Sophomore Year || Parenthood Series, Book One || WATTYS 2018

Chapter Fifty-Nine

SOUNDTRACK: "Something's Missing" - John Mayer

ONE WEEK LATER

"I can't believe they took her onto the team," Jared said as he sat next to Shannon in the bleachers at Santa Clarita's field. "I thought they just wanted to train her."

"You really have no idea how any of this sports shit works, do you?" Shannon asked. "For such a smart person, you sure are an idiot sometimes."

Jared shook his head and rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the field. When Kate told him three days ago that Coach Geraldo had offered her a per-game contract, he was happy for her. What he wasn't prepared for was the whirlwind of activity that followed. She would be playing her first game that same weekend, which meant he had to clear his schedule to the best of his ability. He had planned on going hiking in Joshua Tree or Yosemite again, but he cancelled his plans to go to Kate's game.

The season was several games in and the team was doing well, but they had multiple away games coming up and Jared wasn't sure he'd be able to make them. That was assuming she was asked to play for them again. There was a lot riding on this game for Kate and he wasn't sure how he wanted it to go. Obviously he'd be an absolute douche if he wanted her to lose. But some small part of him wanted her to at least perform poorly. He knew it was kind of selfish, but he wanted the extra time with her. The first several of weeks of her summer had been spent at practices or working with Reni. If he added the week where she had been in New York City with Terry, it boiled down to just a few days that they had spent together.

It was strange that Jared was craving time with Kate, considering less than a year ago, he dreaded having to go through the long drive down to San Diego to see her and feared the press learning about her. Oh, how the times change. Perhaps it was her trip to the hospital that had scared him into reality or maybe he had finally just come into his own as a father, but whatever it was, Jared now found himself hating that Kate had more of a life of her own. He knew it was terrible of him, but that's what parenthood did to him.

"Okay, so enlighten me," Jared said to his brother.

Shannon sighed. "They brought her on to train her the way they wanted her trained. The coaches got her early enough that they can mold her into the player the club wants and needs her to be," he explained. "They always intended on signing her to a professional contract."

"How do you know?" Jared asked.

"Isn't that what they told you when they asked you to bring Kate up?" Shannon asked, raising an eyebrow. "Even Kate knew that."

Jared shrugged. "I have a lot of shit going on all the time. I can't remember every single conversation someone has with me."

"You'd think you'd remember one regarding your kid, though," Shannon remarked. "Anyways, I've been watching Kate at practices and all that. They've definitely been grooming her to join the team full time. The only reason they aren't signing her fully is because of you."

Jared looked at Shannon. "Me? What for?"

"They know you're cautious about this," Shannon said. "My guess is that they want you to see how good she is and how well the team does with Kate on it and they're hoping you give them the green light for a permanent, long-term contract."

Jared scoffed at Shannon's knowledge. But, he was glad he had it. Other than driving Kate up to Santa Clarita for practice, he had sent Shannon with her to keep an eye on how things were done. He didn't like having only half of the story, so he wanted Shannon to keep him in the loop. For the most part, it worked. Shannon would give him a run down of practice and that was generally enough for Jared. But this contract information was not something he had been aware of or prepared for.