He sits up cross-legged next to me, looking as cute as ever in his Spider-Man PJs. “I was too excited to sleep. When I saw the sun was up, I jumped out of bed.”
I raise one eyebrow at him because the other is still lying against my pillow. “The game is tonight though, bud. You have to go to school first, so you should get some sleep because it’s going to be a long day.”
His little shoulders sag in disappointment, and I grab him again, pulling him into me to lie down.
With my eyes closed, I say, “I’m glad to hear, but just close your eyes for a few minutes longer so you don’t fall asleep at the game and miss anything.”
Of course, Nolan falls right back to sleep, but I spend the next half hour thinking about tonight and what will happen. I want to meet Evan’s sister, as I feel like I already know her from that one conversation, but what about everyone else? Will we be with his teammates’ families? Will people ask who I am? Who Nolan is?
It’s all too much, so I slide out of bed at six thirty, making sure not to wake Nolan, and head to the kitchen to get some coffee before I wake him up for good.
Sitting alone on my couch, I watch the rest of the sun rise while drinking my coffee and trying to calm my nerves. When my phone dings with a text, I see Evan’s name on my screen, and all attempts to breathe my way through my panic fly out the window.
Good morning. Here are your tickets for the game tonight. I’m not sure what time you can make it, but text me when you arrive, and I’ll try to come up to say hello.
I close my eyes, trying not to get too worked up about the thought of seeing him in his full uniform. The other day, he just had on white baseball pants and a black Terrors T-shirt. He looked amazing then, so I can’t imagine what the entire getup will look like on him.
I text back.
Thank you! Good luck tonight!
Because I don’t know what else to say, I leave it at that and get up to start getting Nolan ready for school.
I pull up to my sister’s house after work, and Nolan comes racing out as I step out of the car.
“Mommy!” He’s already got his stuff as he heads right to my back seat and opens it up to hop in.
Sasha exits the house, laughing at how Nolan is already sitting in the car, buckling himself in. “I have never seen this boy so amped up. It’s been absolute torture for him, sitting at the window, waiting for you to arrive.”
“Let’s go!” he says, jumping up and down in his seat.
My eyes meet with Sasha’s, and we both laugh.
“Have fun!” she singsongs.
I crawl back in the car and turn to Nolan. “Did you have a good day?”
“No, the day went byso slow.” He motions to the steering wheel. “Come on. Let’s go. Get to driving.”
I laugh out loud. “Yes, sir.”
We drive to the stadium, where people are already pouring in even though the game doesn’t start for another hour or so.
I show the gate attendant the parking pass that was included in our tickets, and they guide us to the suite parking lot, which is wrapped around the entire stadium in the back. After I park and turn off the car, Nolan unbuckles his seat belt and hops out of the car faster than I’ve ever seen him do it.
“Hold on, little man,” I yell after him when he tries to sprint off without me.
He runs back to me and grabs my hand, yanking me toward the entrance. “Hurry up!”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I say holding up his baseball glove.
He snatches it from my hand. “Oh yeah. Thanks, Mom. Now let’s go!”
I smile from ear to ear because I have never seen him act like this in his entire life.
We get to the suite entrance, and they scan our tickets from my phone, then guide us up the stairs to where the suites are located.
Up here, there aren’t as many people, and I can see down the long, raised walkway that has suite doors every few feet, so when Nolan takes off, I let him run to get his energy out until he gets to where I think the suite is located.
