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It had been a week since Terry and Jeff started dating. The two spent so much time together, it was as if they never were seen apart. Terry had already been introduced to Jeff's parents, and they loved her, however, on that particular night, Jeff was going to be introduced to Terry's mother and Terry couldn't help but worry about what her mother was going to say.
"Don't you think it's a little too soon to meet my mom? Like, are you one-hundred percent sure you want to meet her?" Terry questioned, indirectly forewarning Jeff as they rode over to Terry's house.
Jeff smiled, unbothered by Terry's fretting. "I'm sure me and Ms. Dempsey will hit if off," Jeff then nudged Terry's side, "get it? Hit it off, like I hit the baseball—" Jeff began.
"I get it Jeff." Terry struggled to conceal the growing, cheeky smile on her face as she ran a hand through her hair.
Jeff grabbed Terry's hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. "Don't worry about it, princess. If she sees how much I care for you, I'm sure she won't have any problem with me." Jeff consoled. Terry looked deep into Jeff's eyes and nodded affirmingly. She breathed in a shaky breath, breathing out all of her stresses.
"Give me your phone." Terry ordered once she remembered a small detail that came with meeting her mother.
Jeff whipped out his phone and handed it over. "Why?" He asked curiously.
"My mom hates when she talking with someone and their phone starts ringing." Terry flicked on the silencer on the side of Jeff's phone. Once the silent mode was activated, Jeff's phone lit up— revealing his home screen.
"Jeffrey Atkins! Oh my god!" Terry exclaimed analyzing the picture that he had saved on his home screen.
It was a horrible picture of her when they went out on a date a couple days ago. It was a windy evening and Terry was shoving a piece of bread down her throat at the restaurant. Her hair was flying everywhere and on her face as she was engulfing the big piece of bread.
"What? It's cute." Jeff defended.
Terry scoffed. "No it is not! That's not hot at all. Oh my god, delete it!" Terry laughed as she attempted to unlock his phone.
"No! It's cute. It's you in your natural state." Jeff explained. Terry slapped her palm to her forehead, shaking her head in disapproval.
Surprisingly enough, the rest of the night played out with ease. Jeff made a couple moments awkward when he would make a baseball joke that no one understood, but Terry would always save the moment by changing the subject. Shockingly, Terry's mother approved of Jeff— and just as Jeff said, it was because she saw how much he cared for her and in her own words, how much he loved her.
"I've never seen one of your boyfriends look at you the way Jeff did tonight. He really loves you, Terry." Ms. Dempsey spoke aside to Terry in another hall. She assumed that no one heard her, however, despite her beliefs, Jeff had just exited the nearby restroom and heard everything she had said. She didn't know that Jeff had heard her, but he was glad. He was glad that he had her approval and he was glad that he was able to be with her daughter freely. Because he truly did love her, but... he couldn't admit that— at least not just yet.
* * *
Before Jeff knew it, baseball season had begun and he was quite excited to have Terry sit under the hot sun on the bleachers to watch him play. However, Terry wasn't too happy about it. "I won't understand anything that you're doing." Terry huffed, trying to find an excuse not to go and melt under the sun just to watch Jeff play.
"If you're dating a baseball player, then you better learn it quick." Jeff joked, poking her squishy cheek.
Terry rolled her eyes. "The best baseball player on the team, according to everyone else." Terry reminded.
Jeff waved her off. "Yeah, yeah."
Terry enjoyed the last few moments she had in the air conditioning in the cool car before she finally accepted the fact that she was going to have to go out there. "Fine. Let's go." Terry braced herself for the arid heat that was about to hit her face when she opened the car door. Just as expected, a punch of heat hit her chest— disabling her to breathe for a quick second.
Jeff hopped out of the car, with a jubilant smile on his face. He grabbed Terry's hand and pulled her down to the baseball field. He seated her on the bleachers and handed her a water bottle, then retreated back into the dugout where the rest of his team awaited his arrival.
A few hoots erupted from the dugout as Jeff entered it, he received compliments and admirations from team members over him and Terry's relationship. Terry overheard and rolled her eyes playfully at the other gawking baseball players.
The game had began and Terry curiously watched as each of the boys particularly threw, caught and hit the small white ball across the large field. She quickly caught on, and next thing you knew— Terry was up against the fence, screaming at the boys to hustle.
Jeff noticed after the 6th inning and made eye contact with her, his visage full of love and tenderness for her. Terry waved him off, for she was far too concentrated on paying attention to the game to be admiring her boyfriend that she saw everyday.
Once Jeff was up to bat, he readied himself to hit the incoming ball coming his way. Terry watched silently, attempting to not to distract him, but as soon as he hit the ball right down the field, making a home run, Terry couldn't help but to cheer as loudly as possible.
Jeff proudly jogged around the diamond shaped field, then met with Terry alongside the fence and pulled her in for a kiss over the fence. Terry returned the sweet kiss and caressed her hand along his face. She pulled away and congratulated him, overjoyed that he had proven his value to the team.
"You see that, Tee?" Jeff began to walk away, as he pointed to the field.
Terry nodded rapidly. "I get it now, Jay. It finally hit me." Terry made up her own pun, causing an uproar of laughter to occur from the people who had heard her joke.
Jeff shook his head, then winked at her. "That's my girl." He smiled brightly, causing Terry to melt a little more than she had already been under the sun.
