The Good Hair Family Sitcom

S3 E3.2: Chicks Be Crazy

Jonah's POV

I hold Austen's hands to keep her on her feet while Walker sits on the bench behind me, near where the team coach is standing. He stares at our daughter in her little grizzly bear costume. The head was too big, so she has little bear ears on a headband instead, and she loves it, bouncing up and down while watching the middle schoolers run around the court.

"Ready?" I ask her, and she nods. "Okay. Go grizzlies!"

"Grrrrr!" she growls, giving the most adorable bear impression I've ever heard in my life.

Her little voice makes all those around us glance over and one of the boys on the court to get a whistle blown for travelling while being distracted by Austen.

"Jonah, why did you offer this?" Walker grumbles.

"She's a natural entertainer," I defend.

Austen turns toward her other dad and starts jumping and pulling on my hands while looking at him, saying, "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly!" Then she lets go of my hands to wave her little bear paws around. "Grrrr!" She giggles and tries to take a step forward, but right away, she loses her balance, tumbling backward onto her bum, and instantly she erupts in sobs.

I reach down to pick her up, hugging her close as I tell her, "Hey, it's okay. You're alive."

Walker just shakes his head and brings his eyes ahead to the basketball game.

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Amber's POV

A middle school basketball game definitely isn't what I would've liked to be using today for, but it's my nephew, and he always liked when the whole family comes, and honestly he's almost a teenager, so that opinion will probably die soon, so we might as well make the most of this time. As the game goes on, though, Andi realizes we didn't bring any drinks with us, so we leave Hazel to go out to the vending machine to get some. As we approach the lit-up beverage box, I get out my wallet.

"What do you want?" Andi asks me.

"Anything but grape soda," I reply.

She takes a couple of coins from my wallet and drops them into the machine. "Root beer?"

"Sure."

The whole vending machine rattles after she hits the button, but when the buzzing noise stops, there still isn't a drink falling. Andi kneels down to check the bottom of the box where the can would've fallen, but nothing's there.

"Great," Andi mutters.

Out of habit, I try pressing the button again, and when that doesn't work, I hit a few more.

"That's how you started a fire," Andi reminds me. "Let's not do that."

"Well, who do we ask about this?" I wonder.

"I don't know. We can just buy a new one."

"I don't have anymore change."

"Then we'll skip the drink."

"I paid for it. I want it."

Andi sighs. "So what? We try to shake it out? That never works well."

I smile. "Maybe we'll be the exception."

Hazel's POV

Since my moms aren't sitting with me to force me to pay attention to the game anymore, I let my mind wander in other directions. I could go join Andreas and Jayda up the bleachers, but I feel like whatever conversation they're having is either going to be really awkward for me or just plain frustrating knowing what I know about both of them. Honestly, if Jayda would've just let me tell Andreas she likes him, then this whole thing could be sped up. With that card off the table, I notice Brayden closer to the bottom of the bleachers. It's so bizarre to see him this invested in a sports game. Obviously, there's something more than the sport keeping him tied up. Curious to uncover that, I make my way down the steps and cross the bench to sit down next to him.

"You not reading a book at a sporting event?" I tease. "That's quite a sight."

"Yes, I suppose it is," Brayden responds without removing his eyes from the game—or should I say the player.

Brayden and I are only two years apart in age, yet we don't talk frequently. If I'm being honest, a big part of that is probably because I thrive on the drama in Jayda's and Andreas's lives, but Brayden's never really had anything especially entertaining happen that would keep my analyzing brain occupied. Now there seems to be finally something a little bit interesting happening to him. He stares at player number 5 on the court. When the player glances over at Brayden with a wry grin, I notice Brayden perk up a bit.

"Is that your friend?" I ask.

"Yes."

"I didn't think you'd be friends with a basketball player. Aren't all your friends theatre kids?"

"My two other friends? Yes."

"So what's the deal with this guy?" I wonder.

"In what sense?"

I shrug. "I don't know. Like what's the deal with you and him?"

"Nothing peculiar," Brayden replies. "I like talking to him, and he seems to like talking to me, so we associate with each other sometimes. ...A lot of the time. I see him more than I see my other friends now."

The realization seems to make Brayden ponder, while I'm just saying, "Interesting."

"Not particularly," Brayden responds, trying to minimize his situation.

"So you two are close?"

"I see what you're trying to imply, but I denounce it. He's simply my friend."

"You jumped ahead there," I say with a curious grin.

"You were going to get there," he states.

"Yeah, but usually people let me get there on my own."

"I'm not my brother. I don't take a year to understand things."

His thought is ended by number five getting a basket and looking back at Brayden who warms into a smile like a sunrise making him lose interest in anything other than the sun ray on the court. When Brayden glances back to me again, he suddenly realizes how big he's smiling, and he quickly wipes it away, drowning in a scarlet blush.

Walker's POV

"Grrrrr!" Austen growls and cheers, "Go! Go! Go!"

She lets go of Jonah's hands to clap, and Jonah holds her waist to make sure she doesn't fall this time. I know Jonah likes...I don't even know what category this would fall under—maybe weird things that are also mildly nice for one person—but I wasn't on board with our daughter being shoved into a bear costume and forced to cheer. I'm still not on board, but Jonah glances back at me with a smile.

"See," he says. "She likes it."

"Austen," I say, getting my girl's attention, "do you like being in a stinky bear costume?"

Austen struggles to find the necessary words, so she scrunches her eyebrows in focus as she stutters, "I like—I like—I like—grrrrr!"

She looks up at Jonah with an open smile. I guess that's my answer. With a sigh, I get up from the bench and kneel down beside her.

"Alright," I say. "Let's cheer."

Jonah smiles as he begins, "Go grizzlies!"

Austen giggles in a ear-blasting squeal then looks up at Jonah and starts shouting, "Poppy! Poppy! Poppy! Grrrr!"

She laughs again resulting in her wobbling, but I push her back upright when she starts to tip. After her scare, she freezes for a moment, but then she looks at the basketball players again and continues her growling, which makes some of the moms in the bleachers nearby awww.