Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
“The first one is our son, Owen,” I said, “the second is our new baby. The one growing inside me right now.”
He turned slowly toward me, his jaw dropping as it hit him. Then he carefully put the ornaments in the box, put the box on the coffee table in front of us, and grabbed me, pulling me into his lap.
He kissed me excitedly, his eyes welling with tears. He looked beyond excited, and I felt the emotion bubbling up inside me as well. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I laughed.
“Are you happy?” I asked.
“I seriously could not be happier,” he said. “I am so excited.”
“Me too,” I said. “Not just to have another baby with you, but for you to get to experience everything you missed last time.”
“I love you,” he said, pulling me in for a tight hug. “I love you so much. I am so happy. Owen’s going to be a big brother!”
“I love you too,” I said, nuzzling into his chest. The warmth and comfort of his soft T-shirt over his muscular chest as it soaked the tears that were streaming down my face made me feel even more connected to him in that moment.
“This is amazing,” he said, pulling the ornaments to him again and sitting back on the couch.
We sat there, looking at the ultrasound for a while in the twinkling lights of the living room tree before going back to preparing for the last Christmas with just the three of us.
EPILOGUE
GRAHAM - TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER
“What if I can’t hit the ball?” Owen asked from the seat behind me.
“Don’t worry about that,” I said. “What’s important is that you try. Remember, even the very best hitters ever only get hits three to four times out of ten.”
“Okay, Daddy,” he said.
Mallory put her hand on mine, and I looked over into her smile as I pulled into the parking lot of the baseball park. It was a newer park, one built on my buddy Camden’s land. Ryan and Allison were standing by the fence, waiting for us to arrive, their son, Leo, wearing his own uniform. His game was going to be going on at the same time as Owen’s in the field right across from it.
The park was impressive as it was. Separated by the rest of his ranch by a few acres of corn, it resembled the Field of Dreams. But instead of just being one major league-sized park, there were several different-sized ballparks, each sidling up to the others so that there were older kids playing next to younger ones in parks with different dimensions to match their age-range.
“Hey bud, you ready for your first game?” Ryan asked as Owen ran up to them. He and Leo had hit it off well, despite Leo being a year or so older. The two of them were peas in a pod and were luckily close enough in age to play on the same team.
“Yup,” Owen said, smacking his fist into his glove like a seasoned veteran. “Leo, do you want to go catch first?”
“Yeah!” Leo said, and they took off for the field.
Ryan, Allison, Mallory, and I watched them run down the hill and through the fence to the outfield grass of the park they would be playing on. Owen had a ball already, and they started tossing it back and forth in the haphazard way that kids still getting used to tossing a baseball around do. They looked so great in their uniforms, and I felt my chest tighten.
“Aww, man,” Ryan said. “This is cool.”
“Memories, right?”
“Just like old times,” Ryan said. “You, me, Camden, Mark, Victor, all of us out in an open dirt field.”
“Good days.”
“You were always the best player,” he laughed. “Camden and I never could figure it out. We were bigger than you, and yet you kicked our ass.”
I shrugged.
“I had a gift.”
“Still do,” he said. “Now you get to coach our boys. Circle of life.”
I laughed.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get down there. The rest of the team should be here soon.”
We made our way down the hill and into the park. Ryan was volunteering that day as a third base coach, while I coached the team. Allison and Mallory split off with the girls and put down a blanket on the ground a little way away from the fence to protect them. I glanced back and watched for a moment as Mallory played with our little girl, toys scattered around them. Mallory looked over and saw me and smiled, running her hand over her growing belly. Baby number three was due soon.
I never would have thought having children would have been such a joy for me. My life had always been dedicated to myself and my baseball career. It was selfishly focused, only on me and what I wanted to do. The glamour and glitz of it all seemed like so much. But now, my life was completely different, and I couldn’t imagine it being any better. I lived for my kids, and the kids at the school where I taught and coached.