Heaven Sent (Loki/Asgard Fanfiction - Aislinn's Story)

Chapter Seventy-Three

After the holidays, wrestling season kicked in with full force and Steve was away from home more than he was there. Week after week, Aislinn came out to watch him coach, to watch his kids, to cheer them on or to commiserate when they lost. Although she didn't understand a single thing about the sport, it didn't matter. Steve kept his word to explain anything she didn't get and never once laughed over any question, regardless of how silly it probably sounded to him.

It astounded her, how many people came out to watch and cheer. According to Kristen Mahoney, at least half of the women in attendance came out just to stare at Steve, which amused Aislinn to no end. When she said as much to Kristen, the other woman nodded and said, "It's almost pathetic. Some of them are old enough to be his mom. Others? Young enough to be his daughter."

With each passing week, she looked forward to sitting and chatting with Kristen or Heather, or any one of the other mothers with whom she'd struck up a friendship. It made being stared at or whispered about—or stared at and whispered about—easier to deal with, when Kristen looked around her in the general direction of whoever happened to be staring, and just laughed.

One snowy Saturday at the end of January, Aislinn settled into her seat between Heather and Kristen. "Okay, am I really that huge?"

"You're round, but it's a cute little volleyball tummy," Kristen said with a grin, reaching out to rub said volleyball. "How much longer?"

"Five weeks." Her back ached, but that was nothing new. For the last few weeks, it hurt almost every time she was vertical and horizontal was no easier, as the baby crushed the air from her lungs and squished her bladder almost nonstop. "Five very long weeks."

"Well, you look fine." Heather sat down beside her, a cardboard drink holder in her hands. "Take Kris's and yours before I drop everything. And why are you asking?"

"Sorry." Aislinn tugged two of the three Styrofoam coffee cups from the cardboard, passing one to Kristen and folding back the lid on her own. "There's two girls at the end of the row, three up from us. They were staring and then they started giggling."

Kristen peered around them. "Stacey Clayton and Brittany Moore. I think Dev said they're in his gym class."

"Brother on the team?" Heather asked, tugging a foil-wrapped hot dog from the drink holder.

"Ew, how you can you eat that?" Kristen asked as Heather took a bite. "Hot dogs aren't fit for slopping pigs."

"Because I like them, that's how," Heather retorted around a mouthful of hot dog. She finished chewing, sipped her coffee and, after offering Kristen a defiant glare, took another bite.

"No," Kristen shook her head, "as far as I know, neither one of them has a brother, period. Just two more members of the Steve Molinaro fan club."

"Oh, that must be the Stacey who's been furious with Steve ever since we got married." Aislinn smiled over at the two girls, who promptly looked away and began giggling amongst themselves.

"Are you kidding me?" Heather asked, lowering her hot dog.

"I'm not. I get updates about certain kids all the time." She smiled at Heather. "It's one of the perks of being married to a teacher." The baby shifted and she winced as an elbow—or maybe a knee—dug into her ribs. "Ow..."

Kristen laughed, elbowing her gently and nodding in Steve's direction. "Coach looks pissed."

"I take it we're not doing so well?" she asked.

"We're doing fine as a whole, but Joey isn't on his best game today," Kristen said with a sigh. "Coach is not going to be happy."

Aislinn bit back a sigh of her own. The Somerset Valley Wrestling squad had only one defeat all season and Steve was like an irritated grizzly bear over it. He hated to lose, hated to see his guys lose, hated how they all felt as if they'd let each other down. She'd never seen a man so passionate about a sport or the kids participating in it before.