Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Note: This is a little different from my other Young Carlos stories. You'll understand when you read it. I'm not sure why it came out this way, but, I learn not to question these things too closely. :-)
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Young Carlos Goes To War
By TT
It was a brilliant early summer day. The sun was high and bright. There was a very slight breeze swirling the topmost layer of dust a few centimeters above the ground before dropping it back into place.
The beauty of nature’s display was lost on the crowds gathering in the parking lot, waiting for the gates to open.
Stephanie Plum scooted out of the back seat of the Mary Lou’s parents’ car. Originally, she had wanted to come with her own father, but he had to work. Determined to see Eddie play, however, she had found another way. Mary Lou’s older brother was on the team and, with some quick talking, the girls convinced Mary Lou’s parents to bring Stephanie with them.
So, here she was. Looking around, she tried to spot Eddie, but couldn’t find him. She lagged a little behind her friend and her friend’s family as she sought him.
She wasn’t really paying attention to where she was going until she felt a hand grab her arm and pull her to the side. “Hey!” she shouted.
“You need to watch where you’re going,” a boy told her.
Turning a scowling face to the young man, her anger turned to surprise. The boy was about her height, maybe a little shorter. He had darker skin and straight black hair. What had her momentarily speechless, though were his face and eyes.
Though not her first priority, Stephanie had begun noticing that some boys were pretty cute. This one was way beyond any of the boys at her school. “I was looking for a friend,” she eventually said.
The boy smiled slightly, eyes dropping to the ground for a moment before meeting hers once more. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but then closed it again. “You were in the path of a car,” he replied with a shrug.
“Oh,” was the only response Stephanie gave. She felt her cheeks heat up a little and her eyes dropped to the ground. She’d never felt like this before. She wondered if this is what Valerie meant when she talked about a crush and puppy love. Letting her eyes rise once more, she noticed the boy was wearing a ‘Rangers’ jersey. “You play for Newark?” Stephanie asked the boy, as she realized he was in his little league uniform, holding his baseball glove in his other hand.
The boy just nodded and smiled. “You going to cheer me on?” he asked.
Stephanie lifted her chin a little. He might be cute and all, but she knew where her loyalties lay. “I’m here to cheer on the ‘Thunder’. My friend Eddie plays with them,” she explained.
“Oh,” the boy responded, still smiling at her, his own cheeks lightly pink.
“Stephanie!” Mary Lou called out.
Stephanie turned her head to look at her friend. “That’s my friend Mary Lou,” she informed. “I need to go.”
“Yeah,” the boy agreed. As Stephanie took a step away, he called “Hey.” When she looked at him, he continued, “Win or lose, if I hit a home run today, will you wait and give me a kiss?”
Stephanie felt her face heating up and noticed his was turning in interesting shade of pink as well. Though she could never explain why, the though of him being her first kiss seemed kind of nice. “Sure, Ranger. Just find me after.”
With that said, she turned and ran to Mary Lou sending one last look at him over her shoulder.
Sitting in the dugout before the game Carlos searched the seats of the stands opposite him, looking for the curly-haired girl. Usually, he couldn’t help but think that girls had cooties and were about the most horrible thing every to be inflicted on boys – except, perhaps, for brussel sprouts – but Stephanie was different. When he pulled her away from the path of the car and saw her face, he felt something he hadn’t before. Maybe it was one of those crushes his sister would talk about with her friends. It was lucky he’d heard his older cousin, Alejandro, talking about having a crush on a girl, so that he knew boys could have them too.
Whatever in the world possessed him to ask her for a kiss, he didn’t know, but he was glad he had. For the first time, kissing a girl might not be the most horrible fate ever.
His attention was drawn to the dugout once more as his coach called everyone to circle up.
“Gentlemen,” the coach said, “Today we go to war. We’re going out there and we’re going to play the game I know you can. If you do your best, execute and play with your heart and your mind, you will have won no matter the final score.” With that said, he stuck his hand into the middle of the circle and everyone else stacked their hands.
When their traditional cheer was done, the starting nine ran out onto the field, ready to begin the game.
Throughout the game, Carlos would look for the girl from the parking lot, but never found her in the very crowded stands nor did he find her after the game in the parking lot. He did, however, hit a home run.
(Present)
Stephanie pulled a large envelope out of the box. “What’s in here?” she asked, holding up the envelope.
Ranger looked and shook his head. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “I still can’t believe my mother shipped me these boxes. Who knew I had so much junk?”
Stephanie smiled and shrugged. “I think it multiplies,” she opined as she tipped the contents of the envelope onto her lap. “Gold!” she cried.
Ranger looked over at her, puzzled. “Gold?”
Stephanie grinned an evil grin at him. “Pictures,” she clarified, glancing down at her lap. “Baby and childhood ones from the looks of it.”
Ranger’s eyes grew round in horror. “Maybe I should just take care of those,” he suggested, reaching for the images on her lap.
“No,” Stephanie commanded, slapping his hand away. “Finders keepers,” she teased. “Besides, you’ve seen all of mine.”
Ranger sighed and tried to look put-upon, but the smile on his face gave him away. “Fine,” he agreed, settling on the couch next to her. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
They were going through pictures, laughing over many of them and enjoying themselves immensely.
Setting aside a picture of naked toddler Carlos in the bathtub, Stephanie’s breath caught at what she saw. It was a picture of her love as a child in a ‘Rangers’ little league uniform. Her mind instantly brought up the memory of that day so long ago. Turning to face him, she stared into his puzzled eyes for a moment. “You were the Ranger,” she breathed.
Ranger offered her only a confused look in return, not really following her thought process.
Stephanie smiled, allowing it to grow until it was as bright as his usually was. “You hit a home run,” she informed, her eyes remaining locked with his. She could see understanding begin to dawn on him, and felt her heart, and a few other places, warm as she saw comprehension dawn.
His brilliant smiled took on a slightly wolfish air as he advised, “That means you owe me a kiss,” he advised.
Leaning forward, Stephanie did just that.
End