It Only Takes a Minute

Chapter 6

"Run—-!"

It hadn't taken Claire long to get into the moment. At first, she thought Owen was really pushing it when he had insisted they should totally go for it. It wasn't that the redhead didn't like children, because she did. She had two nephews and when the eldest was a toddler, she used to play with him all the time.

But this? This was outrageous and yet she was having the time of her life.

Since her stunt with the skateboard, Claire and Owen had become two faces the kids at the park recognized. It wasn't every day that they witnessed two adults just having fun without a care in the world. Every single of these kids thought it was cool and that's why they had asked them to come join them and play with them.

The kids had their own kickball court chalked down on the pavement. They used one half of the many basketball courts at the park. Most of the kids playing were around the ages of nine and eleven. They all gathered there after school and played until the sun went down.

Today, they only had a couple of hours, this particular group was in the school play and were out there between classes and their last rehearsal before opening night; they were doing Peter Pan.

They had teamed up girls versus boys; the redhead's team was kicking first and Owen's was pitching.

"May the strongest team win." Owen winked before calling out for his eight boys to gather up and come with an strategy to kick some butt.

"I've kicked your ass twice today, and I'm about to do it again." She smiled. "So yes, the strongest is about to win." She challenged him before gathering her eight girls and start planning a way to make the boys eat some dirt — literally.

Claire had never been into sports, and if someone, anyone, would have approached her that morning telling her she'd come off the subway with a stranger and do all these things... she'd have said they were crazy and probably call the police. But here she was, shouting and cheering for the one girl who had been the first to kick and celebrating with the rest of her team that she had made it safe to first base.

Owen was between second and third base, completely distracted with the redhead across the court, in line waiting for her turn. He had never been the kind to think about having kids, hell... he had never been the type of man to want a serious girlfriend, but just like he knew (after one look) that Claire was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, right now he was picturing a life with a wife and kids, playing at the park every Sunday afternoon. In that image, he was happy and had everything he could ask for. Yes, the redhead was the wife and those sixteen kids their children. He was crazy in love.

If he were to google what lovestruck meant, urban dictionary would give a definition of himself at this very moment. A search on imagines would have a collection of all the times he had found himself staring at her and smiling to himself.

Green eyes eventually fell on him and they exchanged a smile that would be engraved in his mind for the rest of his life. He was starting to wonder what kind of fool he was, he probably only had one day with her and instead of spending it sitting in a coffee shop or a bar talking, he was out there playing ball with a bunch of kids.

He nodded lightly once he watched her bit on her lower lip, he was definitely the smartest kind of fool; conversations she would have plenty in her life time, men buying her a drink? She probably had lost count of it. But a day outside riding a skateboard and playing kickball? That was one in a life time experience and one that had just assured him to become an everlasting memory in her.

"Run! Run! Run!" The redhead broke eye contact once the second player had managed to kick the ball and fill first and second base.

These girls could kick, and it made Claire a little nervous. They wanted her to go fourth and bring them all Home. She had never kicked a ball before, how did they expect her to hit it so hard it will give them time to go around and score four runs?