There was a chill in the breeze off the river. This would be their last game outing for the year. They'd been present for quite a few this year. A handful more than last year. But, it was getting too cold. When it warmed up again, they could come back. Mommy promised.

Emily sat on a wooden bench with her back to the river and faced the stadium. The parking garages were all full to the brim with cars and downtown was practically empty as people holed up in bars and at home to watch the game. And, then there were the few hundred lucky ones inside watching it live. But, as far as Emily was concerned, she and her Mommy had the best seats in the house. Even if they weren't in the house, really.

She had a scoop of butterscotch ice cream in a cone in one hand and the faded, worn teddy bear that her Mommy made for her when she was a baby in the other hand. The bear was made from soft flannel, stuffed with cloth scraps, and had coat buttons for eyes. When she was old enough to want to give it a name, she named him Benjamin. He wasn't as sturdy as the ones sold in the store, but Emily loved him to bits. Almost literally... Mommy had to sew the eyes back on several times.

Even in her new jacket, Emily was shivering. The ice cream combined with the wind to chill her right through and through. Mommy had an arm around her to block the wind. It helped, some. Still, she scooted closer and tucked Benjamin safely in between her and Mommy's hip. That way, he would stay safe and warm!

A faint, distant crack caught her attention. It was the sound she'd been waiting for since they arrived. A split second later, an audible roar went up from the crowd packed into the stadium.

"Home run!" She crowed and waved her bear-free arm. Her Mommy echoed the cry and hugged Emily with the arm around her shoulders. There was no way of knowing which team had hit or if the run had completed, but it didn't matter to them. This was their tradition. As far as they were concerned, the Pirates had done it again!

"They're good this season," Mommy observed as she licked a stray drip of chocolate from her ice cream cone. "Too bad it's almost over. I hope they're as good next year."

"They will!" Emily chirped with a nod and then returned her attention to her ice cream to await the next 'home run'.

"You always say that, EmmyBean." Mommy ruffled her hair. "As long as there's ice cream involved, huh?"

"Yep!" She gave a sunny smile complete with a smear of butterscotch across her nose. Mommy laughed as she wiped it away with the sleeve of her sweater. That tickled! Emily giggled and wrinkled her nose, snuggling in closer at Mommy's side. She'd warm up again when the ice cream was gone.

Until then, she waited for the next roar of the crowd and cheered right along with them.

The car smelled funny. Not like Miss Davis' apartment smelled funny, with too many cats and cigarette smoke. More like the polish stuff that the landlord used when he buffed the tile floors in the lobby. It made Emily's nose wrinkle. Everything in the car was too shiny and too new. She didn't fidget in her seat for fear of being yelled at for scuffing something.

The scenery rolled by outside the car window in flashes of the tops of cars or the occasional big truck looking down on the smaller car. She was still too little to see out very well. But, every time they crossed over a bridge, she looked up at the metal structure in wonder. Mommy told her that the city had the most bridges of any place in the whole world. Sometimes when the Pirates played baseball at the stadium, she would take Emily downtown and they'd walk across the bridge to the stadium park. Mommy would buy them each an ice cream cone if it wasn't too cold and they'd sit along the riverfront and listen to every roar of the crowd; cheering imagined home runs. Someday, Mommy had promised, they'd get tickets to the game and go inside to watch.

Emily glanced over at the lady driving the car. The lady had introduced herself as Janice and said that something had happened that would make Mommy unable to come home again. As nice as Miss Janice seemed, Emily didn't really believe her. Mommy always came home. Sometimes she worked late, but she always came home eventually.

Still, she packed her clothes up and carried her favorite teddy bear out to the waiting car. They were going to see a nice family with some other kids her age, Miss Janice told Emily, until they could find her Daddy. Except that Emily had never met him and Mommy had never said who he was. Whenever Emily asked, Mommy always told her that he was a nice man and had gotten lost. It seemed sad that he had gotten so badly lost, but maybe now he'd get found with Miss Janice and those other people in suits looking for him.

"Do they have a swimming pool?" She asked as she watched another bridge pass overhead.

"A swimming pool? It's January, honey. It's too cold to swim." Miss Janice glanced at her curiously. Emily hadn't said more than a few words at a time in days. "Why do you ask?"

"I like swimming pools," she mumbled and fiddled with the arm of the teddy bear in her lap.

"We'll get you to a swimming pool once the weather gets warm, okay?"

Emily nodded and hugged her teddy bear to her chest. They'd passed over their last bridge. Now all she could see was the tops of trees as they drove out into the suburbs to meet her new, temporary family. Emily couldn't remember their names, but Miss Janice assured her they were very nice. She really hoped so.