I Get A Kick Out of You

Chapter 8

Joel, Cassie, Ben, and Eleanore were all sitting together and rocking t-shirts with their kids names and numbers on them. Today was the final game of the playoffs and even Joel and Eleanore seemed to be excited about it!

Cassie was the one to come up with the shirt idea and Ben was all in on it. They custom made and ordered them just in time for the first playoff game and they've been wearing them to the games ever since.

It was a rough game to start, with their team being down by sixteen points. It was weird how the other team's defense was just so good and stumped the boys. Even Ethan, the fastest runner and best pivot they had, couldn't get around the other team. At the end of the second quarter, he got so mad, he threw the basketball across the court.

Cassie had made eye contact with him and gestured for him to breathe. He copied her and calmed down in just a few minutes. When it came time for the last quarter, they were just eight points down. They had to give it their all in these last few minutes, or else they were going to lose.

"Come on, baby, come on," Cassie kept muttering with her hands up to her mouth. Just as Ben put a soothing hand on her back, Joel did as well. Ben quickly moved his hand away and told him, "Sorry."

As the clock was getting lower and lower, the other team got a foul...against Ethan. The other team's coach threw a fit on the sideline. Ethan was known for being the best in the league, if not in the district, or even the entire county!

Ethan took a deep breath, before shooting the ball...and making it! He got one more chance to make another one...but missed. He grabbed the front of his sweaty locks on frustration, but looked up at Cassie and copied her deep breathing.

The game continued with the boy's getting closer and closer to the other team's points. They tied them in the final thirty seconds and Cassie thought she was going to have a heart attack! They took a quick timeout to strategize and she could see the coach keep pointing to Ethan.

"He's telling them to give Ethan the ball," she said aloud. "That's a horrible call! The other team is going to be on him like white on rice! He won't get a chance to shoot!" She started to get louder as she went on, meaning for the coach to hear.

Joel gently shushed her. "He knows what he's doing," he told her. She scoffed, "My ass, he does! He's setting the boys up to lose, Joel!" Ben found her ranting absolutely entertaining. "Look," he said, pointing at Ethan. "Seems like he's having his own little meeting."

Ethan had gathered the team around in the middle of the court, seeming to tell them his own plan. They broke up when the whistle blew and he looked to Cassie. He gave her a smile, then pointed to her. She didn't know exactly what he meant by doing that, but she smiled back.

"Alright, let's go!" Ethan shouted. The referee blew his whistle and the last thirty seconds started. As expected, Ethan was passed the ball. Instead of going for the shot, however, he made a fake throw to one side, then ended up quickly passing it to Cillian the opposite way.

There wasn't anyone blocking him, so he quickly dribbled the ball closer to the net. Everyone who was on Ethan was now coming after him, so he made a trick move by passing the ball back to Ethan from between one of the tallest player's legs.

Ethan passed it to another player, who passed it on to another, then got it back to Ethan. This was it, the final ten seconds. Ethan, who had no one around to block him, jumped to make the shot...but ended up passing it to Cillian once again.

Cillian seemed at a loss of what to do! He looked around to see if he could pass it back to anyone, but everyone was covered! So, he looked to the basket, jumped and let go of the ball. The buzzer rang as the ball hit the backboard, then the rim. It slowly went around the rim, looking like it was going to fall off and miss...

...until it fell forward into the basket.

Cassie and Ben both jumped from their seats and cheered louder than any other parent there! They were even louder than the band!

Cillian was standing in shock in the middle of the court. Ethan picked his friend up in a hug and spun him around. The entire team came up and jumped all around Cillian, patting his head and screaming their heads off in excitement!

A few of the boys grabbed gatorade bottles and poured them all over him and Ethan. Cillian seemed to have registered this by now and a huge smile came over his face. "You did it!" Ethan shouted. "You did it!"

"I did it," Cillian said in disbelief. "I did it!"

Their parent's quickly made their way down to the court and found them hugging while everyone else celebrated around them. "My boy!" Ben proudly shouted. He picked Cillian up and laughed in pure joy. "That was brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

Even Eleanore gave him a few praises and seemed genuine about it.

"Come here, you," Cassie said as she opened her arms to Ethan. He hugged her with a wide smile on his face. She leaned down to his ear and whispered, "I saw what you did. You had a clear shot." He looked up at her and said, "It's not all about me, mom."

She wanted to cry right then and there. She was so proud of him! She kissed his sweaty head, then looked to Joel. He didn't seem to be as proud as she was. "You had a clear shot," he told Ethan. "That could have been your win."

Cassie scoffed at him, while Ethan said, "But dad, it's not about me. Cillian has only gotten a few shots this season and if he didn't make this one, then he wouldn't be on the team next year. Mom's always said it's about teamwork and having fun."

Joel put his hands on his hips and said, "Yeah, well, your mom isn't right all the time." He walked away with the shake of his head and Cassie couldn't believe it! Ethan didn't look sad, but angry. She's never seen him look at his father that way.

"Hey," she said, getting his attention back to her. "Let's get you home, yeah? It's Halloween and you'll be ready in time for Trick-or-Treating to start. You can invite Cillian if you want." That got a small smile to appear on his face and went over to Cillian to invite him.

Ben looked up at Cassie after he asked and smiled. He mouthed, "Hell yes!" and it made her laugh. Ethan ran back over and told her Cillian and Ben would be over, but not Eleanore. That wasn't much of shocker. She didn't even show up to the dinner they invited them to a few weeks ago.

Ethan and Cillian decided they wanted to wear their jersey's as their costumes, so they just went straight to the house with Ben following. When they got there, Eleanore took the car home after telling him to call her when he wanted to be picked up. Once again, not much of a shocker.

Joel put himself in his office—or, Man Cave as Cassie calls it—to watch television. Ethan and Cillian wanted to go trick-or-treating by themselves, much to the dismay of their parents. "I don't know," Ben said unsurely. "It's an unfamiliar neighborhood and it's getting dark out..."

Cillian begged, "Please, dad! Ethan knows the neighborhood and we won't wander!" He and Ethan were giving Ben and Cassie puppy dog eyes. Cassie looked to Ben and said, "Up to you." He sighed and looked back and forth between the boys.

"Alright," he said, "but only if you stick to the neighborhood." Both boys cheered and high-fived. "If you want to go further, call us and we'll meet you at the end of the block," Cassie added. They both promised they would, then bolted out of the door with their empty pillow cases in hand.

Cassie handed Ben a glass of wine and sighed, "They're growing up way too quickly." He chuckled, "You're telling me. Hey...what Ethan did tonight, that was...well, that was amazing. He had every chance to make that shot, but he decided to give Cill the opportunity. I don't think I've ever seen a more grounded, disciplined and overall amazing human being like him. You've done a brilliant job."

He held his glass up to her and she clinked it with the biggest blush on her cheeks. "I could say the same thing about Cillian," she told him. "I honestly think we have two of the best boys any parent could ask for."

Ben raised his glass and said, "I'll drink to that."