~ Chapter Twenty ~

"See you tomorrow, Becky!"  The bus driver called as Becky jumped down onto the sidewalk, her  Powerpuff Girls backpack banging against her back.  Brian's tired looking blue car was parked in the driveway - crookedly.  Becky's daddy was going to have a fit about that when he came home. 

"Goodbye!"  Becky called back to the bus driver, before bolting for the front door.  Brian was over, and he was bound to have something fun to do.  He always did.

"Becky!"  Brian said happily, opening the door.  "Whoooa!"  He added.  "Look at those shoes!  Those are cool, man!"

Becky bent over and stared down at the shiny red boots on her feet.  "I think they are too."  Right now, her shiny red boots were her favorite shoes.  They made her feet happy.  "Where are Mommy and Daddy?"

"Your mother is doing her story thing at the hospital."  Brian started ticking items off on his fingers.  Twice a month, Karen volunteered at Children's Hospital, reading several stories, complete with different voices for each character.  Entertaining had always been something Karen was good at.

"And your dad... I think he had a meeting with the front office, which means he'll be in a real bad mood tonight."  Brian finished, disappearing back into the kitchen.  Becky stared at his shoes.  Brian didn't have cool shoes.  Brian had a pair of sneakers that must have been at least as old as Becky.  They looked like a dog had been chewing on them. 

"Do you want a Pop-Tart?"  Brian yelled as Becky carefully hung her blue jacket on her special peg in the coat closet.

"Yes, please!"  Becky called back, taking her backpack in to the kitchen table.  Becky always did her homework first thing when she got home.  That way it wasn't hanging over her head for the rest of the evening.  That was another strategy her father had taught her. 

Brian was standing at the kitchen counter, staring down into the toaster.  "Have you ever seen toaster crumbs ignite?"  He wondered.

Becky giggled.  Brian could be pretty weird sometimes.  While her father didn't always appreciate Brian's' sense of humor, Becky did.  She also appreciated the fact that Brian always noticed her shoes. 

"You're doing your homework?"  Brian said in disbelief, this sight distracting him from the toaster crumbs.

"Yes."  Becky said importantly.  She had a math worksheet to fill out.  First grade was a lot more work than kindergarten had been.  Becky couldn't even begin to imagine the workload she would have in second grade.  She would probably spend an entire hour and a half on homework.  Becky couldn't even begin to imagine such a thing. 

"Y'all get a kangaroo on your homework?"  Brian peered over Becky's shoulder at the sheet of white paper.  "I never got animals on my homework."  He sounded disappointed. 

Becky shrugged and started work.  They put animals on the homework to make it more kid friendly.  Becky wasn't a stupid child. She knew that.  "Brian?"

"Yes!"  Brian yelped, burning his hand on the Pop-Tarts as he took them from the toaster.

"I thought we were going to go to the zoo sometime."  Becky figured a gentle reminder couldn't hurt.  Last winter, when Becky's class had gone on a field trip to Woodland Park Zoo, Becky had come down with a cold.  Brian had the flu at the same time, and he informed Becky that since they had both been sick, they'd just have to go another time.  Becky wasn't sure how Brian arrived at that conclusion, since it was her field trip and not his, but if he said he was taking her to the zoo, she wasn't going to argue.

"I never said that."  Brian denied around the Pop-Tart in his mouth.  He dropped the other one on the table next to Becky's worksheet. 

"You did too."  Becky reprimanded, staring at Brian expectantly.

"Are you sure?"  Brian questioned, before smiling widely around his mouthful of Pop-Tart.  "I'm kidding... we'll go to the zoo, okay?  I just don't know when.  In case y'all haven't noticed, I kind of got a schedule to keep right now."

"I know."  Becky said solemnly. 

"We'll get there sometime."  Brian rocked his chair back onto two legs.  "Promise."

"Daddy doesn't like it when you do that."  Becky reminded Brian.  "It leaves marks on the floor."  Her daddy complained about Brian a lot, but Becky was still pretty sure that he liked Brian.  He just liked complaining too.

"If your dad has nothin' better to do with his time than look for marks on the floor..."  Brian muttered, leaving his chair exactly as it was.

Becky concentrated on finishing the first row of math problems.  That was when she remembered.  She had something she wanted to talk to Brian about.  "Brian... I was thinking about angels."

"Uh-huh."  Not only did Brian always notice Becky's shoes, he was more than willing to discuss angels with her any time she wanted.  For someone over the age of twenty, Brian was pretty cool.

"So, angels are here on earth to help us, only we don't know it."  Becky started explaining her latest idea. 

"That's one theory."  Brian affirmed, standing up and unwrapping the foil from another two Pop-Tarts. 

"Okay... I was thinking about that today."  Becky set down her favorite blue sparkly pencil so she could concentrate.  "And I'm not sure if that's entirely correct."

"Now you're rewriting the entire guardian angel doctrine?"  Brian raised one eyebrow. 

Becky shook her blond head firmly.  "No.  I still think that, but I also think that maybe we're supposed to help the angels too."

Brian chewed his cold Pop-Tart slowly, thinking.  "How do you mean?"

"Angels have problems too."  Becky insisted.  Angels had to have problems - if they were perfect, then they would have been God.  Even Becky could see that.

Brian dropped into the chair next to Becky, propping his elbows on the table and staring intently at her.  Brian had very bright blue eyes.  "You're a pretty amazing little kid.  Where do y'all come up with these ideas?"

Becky shrugged.  "I thought of this one on the school bus."  Ideas came to her in strange places. 

"Keep going."  Brian waved his hand in circles.  "I want to hear more of this."

~*~

"Here's the pitch to Richardson, and it's out of play behind home plate, 2-1."  Niehaus announced.  "The M's are looking for an insurance run here.  AJ McLean left the team two days ago on personal business, and the bullpen faltered the last couple nights.  Here's the pitch... Kevin lines that into shallow left field, that's a base hit, which brings up his cousin, second baseman, Brian Littrell, with one out and one on.   In all probability, Littrell will be sacrificing here."  Niehaus paused for a moment.  "Buddy Williams is sending Carlos Ramos in to pinch run for Richardson."

"Brad Arton is up in the Mariners bullpen."  Charlie Chasez added.  "It looks like he'll be going for the save in the bottom of the ninth."