I look at my professor and back to Dusty.
He shakes his head. “It’s fine. I’ll be outside when class is over.”
The woman in the desk next to me pats my arm. “Go ahead. I’ll send you my notes.”
I thank her and grab up my stuff and follow Dusty out the door. He turns to me as soon as we’re out, pushing me up against the wall. His hand trails down my arm and the other goes behind my neck. “You didn’t have to leave. I would have waited on you.”
I shake my head, unable to even form a complete sentence. I wrap my arms around his waist and hold him tight. My body starts to tremble and he pulls away just enough to look down at me. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head, but he’s more stern this time. “No more of this. We talk things out. No more keeping things from each other.”
I shrug my shoulders. “I almost lost you. I almost gave you up,” I tell him in a soft voice, filled with shame.
He puts his hands on each side of my face, forcing me to look up to him. “You were doing what you thought was right and I could spank that ass for it. But what you need to know, pretty girl, is that you are what’s right for me. Always and forever, I choose you.”
And then he kisses me.
Epilogue
Serenity
Three years later
Sitting down in the front of the stadium, I have a perfect view of right field. The rest of the players can do whatever and I wouldn’t notice. I always keep my eyes on Dusty. We are up three to one against the Tigers, but if I’ve learned anything in baseball, it can change with the drop of a hat, or ball I guess I should say. The other team has bases loaded and there’s two outs. This game can go either way.
I’m sitting next to my mother-in-law. “Would you like some popcorn?” she asks me.
I shake my head and hold out the peanut and chocolate candy. “No, I’m good.” After everything with his mother, I was surprised when she showed up at my house one day. As soon as I let her in, she apologized to me, telling me that she was sorry for treating me the way she did. I, of course, forgave her and we’ve actually become close since then. Either because we really do have a lot in common, or she’s just trying to be my friend because of Dusty, I don’t care. I want our relationship to work because I want my relationship with Dusty to work.
I graduated school and started working in an office that helps neglected children. I love it and am so happy to have chosen this profession. The only downfall is not being able to get off to go to away games. I know Dusty wants me with him, but he’s the most supportive husband I ever could have wished for. He is perfect. We got married shortly after I met his mom. And even the tabloids have become nicer to me. Maybe it was the dress I wore to the award ceremonies right after we got married, or maybe it’s all of the fundraising and volunteer work I do, but for whatever reason, I’m grateful that they now only post about me in a positive light. I can’t help but think that Dusty had a hand in that.
Lost in thought, I startle when the crowd around me jumps out of their seats, cheering. His mom and I both jump out of our seats as the ball’s hit right to Dusty. We watch as it sails through the air and Dusty is tracking it, chasing it down. When he makes a diving catch for it, the crowd goes wild and his mom and I both start jumping up and down. We win and the whole time that Dusty’s running in, he’s watching me with a smile on his face.
My heart is beating triple time in my chest. When his eyes are on me, I can tune out everything else. He stops at the fence in front of me and I put my fingers through the openings. He grabs on to them as I bend down and kiss him. We started doing this after the first game I went to, and he’s continued it every game since. He tells me it’s because he loves having me there for him and wants every man to know I’m taken.
When the people around us start an uproar, I pull away and point up to the jumbotron. It took a lot of work to keep this surprise from him, but I did it. He looks behind him and the image of the two of us are up there. They usually do this for the kiss cam, but not today. Today they add a border around our picture with the text, “Daddy Dusty.”