Home Run Baby: A Sports Romance (56 page)

“I know,” he whispers.

I shake my head. “No, Junior. I
really
have—”

He takes a long stride towards me and kisses me but that just makes me feel even worse.

“
I know
, Ellie.” He grabs my hand and entwines our fingers together with a tight grip.

I look into his eyes and my breath catches in my throat.
“You know?”

“I know,” he nods. “And
I love you.
”

“How do you know?”

He hesitates. “Your dad told me.”

My face falls. “Why did he…?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he says, nudging my chin up to make me look at him.

“Wait—” I look at his outfit. “Why aren’t you at the game?”

Junior pauses but his touch on me never ceases. “He wanted me to choose so I made a choice.”

My eyes fill with tears. “Junior,
no
—”

“Yes.”

“You can’t give that up for me.”

“I already have.”

“But—”

“But
nothing
, Ellie. I’m in. I told you that before and nothing has changed. I’ll never let anyone take you from me.” His hand falls to my belly and his warm touch fires a spark throughout my body. “Or this.”

I let the tears fall. “Promise?”

He draws an X over his chest and kisses me again, sealing his promise.

SEPTEMBER

Chapter 31

Eliza

Junior takes my hand and gives it a light, reassuring squeeze.

I glance at him beside me on the couch through my peripheral vision and he rolls his eyes at me.

“Don’t think I didn’t see that, young man,” Bonnie says, pointing a finger at him from the loveseat across the room.

“Mom, we already said no… about thirteen times now,” he says.

“Not that we don’t appreciate the offer…” I add.

“Right,” he nods. “But…
no
.”

She sighs. “Well,
why
not
?”

I chuckle at her desperation and everyone else sitting around does, too.

Ty and Grant hold it back the best so they don’t appear rude in her home but I can see the humor dancing in their eyes.

Maggie lets it all out, cackling hard at her little brother’s expense while Nate keeps his head down beside her.

Roy just shakes his head quietly from his chair.

“Because…” Junior says. “I don’t want to move back in with my parents.”

“Well, this isn’t only about
you
, Junior.” She gestures at me. “This is about Eliza and what she needs.”

“Really, Bonnie. Thank you, but…” I hesitate, trying to think of the best way to say it without offending her. “I have all the support I need near campus. We’ve been getting along great…”

“But it’s far
quieter
out here,” she argues, her voice sounding more eager and scripted than usual. “You can’t raise a baby by a college campus. It’s too noisy! Especially now that the stadium will surely sell out for every game.”

“It’s
fine
, Mom,” Junior says. “The condo Ty’s cousin found us is far enough away that noise hasn’t been an issue.”

Bonnie flinches at the word
condo
. “But what about daycare?” she fires back. “It’s far too expensive nowadays. If the three of you move in here, then
I
can take care of the baby while you’re in class or at football practice.”

“You live an hour away from campus, Mom,” he points out. “The daily commute would probably cost the same as daycare.”

“I’m taking the fall semester off,” I say. “We don’t have to worry about the daycare situation until spring.”

Grant points at me. “And you absolutely
have
to be back by then,” he says.
“Shakespeare showcase!”

I smile at him. “I won’t miss it.”

“What about you, little brother?” Maggie asks, her cheeks pink with wine. “Will you be gracing us with your amazing stage presence again next semester?”

Junior glares at her. “You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?”

“Never,” she grins.

“No,” he answers. “I’ll be sticking with football.”

Nate leans forward. “Have they chosen a new coach?”

The air shifts and Junior squeezes my hand a little tighter.

“Yes,” Ty answers. “Well, kind of. Bob is taking over and he’s nailing it so far, in you ask me.”

Junior nods. “He’s doing great, yeah. Not surprising, though, he’s been around forever and he knows what he’s doing.”

Bonnie sighs to pull attention back on her. “Okay — fast forward to spring and we’re right back to square one,” she says, gesturing with zeal. “What are you going to do with the baby
then
?”

Roy finally chimes in. “Bonnie, the kids have made their decision.”

“But they have better
options
.”

“I’m sure they’ve considered every single option available to them and they’ve decided, together, to do what they feel is best for them and their family.”

“But they don’t—”

“Remember when Maggie was born and how you used to complain about
my
mother not leaving us alone?”

Her jaw drops and the room cringes. “This is completely different…”

“No, it’s not.”

The doorbell rings and Junior shoots up off the couch. “I’ll get it!”

“Don’t leave me…” I whine.

He grins and drops my hand, abandoning me to fend for myself.

“Eliza…” Roy says, looking at me. “We’re just a phone call away if you two need anything. You know that.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Anything
at all
,” Bonnie says.

I smile. “Thank you. Really, though, we’re fine. We’ve figured out our routine and I don’t expect any big surprises to come knocking anytime soon.”

“Ellie…”

I look up at Junior and pause, catching sight of the familiar face lingering behind him in the open doorway.

My father.

I stand up, driven by shock but I can’t bring myself to step any closer.

He looks at me over Junior’s shoulder with soft eyes and a long expression, neither of which I’ve ever seen on him before. It’s strange, almost foreign, like an alien wearing his face as a mask. I don’t feel an ounce of hatred or fear of him. I thought I would if I ever saw him again.

“I would like to talk to my daughter in private, please,” he says.

Junior doesn’t budge. “That’s up to her.”

“Junior…” He turns to me and I nod. “It’s okay.” I push forward through the silent room and Junior steps aside, his eyes asking me for reassurance and I nod again. “We can go out back.”

My father walks in and scans the room, vastly outnumbered. “Hello,” he says, nodding awkwardly at their wide, unblinking eyes.

I always forget how much of a celebrity my father is. Even after everything he’s done, it’s difficult for them not to look at him like that; Junior being the obvious exception in the room. There’s a subtle anger hidden behind his calm, brown eyes.

“Come on.” I lead my father through the house to the backyard, feeling Junior’s watchful stare on me the entire time — even after closing the door behind us but I can’t spot him at all in the windows.

Silence falls between us despite months of planning what I’d say to him. All the anger and frustration I imagined melts away and it’s mostly pity that takes their place.

He seems older, more wrinkled, and he hasn’t shaved in days from the look of his scruff.

“Where have you been?” I finally ask.

“I went back to New York for a while,” he says, his voice low. “Thought about staying there, but…”

“But what?”

He clears his throat. “I wanted to see my daughter again.”

My tongue twitches, tempted by instinct to issue a snarky reply but I force it down.

He glances at the house. “Seems like you’ve been taking care of yourself…”

“The Morgans took me in after you… disappeared.”

“Good,” he nods. “And Junior? I hear he’s still got that arm—”

“Dad, what do you want?”

He goes quiet but looks right at me for several moments. “Eliza, I was never meant to be a dad. Then all of a sudden, I had a little girl and I didn’t know what to do with you. Where I come from, family was just something that held a man back. Love, marriage, kids — it was all a distraction from what really mattered.”

I cringe away from him. It’s one thing to know it but to hear it so blatantly from the devil himself is something else entirely. “Okay…”

“I never gave that a second thought…” he continues. “Not until Junior walked away from that game last year. When he did that… I don’t know. For the first time, I changed my mind a little.”

“Is that why you ran off?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I couldn’t bring myself to face you again after…” He shakes his head. “Eliza, I don’t know a whole lot about what family means or what it’s supposed to be but I do know that you’re my daughter and you’re the only family I got left. I’m willing to try… if you’ll let me. I’d like to start here with the home you’ve built for yourself and hopefully… you can find a place for me in it.”

And just like that, I’m a little kid again, staring up at the television screen, screaming,
“that’s my dad!”
at the top of my lungs. It took years for the truth about who he really was to decay the rosy tint in my vision but I’ve always longed to feel that again. With all of his mistakes, he’s still my dad and always will be.

Turning my back on him now might feel good for a while. It’s downright
tempting
, to be honest. It’s what he’s done to me, after all, but it’s not who I am. It’s not how I’d raise my own child.

“Well,
to start
…” I shift on my toes. “Would you like to meet your granddaughter?”

He smiles. “Yeah, I would.”

I take him back inside and up the stairs. The house is far too silent for the number of people in it but I imagine the voices ceased the second we stepped inside.

“She’s been napping for a while,” I say just outside of Junior’s room. “Being around people tends to wear her out but I don’t think she’d mind one more.”

I push the door open and we step softly towards the crib in the corner. Even before I see her, I can feel her turning to look at me — like a magic link constantly pulling us together.

“Hey, baby…” I whisper, reaching down to pick her up. “Someone here wants to meet you.”

She twists her head, instantly drawn to the massive man behind my back but she doesn’t make a peep.

“Wow…” my father says, staring at her. “She looks just like you did.”

“Yeah?”

He nods, gently smoothing his palm over the brown tuft on her head. “What’s her name?”

“Courtney,” I answer, shifting her closer to him.

There’s a quick panic in his eyes but it passes as soon as he takes her from me. I chuckle at how much smaller she appears in his huge hands.

“Hello, Courtney…” he says, chuckling. “I’m your grandfather.”

Still, she doesn’t make a noise. She just stares at him with wide eyes, confused yet comfortable.

I take a deep breath to swallow the rush of tears down. “Dad, if you want, you can stay for a while. I don’t think Bonnie or Roy would mind setting another place at the table.”

He furrows his brow. “What about Junior?”

I raise my voice a little, sensing the near-silent movement in the hallway. “Junior won’t be a problem.”

Dad finally tears his eyes away from her face to look at me. “Is he taking care of you two?”

“Yeah,” I say, my heart throbbing. “He’s a good man.”

He nods, regret filling his eyes. “Yes, he is.”