Second To Cry. Carys Jones

much choice?’ Isla laughed. ‘Why don’t you eat your popcorn first and then you can play with the finger?’

      ‘Finger!’ Meegan decided.

      ‘Fine,’ Isla handed it over. ‘She can be a stubborn little madam,’ she leant over and whispered to Aiden.

      ‘I wonder where she gets that from?’ he smiled.

      The cheerleaders came out and commenced their routine, which meant that the game would soon start.

      ‘Meegan, what do you think of the cheerleaders?’ Isla asked her daughter. ‘Don’t they look pretty in their outfits? Isn’t their dancing fancy?’

      Meegan was uninterested in the cheerleaders, preferring to focus on consuming as much of the popcorn as she could before the start of the game.

      ‘Nice try,’ Aiden joked. ‘I know you’d rather she wanted to be a cheerleader than a football player.’

      ‘Wouldn’t you?’

      ‘No,’ Aiden replied immediately. ‘I know what guys do to cheerleaders. At least as a football player she’d be safe from all that!’

      ‘You’re a creep, you know that?’ Isla told him but she was smiling as she said it.

      The announcer told the excited crowd that the game would begin imminently and a Mexican wave began to move back and forth amongst the stands.

      Meegan waved her foam finger proudly, knocking what remained of the popcorn on to the floor.

      ‘Be careful!’ Isla cried.

      ‘She’s just having fun.’ Aiden wanted Isla to relax, to enter in to the spirit of the game as he and Meegan did.

      The game started and though not particularly dramatic, it was still enjoyable to watch. Isla, however, was far less enthused than her husband and daughter. Each time a player was knocked down or tackled harshly she would flinch. For her, the cheerleading routine was always the best part of the game.

      Half time came around and without the game to distract her, Meegan suddenly realized she had no popcorn left.

      ‘Corn!’ she pleaded but Isla shook her head firmly.

      ‘No more, you should have been more careful with the popcorn I got you.’ This stern approach made Meegan begin wailing uncontrollably.

      ‘Come on, Meegs, the players don’t want to look up and see you crying, they want to see you supporting them,’ Aiden tried to console her but it did no good. Her cries intensified and she’d only stop to briefly snivel, ‘Corn.’

      ‘I’m not getting her any more,’ Isla said flatly, folding her arms across her chest.

      ‘I don’t think she will shut up if we don’t,’ Aiden had to shout to be heard over his daughter’s tantrum.

      ‘You spoil her, you know that?’

      ‘I just want a quiet life.’ Aiden sighed.

      ‘Fine! Let’s go get her some damn popcorn!’

      The family climbed down from their seat and headed towards the snack area. The air smelt of hot dogs and candy floss. It reminded Aiden of being at the fair.

      ‘Corn!’ Meegan choked out the word, her voice now hoarse from all the crying.

      ‘Only if you start being a good girl,’ Aiden told her sternly. Close enough to smell the popcorn, Meegan promptly stopped crying and did her best to be well behaved for fear of losing out on her beloved treat.

      ‘She’s going to be so fat when she’s older,’ Isla moaned.

      ‘Not if she’s playing football,’ Aiden laughed. ‘In fact, she’d need to carb-load then.’

      ‘You’re not funny.’

      It was pretty crowded down by the snack vendors as most people had left their seats to replenish their food stores during half time. As Aiden balanced Meegan on his hip, he accidently knocked into someone behind him. He turned to apologize and was surprised to see Deena Fern.

      She looked equally surprised to see him. Or did she seem more horrified? Aiden couldn’t tell.

      ‘Mrs Fern!’ Aiden greeted her, trying to sound friendly and casual. ‘Sorry if I knocked into you.’

      Deena smiled thinly at him. She was wearing skin-tight jeans and a red cashmere sweater which was set off by her red lipstick. Her blonde hair was held up in a tight bun, showing off her high, defined cheekbones.

      Jude and Davis were each holding one of her hands and wearing the football team’s jersey. Meegan looked down at them and saw the jerseys and her eyes widened covetously.

      ‘It’s just very busy here,’ Aiden explained, feeling unnerved by Deena’s steely silence.

      ‘Don’t worry about it,’ she said, her tone abrupt. Aiden was about to make his excuses and back away when Isla joined him with a fresh batch of popcorn and immediately shot Deena a quizzical glance.

      ‘Honey, this is Deena Fern.’ Aiden knew it was best to make introductions else face an interrogation from his wife when they returned to their seats.

      ‘Deena, this is my wife, Isla.’

      ‘Nice to meet you,’ Isla said politely. Deena gave a thin, unconvincing smile in response.

      ‘Popcorn!’ Davis cried out suddenly when he noticed Meegan delving into her new pot. She briefly paused to glance down at him and stick her tongue out. He returned the gesture.

      ‘Yes, we’ll get your popcorn now,’ Deena told her son.

      ‘Mom, can I get a hotdog?’ Jude asked, glancing warily at Aiden.

      ‘Yes, we’ll get them now.’ Grasping her sons’ hands, she began to pull them towards the hot dog stand and away from Aiden. Though she turned briefly, as though forgetting something.

      ‘Enjoy your evening, Mr Connelly,’ she told Aiden, her harsh exterior remaining, her voice cold as though she’d only said it to be polite.

      ‘Yes, you too, Mrs Fern.’

      The glamorous figure of Deena Fern was absorbed by the crowd and quickly gone from sight.

      Isla waited until they were seated once more to ask her barrage of questions.

      ‘Who was that?’ she asked before she’d barely been seated for a second.

      ‘Deena Fern.’

      ‘And she is?’

      ‘A wife of a client.’ Aiden explained.

      ‘Oh,’ Isla nodded. Then, after a moment, ‘Oh, the paternity case?’ Aiden nodded, not wanting to discuss the case in such a crowded area where anyone could be listening in.

      ‘Keep your voice down,’ he warned his wife.

      ‘She’s very glamorous.’ Isla noted.

      ‘I guess.’ Aiden answered casually.

      ‘She’s very beautiful. Do you think she’s beautiful?’

      ‘I think she looks too artificial,’ Aiden told her honestly.

      ‘She’s definitely had a lot of work done,’ Isla agreed. ‘I thought she was pretty rude to you.’

      ‘Wouldn’t you be, given the circumstances?’

      ‘I suppose so.’

      The announcer told the fans that the game was about to resume and Meegan, unable to control her excitement, stood up on her father’s lap and accidently scattered her new batch of popcorn on to the floor.

      She stared down at the now lost kernels with a look of heart-breaking disappointment. Aiden braced himself for another tantrum but, luckily,