After communicating the plan to Faxon, we settled into our seats, Adelaide beside me with Maya in her lap, just as the teams’ starting lineups were introduced.
Adelaide reached over to help Carmen juggle her drink as she got Valeria adjusted on her lap. “How old is she?” Adelaide asked, inclining her head toward Valeria.
“Ten months,” Carmen answered, taking her glass back from Adelaide with a grateful smile.
Adelaide’s eyes narrowed, a sign she was doing some quick calculating in her head. “She’s probably starting to pull herself up, right? Has she said her first words yet?”
Carmen nodded, handing Valeria a baby biscuit to teeth on. “Yes, I think she’ll likely be walking soon. And she said ‘Mámi’ for the first time just a couple of weeks ago! Do you have nieces and nephews?”
Adelaide shook her head. “No, but I am a kindergartenteacher and took several child development classes in university.”
The cheers of the fans erupted into a deafening roar as Anton, Madrid’s midfielder, was announced.
“That’s my pápi,” Maya stated proudly, pointing down at the field. “People say he’s the king of the field.”
“He sure is,” Adelaide answered. She gestured toward me. “Did you know Oliver is the king of Wexstone?”
Maya surveyed me. “Does he get his name on a shirt?”
I hummed thoughtfully. “No, I don’t believe anyone has put my name on the back of a team shirt yet.”
“My pápi sounds cooler, then,” the little girl replied with a shrug.
“Maya!” Carmen scolded, her face flushing with embarrassment.
Adelaide grinned. “Don’t think anything of it. Honestly, it’s good to see someone keeping him humble.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Tough crowd.”
The first half of the game started slow but heated up as Bayern Munich scored in the twenty-ninth minute. The Bayern supporters in the stadium cheered as many of the Madrid fans surged to our feet in outrage.
“He was clearly offside!” I yelled at the referee who could not hear me.
Adelaide leaned to me as I sat back down. “Time for another embarrassing admission: I’ve never really understood what offsides means,” she said out of the corner of her mouth.
I laughed and put my arm around her, pulling her in close. “Offside, singular. Basically, it means that there needs to be a defending player other than the goalkeeper between the goal and the attacking player when the pass is made. But you see that Bayern player who scored the goal, numbertwelve? He was clearly closer to the goal than Madrid’s players were; only the keeper was closer to the goal.”
Adelaide nodded with a low hum. “Makes sense.”
I raised an eyebrow. The offside rule was one of the trickiest aspects of football to understand. “Does it?”
“Eh.” She shrugged.
I snorted. “Do you see now how the play has paused and the ref is looking at that screen and talking on his headset?” I pointed, showing her where I was looking. “The footage is being reviewed. And—” I paused as the ref made the call and the Madrid fans all cheered in unison. “Ahh, see! They determined itwasoffside, so no goal.”
“They can just look at the footage after and change the call?”
I shook my head. “Don’t get me started on VAR technology. It’s so complicated that I’m not sure anyone really understands it. But I wouldn’t be surprised if things get a bit heated from here on out.”
“I’ll admit that I underestimated the sport. I have pretty studiously avoided all things related to athletics up until now, but there’s a lot more nuance than I thought.”
I laughed. “Just wait until I teach you about rugby scrums.”
Carmen rose, shifting Valeria back to her hip. “Mámi is going to use the restroom, I’ll be right back. You stay here with Adelaide and Oliver,” she said to Maya, who barely spared her a glance as she admired Adelaide’s manicure.
“I can hold the baby for you while you go,” I said, standing and holding out my hands.
“Are you sure?” she asked. I didn’t miss the hopeful edge in her voice.
