Contrast

26

I quickly jog over to the front row of the crowd, Blake following close behind me.

A huge smile takes over Lily's face when she sees us nearing closer.

"See Daddy! I told you my friend Black from the plane liked football too! And Elena is here too, she's the princess!!" Lily squeals, leaning over the railing to reach down to us. Her father quickly gets up to make sure she doesn't fly over it.

"Oh my god, hi Little Lily! I didn't expect to see you here!" I gush, reaching up on my tippy toes to give her a high-five.

Her father then speaks. "Nice to meet you two, I'm Justin. I never imagined the people my daughter met on the plane and couldn't stop talking about would be you guys. It's a crazy small world. Thank you for taking care of her, I hope she wasn't too much trouble."

Blake reaches up to shake his hand. "Wasn't any trouble Sir. You've got a great little girl."

Justin leans down closer to speak to us quietly. "Her mother and I are recently divorced, so we are handling it the best we can since I moved over here."

Blake's smile drops and he clears his throat awkwardly, looking down at the ground now.

Despite wanting to know why Blake started acting weird all of a sudden, I continue the conversation.  "Do you guys come to these games often?"

"All the time. I grew up in Ohio with her mother so we'd always go to all the games. You guys are killing it so far," he smiles at Blake. "I imagine that boy she described as having 'fire hair' is Noah Scott?"

"Yes, it sure is. She also took a liking to my best friend Olivia," I chuckle.

I then take a few steps away from the railing to yell at Olivia and Noah to come over. 

"I missed you Black, remember how I told you my Daddy likes football too?" Lily giggles.

"Honey, his name is Blake," Justin reminds her gently.

Blake chuckles. "It's alright, it's not the worst nickname I've ever had."

Olivia and Noah soon make their way over, quickening their pace at the sight of Lily.

"Lily!! How'd you get here?" Noah gasps, and he and Olivia both reach up to give her a hug.

"Me and my Daddy come to games all the time. I wish my Mommy would take me to them too," she replies, seeming a little sad now. 

Justin wraps his arm around Lily's shoulder for comfort. "Her mother works a lot so they don't have much time to go. I could drive down to Ohio pretty much every weekend on my days off to go to more games with her, it's only a 5-hour drive. But obviously the costs of tickets and gas adds up quickly. So I always try to catch a game when she visits."

Blake peers up at the two of them, a determined look on his face. "How about this? Justin, I'll give you my number. Shoot me a text whenever you guys want tickets to a game, and I'll make it happen."

I feel a sudden flutter in my stomach at Blake's generosity. Seeing him open up and not be afraid to show he cares about people is such an amazing thing to watch, even if he's just taking baby steps.

"Oh no, that's extremely generous, but you don't have to do that..." Justin trails off a bit awkwardly.

Lily jumps up and down excitedly. "Please Daddy!! I want to see my friends again! Didn't you say this is the only time they're playing up here?"

Noah chimes in. "Really Sir, it would be no bother at all. We'd love to see her at more games."

Justin pauses for a moment, looking down at his pleading daughter and then back to us.