Page 44 of Players and Pages
"I'll be an assistant coach and I’ll wear our little one on my back if I need to," Griff added.
"You don’t like kids?" I asked, leaving the ‘do you even want them’ unsaid. He wrapped an arm around me and kissed my temple.
"I like kids okay, but most don't like me. My sisters always make me hold their kids and they cry when they’re in my arms," he admitted. “I’m cursed.”
"It’s different when they’re yours. Though, now I want to see that with my own eyes. I bet the twins will love their Uncle Griff."
He gave me a look, but didn’t argue.
"Okay, do you want me to sit in the stands or the dugout for practice?" I asked, changing the subject now that we were approaching the fields.
"You can help us if you want to. Are you a righty or lefty?" Cy asked.
"Lefty when I play sports, so I doubt I'll be much help," I admitted. Now that we were here all the teasing fell away and I realized I was going to look like an amateur against these men.
I shouldn’t have worried. They didn’t even give it a second thought.
"That's great, you can help the left handers at bat. It's hard for me to help being a righty," Cy said with a little too much excitement. “We’re a perfect match.”
"You are a little too giddy Cy," Jackson said with a snort.
"It feels wrong to hold the bat that way and to be in the other batters’ box. That's why I never became a switch hitter," he confessed.
"I'd love to help if they don't mind a girl coach.”
"I have no doubt that they’ll love you," Jackson told me.
Their confidence in me felt good after the shitty morning I'd had.
Now we just had to see how the kids reacted.
It was incredible to watch our omega help the lefties as they practiced batting. She told us she wasn't the sporty type, but she was a pro, and incredible with the kids.
Not one of the kids questioned her being here, though I did hear one of the older boys ask if she had a boyfriend. When she said yes, he headed to the end of the batting line with his little head hung.
Poor kid.
The afternoon flew by. Soon, the old man was calling for lunch. That was our cue to collect our girl and head to our own practice.
As I jogged to home plate I heard a few kids ask Dani if she was coming back tomorrow. They clearly saw what we did. I hoped that would help heal some of the hurt she’d endured this morning.
I hate that it happened because she was with us. That someone thought it was okay to hurt our omega when we saw nothing but perfection in her. I had half a mind to contact our PR team to help us make a video for our socials, staking our claim.
We all bid goodbye to the kids and hurried back to the SUV. As much as I loved this experience, the constant on the go was getting exhausting. At least we had our omega with us this time.
"You guys are so lucky, you get to help these kids learn the game and encourage them to follow their dreams. We need more of that in the world,” she said. Something in her voice said she’d heard the opposite at some point.
"The same can be said for you, hotshot bookstore owner," I told her.
"That is true, but it doesn't have to do with baseball," she reminded me.
"Stop trying to discount yourself," Cy said, voice stern enough she looked away. "You did great work with the left handed batters. You were a natural and I think the kids enjoyed the help."
She nodded, but I could sense a need for a subject change. I wanted to ask where her love of baseball started, find out more about her, but her discomfort had me keeping my mouth shut in that regard.
"How many boys asked you out?" I asked instead.
"Excuse me? Those little punks did what?" Griff asked as he moved closer to Dani's side.
