Page 42 of Mom Ball

“Ma’am, I plan on taking them outside for some drills in a bit,” I say. “If you’d like to go out and watch to monitor him, you’re welcome to.”

“Thanks. How thoughtful.” She smiles and walks away.

Morgan shakes her head. “You handled that better than I could’ve.”

“What would you have done?”

“Told him to suck it up, buttercup, but don’t suck the buttercups.”

I laugh. “And earlier you said you weren’t a natural coach.”

“What’s the plan for tonight?” Brooke’s voice calls from behind me.

I stop laughing with Morgan and look at her. “Uh, I’m going to do some stations again, then have everyone group up at the end.”

“Let me know what I can do for you.”

Morgan snorts, and I grit my teeth at her. She cowers and her face pales. I’m not one to scare women, on purpose at least, but Morgan is the exception.

I should’ve never asked her about Brooke.

“Can y’all get everyone’s attention so we can start?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Brooke says.

She turns toward the parents and kids coming in. Before she can speak, Morgan sticks her fingers in her mouth and lets out a shrill of a whistle. I shake my finger in the ear closest to her. Brooke laughs.

Adults and kids alike stop and stare our way. That’s one upside to her crazy ways.

“If everyone can gather here in the middle, I’ll explain what we’re doing tonight,” I say.

I scan the crowd for the kids I want to practice hitting first. My eyes land on my mom holding a Tupperware dish. “Mom? What are you doing out here?”

“I thought the kids could use a snack.” She opens the lid.

“We haven’t even started yet.”

My warning is too late, as the twins crowd the bowl and fight over the same cookie. Their mom jerks them back.

I could end this snack interruption in a millisecond by telling Mom that one of them peed right before sticking his hand in the bowl. For the greater good, I keep that to myself.

Every kid gets a cookie except Reece. I assume his allergies include foods too. Once everyone is settled with a cookie in hand, I get back to business.

“Okay, thank you, Ms. Miller, for the snack. I’ll explain everything while y’all eat.”

I use Ethan to help with ground balls, then put Morgan to the side with a hitting stick. She seems strong enough to handle that with a group this young.

“When I call your name, go to Ethan.” I call four names from the list Morgan texted me, and commit each one to memory when I watch which kid joins the group. I do the same for the next two groups.

“Brooke, could you help me run the pitching machine while I teach them technique?”

“Sure.” She follows me to cage.

I lift the net for us to go under and notice Mom standing with her bowl. She’s smiling widely.

“Thanks, Mom. We’re good on cookies for now.” That’s my subtle hint asking her to leave and let us get to work.

“I was just going to say how nice it is to see you together again.”

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