Lilith is sitting in shock. “Lilith, if you would be so kind as to sign as the witness. I would appreciate it.”
Her eyes wide, she signs, then backs out of the room.
The door is barely closed behind her before Chris pulls me out of the chair and hugs me so tight I can’t breathe. “You are so fucking awesome. You did it. You won us our baby girl.”
***
Six weeks later
I’m pacing the bathroom. Chris has Simone in his arms, rocking her as she chews on her hand. I told him she was teething already. Her eyes light up as I get close and her chubby little arms reach for me. I laugh as I pull her to me. Ah, she smells so good: baby formula, and the lavender lotion Barbara bought as a suggestion to help Simone settle better at night. She’s a real little baby dynamo now. Wiggling, laughing, crying, playing, cuddling, she loves to cuddle. The change from the baby she used to be to now is nothing short of amazing. Sometimes it’s hard to look at the pictures from when she first came to us.
The past few weeks were a kind of surreal dream. There are times I don’t quite trust how easily Chris and I adapted to being a mom and a dad. We had our moments: when Simone spit up all down my shirt, and it smelled so awful I threw up and it took me hours to clean up. Or the time Chris had no idea Simone had blown through a diaper and he pulled her out with poop all up her back. We had to throw the car seat away since we couldn’t get the smell out of it. We’ve made mistakes, we aren’t done making them but we do our best to let the little things stay little and keep our eyes on what matters the most, our love and our daughter.
Chris was up in the middle of the night before I even heard her crying. He was proud to change diapers and feed her, and dress her in the cutest outfits he could find. Our kitchen was now stocked with homemade organic baby food he spent hours making for her. There were times I had to beg to be the one to hold her and feed her. I’ll never admit the first day he was gone for an away game, I loved having Simone all to myself, although by the day he was due back I was almost in tears to have him home again.
Yet in all these weeks, Chris made sure we never forgot it was important for us not to lose focus on us. Every day he was home we carved out an hour for us ourselves to connect, without a word about Simone. Since he’s in and out of the house an actual date night hasn’t been planned, though we’ve been to Holly and Ethan’s. However, Chris is already adamant once the season is over it will be a weekly thing. I tried not to cry when he told me he searched so hard to find me, he was never going to allow either of us to forget how precious the gift of our connection to each other is.
We also couldn’t go anywhere without the press hounding us. A stripper sold the story to a tabloid, and for a week we had people waiting outside our home. Then some singer said something insanely stupid and they were gone, leaving us in relative peace.
We’re keeping our heads down, not answering questions. When Simone is older we know we’ll have to answer her questions, they are the only ones that matter. As for the public, we’ll see what she is comfortable with. Maybe someday we will speak about how we became a family. For now, if Chris gets asked in interviews, he simply says his family isn’t for public consumption. Almost everyone was polite enough to let it go, and the few who didn’t were left astounded when Chris walked away.
Catherine has only been gone a week. It was love at first sight when she saw Simone. A few times I had to plead to hold my daughter. Plans are firm for Catherine to go through her house and have it on the market within the next thirty days then move into the house behind us by this time next month, whether her house sells or not. She is already extracting promises of days alone with Simone and setting up a nursery in her new home. Chris and I can’t wait.
The alarm on my phone goes off. I clutch my daughter tighter to me and shake my head. “I can’t look. You do it.”
Chris laughs as he picks up the stick. He looks at me. “You know the answer to the question. We’re having a baby.”
I laugh as I start crying from happiness. “I love you, thank you.”
Hugging me close, he kisses my forehead. “Hell, sugar, I had the best and easiest part. Go put Simone down for the night. it’s time for us to celebrate.”
As I put Simone down I talk to her, she loves being talked to almost as much as she loves cuddles. “Okay, sweetie, now I need you to be good tonight and fall asleep right away. Me and Daddy have some business to settle.”
She chuckles. Darn it, that’s her daddy’s evil chuckle. Ever since she started eating enough to get full and getting more than two hours of sleep, she’ll drop for a nap at all hours of the day and only sleeps maybe four hours a night. She also has a hard time believing we’re really going to leave her all alone in the room. We have to come in to reassure her a few times before she gives up because she’s just happy we come when she calls.
I dig through the closet to find the box I hid in here a few weeks ago. Opening the box, I take out the ring and slip it in the pocket of my robe. When I go back into the bedroom Chris is waiting, naked. So damn beautiful, I wonder if I’ll ever get used to him. I crawl on the bed toward him and look down.
“Chris?” His hand slides up my thigh then around my ass, molding the flesh in his hand. An eyebrow goes up in question. “With me getting knocked up, it’s time you made an honest woman out of me.” I pull out the ring. It’s a thick white gold ring with a small sapphire glinting in the middle. “Christopher Baldwin, no longer the baddest boy in baseball or the baddest boy I’ve ever met, simply the best man I’ve ever met and the love of my life. Will you marry me?”
He yanks me down then rolls me under him. Shaking his head, he’s smiling. Then he reaches under my pillow. He’s holding an enormous emerald ring. “Great minds, except I wasn’t going to give you a choice. What do you think me knocking you up was all about? You were never going to get away from me. Our children will tie us together, lest you forget you’re mine forever and always.”
Ten Years Later
Checking in at the hotel, the girl smirks as she hands over the room key. Hell, she recognizes me. After ten years away from the
game I take it for granted people don’t know who I am. I ignore the eye she gives my wedding ring, damn, maybe a different hotel next time.
The elevator is empty and I don’t encounter anyone else before I get up to the room. It’s a nice room, I didn’t splash out on a suite since I only needed it for a few hours and god did I need it. The quiet in the room is a welcome relief after a house that seemed to thump constantly from one noise or another. Whether it was someone running up and down the stairs, a scream for mom or dad over some horrific wrong that needed to be righted. In the next minute guilt floods me at the mere appreciation of quiet.
I love my kids, all six of them just because I’m glad they are home right now and won’t be bursting through the door, climbing on the bed and asking for cuddles while I read them a book or tell them a story doesn’t make me a bad dad. It’s completely normal, someday I’ll actually believe it and not feel so much guilt over it.
I shake my head then begin getting undressed. With an eye on the clock I have maybe five minutes before she is due here. It’s only now I wonder if she was waiting downstairs for me while I checked in. I shrug and settle on the bed with a sigh of relief, enjoying the quiet. The sapphire in my wedding ring glints in the light, remembering the look the front desk clerk gave me, I take it off and set it on the bedside table. A knock at the door has me up off the bed, my cock growing hard in anticipation. Just a few hours, something new, something different.
When I open the door, the woman gasps at the sight of me naked. My eyes roam over her. Fuck, her dark brown hair is a short shaggy cut. The dress she’s wearing is tight across her curves. Good, I like those curves. I step back to give her room to come inside. “What’s with the short hair? My requirements were clear, long hair, curves, and a woman who wouldn’t freak out over me fucking her ass. And you know I don’t use condoms, right?”
Golden brown eyes roll as she nods. “We don’t all come to factory specifications. I’m good with anal, and no condoms. So I got a hair cut today, it’s still kind of long. Do you want to do this or not?”
“Hmm...sassy mouthed little whore aren’t you?” Her eyes snap at the ‘whore’ but her full lips thin instead of lighting into me like she wants to. I get close to her, my hand goes into her hair, I’m able to get a nice handful. “I guess you’ll do.”