A Father's Love

Chapter 46

The game started early in the afternoon. Before the two found their seats, Luke and Shelby stopped by the snack bar to each get a hotdog and soda, along with water to stay hydrated. Once they had their food, Luke guided Shelby through the entryway leading to their section of the stadium. Their seats were located towards the back of the lower level, climbing a few steps before Luke spotted their row.

"Right here, kiddo," he told Shelby, who stopped climbing and looked back.

"Here?" she asked, motioning towards the row right next to her.

"Yep."

Shelby headed down the row of seats. Luke told her to stop at seat nine. Using one hand, he held the seat down while Shelby sat down, sitting in the one beside her. While they waited for the game to start, Luke helped her with opening the ketchup packet, letting Shelby squeeze the sauce onto her hotdog. Some squirted onto the bottom of her arm which she licked off.

"Shelby, come on. Use a napkin." Luke passed her a napkin, though all Shelby needed to wipe off at this point was her own saliva.

"A tongue is a good napkin, too," she stated.

Luke just let out a sigh. "Not all the time, Shell."

Once more piled in, taking their seats around them, Shelby closed up, already about done with her hotdog. With the stadium full, a guy came on over the loudspeaker and requested everyone to rise for the National Anthem.

Luke rose, having Shelby do the same. She slid off her seat and removed her hat, copying her dad as he held it against his chest. A woman down below was standing at a microphone to sing, though with people standing in the row in front of them, Shelby wasn't able to see. She patted Luke on the leg, who told her to wait a minute. Afterwards, when everyone sat back down, he acknowledged her, giving Shelby, his ear.

"I couldn' see when she was singing."

"I'm sorry, kiddo. There wasn't much to see, anyway," he told her. "She was just singing. There wasn't any dancing or anything like that." That didn't make her feel better. Not until Luke offered ice cream at halftime to make up for it. Then Shelby was fine since ice cream always made everything better. In her opinion, anyway.

The game started with the first pitch by the Red Sox. With her hotdog eaten, Shelby slid off from her chair again to let the seat go up and sat on the front of it, to raise her up a little. She was now wearing her glove on her hand, hoping to catch a home run. Luke told her, not to get her hopes up as one may not get hit their way.

Throughout the whole game, Luke and Shelby cheered the Red Sox on, along with the rest of the crowd. Shelby especially seemed to be enjoying herself. By the fourth inning, she sidestepped in front of her dad to climb onto his leg.

She tapped him again.

"Yeah?" Luke lowered his ear for her.

"Am I ge'-ting too big to si' on your lap, Dad?"

Luke gave her a firm squeeze, kissing the side of her head. "Not yet, kiddo," he smiled.

Shelby smiled and turned her head back to the game. She slid off for a moment to grab her drink from the arm rest's cup holder and took a drink before returning it back in place, climbing back onto his leg, afterwards.

Even though a ball didn't get hit to their section, Shelby still had a great time at her first ball game. The kid never even got bored, though she did rest her head against her dad for a while there, when she was tired from all the cheering she was doing. When it was finally over, Luke made sure they took their trash with them, throwing it away on the way out.