Maybe Matt's Miracle(35)

“I’ll get her,” I say. I stand up and tromp down the steps. Joey looks sheepishly up at me. She knows she wasn’t supposed to sneak off.

I scoop her up in my arms and carry her back up to Sky. She stretches out, and I blow a raspberry into her shirt-covered belly. She giggles and sticks her belly out like she wants me to do it again, so I do. She laughs, and the sound is so damn happy it takes my breath away.

I sit down and tuck her into my lap, then pull out my phone and turn on some Angry Birds. I show her how to play it really quickly, and she starts launching birds. She moves off my lap to sit beside me, and Mellie comes to lean against her and watch. That should last them for a while.

“Why does this seem so natural to you?” Sky asks quietly.

“What?” I ask. I flinch as one of the boys on the mat makes a terrible move. “Not like that,” I say to him, even though I know he can’t hear me.

“All of it,” she says. “You do it all so well.”

I look at her. “Do what?”

“You entertained Mellie and Joey, and you’re watching the match, and I’d wager you’re going to educate Seth and tell him everything he does wrong when we get home.”

Home? I grin. “Am I going home with you tonight?” I ask right beside her ear.

“You better,” she says.

My heart stutters. “Okay,” I breathe.

After a few minutes, Logan turns to talk to me. He talks and signs at the same time, and so do I. “Her dad,” he says, pointing toward the door. I scoot over to separate us a couple of inches.

“Thanks for the warning,” I say, and I clap my hand on his shoulder and squeeze.

You’re welcome, he signs. He grins and shakes his head. Pete pulls on his imaginary string. I want to punch him.

My brothers are all into the smaller weight matches, and they’re making bets on the heavyweights among themselves. Seth is about 160, if I have to guess. He’s tall and lean, a lot like me, although I weight over 200 pounds now. Paul and Logan are big and bulky, so they wrestled in the heavier classes. I was the same weight Seth his now.

Sky’s dad sits down beside us, and I reach over to shake hands with him. He glares at me. But then Mellie and Joey show him my phone, and he gets interested in entertaining them. Sky leans against my shoulder, watching the matches. She hides her face when one of the boys gets slammed on the mat.

“That’s not going to happen to Seth, is it?” she whispers vehemently.

I shrug. “Maybe.” I grin at her and tweak her nose. “Don’t worry. He’s used to it.”

“He’s not going to get hurt, is he?” she asks.

I take her hand in mine and give it a squeeze. “Quit worrying. He’s going to be fine.”

When it’s Seth’s turn, she pulls her hand out of mine and sits forward. She watches him closely, only looking toward Mellie and Joey every few seconds to make sure they’re okay. Maybe she’s going to settle into this mom thing better than she ever thought possible.

Seth shakes hands with his opponent, and the buzzer sounds. I wince because the other kid is obviously older and more experienced than Seth. His opponent has a tattoo on his neck, which means he has at least a couple of years on Seth. Seth’s good, but exuberance doesn’t trump experience.

Seth gets flipped over, and Sky squeals and hides her face behind my shoulder. She looks up but turns back to me every few seconds when something happens. Seth is up in points, but this kid could honestly pin him any second, unless Seth gets lucky. I think the kid is playing with him, honestly.

“Come on, Seth,” Mr. Morgan calls out. Seth looks up and grins.

They grapple for a second, and damn if Seth doesn’t get lucky. He gets some back points, and the clock is ticking down.

Seth holds him off and wins on points. Sky jumps to her feet and claps when they raise Seth’s arm in the air. He grins and goes to shake hands with the opposing coach. Then he stops at the edge of the mat, lifts one hand toward the sky, and says something quietly to himself. Or to his mom. I’m not sure which. Then he finds a spot on his team’s bench and dries off with a towel. I’m really proud of him. Not like I had anything to do with it, but that kid could have easily won if Seth didn’t have the technical skill he has. He did a really good job.

Sky grins. “I think I like wrestling,” she says.

“Tell that to the fingernail marks in my arm,” I tease.

She drops her voice down to a purr. “I’ll kiss it and make it better later.”

Friday must have heard her because she snorts behind us. Sky laughs and winks at me. She even fits in with my family. And I fit into hers.

We wait until the end of the match to collect Seth. Her dad comes over and kisses her forehead. She startles for a second, and I wonder what that’s all about.

“He did really well,” he says.

Sky nods. “He did.”

“I have to check on your mother,” he says.

Sky’s eyes narrow. “Why? Is something wrong?”

He avoids her gaze. “Nothing outside the norm,” he says.

“Oh,” Sky breathes. She doesn’t look shocked, and I have no idea what they’re talking about. He waves and goes to hug Seth, and then he leaves as quickly as he arrived. Sky stands there holding Joey with one hand and Mellie with the other. The girls are getting tired and whiny.