The Player and the Single Mom

Train appeared carrying his daughter. He put her in front of the camera. “Madison says hi.” He waved her chubby little fist.

Everyone complimented the adorableness of his child and I felt my chest tighten. I couldn’t wait for me to be the one in that position.

“Are y’all still coming for the Fourth?” I asked. “It’s the perfect time for you to meet Sera and the kids.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” JJ said. “Is there going to be another proposal this year? Hopefully less stressful than mine to Mia was.”

“There just might be.” There was one-hundred-percent going to be a proposal.

But I needed to give Sera a grace period before I sprang that on her. She liked to control things when she could, because so much of her life was out of her control.

I needed a sign that she wanted me to propose first.

“Hey, next New Year’s Eve you don’t have to be the lone single,” Train said. “Because that shit was hard to watch.”

“Stop, you’re so mean to each other,” Sydney said, nudging her husband before handing him the phone. “Congrats again, Cash.”

“You’d better send cigars when this baby is born. I thought it was really fucking rude when Train didn’t send anything when Madison was born,” Dak said.

“My daughter was born at four in the morning and I went and played a one o’clock game and scored two touchdowns. I was a little busy,” Train said.

“I have the same dilemma. The baby is due in November. We should have planned for these kids to be born in the off-season.”

“We should have planned them at all,” Train said with a grin.

“True that. So nobody is going to say anything about my contract? I’m going to ink it this afternoon. Four more years. Guaranteed seventy-five percent. Twenty million a year.”

“Not bad for a tackle,” Miles said.

“Tell me about it.”

“I’m glad you’re sticking around.”

That was about as gushy as I was going to get from Williams, but I appreciated it. “Thanks, man. I love you too.”

“Shit,” he said, grumbling and rolling his eyes. “Same.”

That made me laugh.

The Legends were all in love and locked in. Seemed right. “Train, book that skiing resort in Vermont again for next Christmas. And give me a bigger cabin than everyone but you because I’m about to have four kids.”

“Damn. You’re going to need two cabins.”

My agent,Sam Gable, was sitting next to me, with the GM, Tim Biebs, across from me in his office later that afternoon. Tim stood up and stretched out his hand. “We’re thrilled to have your talent sticking around in our organization, Cash. You’ve always been a strong asset to our offense.”

“Thanks, Mr. Biebs. I feel at home here and I appreciate your confidence in me.”

Sometimes the numbers in front of me straight-up baffled me. For a brawny kid from the bayou to see a guaranteed sixty million dollars, or a full eighty million over the next four years if I played the full contract, was something else. For the most part, I was cautious with money and didn’t overspend on expensive cars or designer clothes or multiple properties. In the past it had always felt like more money than I could ever spend in a lifetime but now overnight I found myself responsible for a family of six. The money was appreciated.

I signed and my agent beamed and we all shook hands again and I walked out of that office feeling like eighty million bucks.

“Want to grab a drink to celebrate?” Sam asked as we walked down the hallway.

When I was a rookie being in the team offices freaked me the fuck out. I felt like an awkward country boy, always worried they were calling me in to cut me. It had taken a few years to settle in and now I appreciated the culture and legacy of this building, the team.

“I can if it’s just one. I’m meeting my girlfriend for dinner at seven. We’re celebrating.”

“The contract?”

“That and the fact that she’s expecting.” I hadn’t planned to say that. But I was blurting out our news left, right, and fucking center because I was so damn excited.

“No kidding?” Sam clapped me on the shoulder. “Congratulations. You’re going to love it, trust me. My four kids are awful and it’s still the best thing to ever happen to me.”

That made me laugh. “I may need your advice. Your kids are high school age and my girlfriend has a fourteen-year-old girl and a twelve-year-old boy. Plus a five-year-old and then the new one on the way. We’re moving in together and I have to admit, I’m kind of nervous about the kids adjusting.” Or at least, we were moving in together after I explained to Sera why we needed to move in together.

“Fourteen? Good luck with that. Just throw food into her room and then shut the door real quick behind you. That’s my advice. Teen girls are feral.” Sam adjusted his tie.

He had the typical slick agent look, expensive suits, shiny shoes, charming smile. But he was a fantastic agent who always worked his ass off for my best interests, and he really did love his family, in spite of his sense of humor.

“That sounds terrifying. And the twelve-year-old boy?”

“That’s the jerk-off age. Start making him do his own laundry. It will save all of you a lot of awkward moments.”

“Oh shit, come to think of it, I remember that all too well in my own youth. I used to say those stiff socks were my brother’s.”

“See what I’m saying? Just don’t touch any fabric in his room.”

That made me laugh. “Noted.”

“In all seriousness, the best you can do is make sure your girlfriend is taken care of. She’s doing the heavy lifting at home. Pamper her, treat her with respect. My wife runs the whole damn show at home so I can do this.” He waved his arm around at the hallway lined with team photos. “And while she appreciates what I put in the bank account, it’s important that I tell her every single day I appreciate what she’s doing for our family. None of that shit is easy. I’d rather deal with a three-hundred-pound grown man throwing a temper tantrum because the coach hurt his feelings than sit in that goddamn carpool line every day.”

Made total sense to me. “Got it. Thanks, Sam. Let’s grab a beer.”

Sera

Morning Sera had thoughtdinner at seven sounded fine. Seven o’clock Sera was falling asleep in my chair. I had forgotten how exhausting it was to be pregnant. But the time worked better than earlier because I had been able to make sure Ava and Johnny had their homework done and Marigold had a bath before I’d left. I was looking forward to school ending in a couple of weeks because then I wouldn’t have to be their drill sergeant. Or at least not as much.

Cash hadn’t objected at all to my request to eat at a pub style restaurant. I wasn’t up for anything that required I put on makeup or cute clothes.

He did say we needed to celebrate but considering I couldn’t drink alcohol I thought onion rings were a hell of a way to mark the occasion. I was craving fried foods, which seemed odd, but I wasn’t going to argue. It was better than the nausea of the last few weeks.

Cash handed me his phone. “We’re not just celebrating the baby,” he said. “I signed on for four more seasons today. Read this.”

I nearly dropped his phone. In all the chaos of the last few days, it had literally never once occurred to me that football players took trades and were traded all the time. Him being in Nashville was no guarantee.

“Wow, well, that’s honestly a huge relief,” I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. I wouldn’t want to move. That would be hard on the kids and I loved being near my sisters. “What am I looking at?” I scanned the document.

“My contract.”