Luke & Liam: Soccer Stars

"Why is the sun so bright?" Luke whined.

"It's called being out in the daytime, Lukey loo." Liam said, taking Luke's hand before they crossed the street.

"I don't need to hold your hand every time."

"I can always carry you." Liam replied mildly. Luke grumbled. At least they were almost to the soccer fields.

"Still think it's dumb that I have to go to your soccer thing with you."

"Practice, Luke."

"Well"

"And you have to go because you're starting to get pale. You've been hiding inside for so long, you're almost as white as your briefs!" Luke grumbled.

"Shuddup." Liam laughed.

"I love my baby boy."

"I am not a baby!"

"Geez. I bet you wouldn't be so fussy if I had put you in your comfy clothes."

"I wouldn't be caught dead in the park in those Toy Story pajamas."

"They're not pajamas." Liam said patiently as they neared the field. "They're your comfy clothes. You sleep in your little undies, remember?" Luke growled. "Alright, we're here. Why don't you sit down on the bench? You should be able to watch from there and see everything, don't you think?"

"Can I have my juice?"

"Not yet, kiddo." Liam set a Paw Patrol backpack down at Luke's feet. "We'll have that in a little bit. Otherwise, you'll have to go peepee before I even start practice." Luke rolled his eyes. He hated how much control Liam had over him now. It was not fair! He was the older one, but it felt like he was the only one who remembered that. There had to be some way to remind Liam, to remind everyone about that. But how?

Liam stood on the field, watching his players get warmed up. He had volunteered to coach the peewee soccer team not only because it was fun, but because he wanted to do research. If he figured out how actual little kids acted, he would know better how to make Luke into one of them. He smiled as he saw the boy sitting over on the bench, swinging his legs back and forth without even realizing he was doing it. He really did look like he would fit in with the soccer players. Maybe he was a bit taller, but his face, his proportions, his Toy Story clogs, everything seemed like a little boy.

"Say hi to Coach Liam, Marcus." Mrs. Woodard said, leading her son over in his baby blue soccer shirt.

"Hi there, Marcus! Are you ready for soccer?" Liam said eagerly. Marcus nodded, grinning up at him in a pointed fashion. Liam immediately saw why. "Oh! Did you lose a tooth?"

"Mhm!" Marcus said. "The tooth fairy brought me a whole dollar!"

"Wow! You're rich, huh?"

"Yep." Liam held out his hand for a high five, smiling as he realized that Luke's hand felt so similar to Marcus's

"You go over there and get warmed up with Coach Trevor, okay?" He turned his attention to Mrs. Woodard.

"Hey, Mrs. Woodard."

"Oh, call me Barb."

"Sure thing, Barb. You see that little guy over there? That's my brother Luke. He's a little shy since it's his first day. Would you mind going over and helping him get into his soccer stuff? I put a shirt and shorts in there for him, but he was a little sloth this morning, so I ran out of time to dress him."

"I sure can!"

"He might fuss a bit, but in that bag by him, you'll find something to soothe him if it comes to that, okay?" She nodded and headed over.

Luke squinted into the sun, but a shadow fell over him. He looked up to see a smiling auburn-haired woman over him.

"Hi there, Luke. My name's Mrs. Woodard. I'm Marcus's mommy."

"Ok."

"Your brother wanted me to help you get ready for your first day of soccer."

"My first day of what?"

"Soccer, sweetheart." She said with a smile.

"No, I'm not"

"Oh, I know you're shy, but trust me. It'll be fun. Look! Your big brother put all your gear in your backpack for you." She smiled as she pulled a baby blue soccer t-shirt and matching baby blue shorts. "Oh, you'll match and everything!"

"What? I need to go talk to Liam."

"We can go over there after you're ready. C'mon, no one's looking, so let's get you undressed right here. It'll be quick."

"But" She had started lifting his shirt up over his head.

"I have four sons, Luke. I know every excuse a little boy like you can come up with." Luke shivered as she pulled the shirt over his head, the gentle summer breeze brushing his shoulders. "My! Your hair's getting long, hmm?" She used her hand to smooth his mop of hair over his head. Luke was almost certain she had never met him before, so how did she have any idea how long his hair normally was?

He waited for her to put the other shirt on him, which left him completely unprepared for her to tug down his shorts. He was standing there in the middle of the park in just his underwear.

"Oh, look! You have soccer balls on your undies!" Luke's eyes widened. He had forgotten Liam had put those on him that morning. He had totally planned all of this, even before Mom and Dad told Luke to go with him to soccer practice!

Luke simply nodded, hating that he had actually thought they were at least more mature than plain white briefs because he knew Liam, and this mom, saw them as the opposite.

"They're absolutely darling!" Mrs. Woodard said, looking them over. "Maybe we can see if Coach Liam will let you play in just them, huh?"

"Give me my clothes back!" Luke said, growing more and more humiliated as he saw some boys about his age coming down the walk.

"Oh, I forgot. Liam told me you get fussy." Reaching into the Paw Patrol backpack, she pulled out Luke's pacifier. He rarely went more than an hour without it in his mouth and he hated that he knew its taste before it even touched his tongue. "There we are. That's much better, hmm?"

Luke did not want to admit that the pacifier calmed him down and maybe it was more calming that this random lady dressed him in the t-shirt and shorts pretty quickly, even if she left him in just the shirt and his underwear while she packed up his other clothes before holding out the baby blue shorts for him to step into.

"There, all done!" She smiled and patted Luke's cheek affectionately. "Gosh, you're just the cutest, aren't you? Your brother's a handsome young man, but you're just the cutest little cupcake!" Luke hoped that she would take the pacifier out of his mouth, but she instead took his hand and led him over to Liam. Like it or not, Luke realized he had just made the peewee soccer team.