Keeping It in the Family (Linstead)

Chapter 145

When Clementine came out of the building, Jay immediately felt relieved. There was a big smile on her face, and she jogged towards the car as fast as she could while carrying her sports bag. He got out to greet her.

"Clem! How did it go?"

"I really enjoyed it, dad!" she cried gleefully, and in that moment all of the money spent was already more than worth it. Nothing made him feel better inside than seeing his kids happy.

When she reached where he was standing, Clem dropped the bag on the ground and grabbed him in the strongest hug she was capable of.

"I'm so pleased to hear that, sweet pea," Jay said, holding her for a moment. "Let's get in the car where it's warm, then you can tell me all about it."

Jay picked up the bag for her and tossed it onto the back seat while Clem got into the front passenger seat. "So, tell me what they had you do?" he said as he got behind the wheel.

"First of all, the new students, there were a few of us, had to introduce ourselves to everyone. I told everyone to call me Clem of course."

Bless her, Jay thought. He could tell how much she had enjoyed the sense of independence the lesson had given her, and that vindicated the school's rule of having no parents there for lessons.

"How many girls were there?" he asked, pulling out of the lot and accelerating up the street.

"Six, including Ruth."

"Oh, Ruth was here? I should have messaged her dad and met up with him."

Clem moved quickly on, eager to talk about the lesson rather than her friend's dad. "They started by having us run in the ring and learn how to bounce off the ropes."

"Okay. You're good at running, so that must have gone well?"

"I didn't get tired, but hitting the ropes the right way is tough. And the ropes are really hard. My back hurts from it."

Jay glanced at her. "Really? I thought they moved quite easily when people ran into them."

"So did I. But wait until you see my back. I bet it's bruised."

Jesus. Just bouncing off the ropes and she's hurting herself, he thought. Being there with his daughter through wrestling training was not going to be easy. "We'll check it out when we get home," he promised.

"After that, we got our first chance to bump."

"Bump?" he asked, glancing at her again.

"That's what falling on the mat is called. They taught us how to fall on our backs and take a simple bump, like if someone had punched us. No one was punching, we just had to fall."

Now Jay pictured someone throwing punches at her. The fact that they wouldn't be real punches didn't make it much better.

"And how did that go? Were you able to do it?"

"I did okay, I think. It's harder than it sounds. You have to land with a flat back, and you have to kind of throw yourself down to give it some impact. The ring hurts more than I thought it would too."

"It all sounds quite painful," he said with concern. "How do you feel about it? Did you enjoy it?"

"It was awesome, dad! I loved every minute of it. When they said the lesson was over, I didn't want to stop."

"That's great, Clem. I'm so happy to hear that, and your mom will be too. Would you do me a favour? When we get home, make sure the first you do is assure her that you're okay. She'll have been worrying."