Blast From the Past

Ch. 1: Familiar Faces

A/N: All characters in this story are fictional. Completely made up by me.

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Ch. 1: Familiar Faces

“It’s the bottom of the ninth, all bases are loaded. Ohio State is down by two. Can Woods pull his team out on top, or maybe even tie things up?” The announcer said.

“The pitcher is lining up the pitch. It looks like he’s going to try and fool Woods, here. He’s watching out to make sure no one is going to steal. He throws the pitch; Woods connects with the ball and… IT’S OUT OF HERE!” The whole crowd cheered and jumped out of their seats as Woods ran the bases and gave the others an opportunity to get to home as well.

“Momma! Did you see that?!” Cameron tugged on my hand, making me look down at him. He looked up at me with the widest eyes. “He just won the game for them!”

I watched my five year old son as he smiled – a smile that could light up the whole world – and turned back to watch the rest of the game. “I sure did. That was amazing.”

He put his hand up for a high five and I slapped my hand against his. Even though I was so excited to see him enjoying himself like this, I couldn’t help but think of how his dad should be here with him instead of me. It was always Derek’s dream to bring him here and have a father – son bonding day. Sadly, he got taken from us too early, and he wasn’t able to experience things like this anymore.

I still remember that day like it was yesterday; even though it was four, almost five, years ago. We were on our way back to our hotel from a baseball game when we got hit head on by a drunk driver. I’m still so pissed that the driver only got two years and had to pay $10,000 for his DUI, while I lost my husband, and our child – who was one at the time - lost his father. It took me forever to come to terms with it. I mean, I was in denial. Even when the paramedics covered his body with the sheet, I just couldn’t believe it. He was right there with me one minute and after the car stopped flipping, he was gone. He was taken from us in the blink of an eye. I kept expecting to wake up from my nightmare, but it never happened.

After that, I never really found anyone, not that I was looking that hard. I mean, we may have been young while we were married, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t madly in love with him. Plus, I had a one year old baby; who would want to date an eighteen year old with a one year old baby? Derek and I had hooked up about a week after I got home from one of my family beach trips, and it just took off from there. We got a little crazy at a party and nine months later, I had Cam.  We got married right after we found out I was pregnant. Derek had just turned nineteen the weekend before the car crash. Yep, that’s right; nineteen years old, I was eighteen. Anyway, after that happened, I knew I had to keep his dreams alive and make sure Cam experienced the things that I knew Derek would want him to.

“Mommy?” Cameron looked up at me.

I snapped myself out of my thoughts, “Yes, baby?”

“You were staring at me with that look again.” He told me, giving me a confused look.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t believe how much you’re growing up on me.” I smiled down at him and ran my hand across the top of his head, pushing his soft dark blond locks back. “You’re about to turn six years old on me next weekend. Where did the time go?”

He shrugged his little shoulders. “They just slipped by you.” Cameron smirked up at me.  Goofy little kid. “I’m hungry!”

That made me laugh, “You’re always hungry.” I teased. Just like his father.  “Come on.” I grabbed his hand, holding it tightly, and led the way through all the crazy crowd of people.