The Little League game was well underway
by the time Remington arrived at the field. He found Agatha sitting
in a folding chair away from the noisy crowd, watching Patrick
kick a soccer ball around. While the twins were both good at America's
national pass time, Patrick seemed to excel in what Remington
still considered "football". Without announcing his
arrival, he watched his youngest son for a moment.
"Good move," he called at last, drawing both Agatha
and Patrick's attention.
"Daddy!" Patrick said, the soccer ball forgotten as
he ran into his father's arms.
Agatha turned around. "Mr. Steele. I was so busy watching
the boy that I didn't hear you. Falling down on my job, I suppose.
Forgive me."
"Nothing to forgive, Agatha," Remington said, giving
Patrick a hug. He nodded toward the playing field. "How is
the game going?" he asked.
"I believe they're winning."
"Why don't we go over and see for ourselves, eh?" he
suggested, looking down at Patrick. "Go and get your football."
"Soccer ball, Daddy," Patrick corrected him.
"Well, to you, it might be a soccer ball, but to me, it's
a football," Remington replied, tousling the boy's hair.
Once Patrick was out of earshot, he sighed. "Ah, to have
the resiliency of youth, Agatha. What are you doing over here
instead of watching the game?"
"Oh, you know how Patrick gets, Mr. Steele. All that energy.
He was sitting with Mrs. Steele until he started fidgeting, so
I suggested we get his soccer ball and practice a bit."
Remington froze, his eyes scanning the bleachers. "Laura
is . . . here?" he asked quietly as Patrick returned, ball
in hand.
Agatha nodded somberly. "She arrived a few minutes after
the children and I did."
"Then she's already spoken to them?"
Agatha nodded somberly. "I don't think she's too happy that
Megan is being allowed to play at all, though."
Remington's eyes narrowed. Edward had probably told her about
the apple incident. "Oh really?" he asked as he found
her, sitting behind home plate, yelling, as Megan wound up for
a pitch. He led Patrick and Agatha to the bottom row of bleachers
and sat down, glancing every now and then behind them to where
Laura was sitting. He couldn't be sure if she'd seen his arrival
or not, but everytime he looked at her, he thought he caught her
quickly avert her gaze back to the playing field.
Megan struck out another batter, ending the inning, sending her
and Daniel's team to the dugout. Remington patted Patrick's head.
"Stay here with Agatha. I'm going to let your brother and
sister know that I'm here." Patrick nodded, his attention
on the first batter to approach the plate. Daniel and Megan were
sitting on the bench, talking, when he reached the chain link
behind them. "Hey, you two."
"Dad!" Daniel said. "You're here."
"Sorry I'm late. Couldn't be avoided."
"We knew you'd be here sooner or later, Daddy," Megan
assured him. "Did you see Mom yet?"
"I saw her," Remington confirmed, his gaze half on the
game. "I think it's your turn to bat next, Daniel."
"Yeah." He grabbed a helmet.
"Outa the park, slugger," Remington said, grinning in
encouragement.
"Just like Babe Ruth," Daniel confirmed.
"You're up, Daniel!" the coach called.
"I'd better get back over and sit down," Remington told
Megan. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Mom's a little upset over- you know. She said that I shouldn't
have been allowed to pitch tonight."
"Do you agree with her?"
"I've learned my lesson, Daddy," Megan said. "It
won't happen again."
"Good girl. Oh, and looks like you've got a no-hitter going.
Good luck."
"Thanks."
Remington returned to the bleachers to find that Patrick and Agatha
had moved up to sit beside Patrick and Agatha. "Hello,"
she said in a prim voice as he joined them.
"Hi," Remington replied. Since Patrick was between the
two women, that left him with no choice but to sit beside Laura.
Keeping his voice low so that neither Patrick nor anyone but Laura
could hear, Remington said, "I understand that you disapprove
of my punishment for Megan's fall from grace."
"She needs a firmer hand, that's all," Laura replied
in a similar voice, keeping her eyes on Daniel as he came to bat.
"She's too much like you at times."
"And that's a bad thing?" Remington questioned. "Actually,
I think she's more like you. A bit of a dare devil at heart."
"And a budding thief," Laura reminded him. "Something
that *I* hadn't done until-"
"Until you met me," Remington finished, smiling as Daniel
raised his bat toward the distant lights.
"What's he doing?" Laura asked.
"Announcing that he intends to knock it over the fence, I
believe," Remington explained.
The pitcher released the ball- and the CRACK! of the bat echoed
through the night air. "He did it!" Laura yelled, forgetting
herself to turn and hug Remington as Daniel ran around the bases.
"He did-" she hesitated, quickly releasing him, "-it!"
"So he did. All that practicing certainly seems to have paid
off, wouldn't you agree?" he asked proudly.
"And you didn't want them to play at all," Laura reminded
her husband.
"Nonsense. I just worried that they might be at risk out
here in the open this way, considering our profession." It
was the same reason he'd given her for not wanting the children
to attend a public school instead of the pricey, exclusive private
one that she had finally agreed to. But on Little League, and
soccer, she had refused to budge. Now, Remington knew that she
had been right to insist.
"I thought that was why we hired Agatha," Laura reminded
him.
"Hmm. But she can't watch them every minute. Especially now
that they're growing up."
"I told them that they could come over and visit me on Saturday,"
Laura said. "Megan's coming up to bat."
"Saturday?" Remington mused, watching as Megan let the
first pitch go past.
"Ball one!" the umpire called out.
"Is there a problem with Saturday?"
"Megan's grounding is for a week. No phone, no TV, no visiting
anyone until then."
"Ball two!"
"Come on, give me something to hit!" Megan yelled at
the pitcher.
"Surely you can make an exception for this," Laura told
him.
"Stee-rike one!"
"Open your eyes, ump!" Laura yelled. "That was
WAY out of the zone!"
"I don't know, Laura. You're the one who always insists that
discipline is important. Mustn't confuse them at this tender age."
"Stee-rike two!"
"You're blind, ump!" Laura yelled, standing up. Megan
turned around and glared at her mother.
Laura sat down again- with a bit of help from Remington's hand
on her arm. "Please, Laura. You're embarrassing Megan."
"But that wasn't a strike!" Laura insisted.
"Ball three!"
"You gonna hit the thing or not?" another parent from
the opposing team yelled.
"If the pitcher would throw a decent pitch, she would!"
Laura yelled back.
"That pitcher is my son, lady!" the man yelled.
"Then you need to teach how him to throw a ball!"
"Laura, please," Remington pleaded softly, smiling at
the man who was at least six four and had HIM by a few pounds.
"It's only a game. The kids-"
The pitcher threw once more, and this time, Megan's bat connected
with the ball and sent it far into the outfield- beyond where
anyone was waiting, almost as far as Daniel had hit his home run
earlier. "See?" Laura told the upset father as Megan
followed the other two runners across the plate. "I *told*
you!" Remington tried to stop her once again, his attention
mostly on Megan's moment of glory.
"Lucky hit," the father replied.
"Way to go, Megan!" Laura yelled out.
Megan ducked into the dugout, high-fiving her brother and team-mates
as the opposing team changed pitchers. "Laura, about Saturday,"
Remington began again, "are you sure you'll have the time
to spend with them?"
"I thought we'd go to Disneyland," Laura said. "Once
the Gem show opens, I'll have some free time till my next case."
"So you're planning on taking another one after Mr. Cameron's
case?"
"Of course I am." The next three batters went down in
order, signaling Megan's return to the mound. "She's throwing
a no hitter," Laura told Remington.
"So I noticed earlier. Disneyland? They've already been twice,"
he reminded her. "So? You can never go to Disneyland too
many times, right, Patrick?" she asked, placing her arm around
him and pulling him close. "You want to see Mickey Mouse
again, don't you?"
"Can we ride the roller coaster?" he asked eagerly.
It seemed that Megan wasn't the only dare devil in the family,
Remington realized.
"Well, we'll see about that." Laura gave Remington a
questioning look. "You wouldn't disappoint Patrick, would
you?"
"Okay. Saturday it is, then."
"Good. I'll pick them on Friday evening after school-"
"Friday?"
"We'll need to get an early start on Saturday," she
explained. "And I'll bring them home on Sunday."
"What happened to Saturday?" Remington asked. "One
day just turned into a weekend!" He noticed that Agatha was
giving him a cautioning look, and forced himself to calm down.
"Okay. Friday evening to Sunday morning. But I have to know
where they'll be."
"I've got a suite at the Lexington," Laura told him.
Remington frowned in disapproval. "It's not that bad. And
I'll be with them."
"The Lexington? That's almost as bad as your old loft,"
he declared. "Even the police won't patrol that area without
at least one car as backup. Surely you can move someplace a little
better, Laura. If money's a problem-"
"No," she said firmly in that I'm-not-going-to-argue-with-you-about-this
tone that he knew too well. "I'm fine."
Remington nodded, then turned his attention back to the game,
where Megan was striking out the first batter.
***
Agatha took Patrick home early, since he was nearly asleep, leaving
Remington to take the twins home after Megan's nearly perfect
game. "Hey," Laura reminded her as they walked toward
the waiting limo, "you still threw a winning game, honey."
"I know. But except for that one lousy hit- and in the eighth
of all places. Darn it. I didn't practice enough."
"Nonsense. There's lots of time for you to throw a no hitter,
Megan," Remington said. "Say goodnight to your mother."
He felt the sudden tension immediately. "I'll just- wait
-over here," he told them, stepping to the front of the car
to give mother and children some privacy.
Daniel gave Laura a hug. "I love you, Mom. Wish you were
coming home with us."
"I know, Daniel. But we talked about this earlier, remember?
There are some things that I have to do."
"Yeah," Megan said with a sigh. "We know."
Laura pulled both of them close. "I love you, too. But until
I learn to love ME, I'm not sure I can love the two of you - and
your brother- like you should be loved." She gave them each
a kiss. "Now go on. I'll see you Friday evening."
"Disneyland?" Daniel questioned.
"Yeah. Disneyland," Laura confirmed with a smile.
"Whoopee," Megan said, without much enthusiasm, getting
into the limo.
Laura looked over at Remington as Daniel followed his sister.
"Did I sense a decided lack of enthusiasm there?"
"She's easily bored," Remington said. "Disneyland's
old hat after two visits."
"Maybe I can liven it up a bit for her," Laura suggested,
then looked uncomfortable. "Well, good night."
"Night. Thank you for coming."
"I enjoyed it. I'd forgotten how much fun these games can
be."
"Hmm. Kinda like old times, eh?" He took a step closer,
felt, more than saw her lean toward him, before another child,
heading toward their family's car, called out.
"Hey, Megan! Great game!"
The spell was broken. "Good night," Laura said, then
turned and went to where she had parked the MG.
Remington waited until she started the car and turned out of the
lot before getting into the limo between the twins. "You
both did very well this evening," he told them. "I'm
very proud of you."
"Mom's really competitive, isn't she?" Megan asked thoughtfully.
"Sometimes, yes. She does enjoy a good challenge," Remington
agreed, thinking that she was commenting on Laura's outburst during
the game.
"So, maybe that's what you need to do," the girl said.
"Give her a challenge."
"I beg your pardon?"
"It might work, Dad," Daniel said in his quiet voice.
"And then Mom would be home, where she belongs."
"That's *if* she won the challenge," Remington reminded
them.
"Couldn't you *let* her win?" Megan suggested.
He placed an arm around each of them. "That wouldn't be very
fair, would it? I mean, how would you feel if someone just *let*
you win a game simply because you're a girl? Hmm?"
"I guess I wouldn't like it very much," Megan agreed.
"But there has to be some way, Daddy. I mean- *Disneyland*?"
Remington shook his head and chuckled softly. "Where would
you rather go? Maybe we could go on Sunday afternoon after she
brings you home."
"The Gem Show," she said.
"The-" he looked at her for a long moment. "Very
well, the Gem Show it shall be." Perhaps Laura was right
after all, he thought. Maybe Megan WAS more like him than he realized.
***
Jessica entered the loft and stopped in the doorway. The room
was filled to overflowing with flowers of every sort. White ones,
pink ones, red ones, yellow . . . She'd thrown out the roses that
Tony had sent to the office during lunch, but it was going to
take her all night to toss these into the dustbin. For a moment,
she wondered if it was some deep, dark conspiracy to keep her
from getting ANY sleep. Grabbing one of the vases, she picked
it up and headed toward the door, only to stop as she realized
that the card wasn't a card at all, but a small box.
She almost ignored it, but at the last moment set the flowers
on the coffee table and untied the package. Inside the white box
was a velvet ring case, and Jessica's fingers trembled as she
opened the lid to reveal the diamond engagement ring inside .
. .
To Be Continued . . .