Chapter 3 - Nicole Hears the Truth
Nicole called after her shift, her voice tired from twelve hours at the hospital.
She asked why Owen had barely spoken during their usual video call.
I told her about the six gloves, the empty spot, and what our son had said in front of the family.
She did not interrupt until I reached the part about Scott's attendance sheet.
"He wrote unreliable next to Owen's name?"
I could hear her moving somewhere quiet, away from the hospital noise.
"Send me a picture."
She studied it while I waited.
When she spoke again, her voice was precise.
"That isn't just cruel, Aaron. It could follow him if Scott shares it with people who run the leagues."
She told me Owen had mentioned feeling guilty about missing tournaments, but she had never realized Scott was encouraging the guilt.
"Last month he asked whether I could switch all my shifts to nights so he could play on Sundays," she said.
I pressed my fingers against my forehead.
"He never asked me."
"He told me you already had enough to worry about."
There was no accusation in her voice, which made me wish there had been.
Our divorce had taught us how to argue over schedules.
It had also taught us what happened when adults forgot a child had to live inside those schedules.
I promised Nicole I would not change their Sunday time to appease Scott.
She said she wanted to speak to Owen herself before we made any decisions about the team.
Then she asked a question that I could not answer.
"Does your father know he humiliated Owen for choosing me?"
"He knows now."
"Knowing isn't the same as admitting it."
Later that night Owen sat between us on a video call while Nicole told him she was proud of his choice.
He tried to joke that he wasn't exactly being scouted by the major leagues.
She laughed and asked him how his batting practice was going.
The way his shoulders relaxed told me how badly he had needed an adult to make baseball normal again.
After the call he went to bed.
I stayed at the kitchen table and reviewed the spring registration documents.
The form we signed at the start of the season listed Saturday tournaments and optional Sunday scrimmages.
A revised calendar attached to Scott's later email made Sundays mandatory.
No parent acknowledgment accompanied the change.
A second attachment stopped me completely.
It was a player-development evaluation Scott had sent to a regional coaching contact.
Owen was listed as having withdrawn for attitude-related reasons.
That was more than an uncle nursing hurt feelings.
It was a label moving beyond the family.
I forwarded the email to Nicole with one line.
May you like
"We need to correct the record before someone else believes this."
