Empty Nest: Chapter 112

“Eyyyy! There he is! El Diablo himself!”

“Hey Coop.”

The lanky blond and I clap hands then come together for a chest bump. With the arrival of me and my throng all attention swings our way. The guys warming up stop to come greet me as do the other friends and onlookers. Right away we are getting looks, and understandably so. Here I was, the new guy, rolling up with almost half a dozen hot babes surrounding me only one of which, that being Julie, looked like they actually belonged among this lot. Among them only Cooper didn’t seem the least bit phased by our arrival. I got the impression that nothing much phased the man.

“Ohhh, damn! The legend herself. Big Mama!” He claps his hands then offers one to Heather. “I can’t believe we’re finally getting to meet ya!”

“Cooper!” His girlfriend chastises him.

“Big Mama?” Heather says as she politely takes Cooper’s hand for a ladylike handshake even though he was going for a bro shake. From out of nowhere the strangest little pang pierces my heart. Was that…jealousy? From a simple handshake?

“Coop has nicknames for everybody.” I explain, keeping my cool.

“Oh.” Heather smiles. “And mine is Big Mama?”

“I’m so sorry for my idiota boyfriend.” Cecilia says.

“That’s okay.” Heather says brightly. “I don’t mind.” She looks at her family. “I have a nickname!”

“Hello again, Elliot.”

“Hey Cee-Cee.”

I go to step forward to initiate a friendly hug when I am shouldered off target by Julie. What at first I thought was an accidental coming together I soon realize was done for a purpose as Lily steps across from my other side to subtly but effectively block me off from easily making contact with the buxom Brazilian. My suspicions are confirmed when Heather takes me by the shoulders to pull me back into her for a from behind hug. I’m not sure how conscious they even were of what they were doing but Heather and her clan had just instinctively shielded me from another woman. It was then I recalled Heather warning me about how protective women like her were of the men they had claimed.

Completing my protective bubble Rebecca steps forward to take Cee-Cee’s hand in my stead. She then shocks everybody, Cecilia most of all, by greeting her in what to my ear was flawless Portuguese! The woman’s face lights up at hearing her native tongue and the pair of them begin conversing. They’d only gotten through some introductions when Rebecca says with a wave of her hand in Mia’s direction. “Minha amada filha, Mia.”

Looking as bashful as ever Mia steps forward and nods before replying in what sounded like a more rudimentary though serviceable Portuguese of her own.

“Hey! You must be that fiddler we hear from time to time.” Says one of the other girls pointing at Mia’s violin case. “Comin from Big Mama’s house?”

“Oh!” Mia peeps, her brown cheeks darkening a shade. “Um…yes. Th-That’s me.”

“Oh shit!” Another says as smiles break out among the group. “You’re incredible. Sometimes we stop and wander over just to listen.”

“Oh! Uh!” Mia looks around at all the strange people. For a moment she seemed panicked but with me and her family behind her she finds the courage to say. “Um…thank you.”

Looking as proud as I’d ever seen her Rebecca loosens up enough for a smile of her own as she lightly strokes her daughter’s back. She was a harsh mother and a demanding one but nobody could deny the pure love in her eyes.

After giving me a squeeze and kiss to the neck Heather breaks from me to take charge of the introductions. “I’m Heather, aka Big Mama.” She giggles as do a few of the others.

“Coop tells us that you and El are…” One of the players says, I believed his name was Dave.

“A thing?” Heather says with a smile. “Oh, we’re much more than that.” She looks at me. “Elliot and I have become quite close.”

There are a smattering of mutters and sighs, most of them of envy.

“This is my sister, Rebecca. Her daughter, Mia. And this is my cousin, Julie.”

“Yo!” Julie winks. “How’s it hangin, boys?”

“And, of course, my own darling daughter Lily.” Heather says.

“Hey.” Lily waves. “Nice to meet y’all.”

“My Lily and Elliot were in school together.”

There are more looks and whispers among them, this time of a more judgmental sort. Though Lily and I squirm Heather faces them without a hint of shame. With her as my example I step up beside my woman I take her arm in mine with pride. “We weren’t together then, ya creeps.”

“Ha!” Coop claps. “Too bad. That woulda been HOT!” He would have said more but for the glare from Cee-Cee. “What?”

Introductions are then made in the other direction, a good number of them were new to me as well. The times I’d seen this group before had been informal but as this was a full practice the whole group had turned up. Altogether there was a dozen players with roughly that many onlookers.

“Well.” Says Jenny, who seemed to be something of a group leader. “The more the merrier I suppose.” It wasn’t hard to see that everybody thought Heather’s family being here was weird, especially Heather and Rebecca being so much older than the rest of us, but thankfully nobody says anything rude.

“You ready, Diablo?” Dave snaps a frisbee my way.

I throw my hands up to catch it only to have it plucked out the air a foot before it reaches me. With a full 360 spin Julie launches it back his way…and sends it soaring thirty feet over everybody’s head. As one we all watch the disc sail over the lawn, through a gap in the trees, and then disappear out of sight into the street beyond.

“Shit!” Julie cries. “I got it!” As Rebecca face palms Julie is already running across the field. “I got it! Sorry!”

The guys all look at each other and then at me, the new guy. I was certainly making an impression.

“Uh boy.” I mutter.

“That’s our Julie.” Heather turns me to face her to give me a quick once over. She doesn’t fuss over me like she did when we were in private though she does run her hands across my shoulders to smooth the fabric. “Have fun playing with the boys.”

“I’ll try.”

With a pinch of my chin she whispers. “I’ll be watching.”

I smile. “I know.”

We kiss then head our separate directions, her to sit with the gals and me to practice. I can see more strange looks from the other players as I jog up to them. If I thought my group making a scene was over I was quickly disavowed of that as behind me I hear Heather. “We brought snacks and drinks for everyone! Lily, Mia, help me lay out the blanket.”

At the same time Rebecca had been drawn to Jenny. “Is it safe to assume you run this disk-ball team of yours?"

“Uh, Jordan is the team captain.”

“Pff. I don’t mean for their little games, dearie. I mean who has the real power.” Rebecca scoffs. “Do not tell me you leave anything of actual importance to the men!”

“HA!” Jenny guffaws. “If you mean who organizes this circus then yeah that’s pretty much me. Jordan’s my boyfriend.”

“Very good. Then you and I must talk.” Taking Jenny’s arm Rebecca angles her parasol to shade them both as she leads her to the better shade of a nearby tree.

Once out of earshot of our ‘fans’ I start getting grilled, just as I’d expected.

“Dude.” Dave slaps my shoulder as we all trot to the center of the lawn.

“What?”

“What?” He laughs. “What’s with dragging along the whole famn damily?”

“They wanted to come.” I answer truthfully. “They…um…they’re very supportive.”

“I’ll say!” Dave nods back the way we came as we come to a stop. “Look at’em.”

Back among the onlookers Heather, with Lily and Mia’s help, was already handing out drinks and laying out a veritable buffet of healthy snacks. They seemed to be getting along wonderfully with the group, though I do note that my ladies are sitting upwind from the other women. If Dave was trying to embarrass me it wasn’t going to work. It all looked so wholesome and so right. As a guy who’d lost his family seeing all my girls out here to cheer on their guy made me feel really, really fucking good. It was another reminder that I wasn’t alone and I never would be again.

“Sooo…Heather, huh?”

I look back at him square in the eyes. I would take some teasing but not about this. “Yep. Heather.”

“You like older women?”

“Yeah.” I say. “I like older women. In fact I love’em.”

He smirks and gives me a nod. “Respect.” His eyes flit their way again. “Sooo…the rest of them?” This too I’d been expecting. A bunch of young horny guys, a bunch of unaccompanied hotties, the topic had to be broached eventually. As others fall quiet, interested in my answer, he asks the real question on all of their minds. “Any of them single?”

“Complicated.” I reply.

“Oh yeah?” Dave grins. “I like complicated. That Lily…mmmmm.”

“You're not her type.” I grumble.

“She can’t know until she tries. Heh!”

“Lily’s fine but that Mia?” Says another. “Oh my GAHD! I’ve just seen an angel!”

“Nah man, too skittish. Julie. That chick is FIRE.” Says yet another. “That’s a bitch that can bang. You can just tell.”

“Rebecca could step on me any day!” At that everybody stops and turns.

“Lamar! Ha ha ha!” Dave gives Lamar a shake. “Bro!”

“Just sayin.” Lamar says with a coy grin as the others jibe and tease him.

I grind my teeth at their antics. I try to keep things in perspective. I remember having similar conversations with my old friends back in the day. But that was then, this was now, and these weren’t just any random ladies they were talking about.

“Lay off my man’s fam, huh.” Coop claps my back. “And for the record, Diablo’s snagged the pick of the litter. I’d sell my everlastin soul to have my pelvis crushed by Big sexy Ma…”

With wide panicked eyes I look over his shoulder. “Cee-Cee!”

“AHHH!” He startles and spins around only to see his girlfriend was still with the rest over fifty yard away. Grabbing his chest he looks at me. “Duuude! That’s not funny!”

This gets a big laugh from the group. Jordan, looking like a black Adonis, steps into the circle we’d formed and takes charge. “Enough of the shit. We’re here to practice not chase pussy.” He singles out Dave with a hard stare. “Understand?”

“Yeah, Cap.” Dave nods. “I’m cool.”

“And stay cool.” He then turns his dark glare to me. “Alright, rookie…”

“El Diablo, mi Capitan.” Coop corrects.

“He’ll have to earn that.” Jordan says. “He’s not a part of the team yet.” He looks down at me and sizes me up. “Alright, rookie, they told me you can throw. But can ya play?”

Chapter 113