Game Plan (closed with cashewmanz)

[SRuiz]

Plot:  A star football player is running in to his Junior Year in college and while he loves what he's been able to accomplish, he honestly feels a bit empty. It wasn't his actual full on dream to play a sport, but he knows his father will continually seek to push him to do otherwise unless an option were to present itself to him. During one of his breaks, he leaves the campus to head back to his hometown in order to seek advice out from one of his trusted mentors, his High school coach. His coach had come fresh out of college to teach by the time the athlete was a High School Freshman, giving the older male a few green years of experience to know what it was he wanted in life as like him, he had a choice to go pro but ultimately decided against it. Through the conversation of the Coach ultimately telling the Athlete that it's his decision, the 20 year old notices his coach has quite the bump on him hidden away by a thin green sports coat. Seeing as the male looks otherwise healthy appearance wise, the Coach finally breaks the news that he's two months pregnant after having a drunken one night stand. While the Athlete initially feels a bit guilty, a thought runs through his mind; he could be the father to this child and not only that, he could also get pregnant. He wouldn't have to be forced to continue to play and it would also allow him to begin starting a family, something he wanted to give a try. The coach is initially against it, but the Athlete is more than old enough to make his own decisions and well already out of High School by two going on three years. The kids inside of him are also making him quite the horny person. The 27 year old finally agrees and sets to meet the male at his countryside house. Everything from then on continues.


Name: Keith O'Donnell
Age: 27
Height: 6'2
Weight: 210 lbs and growing


Coach O'Donnell sighed as he sat on his office after school. It was the start of school and fortunately for him, the soccer team did not meet for the time being. However, he was the assistant coach for football, but he felt a bit embarrassed. It was the end and he was wearing a green sports jacket despite the heat. Underneath it was a small, but noticeable gut. He was perplexed with the morning sickness at first, but then it added up. Unfortunately, he was felt he was growing at an alarming rate. Nonetheless, it was confirmed for him. He was pregnant and his life would eventually unravel around the school, something he typically kept private. He sighed a bit as he began to look at some of the plays he could help implement for the team while he had this moment to catch a break.

[cashewmanz]

Name: Aaron Parker
Age: 20
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 185 lbs

Aaron felt weird being back at high school after all these years. He hadn't really grown any more since he'd attended here, but the setting still felt very small to him. The hallways felt narrower, the ceilings lower, and yet it felt more welcoming than he'd expected. He was back from college for Christmas break, and it was nice to feel so at home here. The university was so large, and so superficial--as most colleges were--it was nice to get back to the honesty of a small town. He slowly made his way past his old classrooms, finally ending up at the gymnasium, noticing how empty it was. He passed by the locker rooms, the weight rooms, and finally ended up at the door to Coach O'Donnell's office, finding it slightly open. He knocked lightly, hoping his old coach was still there. "...Coach? You there?" he asked as he pushed the door open slowly.

[SRuiz]

Keith rested his legs on the desk, reading once more. He placed the papers down however, when the male noticing his jacket was unzipping partially. As he began to zip it back up, he heard a knock on the door, which made panic partially as he placed his legs back down and got in a more proper sitting just in time as the door began to open. He placed his glasses on his face to make it like he was doing more than just contemplating life currently.

"Yea, come in..." He said a bit quietly as the person was going to do it regardless. "Hey, what can I do for you?" He continued to act like he was reading until he glanced upwards. It was like seeing a ghost a bit, but the male recognized the young adults face. He worked with him and the team for four years after all before the male graduated three years ago. "A..Aaron! How's it going!?" He smiled a bit as he left his seat, revealing his full attire of black sweatpants and track shoes. He extended his hand to shake the young athlete's as he offered him a chair. "Back from the holidays, I see."

[cashewmanz]

"Yeah! It's going well, Coach, it is!" Any discomfort at the situation Aaron had previously felt melted away when he shook his coach's hand. It had been such a long time since he'd seen Coach O'Donnell and it made him happy just to see the man's face. Though he had lied a bit about things going well, he didn't want to dump all of his thoughts out on his old mentor all at once. And all things considered, things were going well for him. He was a starting quarterback on his college team, and everyone loved him. He was doing well in school, and getting good grades. Whether his future lie in professional football or another career, he felt like he was on track. But his coach didn't need to know that yet. It'd been years since they'd seen each other, so they might as well get caught up first.

"It's been too long, Coach," Aaron said, taking a seat on a spare chair in the corner. "How have you been? The newer players treating you well?"

[SRuiz]

It was always great to hear back from alumni, but in Aaron's case, he was a bit of a star football wise. News travelled in the small sports county, but most of it has been around Aaron's potential career in professional football.

"They're a bit decent" he chuckled. "Some of them are actually heading your way in the next year, so maybe then I'll be asking how are they treating you." The gym may have been a bit empty outside, but he was certain there were some students lurking as the school semester had not fully concluded. "So what brings you back here? Still trying to break my record over at the college?" 

He did recommend Aaron at probably one of the best universities that he graduated from, so it was a probable guess. Keith did often wonder what his life would be like if he continued down the same path. He still had that option, of course, but would he take it still? For now, he really couldn't do much of anything until he finally delivered the children, but that would be months from now going on a year. He focused back on Aaron however, a little eager to hear about how his college life had been. 

"This would be your Junior year, right?"

[cashewmanz]

"Don't be sending me any brats, okay? I don't know if I could handle it!" Aaron joked. As many did, he liked to imagine that his graduating class, and the team that he played with for most of his high school career, was the best that ever was or ever would be. "And if the refs hadn't snubbed me, I would've beaten that record a year ago," he went on, feeling a little defensive about that. Since Keith had first begun coaching his team back in high school, Aaron had been doing his best to try and emulate him. He was a local hero, and considered extremely humble to boot after giving up a professional run to coach the high school team.

"Yeah, it's my Junior year," Aaron answered. "College has been good to me. Or at least I think so," he laughed a bit. "My freshman season was explosive, I'm sure you remember us going all the way to the bowl game. But it's been kinda downhill since there. We didn't even win our division to get to the conference championship this year, and for some reason that made us ineligible for a bowl. It really cut us short. Nobody seems to blame me, either within the program or on ESPN. My dad won't let it go, though..." he paused, realizing he might be getting a little too deep, "...not that that's important or anything, I mean...ugh," he blushed, waiting for a response from his coach.

[SRuiz]

"I can't help that if I wanted. They made up their minds to say the least, though how long they last is the question." Not everyone was really cut out for heading into a major career in sports. Some took major injuries even which made them either unable to continue or reconsider if they could. Keith was neither, but honestly the male had been on a constant go with sports. Teaching was only to be a temporary solution of sitting back and giving back to a community that helped get him far. The country-side house he resided in was nice and large, but he was going to need to do more than just that to support the incoming child or children. He had never gone to get a checkup because of the looming fear he would face when he went there. This county was not exactly keen on certain situations and though he was a grown man, he could not deal with some of the faces he would get.

"Don't feel bad though" the coach took the chair from behind his desk, rolling it over to talk to Aaron a bit better. "I had a horrible first year and it turned around the following year. Every school has its bad years." It was kind of hard to not to let it go however. He reached over, lightly patting Aaron on his shoulder to perhaps comfort him, unknowingly revealing his bump under the thin black shirt and coat. "Sounds like your father is really pushing you...he can get over it though. You've already won at least one ring so far in a championship. Maybe this last year, you'll win another one. If you need any more help training or anything, I'd be glad to help."

[cashewmanz]

"Thanks, but I don't think the off season is my only problem," Aaron sighed. "It's just...I don't feel like I get the same fulfillment out of football as I used to. It's a horrible thing to say, but...I just don't enjoy it as much anymore. And school...it feels like a drag even when I use it to get away from hanging out with the team...."

He'd been having these doubts since the beginning of the past season, and he had figured that they had affected his performance. "I can't just quit without a good reason...that goes for both school and the team. And my father would never forgive me. He'd disown me, even. But I just feel like either of the paths I've chosen for myself...are not what I want to do with my life. And I don't know what can fill that void," he finished as he went in for a quick hug. As they embraced, he felt a little something extra between them. "Maybe I shouldn't be accepting training offer, Coach. Feels like you've let yourself go a little," he teased.

[SRuiz]

He kind of figured that was what was wrong with the male. Being pressured into something he used to enjoy only to discover he had different passions always happened.

"Your father isn't going to let to hear the end of it, I get it. What are you going to do, though, to make yourself happy?" When he mentioned his weight, Keith felt a bit wounded to say the least as he was a coach and personal trainer among usually keeping up with his health. He sighed a bit. "Maybe if I had followed a decent decision all the way through, I wouldn't be pregnant..."

It slipped out to say the least. His heart raced a bit as he ran to the door and peered outside. Nobody was around and so he closed the door fully even going as far as to lock it. He sighed deeply before he turned to look back at his former student.

"I, uh..." He slowly sat back down. "Went to a bar the night after one of the school's games. I was a bit hotheaded and kind of hit it off with someone, but honestly I was drunk. It ended in a one night kind of thing and now here I am at the moment. I'm still trying to piece it together right now. Was it some rival coach, did I just flat out enjoy it?" He lowered his head on his desk. "Either way, it's a bit complicated, but you at least have a decision to choose for yourself what you want despite what others think."

[cashewmanz]

"...pregnant?" Aaron said with astonishment. He was surprised his coach had let that slip--they'd always been close, but he figured that their relationship as athlete and coach prohibited that kind of openness. Then again, this was already becoming a very deep conversation. Deeper than Aaron had anticipated, for sure. 

"That choice isn't easy for me, though. And you don't have to explain yourself to me. It was a mistake, and that's something I can understand better than most as a college student. Do you know what you're going to do with it yet? How long have you known?"

[SRuiz]

"I never went to a doctor." Keith scratched the back of his head. "That's something that would easily spread in this community, which isn't really good news. As for what I'm going to do with it or them..." He honestly had no clue. Abortion was out of the options period. He also did not see anyone else raising the child but himself, so he did not even consider adoption, yet what was he going to explain to the other coaches when it was late in the year and he was waddling around to practice? He couldn't keep this partially ducking and hiding game up for long.

"I've known since the beginning to last month. I got the typical signs: Morning sickness, sore nipples, increase in appetite. Fortunately for me, it was November with Thanksgiving, but I didn't think I would be sporting a gut so soon. Maybe I can hide out in my house for a good period of time, quit teaching and work on a sports clothing line or something. I uh..." He felt like he was going to ramble again. "...I don't know..."

He looked back at Aaron. "But what are you going to do, though? I imagine practice starts for you again the moment you return."

[cashewmanz]

"I'm sorry..." Aaron said the first thing that came to his mind. "Not that this is something to be sorry about, I know, but...I don't know...I guess you just have to wait it out and see what happens, huh?" He felt bad for his coach. This should have been exciting for the older man, but because of the culture in this town he simply couldn't relax and enjoy himself. 

"I don't know what I'm gonna do. We get a little bit of time off at the start of the semester but we're expected to keep up with training and all that...I'll have to think about it. Fake an injury, maybe? We'll see how that goes..." Aaron trailed off for a moment, deep in thought about his future. "But you've given me some stuff to think about. We have to have more talks like this in the future, it's very helpful."

[SRuiz]

"It's fine, really. It's all a bit fresh, so I may be overthinking a lot of things." He really was not. He remembered another talented athlete in the school when he was in High School. When he became open about his sexuality, he was ostracized by the county. The father had even opted to try and kill him. This town was small, but it was dense to say the least. Maybe it was finally time to just move away from it all.

"Well there is the free time indeed." He smiled warmly as he left the chair again, heading towards the door. "If it's that serious though, I'm fairly certain you have more than one option on how to stop playing football while you sort your life out without needing to get overly injured, but probably enough to avoid practice and games for the remainder of your school year." He may have unknowingly given the young athlete a suggestion that would keep him away from the sport for almost an entire year. "You have one year left. I get being detached from school. You need to focus on your future however.. If you want though, give it some thought and come back tomorrow to let me know your decision. Talking does always help."

[cashewmanz]

"Thanks, Coach. I'll think of something," Aaron sighed and shook Keith's hand before leaving the way he'd came. This time he walked past a few star struck high schoolers, but he paid them no mind, instead just getting into his truck and driving home.

Once he got there, he went straight to his bedroom. He lied down and looked at the ceiling for a while, contemplating life. He thought about how tough it would be for his coach, who should be enjoying being pregnant. Soon Keith wouldn't be able to train his players, or coach games. He'd have to hide away from the community because they wouldn't accept him. Aaron knew his dad would be one of those people. He drifted to sleep soon after, still stuck on the thought of that pregnancy...

[SRuiz]

Keith closed the door behind him when Aaron was fully out the door. He sure hoped the male had figured something out for himself while that had given the older coach a little more time to try and focus on his sets of woes. He left his office shortly afterwards, hopping into his back truck, and driving off for his house for the remainder of the day. There were a lot of fortunate opportunities for him. One of these opportunities was the fact that he had a house all to himself. Keith was living on family land, so while he was out in school, his parents were putting a house together for him, a place for him to at least have in the event he did not get further anywhere else. He had plans to eventually leave however. If anything, the house would be a nice summer home.

The second opportunity was the fact that the entire three story suburban home was his alone for the time being. His parents assumed he would have eventually married some woman, something he considered as well until now, but regardless of the matter, nobody else lived with him. He kept in contact with his parents, who were only thirty miles away, enough to warrant them not to pry into his personal space and life except on certain occasions. So when he pulled into the four-year house, he was expecting to be alone and greet nothing but the sounds of nature outside in the country. That was exactly what he was given too, especially when he entered inside the house. It was just him and all that wonderful space.

His third opportunity was the clothing line he was beginning to develop. His teaching position was only getting him by so far and he did not want to be a person that would eventually need to take on another job or work in a firm with his parents. He wanted to branch out a bit further and unlike Aaron, he did enjoy his passion for sports. What better a way to help give back even more by starting a production company? That was how companies like Under Armour and Nike branched out further. He had the teachings and the imagination and so far he was starting small, designing shirts and creating his own label. Keith stared out at a few boxes of clothing already prepared to be shipped to a few schools around the state.

It seemed he was well off indeed, yet he wanted more. Maybe that was why he was a drunken mess that night, perhaps disguising it as a good time gone bad to delude his mind, to ignore having to be forced to live to a certain standard because everyone around him held him to a certain standard. He sighed as he walked into the kitchen, grabbing a glass to pour himself some water. He took the green jacket off and placed it on a chair. He drunk the water down, bit by bit, as his mind thought of what he was going to fully do all while he made his mind set on what he was going to prepare for dinner. When it was late at night, the male relaxed on the couch rather than going upstairs to lay down. Eventually he was going to have to bring it down into the only bedroom downstairs and hopefully he would do it soon before he got any bigger. He closed his eyes, resting for the night.

When the morning arrived, he awoke to take a shower and prepare breakfast before making his way to the school as his usual routine dictated. He would be there waiting for Aaron when he would eventually return with a decision on what he wanted to do with his own set of choices.

[cashewmanz]

That morning, Aaron awoke to his normal routine. He showered, ate breakfast, and was just about to head out the door to go back to the high school when his father stopped him. He got a little red in the face, both out of fear and annoyance at being blocked. "Morning, Dad," he said coolly.

"Aaron, you've been home for a week and I haven't seen you work out once," he pointed out.

"I didn't realize I had to be when I was on vacation."

"You do if you want to start next season. If you've gone flabby by the time training camp starts the coach will kick your ass out of there."

"How do you know, Dad? I've got a high metabolism; I'm young. I can stand to take a little break from the exercise to enjoy break a little," Aaron sighed.

"My son doesn't do that. My son fulfills his duties as a member of the team. He goes to the gym and makes his father proud. Don't you?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I was headed to the gym just now. My old coach was going to help me with some things."

"Now that's what I like to hear. You know as a father your well being means everything to me," he kissed his son and let him go.

The drive to the high school felt long after that, with Aaron stewing in half baked rage at his father. He hated feeling so tied down like this but obviously didn't have many choices. He made his way to Keith's office once more, and knocked on the door to be let in. "Coach?"

[SRuiz]

Keith wasn't certain when Aaron would arrive. It was a Friday however. The male simply had time to spare at the school and fortunately for him, it was only going to be a half day. The students would be out for winter break. All he had to do was just receive his paycheck, turn in a few grades alongside some plans for the upcoming Spring and be on his merry little way. As he was about to head out and turn those in, that's when he heard his former student's voice.

"Yea" he responded as he opened the door. "Come in."

When Aaron's full frame was back inside the room, he closed the door as he had done before, this time he remained standing.

"Have you reached a decision?"

[cashewmanz]

"I think I have..." Aaron said, sitting down. He felt a little nervous, even though he wasn't sure why. But it helped him gain some composure to be able to grip the arms on the chair as he took a few deep breaths. "I want to help you. With your pregnancy, that is. And with the baby. I don't love my father, I don't even really like him. But I always looked up to you as a sort of father figure. And I want to see if I can be a better father than my own...maybe. That was a lot at once. Sorry," he looked down and waited for a response.

[SRuiz]

Keith was having a hard time trying to believe he had heard everything exactly right. Aaron wanted to do what exactly?

"I...beg your pardon?" Keith was a bit troubled by what Aaron had just stated. It sounded like he wanted to get away from his father rather than try to work out whatever issues they were having. "Aaron, that's...I'm not sure how to react to that. It's sweet of you, really, but I'm going to be alright. You don't need this on yourself and...why would you want to be a father so soon?"

[cashewmanz]

"It feels like it's all I've ever actually wanted. And I think that's what I feel like I've been missing. An actual supportive family. And you sounded so unsure about your future, I figured you could use someone there to help you out. Just to fall back on. And we've always gotten along really well, I feel like we could make it work." Aaron was getting more nervous at this point. He'd figured Keith would'veliked his idea, but now he felt as though he'd made a fool of himself.