~ Chapter Sixteen ~

"I watch the ball fall to my glove,

I feel a pressure make it stay.

And I could swear that cloud at once,

turned and bowed and flew away.

I've heard that guardian angels

Watch over children every day.

But I know mine did more than watch -

He helped me start a double play."

"Read another one."  Becky prompted eagerly.

"No."  Kevin shut the book and set it back on the dresser.  "That's four tonight.  Your light should have been off seventeen minutes ago."

"That is my favorite poem."  Becky said solemnly, hugging Gertrude tighter to her chest. 

"Yep, I know."  Kevin knew all too well.  He'd been reading ‘The Little League Angel' for almost a year now.  Becky had it memorized, and so did Kevin for that matter, but Becky still insisted on it being read every single night before she went to sleep. 

Becky had two obsessions in her life.  Angels and shoes, and not always in that order.  She carefully planned what pair of her shoes she would wear to what events, and had been playing dressup with Karen's shoes since she could walk.  As for the angels, there was Gertrude, who Becky insisted was really an angel, you just couldn't see her wings, Becky's book of angel poems, and numerous other little items around her room.  She had little angel Christmas ornaments lined up neatly on her dresser, there were angel pictures hanging on her wall - most of them about three feet off the ground, since Becky had hung them herself. - and a pair of paper wings with silver glitter hung from her ceiling, left over from a Christmas play two years before.

"Now, for once in your life, go to sleep when you're supposed to."  Kevin flicked the light off.  Becky's nightlight was even an angel - it had a small stained glass angel attached to the front of it.  "Don't let the bedbugs bite."

"Daddy, bedbugs only exist in third world countries."  Becky said from the semi-darkness.

"No, there's strong evidence they survive in Brian's apartment."  Kevin corrected wryly.

Becky giggled.

"Goodnight."  Kevin closed the door three quarters of the way, as per Becky's wishes.

"Goodnight, Daddy!"  Becky called through the semi-closed door.  "I love you!"

"I love you too!"  Kevin called back.  "Now go to bed!"

"I'm going to bed now, Daddy!"  Becky announced.  "At least I'm going to try!"

Kevin shook his head and started back downstairs.  Becky needed very little sleep.  She was always up by six in the morning, even on weekends, and she was easily capable of staying up until ten every night.  Kevin suspected she had the same gene as Brian.  Brian slept an average of four hours a day.  He'd go to bed at two, and decide to get up and appear at Kevin's house at seven in the morning.  Brian had no concept of time.  Six in the morning was the same to him as three in the afternoon.  Kevin, on the other hand, had a very good grasp on time.  He wasn't to be disturbed before nine in the morning.  Brian and Becky faithfully ignored this rule.

Elvis Presley was playing loudly on the stereo in the living room.  That meant Karen was vacuuming.  When she bothered to clean the house, instances which were few and far between, she listened to Elvis.  She listened to Elvis the rest of the time too.  Kevin couldn't quite understand how someone could like his music that much, but he tolerated it fairly well. There could be worse musical numbers rattling the pictures on the walls.

Kevin stopped in the entryway to the living room, leaned against the edge of the doorway and watched her for a minute.  If one was going to be completely honest, there was a lot more dancing going on than there was vacuuming.  Karen's hips were a lot more fun to watch than Elvis' had ever been. 

Karen spun around and managed to dodge the vacuum cord at the same time, and upon seeing Kevin, gave him a big smile.  Kevin shook his head in amusement.  She was so enthusiastic about everything.  That was what had attracted him to her in the first place.  It was also the same reason other people couldn't stand her.  As a general rule, Karen had love/hate relationships with people.  You either liked her or you didn't.  There was no middle ground.

"Let's just turn that down."  Kevin crossed the room to the CD player and dropped the volume level so it didn't sound like a World Series crowd.  Not that Kevin would know what that would sound like, he'd never been to a World Series. 

"I couldn't hear it over the vacuum."  Karen explained logically, shoving her hair back into the knot on the back of her head.  "I think it looks pretty good in here." Karen was quite proud of her housekeeping skills while Kevin was on the road.  Kevin just kept his mouth shut, and cleaned things correctly when he got home.  He was already taking mental notes of the spots Karen had missed with the vacuum.

"Stop that."  Karen scolded.  "Who cares if the corners got missed?"  She stood up on her toes and wrapped both her arms around Kevin's neck.  "You're only here for six days."  The Mariners were starting their shortest homestand of the season tomorrow night.  Three quick two game series, and then they were back on the road again. 

The CD player switched tracks, and "Can't Help Falling In Love" started playing.  That  song had always been one of the few Elvis songs Kevin could tolerate.  More than likely, it had something to do with the fact it had been playing right before Kevin proposed to Karen, almost eight years ago. 

Kevin pulled Karen up against him and leaned down, pressing his lips against hers, all thoughts of the homestand length gone from his head. 

"I love you."  Karen pulled back and smiled, leaning against Kevin's interlocked fingers. 

"Even if I vacuum the corners?"  Kevin smirked, kissing the top of her head.  Karen's shampoo was raspberry scented.  On anything else it would have been sickeningly sweet, but Kevin was used to her smelling that way, actually he would have missed it if it hadn't been there.  The same could be said for Elvis, but Kevin wasn't about to admit that one.

"Someone has to do the corners."  Karen ran her fingers through Kevin's hair and pulled his head back down, kissing him more enthusiastically this time.  Kevin's hands were sliding underneath Karen's green t-shirt when they were interrupted.

"I see you two down there!"  Becky hollered at the top her lungs.  "Cut out the mushy stuff, you two!"  Becky was perched at the top of the stairs, kneeling on the floor so she could see in the living room.