“I can do it!” Matty insisted, reaching forward and propping the bat on his shoulder. “It might take me all day,” he grumbled a little, not wanting to seem too eager.

“Well, do the best you can. I’m sure Fin will understand if you can’t find everything.”

Matty marched away toward the tree line at the edge of the softball field and Seb let out a low whistle behind her.

“I think you’re the one who’s magic. I thought that kid was going to pout himself into an early bedtime.”

“He’s having a bad day?” She turned to Seb.

“I guess.” He squinted his eyes as he watched his son inspect a few fallen leaves, discarding them. “He’s usually not quite so ornery. Maybe he’s having a growth spurt. Anyways, thanks for distracting him. That was incredible. They don’t teach stuff like that at parenting classes.”

“You take parenting classes?” Via asked, grabbing her bag and noticing that Rachel was watching the two of them talk from across the dugout.

Sebastian nodded. “Yeah. My grief counselor recommended it after Cora died. Just something to help prop me up a little bit. Some structure to lean on. But I really liked them. And they helped. Every time I think I’m an expert, he goes and grows up a little more, and then I’m lost again.” Sebastian sighed, but it was more happy than sad.

“Hi, Rachel,” Via called when the staring started to become annoying.

“Hi, Via!” Rachel called back, her eyes still bouncing between Sebastian and Via. Rachel’s brown hair was up in a high bun, and she’d chosen one of the team shirts that was just a touch too small. Maybe there’d been a shortage in sizes this late in the season. She was shy and usually pretty sweet. Via generally liked her. She couldn’t exactly say why Rachel was bothering the crap out of her right now.

“All right, people. Huddle up!” Sadie called, gesturing to everyone around her.

The game started, and their team gained a firm lead, mostly thanks to Via’s three-run triple in the bottom of the fourth. Mindful of Rachel’s watchful eyes, Via had avoided Sebastian, choosing instead to chat with Sadie and Rae. She noticed that Rachel took that opportunity to sit next to Sebastian. The two of them chatted and laughed for the majority of the game.

They were just sending their players out to the bases a few minutes later when Matty appeared on the other side of the short fence that lined one side of the field.

“Daddy,” he called in a tear-filled voice, his face white as milk. Via took a few stumbling steps toward Matty the second she realized that he had vomit on his shirt.

Sebastian whipped around just as Matty’s head lolled to the side and he hit the ground like a bag of rocks. His dad sprinted across the field and, again, Via thought of a lion. He was glinting and primal, his brown hair streaked through with gold in the sunlight. He took the fence in a graceful, one-handed hop and if Via hadn’t been so worried about Matty, she might have sucked in a breath at the competence of it. Within seconds, he had his son gathered up in his arms.