Page 78 of Batter Up!

“Best friend nicknames for the win!” Cooper said with the same amount of enthusiasm and gave her a high five.

“I’m Camden Benton,” Penelope’s son said, wanting to be involved in this friendship, too. “But my middle name is Bradley, and CB doesn’t sound very cool. Everyone at school calls me Cam but I think it would be cool to have a new nickname from you.”

Penelope had stopped working all together and was watching the interaction. “My egotistical ex, Brad McLeod, had to include his name as Camden's middle name,” she whispered to me. This was the most I had ever learned about Penelope's past.

“Nice to meet you, Cam,” Cooper said and gave him a fist bump. “How about we just call you C-Man? That sounds awesome to me.”

Camden nodded, “I would like to be called C-Man.”

“Coop, how did you end up being so good with kids?” I asked him as I took some cash from a customer and added it to the drawer. I thanked them as they put a few dollars in our tip jar.

“Because he’s a kid himself,” I overheard Penelope say under her breath.

“I’ve got a lot of younger siblings.” Cooper explained, “Zander and I both have the same parents, but after they separated, my mom married Calvin, and they had Darcy and Calvin Junior, or just Junior as we all call him. Dad married Candi, who is only a few years older than me, by the way. Together, they have Hadlee, Bryndle, and Leyton.”

“Holy cow. That’s seven kids!” Cam exclaimed loudly as he was counting each of the siblings on his fingers.

“Well, Dad and Candi ended up not working out. He got married again to Kelli, and they had Paisley and Willow.”

“That’s nine! Whoa!” Camden said.

“Good math there, kiddo,” Cooper said, and Camden’s chest puffed out with pride. "I mean, good job C-Man. Kiddo is a little kid's nickname."

I saw Penelope roll her eyes out of my peripheral vision and groan.

“Seriously, do you think I’m a bad mom or what?” she asked as she stomped over to where her kids were sitting and watching her with wide eyes. She hefted a black tote bag onto the table.

“What are you talking about?” Cooper asked innocently.

“I have a bag of toys here for them and things for them to do. You didn’t have to go and spend money on my kids,” she added emphasis on the word ‘my’.

“I was just trying to help. I heard they would be here all day. I’m sorry if I overstepped,” Cooper said with a hang of his head.

Penelope sighed and said, “Camden and Peyton, give Mr. Dixon his things back. We don’t need his charity.”

“Mom, please? Can we keep the stuff CJ got us?” Camden asked as he clutched the superhero coloring book to his chest.

“Please, Penelope. Let them keep the stuff. I’ll leave if that will make you feel better about it. And for the record, I don’t think you’re a bad mom at all. I was just trying to help. It was nice to meet you, PJ and C-Man. See ya, Shorty!”

“I must be a friend, too, if I get a nickname!” I said, trying to lessen the tension in the cafe. Cooper nodded at me but gave me a sad smile as he waved goodbye and walked out the door. I sighed at my friend. “He was just being sweet. Why do you dislike him so much all of a sudden?”

Penelope just grunted, put the bag of stuff Cooper brought on the table, and came over to make a customer’s coffee. “You guys can keep the stuff. Make sure you help your sister write him a thank you letter, Cam.”

Her son nodded with a huge grin on his face. “I will.”

Peyton squealed with joy, “And I know how to spell CJ! I want to draw him with the My Little Ponies and your cars, Bubby.”

Camden helped her spell ‘thank you’ and began making his own thank you card. It kept them busy for quite a while.

“Pen, you know you can talk to me,” I said quietly. “You’ve been here for me so much.”

Pen sighed and looked right into my eyes. “I’ll tell you later. Not with the kids around.”

I nodded and greeted Dr. Sebastian Cambell with a big smile as he came in the door as I began filling his regular order.

At around 10 a.m., I sent Tyler a text asking how his day was going and reminding him that I missed him. I sat my phone down and grabbed an apple pie danish to nibble on. I heard my phone ding, signaling that I had a text message. I smiled when I saw the text was from my husband.

My Everything: I miss you too, baby. I'll be in my cave for awhile. The Oakville Bobcats are going to be hard to beat! Call me after your appointment. Wish I could be there! Love you so much!

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