Let The Sun Shine Through

Part 6

*****

I still don't own anything related to Third Watch…bummer.

*****

JULY 3^rd…Florida…Day 2

Bosco woke and found himself alone in bed. He sat up quickly and looked around the room. Was it all just a dream? He could have sworn he had fallen asleep with Faith in his arms. Maybe he *had* been dreaming.

 

Just then Faith walked into the room. She saw the almost panicked look in his eyes, and rushed to his side. Faith sat down next to him on the bed. She put her hand on his cheek. "Are you OK? Did you have another bad dream?"

 

"No. Well at least I don't think so." She ran her hand through his messed up hair. "Did you…were we…"

 

Faith noticed the confused look on his face. "What Bosco?"

 

"Did we sleep in the same bed last night?"

 

"Yes. Why?"

 

"I woke up and you weren't here. I thought maybe I dreamt the whole thing."

 

"No, it wasn't a dream. I feel asleep with your arms around me, but I woke up and you looked so peaceful. I didn't want to disturb you."

 

He breathed a sigh of relief. "OK good. I was hoping it was real."

 

She smiled and took his hand. "Come on Sleepy. Breakfast is ready."

 

"What? I don't get breakfast in bed?"

 

"Keep dreaming," she laughed as she pulled him out of bed.

 

When he was standing he kissed her on the cheek. "Good morning Faith."

*****

"So what's the plan for today?" Faith asked as they sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast.

 

"Well I was planning on heading over to Tampa for the Devil Rays game, but we don't have to go if you don't want to."

 

"Sounds like fun. Who are they playing?"

 

"The Rangers I think. Game starts at one, and it's about a two hour drive."

 

"It's nine now, so we should finish up and get ready."

*****

Bosco came out of the bedroom wearing tan cargo shorts and a black t-shirt. He had a baseball cap in his hand and was just getting ready to put it on when Faith took his arm and stopped him. "What?" he asked.

 

"Don't wear a hat."

 

"Why not?"

 

"Well," she smiled, "because your hair…you just look so cute."

 

He raised an eyebrow. "Cute?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth.

 

"Yes. Cute."

 

He held up his index finger. "OK, I won't wear a hat, but on one condition."

 

"What's that?"

 

"You have to wear your hair down."

 

"And why is that?"

 

He put his hands on her hips. "Because if I have to walk around looking cute all day I want all the attention to be on the gorgeous woman on my arm."

 

"Are you saying I’m not gorgeous when my hair is up?" She asked as she put her hands on his chest and started to push him away.

 

Bosco held on to her tighter not letting her move away. "No. You're absolutely beautiful with your hair up." He smiled.

 

"Oh really? So what's the difference between gorgeous and beautiful?"

 

He looked into her eyes. "Not much," he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You ready to go?"

*****

The drive to Tampa flew by as the two of them talked and enjoyed each other's company. They pulled into the parking lot at Tropicana Field a little over an hour before game time. Hand in hand they walked to the stadium's ticket window. "Where do you want to sit Faith?"

 

"Doesn't matter to me."

 

Bosco turned to the woman in the window. "Two of the best seats you have." After he paid for their tickets they headed inside the dome. "You want to get something to eat before we find our seats?"

 

They came away from the concession stand with two Cokes, two hot dogs and a bag of peanuts. "Geez. This stuff is so expensive. This is why Fred and I were never able to take the kids to a ball game. Can you imagine having to buy food for four of us?!"

 

"Yeah that'd be pretty spendy." Bosco led Faith down to their seats. They were about fifteen rows up on the first base side behind the home team dugout.

 

"These seats are great."

 

"Yeah they are," smiled Bosco. "I love baseball games." They ate their lunch in silence until Bosco broke out in a huge grin and started to laugh softly.

 

"What's so funny?"

 

"I was just thinking about the last time I went to a professional ball game."

 

"And when was that?"

 

"Couple years back. I took Nicole to that Knicks game."

 

"Oh yeah," she smiled. "I remember you complaining about it the next day cause you were all pissed off that Ewing didn't play."

 

"That's not the only thing that bothered me."

 

"What else was there?"

 

"Nicole. She was chewing on my neck and grabbing at my crotch the whole time."

 

"Now I remember. I was shocked that it bothered you so much," she chuckled.

 

"Hey. There's a time and a place for that kinda stuff and a Knicks game is definitely *not* the place."

 

"Well don't worry. I don't plan on doing any chewing on you and I'll try to keep the grabbing to a minimum." She grinned.

 

"Phew! That's a relief," he smiled back at her.

 

Fifteen minutes before the first pitch Bosco hopped out of his seat. "I'll be right back I forgot to get a game program. You want anything?"

 

She shook her head. "Don't get lost."

 

He stopped and at looked at her. "Faith look at this place," he put his hands up. "It's a dome. A big circle. How am I going to get lost? Besides I have this handy dandy little ticket that tells me where I'm supposed to sit."

 

"Bosco you have a special knack for doing things like that."

 

"Whatever." He returned a few minutes later with a program in hand. "Have they announced the starting lineups yet?"

 

"Not that I know of."

 

"Good." He opened the program to the scorecard inside and waited for the public address announcer to name the starters.

 

Throughout the first inning Faith sat watching Bosco as he kept score in his program. She had never seen him write that legibly before. "Gee Bosco. I'm willing to bet that everyone at the station would like you more if you wrote your reports that neatly," she joked. He just grinned. "So who taught you how to keep score? Your dad?"

 

"Nope. When I was eleven my Little League coach taught me. My dad never had time for that stuff." He looked at her. "Anyone ever teach you?"

 

"No."

 

"You wanna learn?"

 

She shrugged. "OK."

 

Bosco handed her the book. "OK. First you have to know the numbers that correspond to each position." He carefully explained to her about how the positions were numbered and then showed her the layout of the score sheet. "You think you're ready?"

 

"I guess."

 

He handed her the pencil as the first batter of the second inning came to the plate. The batter worked the pitcher to a count of three balls and two strikes. Bosco watched as Faith filled in the appropriate spaces after each pitch. Then the batter hit a long fly ball to right field.

 

She looked at Bosco. "OK. So it was a fly ball, so that's an F." She wrote it in the middle of the box. "And it was hit to right which is position nine. So it's an F9 right?"

 

"Right. Now make sure you put a number one with a circle around it so you know it was the first out."

 

For the next two innings Bosco sat with his arm on the back of Faith's seat as he taught her how to score a baseball game. He never knew how much fun something like that could be.

 

Faith couldn't believe how patient Bosco was being with her. She had messed up a couple times while trying to mark the score, but Bosco never got annoyed and he never raised his voice. He simply explained what she had done wrong and showed her how to fix it. If Fred would have been teaching her he would have been furious and given up.

 

She handed Bosco the scorebook. "I have to use the restroom."

 

"You going to be OK going by yourself? You want me to walk up there with you?"

 

Faith put her hand on his knee. "Bosco. I'm a New York City Police Officer. I think I can take care of myself."

 

He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. I s'ppose you're right." Half an hour passed before she came back. "Where have you been? I was getting worried."

 

"Relax Bosco. It's a sporting event. There's always a long line in the women's bathroom." She sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her, and that's how they sat watching the game. They didn't talk much except to occasionally comment on a play.

 

It was the middle of the eighth inning when Faith sat up and started rummaging through her purse. Bosco watched her. "What's wrong?"

 

"Nothing. I'm just looking for my camera." She pulled a small disposable camera out of her purse, and gently tapped the shoulder of a woman sitting in front of them. "Excuse me, but would you mind taking a picture of us?"

 

"Sure thing dear," the older woman replied as she took the camera from Faith. Bosco once again put his arm around Faith and leaned in close to her for the picture. As the woman handed the camera back to Faith she smiled. "You two sure are a lovely looking couple."

 

Faith started to tell the woman that they were just friends when Bosco interrupted. "Thank you ma'am."

*****

It was the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Devil Rays needed two runs to win the game. There was a runner on first, but the batter had a 3-2 count and there were two outs. Many people had already left and more were heading for the door, but Faith and Bosco stayed put.

 

The batter swung at the next pitch and hit a foul ball to the first base side. Instinctively Bosco stood up and snared the ball out of the air with his bare hands. The crowd that remained cheered Bosco's catch and he gave a small wave as he sat back down.

 

"Nice catch Bos," smiled Faith.

 

He turned and handed the ball to her. "This is for you. I've never had such a good time at a ballgame. Thanks."

 

"You're welcome." They were looking into each other's eyes. Bosco leaned forward to kiss her lips. Sensing what he was about to do Faith leaned slightly forward to greet him, but before their lips met, the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd caused them to snap back into reality. They turned their heads in time to see the ball sailing toward the centerfield wall. It was a homerun. The Devil Rays had come from behind to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. Faith and Bosco stood with the other fans and applauded.