down and I cheer loudly.
“I’m getting the hang of this!” I yell at Whitney, tweaking Stella’s nose as they go back to the line of scrimmage.
“We’re gonna score this time, I can feel it,” Whitney screams loudly. “C’mon, boys! Show them who you are!”
Honestly, she scares me, but she’s not judging me the way she judged Violet at the high school game, so I’ll take it.
This time, the quarterback tosses the ball toward Caleb, jumping up his hands connect and he cradles it protectively, breaking a tackle. There’s nothing but empty field in front of him.
“Run the ball, Cale!” Stella screams from where she’s being held in Whitney’s arms. Mom and daughter are screaming loudly.
The cheers and screams of the crowd are deafening as he runs faster than I imagine any other person can run. My heart is pounding as I watch him run to the end zone. Our group is literally losing their minds as they put the six points up on the scoreboard.
Beside me, I look at Mason, who’s not losing his mind; he’s just staring at his son with a proud smile on his face. Down on the field, the team is celebrating, smacking each other around and giving out high fives. Caleb takes off his helmet, holds the football in his hand and points to us. When I look out again he taps his chest twice, eyes connecting with ours. Given my hormones I sob like a baby while Mason holds me close.
Menace
It’s completely different waiting after a college football game than it is a high school one. I don’t know all the guys on this team, I haven’t had the personal relationship with their parents, and not everyone knows me as “Caleb’s dad”. But that doesn’t mean I’m not as excited to see him tonight as I was after those football games. In fact, tonight, I’m probably more excited than I’ve ever been.
“Caleb!” Whitney yells, and I realize he’s walking toward us.
In the course of the months away from us, he’s grown up more than I thought possible. He’s muscular, filled out in a way he wasn’t at home, he stands taller, and the scruff a little darker and fuller on his face.
“Hey, y’all.” He makes a beeline for Stella who runs toward him.
“Cale, Cale!” she screams, so happy to see the friend who isn’t around as much as he used to be.
He spends a few minutes with her, and then hugs Whitney and shakes Renegade’s hand, thanking them for making the trip.
“I don’t know if you know this about me or not,” Whitney begins. “But this totally wasn’t a problem for me to do,” she deadpans. “In fact, if you have more tickets I could have, I’d take them off your hands in a jiffy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Whit.”
“Just sayin’ if you need me to do your laundry or something for them. I’d be happy to.”
“Oohhh.” Renegade throws his arm around her neck, pulling her back to his front. “Trust me; you donotwant to be doing a teenage guy’s laundry.”
Caleb laughs and turns to us. “Thanks for coming, you two.”
Karina encircles him in her arms, holding him tightly. “I’m super emotional right now, and you’re just gonna have to deal with it.” She wipes the tears from her eyes. “It’s not something I can help, but I am so damn proud of you.”
They speak quietly to each other for a moment, and then my son stands before me. There’s a look on his face I’ve never seen before. “You did so good out there.” I hold open my arms and let him step into them. Hugging him tightly, I say up a little prayer that he continues to be the man he is right now. That he continues to do the things I wasn’t able to do and make the things he wants to happen, happen for himself.
“I brought something for you.” He reaches into his bag, pulling out a football. “It’s the one I made the touchdown with. I asked them to hold it so I could give it to you. If it weren’t for you loving me enough to stick around, I wouldn’t be here. I’ll never know all the sacrifices you made, and I’ll never understand what you went through in order to be the amazing dad you’ve been to me my whole life, but know I love you for every single one of them.” He shrugs, putting the football in my hand. “I just thought it was important that you know that.”
“You amaze me, Caleb, every single day, and if anyone’s lucky, it’s me.” Those are the only words I can push past my tight throat.
His mom will never know what she missed when it comes to this kid. I used to feel sorry for him, because he missed out, or so I thought. No, now I’m sorry for her, because she’ll never know what it’s like to have this sort of relationship with him. There is nothing I would ever exchange for the bond we have, and I hope like hell I have it with this new child I’m having. I hug him tightly, before I push him away to arm’s length. “You hungry? I know you probably don’t wanna hang out with us old folks, but we’d love to hang out with you.”
He winks at Stella. “I could eat, and it would be my pleasure to hang out with my family.”
