Heroes | Sportacus

Wicked Curveball

Two weeks later, Emilia had slowly gotten into the habit of suntanning alongside her godmother. However, she refused to have a facial. She wouldn't have been able to handle the green mask resting on her face for an entire hour, stagnant and gooey.

Emilia felt as though she had earned a day off, seeing as her ankle had regained a lot of its strength and didn't irritate her very much anymore. Although she planned to spend the day relaxing, it seemed that Stephanie had other plans.

Emilia felt a shadow cascade over her. She sighed, lifting her sunglasses from her eyes to look at Stephanie. Emilia raised her eyebrows and stared at the pink-haired girl expectantly. Stephanie smiled widely at her, one hand holding a baseball and the other holding a glove.

"Hey, Emilia. I was hoping... well... you know... if you could teach me how to pitch a curveball?! You don't have to if you don't want to—!"

Emilia sighed again, standing from her lawn chair since it was obvious Stephanie wanted to learn the pitch. Stephanie hopped up and down excitedly. However, Emilia didn't know that Stephanie had written a letter to Sportacus, asking him to teach her how to throw the exact same pitch.

Emilia joined Stephanie at the ballpark after retrieving her own glove. The pink-haired girl was waiting patiently, smiling to herself. Emilia planned to ask Stephanie why she seemed so excited when she heard a familiar voice. Emilia instantly rolled her eyes, knowing Stephanie had tricked her once more into spending time with Sportacus.

"Stephanie, I got your letter! Are you ready to learn how to pitch?" Sportacus questioned, smiling at the young girl kindly before he noticed Emilia. He cleared his throat and nodded in greeting. Being the sweet man he is, Sportacus had no idea Stephanie had purposely planned the meeting.

"Yeah, and Emilia's here to help too!" Stephanie exclaimed. She was excited to learn to pitch, of course, but she was also happy that Sportacus and Emilia were spending time together.

"Well, I'm glad," Sportacus replied. He then held out his hand for Emilia to shake, "It's nice to see you again, Emilia. I've missed—I mean, the kids have missed you! Not that I haven't! I just haven't seen you in a few days and I just—!"

"Sportacus," Emilia interrupted, "calm down."

Sportacus nodded. He cleared his throat to try and ease his nerves, but that didn't work in the slightest. He turned to Stephanie and narrowed his eyes, but she only smiled at him.

"Emilia, why don't you stretch since you've been suntanning all day? Sportacus can teach me the curveball first," Stephanie stated. She then grasped onto the superhero's hand and pulling him away from Emilia before the woman could reply.

"Stephanie, what are you doing?" Sportacus questioned, crossing his arms and shuffling nervously.

"You obviously like her, Sportacus," Stephanie responded. "You just need to talk to her. You're just like my Uncle Milford when he's around Miss Busybody."

The man's eyes widened, "Me? Like the mayor? Really, Stephanie?"

"Yes, Sportacus!" Stephanie laughed. "You're so obvious!"

"I can't help it, Stephanie!" Sportacus complained. "What do you think I should do?"

"You're asking an eight-year-old?" Stephanie asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Stephanie, don't think I haven't noticed what you've been doing," Sportacus smirked, crossing his arms across his chest. "You've been trying to get Emilia and I to spend time together."

"Well, she likes you too," Stephanie muttered to herself.

Sportacus' eyes widened at her words. Stephanie's did the same when she realized that Sportacus heard her. Sportacus immediately looked back at Emilia, who was sitting on the ground. She had apparently finished stretching and was now waiting for the two of them to join her. Stephanie almost jumped in surprise when Sportacus suddenly returned his attention to her.

"Let's teach you that curveball, Stephanie," he smiled at her. He then turned away and ran over to stand in front of Emilia.

Stephanie smiled as well when she noticed that Sportacus wasn't nervous at all anymore. Maybe he won't need help from me, Stephanie thought. Her smile widened as she ran to join the two adults.

Unlike before, the two were talking to one another with ease.