Page 75 of Catching Dreams

I heard my wife giggling. I couldn’t hold up the horrible facade and had to laugh along with her. “Yes, sir. We deliver down south, and you might get lucky and get your very own personal delivery from the owner herself.”

“Hi, baby.”

“Hey, handsome. Is everything okay? You hardly ever call during the day. Shouldn’t you be watching film right now?”

My girl knew me way too well. “I should be, but I’m heading to the airport.”

“Airport? Where are you heading?”

“Miami,” I said simply with a huge grin on my face. “Why don’t you sit down before I tell you the rest.”

“Miami,” she repeated, “Okay, I’m sitting now. Holy shit, Ty, are you getting traded and called up at the same time? Do you get to play on the same team as Landon?”

I love that her mind went there. “Close, but not quite. The Jaguars are playing the Coyotes!”

“But you’re getting called up? You’re going to the majors? I’m right, aren’t I?” I could tell by the quiver in her voice that she was now crying. I had to wipe away my own tears.

“We did it, Molls. I’m getting called up. My first game in the majors is against my brother!”

“Oh my god! Hold on, love. Let me call you back on my cell phone.” After she called me back I heard a bell clink in the background and could tell my wife was on the move. I heard some muffled sounds, and then I heard Molly say, “Hazel! Olivia! Your daddy is on the phone. Girls, guess what? Daddy is going to the majors! Your daddy did it”

“Daa daaa daaa daa daaa!” I heard a little voice say.

“What the? Who is that, Molly? Is she saying what I think she’s saying?” I had tears in my eyes again. I don’t know what a better sound was - hearing I was going to the majors or hearing one of my girls say her first word and for it to be Dada.

“Liv started saying it last night. We were watching your game, and I don’t know if she knows what it means, but she knew it got a reaction from me. I didn’t tell you yet because I wanted you to hear it in person, but I knew now was the perfect time.”

“Has Hazel said her first word yet?”

“Not yet, but she gets so excited watching you on TV. She loves watching baseball with me, and her whole body shakes with excitement.”

“I love that!” I said as the Uber driver pulled up to the airport. “I’m at the airport, baby, and I need to go, but you had to be the first one I told.”

“Oh, Tyler, I am so proud of you! I love you so much. Do you want me to call your mom and the guys and everyone to tell them the good news, or do you want to tell them?”

“Go ahead and tell everyone, Molly. Well, everyone but Landon. I want to tell him. I’ll be in the air, and then I’m not sure what will happen. It’s all happening so fast.”

“I will start making phone calls. Your dreams are coming true!”

“Baby, as corny as it sounds, my dreams came true when I met you. It’s all been leading to this ultimate dream of playing in the majors.”

“I love my corny, Major-League Baseball playing husband!”

My leg wouldn’t stop bouncing as I sat in the dugout and watched my team out on the field. I tried to hide my nerves and hoped they weren’t obvious. As Tristan Barnes threw a slider, it popped right out of Kraig Johnston’s glove. The opponent on first base easily stole second. I closed my eyes, and with a sigh, I reached for the tablet near me. I began analyzing the pitch that had just been thrown and what I would have done differently. Johnston only had a few games behind the plate, so he didn’t have much more experience than I did. I began to look at the next few batters’ statistics and got lost in thought. Before I knew it, my team was jogging back to the dugout.

“What could I have done?” Johnston asked me as he slid next to me on the bench. He looked defeated, and I could tell he felt he was to blame for the fact that our team was losing by three runs.

“Don’t move the glove at all once the ball is in the sweet spot, especially a slider,” I explained. “You turned your glove, which probably was instinct, but you can’t do that.”

“Maybe you should be out there,” he said with a shrug.

“Not my call,” I said as I watched Ethan Monroe head to the batter’s box.

I noticed in awe when he didn’t swing at the first pitch and allowed a ball to fly by him. He swung at the next pitch, and the ball screamed out to the outfield while he raced to first base, easily making a single.

After him, Dallas Miller went up to bat, and he soon had two strikes, and then a ball passed him. He foul-tipped the next ball and finally hit a ball out to the center fielder. Landon made it look easy as he ran and dove for the ball. He jumped up and quickly got it back to the infield, but Monroe was already at second.

That’s right, as in Landon, my brother. I smiled and shouldn’t be proud of that diving catch, but I was. I grinned wider as I thought about my phone call to him after I boarded my plane.

---