My wife Sally stepped out on the back deck and immediately looked over at our neighbor's house. I laughed a little inside as a slight smile spread across her face. The reason for her smile was the twenty something son of our neighbor who was sitting shirtless on his patio. Seeing him without a shirt was a regular thing.
"Hey Adam, I am running out to the store. Do you need anything?" She called out to me.
"No... I am good. Thanks." I responded and went back to pulling some weeds from the flower bed.
"Keep an ear out for the kids getting home from school in case I am not back in time, okay?" She said before looking back at the neighbor.
"Yep."
I looked up as she turned to go back into the house taking a second to admire her ass in her shorts. Sally was thirty-two and still had an amazing butt. Once she was inside, I looked over at the neighbor and took a second to admire his toned biceps and abs myself.
I was inside washing my hands at the kitchen sink we she returned with the groceries from the store. She made two trips, setting the bags on the kitchen island on each trip. I began to help her unload them and when we finished, I laughed as she stepped back out on the deck and immediately came back in.
"Tim Riggins went inside about fifteen minutes ago." I laughed.
We had nicknamed the neighbor kid Tim Riggins from the show Friday Night Lights. My wife had always had a crush on that character and there was some resemblance with both having longer hair and being in great shape.
"What? I was checking to see if the bird feeder needed to be topped off." She responded quickly.
"Sure..." I laughed and headed up stairs to the shower.
When I came back down stairs the kids were home from school. Our son was in second grade and our daughter kindergarten. I asked how school was and then we went out in the backyard to play on the playground set. I was happy to see that Tim Riggins had come back out and was still shirtless.
We had been out there for about an hour when Sally came out. I noticed the first thing she did was look over at the neighbors. Luckily for her he was still outside and still didn't have his shirt on. She joined us in our game of, kind of tag, as we ran around the playground set.
It was soon time to head into have dinner and I was amused as Sally walked into the house while keeping one eye on the neighbor's yard. I wanted to tease her about it, but she got very defensive when ever I said anything and didn't want to ruin what had been a good afternoon.
Dinner was fish sticks and Kraft Mac and Cheese. Our kids weren't picky eaters, but we did serve meals like this for them a couple times a week to make them happy. Plus, this was a special treat for them since mom and dad were going to be gone for a couple days.
"Now remember when you get home from school tomorrow Grandma will be here, okay. Mommy and Daddy will be gone for a couple of days." Sally told them.
"When will you be back?" Will asked.
"Around lunchtime on Sunday." I told him.
This weekend was the annual International Firefighters Association, or IFA, softball tournament. Firefighters from all over the country came to compete in softball while at the same time parting like college kids. For some teams it was highly competitive, for other teams it was a weekend of debauchery, occasionally interrupted by a softball game. The money raised at the tournament was donated to the MS Society.
It was held at the same place every year. There were five softball fields along with places to set up bars and food tents. Right next to it was a camp ground with plenty of sites for teams to set up camp.
After dinner was over, I cleaned the kitchen and Sally took them up stairs to make sure they took their baths and got changed into their PJs. When I finished cleaning, I went out to the garage and made sure I had all my stuff together for the weekend. I had loaded the cooler with plenty of beer, Bloody Mary mix, waters, Gatorade's and packed it with ice. My softball bag was on top of it, and I loaded my truck with my sleeping bag and some pillows.
I came back into the house right as Sally came down stairs. "They are waiting for some good night kisses."
I smiled at her and went up to each of the kids' rooms and tucked them in and gave them kisses, reminded them to be good for grandma, and told them I would see them in a couple of days. When I got downstairs Sally was sitting on the couch and I joined her in the family room.
"Got all your stuff together? What time are you leaving?" She asked me.
"Yes. Early... our first game is at nine o'clock, so I want to get there around seven. I will probably leave at six. Are you packed?"
"Mostly. I will finish after I get the kids off to school. Then go pick Pam up and head that way, we should be there around eleven o'clock. Your second game is at noon, right? We will probably meet you at the ball field." Sally told me as she flicked through the channels on the TV.
Pam had to get her kids off to school tomorrow morning also plus I don't think either one of them wanted to get up at five in the morning to go watch a softball game. My phone vibrated on the couch next to me and I heard Sally's ding at almost the same time. We both picked them up to look at them. Pam had texted us.
'Hey, Jerry is pretty sick. I don't think he is going to make it, at least not tomorrow, he is saying he will come over on Saturday. I think he would need a miracle recovery to do that.'
"Did you read that? What are you going to do for sleeping? Sally asked me.
Jerry and Pat had a small RV. Normally Jerry and I crashed in that at the camp ground. We enjoyed hanging out there. Sally and Pat shared a hotel room five miles from the camp ground and softball fields. That gave them a place to use a real shower and sleep in a comfortable bed each night.
Over the years, when we weren't playing a softball game, Jerry and I had developed a routine where we spent most of our time in the camp ground helping cook meals, and hosting firefighters from other departments while playing beer pong and flip cup.
Sally and Pat would come watch our games, hang out with us for a while, then go off visiting all the other camp sites, or spend time at the pavilion near the fields, they said they wanted to enjoy it all, not just our site.
"I can sleep in the truck." I told her.
"That doesn't sound very comfortable. I am sure Pam would be okay with you sleeping in our room." Sally told me.
"Thanks. It isn't like I do a lot of sleeping anyways. I should be okay." I smiled.
'Tell him I hope he feels better. See you tomorrow.' I sent back to Pam.
'I will.' Pam replied back to both of us.
