In his dreams, she would be fearless. She would take on the whole block. With steel eyes, he saw her hold a heavy wooden bat with a steady hand. Poised at the makeshift mat that laid on the grassy field, within a back lot of realty that hadn't been bought up yet, she marked a spot on the horizon where she intended to hit a white ball out of sight, just like Babe Ruth. In seconds, the ball sailed across the sky like lightening and she ran to all the bases, cheered on by the rowdy, t-shirt and blue jeans, ragamuffin boys that also lived nearby. On home plate, they hoisted her upon their shoulders, not caring that the freckled and bespectacled blue-eyed blonde was a girl!
In his dreams, she would be a leader and sit proud at the head of the table at Pizza Hut, chewing the largest piece of pepperoni, cheese falling like spaghetti upon her delicate chin, and she would talk just as boisterous to the gang. Hoisting a huge glass of Dr. Pepper and gulping down mighty sips through a straw, she laid out a game plan to whoop the team from another block, the Big Game that would fall within a few days.
"We'll beat the crap out of those nerdy geeks!" she declared, heaving a fork into the air like a sword, "And then everyone will know that you can't mess with us!"
"Yeah!" The boys all cheered, slapping each other upon the back and laughing loud, which caused everyone in the restaurant to look at them. The boys' chest pumped up within their shirts, for they felt so important and she was their secret weapon.
Ah, how else would a proud dad feel at such a moment?
"So what do you think?," the dad heard, a soft voice lifting him out of his perfect daydream, "Are you disappointed that our first is not a boy?
Dad looked at his wife, sitting next to him on her hospital bed, soft blond hair falling away from her shoulder, gazing at him through her own specks. She seemed so beautiful, anxious for his opinion, and then he gazed at the newborn in his arms, which he cradled so tight. Also just as beautiful.
"Naw, I'm not disappointed. In fact, I'm very proud," he smiled and pulled out a tiny cap kept hidden in his coat, with his favorite baseball team emblem woven into the knit fabric. His father had given it to him when he was born. With soft movements, he placed it upon his daughter's short golden curls and then kissed her forehead, "With my coaching, she's gonna be something. Just watch and see!"
