I am not lonely [Mystrade]

CHAPTER 24 : To Victory

Gregory raised to his feet, shouting out of joy, under the slightly
amused gaze of his husband. When it came to football, Mycroft was
usually a bit less enthusiastic than the detective even if after two
years of being dragged by his lover to the football pitch he was
starting to find it pretty amusing.
"Come on ! Where do you see a free kick seriously !" complained the DI
to the arbitrator despite the fact that the latter couldn't hear him.
The official started laughing, making the yarder turn to him. "Oh,
stop making fun of me you ...".
"I should record you one day really dear ..." giggled the auburn.
"Seriously you should see yourself ...". The inspector slapped him
gently on the head, smirking before sitting down again. The two men
were supporting the Lestrade's children at one of the most important
tournament of the season and Sarah was on the pitch with the U13 team,
leading 3-2 against the Fulham FC at 5 minutes of the final whistle.
It was the third match of the day with 3 more to go after Jack's team
won 3-0 against Thamesmead Town and Lucas won 2-1 against Northwood
and Croydon FC, the Lestrade's children's club was leading in most of
the categories.
The arbitrator give his last whistle, provoking a joy explosion in the
gallery, Mycroft even standing up to join the celebration. When the
blare had calmed down, the two men proceeded to the stairs to exit the
gallery and joined the little girl on the benches near the pitch. His
father hugged her despite the mud on her light blue and black football
suit.
"Have you seen the second goal dad ?" she asked him, excited.
"Yes darling. That was superb ! " he congratulated his daughter. "Have
you heard about Lucas and Jack ?"
"Nah. But I've seen Thamesmead Town's team after the match and I
wouldn't be surprised if they had loosed." Sarah laughed.
"3-0. Jack didn't score but made a nice decisive pass. And 2-1 for
Lucas against Northwood. Jack play Bromley next." informed her
Gregory. The coach was calling for the girls and with a last hand wave
to the two men, his daughter disappeared.
The next match wasn't before half an hour so Mycroft suggested that
they could have a drink before going back to the gallery. They managed
their way through the crowd of parents and player to the bar and
ordered two cups of tea. It was a cold Sunday morning and despite his
Kashmir coat the official was shivering and he enjoyed the feeling of
the hot paper cup in his hands, feeling sorry for all the children
having to play in shorts by this November morning.
Despite the fact that he was now coming to the football pitch for a
certain amount of time Mycroft still have no idea of the game rules
and the positions of the players. All what he knew was that Lucas was
a goal keeper and that the team who score the most in 90 minutes was
the winner, but apart from that he understood strictly nothing to 'the
noble art of playing the ball' as Greg as once said. When the
detective was trying to explain him what was happening on the pitch,
the official just nod as if he was knowing what they were talking
about, praying secretly that his partner won't ask him his opinion.
"Next time we shall bring Alden ..." said the inspector after a few
minutes of silence.
"I'm not entirely sure he would enjoy staying in the gallery for a so
long time..." replied the auburn, drinking a gulp of his tea, feeling
the hot liquid warming his inside.
"Well, not for an entire tournament that's sure, but for a single
match, one of Jack's. It's only 45 minutes." insisted Gregory.
"Yes, why not, next spring when it will be warmer." agreed the
official. "3 footies it's not enough for you, you really want the
entire family to run after a ball ?" he added, with a little smirk.
"I'm trying to gather an entire team, only seven more to go" laughed
the DI, taking his lover hand and starting to walk back to the
gallery.
"You'd better find yourself a younger girl then." replied the other
one, deadpan before breaking into a laugh.
"I guess it was worth a try ..." retorted the yarder with a little
pout. "You know, only one more and we could make a 5-player team ..."
"Try again." retorted Mycroft, climbing the stairs to the gallery.
They sat down, still laughing gently, the official delicate hand on
Gregory's thigh. A couple of minutes later, Bromley's and Croydon's
team entered the pitch. The two captains shook hands before the
arbitrator whistle the beginning of the game.
Jack was playing in the middle, apparently centre midfield according
to Greg, which makes very little sense to the official as he had
absolutely no idea what was the use of having people in the middle who
weren't supposed either to score, either to forbid the other team of
scoring. Nevertheless, it probably was a very important position as
there were no less than four of them in each teams.
No more than five minutes after the kick-off, the arbitrator granted
Bromley's team a penalty stroke after a forbidden tackle by the centre
forward of the blue and black team. A black-haired boy wearing a white
jersey scored the first goal of the game, provoking a collective sigh
of disappointment in the Croydon's supporters gallery.
Furious of being leaded, the blue and black put up a rather aggressive
playing tactic, equalizing 10 minutes later and stopping 4 more framed
shot from the other team before the interval.