The thoughts are terrifying and exciting all at the same time, but then as soon as Miles gets to the living room, he launches himself at Dex…not Will, not Beck. His dad.
Will my kid jump to me with no hesitation, no fear, that I won’t catch them?
“Daaaad, I was in the middle of making a huuuuge Lego town.”
Dex chuckles. “I’m sorry, I’ll make it quick—If you got to invite someone over…Will or Beck, who would you call first?”
Miles hums while he tries to mask some giggles. “Well, I love both of them, but would Will bring Callie or does Beck have Dottie?”
Beck and Will mumble curses under their breath, while the rest of us laugh.
Dex places a quick kiss on his head. “Good answer, buddy. You can go back to your Lego town. Everyone will come look at it when you’re done.”
“Okie!” Miles pops up like a rocket and races back to his room.
Dex leans back on the couch and folds his hands behind his head. “Well, there you go.”
“I’d be more offended, but I do love that dog.” Beck shakes his head. “Before I forget…I have a vasectomy guy that you all can call…you know, if you’re thinking about it.”
I run my hand over my face. “You motherfucker.”
Beck holds up his hands in defense. “What? No pressure to anyone, I’m just saying, been there, snipped that.”
Will nudges my arm with his elbow. “Sorry about this, but, yeah, Beck, I’ll take that number.”
When Mia and the girls eventually came back, I thankfully got to see a soft smile on her face, but it was clear how exhausted she was on the car ride back to her place.
She tried to fight the idea of a nap, but I think she made it a total of five minutes sitting with me on her couch before she was out. When I moved her to her bed, there was truly nothing more in this world that I wanted more than to crawl under those covers with her.
Now, we’re an hour into pregame warm-ups, and apparently, my ability to fake strength and a completely unbothered mentality has weakened over the years.
I’ve warmed up fine. Hell, I doubt any fan watching the game today will notice how off I feel, but the rest of the team, the coaches…I’ve been asked ten times if everything’s okay.
Back at Dex’s, I mentioned I’d fill everyone else in before we left for our away games, but I don’t have it in me to answer any questions and zero patience for any stupid accusations today.
I just want to get through this game and get back to Mia.
Dex comes up to my side while I put my bat and helmet up in the dugout. “Hey, you got a second to talk?”
“Is this game related, or?”
“Probably a conversation you’ll want to have in private,” Dex says. “You can say no, but considering Olsson just asked if I thought you were a little off, it might be good to hear me out.”
I prevent my head from completely hanging as I take a deep breath. Shit, I have to get better at pushing this stress down. I don’t want my fears and anxiety showing with Mia at all.
“Alright, just let me check my phone first.”
Dex nods. “You can meet me in my old office. I swear, no one fucking uses it.”
“Alright, be there in a sec.”
I grab my phone from the bench in the dugout.
Nothing. Shit, well, I knew she was exhausted. My thumb hovers over the call button. Probably best to let her sleep as long as possible. She is growing our child after all.
Each time that thought crosses my mind, it feels so unnatural. Our child. This tiny human that we’re going to be responsible for.
Surely, at some point, we’re both going to wake up and fully accept this new reality. Our days won’t feel so heavy, and we’ll feel a little more confident in the fact that we’re actually doing this.
