#ydg teammates fic

[youngerdrgrey]

anything Blip can do, Mike can do (teammates) // a pitch fic, part five

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or, how Ginny and Mike find a loophole to slow-burn their way into a different sort of teammates [also on ao3, read part one, two, three, or four]

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part five

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From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 11:27pm // So I heard this story once about a little mouse that couldn't fall asleep unless it said goodnight to everything around it. I guess now the story's got the mouse saying goodnight to iPads and shit but the thought still counts

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From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, [DRAFT] // Seriously? That's what you've got to say? It's been

// Pretending to be casual doesn't make it any better. You disappeared and

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From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 11:31pm // Are you the mouse now?

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// Honestly it's been a hell of lot longer since I've talked to you than I would've liked but

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From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 11:35pm // It'd be weird to just send the mouse emoji right? 🐭 // Anyways you mentioned bedtime stories once so I figured I'd tell you one

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 11:37pm // No offense cap but you kinda suck at stories 

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 11:38pm // I could tell stories that make your head spin

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From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, [DRAFT] // Do it

// What kind of stories?

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From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 11:40pm // Yeah right

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 11:41pm // That a challenge, Baker?

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 11:42pm // Isn't it always?

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From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, [DRAFT] // Unless you don't want to take it

// I've got like three chicken emojis so don't test me

// Okay so a story isn't happening or...?

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From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 11:47pm // You want a fairytale or what?

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 11:48pm // It took you five minutes to type that?

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 11:49pm // Answer the question

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 11:49pm // Fairytale // Complete with a princess who kicks the asses of everyone who tries to doubt her

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 11:51pm // So, you?

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 11:52pm // Glad to see you think I'm an ass kicker

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 11:53pm // Only cause I've got the bruises to prove it // So, a long time ago, there was this kingdom by the beach. Tons of people lived there and came from all over the world to see the knights that worked there. Let's call them the Fathers of the Kingdom

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 11:56pm // You paused there just so I'd say Padres didn't you?

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 11:56pm // Fathers*

// Now the Fathers had a lot of work to do to defend their kingdoms so that nobody took away their gold. And one knight was in charge of making sure that the whole knight team worked together

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 11:58pm // Was his name Mike?

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 11:59pm // You keep interrupting me

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:00am // You keep pausing 

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:02am // Because I'm thinking // Great stories take time

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:03am // I'm gonna fall asleep waiting on this

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:05am // That's kind of the point of a bedtime story Baker. They put you to sleep

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:06am // Booo // Make it exciting

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:10am // So one day, the knight in charge of everything saw someone sneaking in to the kingdom and going right for the gold. The knight couldn't let that happen so in the knight dove to stop them. But the dive was risky and the knight fell so hard that the armor shattered around the floor // The whole kingdom seemed to shatter then // Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. And the only one still moving was that thief who'd gone for the gold // The thief got it but all anybody worried about was the knight // You see the knight wasn't just a super important part of the guard or the leader or anything. The knight was also the princess of the kingdom and the only one who could helm the land // And everyone got really sad without the knight around

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:20am // Then what?

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:20am // I thought you fell asleep

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:21am // Not yet  // So what happened? In the kingdom with the knight?

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:24am // Rumor has it that the knight spent months rebuilding her armor. It took all the other knights to help her, and even still it needed a lot of time and a lot of work before she could protect anyone

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:25am // But you believe Aang could save the world

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:25am // Who's Aang?

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:26am // Sorry, bad joke // Continue

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:28am // Don't know who Aang is but the knight could do some pretty great things if she just gives the armor time to strengthen up again . Then she can kick all the asses and save all the kingdoms she wants

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:30am // Pretty decent story // I'd give it three stars

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:31am // Theee stars???

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:33am // Setting isn't really there. No dialogue. No pictures. What's a bedtime story without pictures?

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:34am // You want pictures? I can send you pictures

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From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, [DRAFT] // Of what?

// No thanks

// ????

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From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, [DRAFT] // zzzz

// So sleepy

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From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:45am // Okay, that was weird

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:46am // Sorry // Couldn't think of what to say to that // I can't draw for shit, Gin

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:47am // Gin

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:48am // too tired to type your whole name // I'll reestablish distance tomorrow

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:50am // it's nice // Gin // you can use it if you want // works for teammates too

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:52am // Night, Gin

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:53am // Night knight 

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[more might come]

[youngerdrgrey]

anything Blip can do, Mike can do (teammates) // a pitch fic, part four

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or, how Ginny and Mike find a loophole to slow-burn their way into a different sort of teammates [also on ao3, read part one, two, or three] -- (written for day 6 of 30 x 31, prompt: decades)

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part four

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Ginny tends to check out a bit during dinner. It's not a comment on the meal or anything; she just gets lost sometimes in how stuff makes her feel. Like, being able to sit down with her best friends and eat something home cooked after days of being trapped in the hospital? That's... that's like the rush inside once everyone stopped saying what she was pitching, once everyone scooted forward in their seats and the guys wouldn't sit next to her, and it started to feel real. Like, something amazing's right here, almost out of reach, but everyone can see it coming. Everyone can feel it.

So, maybe she checks out a bit and tries to put it into other words. She sips at her third and final beer and lets her eyes follow Gabe and Marcus as they dart off upstairs. Lets herself tune out of the conversation around her and starts to prep how she'll explain this to her therapist. What it's like to be a part of something bigger than herself that doesn't feel ridiculously overwhelming.

"I'm just saying, Evie, back me up. Black people don't do that." Blip laughs when he says it, and Ginny breaks out of her head long enough to turn back towards him for this one. Her eyebrows pitch up a little higher. He grins her way. "See, Ginny gets it. If anything, I'm going to the future.”

Ginny sips at her beer again. "Going to the future for what?"

Evelyn rolls her eyes, which isn't a drinking rule but it might happen enough to become one. "Pay attention, Ginny. Time travel. You can go to any decade. I was thinking the sixties, nothing too bad, and I get to see some really amazing people in their primes."

Blip nods. "Right, right, civil rights and the moon landing."

Evelyn stays focused on Ginny. "I want to see some of the work that went into changing this country, first hand. And maybe hear some stories from family members who won't tell them to me now."

Ginny gets that. "Experiencing history rather than just hoping someone will share it with you."

"Exactly! But Blip's over here saying that black people don't time travel." Evelyn sips her drink. "As if we don't want to experience good parts of our history."

Blip shakes his head. "I'm just not trying to get beat up, killed, imprisoned, or anything else. I just want to play ball and come home to you and the boys."

"Suck up." But she has that pink to her cheeks that only a lot of alcohol, or a good line, can do to a girl. "Ginny, what do you do?"

"Me?" Ginny glances around for help, but Blip and Mike don't seem to have any answers for her. Actually, Mike's been pretty quiet while he drinks for now. What's up with him? "What about him?" She points to Mike, who quirks a brow at her. "What'd you choose, Lawson?"

He tips his beer away from him. "Haven't picked yet. We're doing everything else before beauty." Then, to Evelyn, he adds, "No offense."

"None taken." She knows she's cute. Everyone's cute here. It's an epidemic, honestly.

Cute and petty and wholly unhelpful when Ginny needs to make a hypothetical decision on time travel. Because, yeah, bad things could happen in another time period, but also great things did happen and she could witness them. But there's also the fact that this decade has been really good to her. She's playing for the Padres, has great friends, and she's kind of living the dream that she and her dad set out for.

"Fine, I choose now."

Blip snorts. "See, no time travel."

Mike shakes his head though. "That doesn't prove anything. It's an easy choice for her. She's only lived through two decades."

Again with this? She corrects him, "Three. I'm--"

"Twenty-four, I know." He drinks.

She rolls her eyes. "You sound so bitter."

"I'm always bitter," he says. But not always, not with her. Maybe Ginny's eyes say that because his eyes crinkle in the edges the longer they hold this new stare, and her chest gets all warm even if it's covered by her shirt and her sling, and when she does look away from Mike, it's straight into Evelyn's beaming face.

Ginny gulps down her emotion with the last of her drink. "Whatever." Maybe she should've followed the boys upstairs instead of sticking around for grown folk talks. She could kick their asses in Mario Kart instead of debating the strengths of different decades. "It's not like it matters anyway. But, now is a good time. Now, we have a lot of opportunities and more happening every day as people fight for their rights and a chance to live their dreams. A woman is playing in the Majors."

Evelyn hums. "A black woman."

Ginny nods. "Exactly. So our biggest limitations are the ones we put on ourselves."

Mike sighs. It's not even a big one, but the empty bottle magnifies it. Draws them all over to his face as it freezes. He clears his throat a bit at their stares. "Just, yeah, you know. Our own expectations tend to hold us back. Sometimes they help, and other times..."

He meets her eyes again, and there are a few limitations that she's set for them, aren't there? The insistence that they're teammates, but that they have to be the same type of teammates that she and Blip are rather than the sort of partners that she and Mike were beginning to be. That's something holding them back. But it has a purpose. It keeps her safe, keeps her career grounded and her heart firmly in her chest instead of flying at him like a curveball. He might be a great catcher, but even the greats mess up sometimes.

Then Mike blinks, and his gaze goes to Evelyn and Blip rather than just Ginny. He says, "Now's pretty good, but maybe the future wouldn't be a bad place to be either. Got a lot of hopes for it. Big dreams."

"I want another house." Evelyn smiles down into her glass. "Not just because of the space, but one that has something for everyone. An extra guest room would be nice too. Since Ginny never seems to want her own place, and it wouldn't be the worst to have another girl around."

That comment does something to Blip. Sends him somewhere in his mind that brings out a gruffness. He pushes up from his seat with his empty bottle. "I'm getting a refill." His shoulders stay tense on his march to the fridge, and Evelyn's eyes go skyward before she blinks her own emotion away.

Ginny gives her a look -- a raised brow and a head tilt to ask what's wrong. Ev shakes her head. Not the time then. Ginny glances to her phone, flipped over on the table as per house rules. Ev shakes her head again. No texting about it either. Fine. She could wait.

Mike must pick up on something since he offers his own dreams out to the table. "I really want that ring. With the right team. Our team."

Blip shuts the fridge. "Not the Cubs?"

Mike stares over. He probably has some smart response stored, but he just sighs and says, "I didn't put in sixteen years here for nothing. After I get that ring, they'll be begging me to be mayor. Couldn't deny the fans that."

Blip mulls it over, then reaches back into the fridge to grab another beer. He holds it out to Mike once he has it, and Mike nods. It's not much, but it's something. Blip pops the lids and brings both drinks back to the table.

"Yeah, what would they do without you, man?"

A week ago, that was the question, wasn't it? What would they do without Mike? Now that's the one they've got to wonder about with Ginny. What'll they do if she can't play the way she used to? What will she do? All she's ever known is this game. All of her friends come from this game. So if she can't play, what does she have to look forward to in the future?

She can watch her friends get championship rings. She can run around with Gabe and Marcus hanging off of her arms. She can drink with Evelyn over whatever little problem of the week has popped up in an otherwise perfect marriage. But what will she do?

Mike sips from his new drink. "Eh, they'd figure it out."

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From Ginny Baker to Evelyn Sanders, 11:23pm // Back. Mom's hovering but we're in, safe and sound

From Evelyn Sanders to Ginny Baker, 11:24pm // Glad to hear it. Sleep tight xx

From Ginny Baker to Evelyn Sanders, 11:25pm // hey, what was that tonight? with Blip?

From Evelyn Sanders to Ginny Baker, 11:26pm // ???? // + surprised you noticed anything with your little drinking game

From Ginny Baker to Evelyn Sanders, 11:28pm // You saw that? // of course you saw it // I thought it'd help keep him calm

From Evelyn Sanders to Ginny Baker, 11:30pm // It calmed him down alright // They actually talked, Ginny. Finally. // I mean it's no kiss and make up moment but it's something, right? no more constant awkwardness?

From Ginny Baker to Evelyn Sanders, 11:32pm // Nope, we fixed it // yeswecan.gif

From Evelyn Sanders to Ginny Baker, 11:33pm // What thing with Blip?

From Ginny Baker to Evelyn Sanders, 11:34pm // Oh. He got weird when you mentioned having another girl around // Everything okay?

From Evelyn Sanders to Ginny Baker, 11:37pm // You know Blip, he wants us to do what he wants us to do and anything outside of that is just... totally unheard of. He wants his perfect wife and his perfect sons and a perfect third kid, and I just want this. I want more than just this. I want my restaurant. I want a future of my own that's not just a house to decorate or a mini-me to go to the spa with. I can go to the spa with you

From Ginny Baker to Evelyn Sanders, 11:39pm // whoa. And you told him that?

From Evelyn Sanders to Ginny Baker, 11:42pm // Along with telling him that I need the same level of support I've been giving him since we met. We're not at Lawson level freeze outs, but he's not happy with it. dk when he will be. dk if he can be. // but at least we fixed him and Mike. they can bitch about me together

From Ginny Baker to Evelyn Sanders, 11:43pm // I should've stayed

From Evelyn Sanders to Ginny Baker, 11:45pm // No, he'd know something was up then // I'm fine. Me and Blip are fine. He needs time, and then we'll be right back to strong as ever // but thank you for the offer // get some sleep okay

From Ginny Baker to Evelyn Sanders, 11:48pm // okay // love you, Ev

From Evelyn Sanders to Ginny Baker, 11:49pm // love you too // tell your mom night for me

From Ginny Baker to Evelyn Sanders, 11:51pm // She says night

// Ev?

From Evelyn Sanders to Ginny Baker, 11:52pm // ?

From Ginny Baker to Evelyn Sanders, 11:53pm // I can't wait to see your restaurant // #TeamFuture

From Evelyn Sanders to Ginny Baker, 11:53pm // lol #TeamFuture

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From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, [DRAFT] // I wanted now as my decade because this is the happiest I’ve ever been and I don’t really care about seeing something new, or experiencing something I haven’t felt before

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From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, [DRAFT] // Who’s to say the future’s gonna be great anyway? What if it’s awful? What do we do then?

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From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:00am // You better not have driven yourself home. You didn’t have your glasses and you had too much to be sober

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:01am // Got an Uber // Go to sleep, rookie

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:02am // I’m going. I’m going // Night old man

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:03am // I’m really not that old

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:04am // Fine. Night cap

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:05am // You sure good night texts are okay?

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 12:06am // Me and Blip swap bedtime stories all the time // cross my heart

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 12:07am // Night, Baker

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[more can be found here, written four months and one cancellation announcement later]

[youngerdrgrey]

anything Blip can do, Mike can do (teammates) // a pitch fic, part three

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or, how Ginny and Mike find a loophole to slow-burn their way into a different sort of teammates [also on ao3, read part one here or two]

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part three .

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Mike stares down the door to Blip's place from inside his car. The engine's still running, radio up with a stupid podcast Ginny recommended about Stranger Things (and seriously, what kid sits around listening to podcasts? Shouldn't Ginny be listening to something more high paced? Something more interesting than a bunch of nerds sitting around in their living rooms around a mic they bought with their Amazon Student Prime account?) Anyway, it's honestly not the worst thing to listen to. They mostly recap episodes and talk about their theories, talk about moments that Mike might've missed since he spent the first three episodes texting Ginny at the same time.

She responds faster than anyone else he talks to. Even when she's watching. It's like she types with her eyes on the TV and her thumbs flying along the bottom of her phone screen. And even when she tells him to shut up, or that he wouldn't have to ask questions if he just paid attention, she answers every text he sends her. She even stops watching when she knows he's busy. She claimed that she didn't watch last night's game night because she turned in early, but Evelyn looked way too happy after the game to have just been watching.

Not that Mike normally pays that much attention to how Evelyn's responding to stuff, but she'd bounced right up to Blip and started talking about Ginny sounding more like herself again. Mike had adjusted the strap on his bag and tried to play off listening in, but Ev noticed everything. Told him to stop eavesdropping and hear it for himself, over dinner, the next day. And if Mike knows anything about strong-willed women, he knows not to turn down an invitation. So here he is.

Sitting in the car, engine running, six-pack of IPA and a fresh bottle of silver tequila slowly warming on the seat beside him.

It's been a little over a week since all the trade stuff went down and Blip still won't talk to him. Blip's passive aggressive, dismissive, and he keeps undermining Mike in front of the rest of the team. And it's not like Mike's exactly helping it, but this is ridiculous. He shouldn't be punished for something that didn't even happen. He's still in San Diego for Christ's sake. He's coming to dinner with a gift for each member of the happy couple and it's bullshit that Blip will probably spend the whole meal pushing his food around his plate and sucking on the inside of his cheek. But hey, that's what Mike gets for making friends.

Buzz. He peers down, half expecting it to be Evelyn telling him to come inside.

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 7:14pm // Ev says stop being weird and come inside

His heart pounds against his chest. Come inside like -- Ginny just left the hospital yesterday. Then she complained for two hours last night about how it's like the time she fucked up her knee and couldn't do anything but sit there with her mom. She'd been, what, sixteen, and nearly tore her ACL snowboarding on a family vacation. Her mom felt so guilty for taking the whole family up there that she hovered over Ginny for two weeks straight. And if that's what her mom did over a small injury, then this potentially career ending injury had to be a full lockdown. Maximum security.

His phone buzzes again.

From Ginny Baker to Mike Lawson, 7:15pm // You look like you're gonna crap your pants. // You're not old enough for diapers, Lawson

He fights the urge to jump up. Takes his time so he looks casual when he scans the house for where Ginny could be. She's obviously not at the door he was watching. Not at the windows next to it. Not at -- ah! The window upstairs, if his memory of the layout's right, she's in the boys' room. Waving her phone with her good arm while Evelyn stands over her shoulder.

Mike gives them a wave and hits the button to reply.

From Mike Lawson to Ginny Baker, 7:16pm // Stalking's against the law you know

But he doesn't wait for a response. If they're up there, they could've been watching him for a while. He kills the engine and grabs all his stuff from the passenger seat. At least this means dinner might not be all him and Evelyn making small talk. It can be him and Evelyn and Ginny, who he hasn't actually seen in person since right after she got hurt. God it'll be good to update the image in his mind. He's been seeing her all tiny in a hospital gown whenever he thinks of her. Paper clothes around her lean frame, the gross gray of them reflecting the awful hospital lights and draining every bit of color out of her skin. She lives in San Diego, okay; she normally glows. But that room sucked it all out of her. Stripped her of one of the greatest strengths she has.

He sounds stupid. Completely stupid and like some fangirl who notices a stray hair and reads too far into it. It's whatever. Ginny was just tired. And now she's out, so she'll be better. Everything can just go back to normal.

Or whatever this new normal is.

His car locks behind him as he jogs up the walk to the front door. He knocks twice, circles his jaw to steady himself. One of the boys opens the door. Evelyn's voice drifts down from upstairs, but neither of them seem to really listen to what she's saying.

Gabe stares up at him and his drinks. "Bring anything for me?"

Mike chuckles. "Not this time. Got to bribe your old man into talking to me today." He steps around Gabe and sets down the drinks so he can untie his shoes. Another bundle of feet wander over, so Marcus must want to say hi too. Mike doesn't get why the kids even bother talking to him. It's not like he's one of those people who hikes his voice up a notch and goes running around looking at their toys. He mostly just talks to them like they're tiny people, not kids.

Marcus eyes the tequila bottle. "Mom's already got one of those under the sink." Gabe shushes him, but Marcus waves him off. "What, she opens it and I see it. I'm not doing anything."

"She's gonna be mad," Gabe mumbles.

Evelyn's voice cuts in from the top of the stairs. "Mad about what?" All eyes turn to her, but Mike's snag on the woman behind her.

Ginny's still in yoga pants like she's headed into the locker room. Plus she's got this muscle top on -- an old USC shirt she probably took from Blip. The sleeves have been cut off pretty low to give good range of motion. It's not a bad look in general, but it's an even better way to dress when you've got a sling holding your arm in proper position.

"Hey." Mike breathes out the word without even checking to see if she can hear him. Or if Evelyn's done staring down the boys, who seem to be mid-mumble when Mike opens his mouth. Still, everything gets a little quieter after he says it. He clears his throat. Makes sure to put enough behind the next sentence so it actually seems like he means to say it. "Welcome to the real world, Baker."

She rolls her eyes. "Been out in it all day. Someone--" and she side-eyes Evelyn who's already watching her with rapt attention "--decided that I should be her lapdog today."

Evelyn turns back to Mike. "The correct term's 'best friend,' you know the person you hang out with when you want to be around people. The one who saves you from awkward silences with your mom."

Ginny nudges Evelyn in thanks but doesn't actually say the words. Evelyn takes it with a nod, and down the steps they go. Meanwhile, Gabe and Marcus grab at the drinks and rush off towards the kitchen.

"We'll put them on the table!"

Then it's just the grown ups. Just Mike with one shoe off and these two women looking at him like maybe he should stop staring and take off the other one. He ducks down and pulls that one off too. Slides them both onto the shoe rack. Claps his hands together once he's done.

"So, where's the man of the house?"

Evelyn snorts. Ginny points to the living room where Blip, obviously, painstakingly, sips at a beer while watching TV. But the TV's on some bright colored kid shit, so it's probably fake enthusiasm. Another way for Blip to pretend like he's not still upset that Mike almost left. Evelyn heads towards Blip.

"Babe, say hi."

Blip glances over. "Hey."

Mike gives him a nod. "Hey." Then Blip turns back to the screen. Mike could laugh if the sound wouldn't come out sounding like he cared. Laughs and sobs sound way too similar, and the last thing Mike needs to do is draw more attention to this rift. He makes a sound, then Ginny starts giving him those pitying eyes and Evelyn snaps at Blip and then Ginny goads Mike to talk about his feelings, and honestly who has the time for a heart to heart? Mike and Blip still have jobs to do, unlike either of the girls right now.

Evelyn rolls her eyes and lowers down by Blip's ear. She starts whispering something, but Ginny steps in front of Mike's view of them. Her hair's tied back today with a little flourish in it. Like a twist along the sides. It's not really a braid, and Mike has no idea what to call it. It's nice though.

Ginny pitches up on her toes. "Ev made lasagna, but it's still cooking. We've got at least thirty minutes before it's ready."

"Then why'd I have to come inside?" The way she stiffens tells him it's probably the wrong way to put it. He shakes his head. "I just mean, you rushed me away from that awful podcast you made me listen to. I was just starting to like it."

Her eyes light up. "You're listening to it? Seriously?" She glances back to the door. "Which part are you at?"

Is it just him, or does that sound like an invitation to get out of here? "I'd have to play it to know."

"Then play it." She grabs flip flops off the shoe rack. Slips her feet into them. "Come on." She grabs Blip's sandals and drops them in front of Mike's sock clad feet. "Just borrow these. We've only got thirty minutes."

"Evelyn--" Mike turns to point at her, but Evelyn's next to Blip on the couch already, goading him and speaking so quiet that Mike can't hear what she's saying.

"Won't care," Ginny says to finish out his sentence. "Now quick before Gabe and Marcus get back."

Mike hasn't slipped off to his car with anyone in a while. But he's done it enough where he has to fight the itch in his fingers to land on her back, has to slow himself down so he doesn't walk in time with her but also not too slow that he has a perfect view of her walking ahead of him. He unlocks the car and slips in before any part of him can seriously consider opening her door for her. She'd have to have two broken arms for that to be okay. Even then, she'd probably insist on opening it with her elbow or something.

Once both doors shut, it's like all the noise in the world's gone. Just him and Ginny, alone and in person. She holds onto her sling, which is about the closest she can get to crossing her arms across her chest. He turns the car on, more to have something to do, but even the hum of the car doesn't actually add anything. He should say something, anything.

"So you got away from your mom," he says.

She nods. "She likes Ev, so she caved. I've got to be back by the end of the night though. Strict curfew."

God. "You're like twelve."

"Twenty-four," she corrects, but that doesn't actually make it that much better. It might not be a crime anymore, but it's still... it's a lot, especially if it went on more than a night. A young groupie's a young groupie, nobody cares, and she loves the experience until she realizes that she wants more but then it doesn't work out because the more that she wants means a joint HBO account and someone to snuggle up with in the winter, the more that he'd want is someone with him while he ices his knees, it's a dog running around and getting into his stuff, or a cat if he's being more realistic about his lifestyle and lack of available dog walking time. He's done the married thing before, okay, and anything less than that's not really gonna cut it.

He looks her straight in the eye. "Twelve." Then grabs his phone to open up the podcast. The whole thing's on SoundCloud, which he now owns the app for since that's apparently the only way to be able to listen to something without his phone giving up on him. Honestly, people should streamline things by this point. Put all the podcasts and whatever else onto iTunes and save him a couple steps.

He hits play, but the second he does, Ginny turns down the volume on the radio. "You say I'm a kid, but you're the one letting this stupid feud keep going."

"Feud?" Since when does he have a feud with anyone? Even he and Livan have more of a begrudging mentorship relationship going on.

Ginny widens her eyes and throws them at the house. Mike rolls his in response, but she keeps going. "I get it, Blip's super unreasonable sometimes when he's upset about something. But he's just upset. Tell him your side, hear his, and we can have a normal dinner instead of an awful one."

"I don't need to hear his side."

"Yes, you do."

"No, Baker, I don't." Mike scratches at his beard. "I know what it's like to depend on someone and have them take off when you need them."

Ginny ventures a little, asks him, "Rachel?"

He could've meant Rachel. She certainly likes to ditch him when it's convenient for her. But he mostly just means his mom. His childhood wasn't bad necessarily. He ate when he was hungry (most of the time), and he had the right amount of pillows to still sleep pretty comfy on nights when they napped in the car instead of finding a place for the night. But the whole thing with his dad fucked him up. The knowledge that there was something else out there and a whole different life he could've lived that was fully fucking palpable.

"I grew up with a single mom, everybody knows that. But we spent months one year, right in the same town as my dad. Saw him almost every day. I didn't want much form him. Didn't really know who he was for most of it. Just thought he was a cool guy, thought he made everything with my mom a little better." Mike thumbs the volume button on his phone. Up, down, up down. "Then one day we left. Just like that."

Only just like that doesn't account for all the time Mike spent thinking about him. All the questions he had that his mom flat out ignored every time he asked. If she knew where his dad was, then why didn't he get to see him sooner? If his dad could look after him there, then why couldn't his dad see them once they moved? Why did his dad have a whole other family? And why couldn't Mike be a part of any of that?

Ginny rolls her shoulder back. "Whoa."

Mike rolls his. "Yeah." He used to have these dreams of his dad coming for him, after they left Poway. Dumb ones, silly stupid dumb dreams about his dad being there for him and having the chance to be a kid with two parents even if the parents never spoke to each other. He even left a ticket under the Dave Grissom at his very first All-Star game. But it never got picked up. There was a note though, left with Al after one of their games at Petco. It read:

Glad you stuck with catching, Mike. It suits you.

You've always been strong, made the right choice for you. You're a better man than me for that. No matter what, just remember you got here on your own. You deserve to be in the league. Keep on going and make the team proud to have you. Even prouder than they already have to be.

Best wishes, Dave Grissom

Being the kid that he was, Mike crumbled it up and threw it to the back of his locker. He didn't pull it back out for months. Now it just sits in a drawer in his dresser, towards the back under a mountain of mismatched, worn down socks.

Mike shakes his head. "Just, I get where Blip's coming from. There's not really much I can do to fix it except show up every day. I can be there. Until he looks up one day and it doesn't hurt so bad to see me."

"Mike --" Ginny turns in her seat to face him. "I'm...."

"You're...?" What? Sorry that he went through that? He's an All-Star and has a car retainer; he's fine.

She shrugs. "Nothing. Thanks for sharing. And for having a plan."

It's not so much a plan as him stringing a few thoughts together. That's normally how forgiving someone tends to turn out. At least where Mike's concerned.

He tries waving her off anyway. "It's nothing. Just remember, you don't have a monopoly on weird relationships with dads."

She does a smile that's more of a grimace, but it's something. "Ah, but I do have all the blue properties."

Board games. See, she's twelve. "You don't have to complete your sets, just ruin everybody else's." Over her cackles, he says, "You get one of each of the others and charge triple when you sell them back."

"That's ruthless," she says.

"It's good business."

"It's a game."

His head rolls back onto the headrest. "Everything's a game, rookie." And it's almost most definitely a moment so someone has to ruin it. She ended their phone call, so it should be his turn to impose their usual distance. They can't stay in this car and expect not to have talks like this. Not to slip into something real. "We should probably back in."

"Let's make dinner a game." Her eyes go wide when she says it, like she's not actually sure why she's saying it exactly. "Come on."

"Okay." He nods. "A drinking game, please."

She nods slow in a circle that travels down past her neck and to her chest. Tiny bodyrolls to cover the thinking time. "Every time Blip rolls his eyes, drink."

Oh she's trying to get him trashed. "Do we both drink or just one of us?"

"Both," she says it like it's obvious. "Win together, lose together."

Teammates. "Okay. Every time anyone mentions baseball, drink."

That's worth a grimace. "Every time Evelyn gives the Talk to Him look, just chug." She mimes it. Then flushes in her cheeks.

It's not cute. And the more he drinks, the more he might be able to distract himself from how Not Cute Ginny Baker actually is. "We're gonna need a lot of beers for this one."

"Just put the six pack on the table and buckle up." If this were a normal day, she'd probably clap her hands to end the sentence, but she's got the sling so she taps twice on the car seat. Which -- sling.

"How strong are your meds?" If she's on heavy stuff, then she can't knock 'em back with him. She could fuck up her whole system like that.

"I'm fine," she says. He narrows his eyes. She sits up even straighter. "I'm fine. I can have, like, three drinks on this stuff and beer barely counts. I want to play." She leans forward on her own headrest. "Put me in coach."

And he should not feel anything at that, but the stirring there -- the way his nerves jump and his knee twinges -- he could probably kiss her again right now, sitting in his car when they should be inside eating dinner. They could skip the whole meal for this, or ride off somewhere and see what they can get into without hurting her.

But that's not what they do, is it? 'Cause they're teammates. There are rules. Age differences that make him feel off whenever he thinks about it for too long. She has a curfew today. And she just got the right to drink three years ago. He's not trying to be the Mark Sloan to her Lexie Grey. No juice box girlfriends or broken penises for Mike Lawson.

He concedes anyway. "Three drinks, Baker."

"Three drinks. Now let's see how fast I can take 'em." Her eyebrows dance before she rolls over and gets out of the car. She doesn't wait for him, just swoops around and heads up the walk. It gives him time though. Time to turn the car back off and regroup for what might be one of the most awkward dinners he's been through in a while.

Something tells him though that it might not be so bad. Not when Ginny's eyes dance as she pops the cap on his beer, or when Evelyn starts slicing into a pan of lasagna that's so cheesy that a string follows up off the pie cutter. Even Blip's got a smile for a second -- it's aimed at Gabe, but it's something.

Mike takes the beer from Ginny and a roll off the table. "Evelyn, this all looks so good."

Ginny nods. "Yeah, like... a home run on a clear day." She sips with a smirk towards Mike. So that's how she wants to play it?

"Like a game that gets rained out when you're losing so you can blame it on the cleats or something else." He sips twice.

She sips and says, "Or just having a great team behind you, whenever you need one." She sips again, and Blip rolls his eyes, so she gives a little mini-cackle. Mouths, "Drink," to him and slips into her seat.

Scratch what he said earlier. This'll just be fun.

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[read part four here]