Page 86 of Safe at Home

I was grinning more than I had ever in my life. As I was taking it all in, a new message popped up on my phone screen.

My everything: Hurry up, Super Star Rookie! Your daughters, your parents, and I want to congratulate you! We are so proud of you!

My everything: PS – Your parents said they will watch the girls tonight at Landon's house. We have a hotel room all to ourselves! Hurry up so I can congratulate you myself!

A few days later, I was back in Cincinnati, and we had an off day. The Raptors had a day game, so I was able to drive down to Riverbend after my own practice. I started with these guys and wanted to celebrate with them. Shiloh said she could watch the babies and that Peyton and Camden would be her big helpers.

We all met at Fulton’s, where my story with Molly began. On Wednesday night, they had karaoke night, and the girls were all excited. We all sat at a table near the front of the stage and watched as Molly, Penelope, Emma, Meadow, Janel, and Robyn all got up there and sang Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. They were having so much fun up there. All of us guys decided to go up there after a few drinks and sang I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys. All the girls were going crazy!

After having to play a game of darts for old times sake, Molly and I went back to the table and cuddled together to watch more singing. We were all shocked when Cooper and Penelope went up there and sang I Want You to Want Me by Cheap Trick. They sounded really good together.

As they came back to the table, we all overheard Copper say, “You know I want you, don’t you?”

“Don’t be stupid. It was just a song,” a drunk Penelope retorted with a roll of her eyes.

“I’m serious, though,” Cooper said. “You know what? I’m just going for it, the right way. Will you go on a date with me?”

As far as I knew, Cooper had never been in a relationship or on a real date. This was big. When we first met, he had been a once and done kind of guy with women. I was proud of him for how much he has changed when it came to women and taking the game of baseball seriously.

“You had your chance, Dixon. We had a night together, and then you blew it. You can go on a date with me when hell freezes over.”

“I had a night with you?” Cooper asked with wide eyes. “What are you talking about? When?”

“Fuck you! I’m leaving,” Pen said. She wouldn’t look at Cooper but turned her head to look at the rest of us. I’m sure all our jaws were down on the table. “Good night, Molls. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Good luck in Cincy, Ty. It was good hanging out with you.” Penelope didn’t even look back as she strode out of the bar.

“I’m going after her,” Molly said and gave me a quick kiss. She went after Penelope, along with Meadow and Emma. Janel and Robyn quickly followed them.

“You slept with her, you asshole?” Ivan asked with a shake of his head.

“I don’t know! I don’t remember if I did!” Cooper said with his hands up in defense. “Fuck! This explains so much. I have to make this right. I admit it - I really like her, guys.”

I looked into my friend’s sincere face and said, “You guys helped me when I fucked up with Molly. It’s our turn now to help you, Dixon.”

“I can’t believe you aren’t even nervous!” my twin sister, Olivia, said as she braided my red hair. If it were up to me, my hair would be in a ponytail all the time.

“I can’t believe you’re braiding my hair. It’s just going to be covered by a hat anyway,” I replied back to her.

“It’s good luck. Mom always braids my hair for my gymnastics meets, so I figured I’d braid yours for you.”

I loved my sister and how sentimental she was. She definitely got that from Mom.

“Oh, Hazey, you look so pretty!” Charlotte said as she came into the motel room. Our next youngest sister pirouetted around the room and ended in first position right in front of where I sat at the end of the bed. Liv was sitting on the bed and tying the end of the braid with the rubber band. “Me, next! I want a braid, too.”

Olivia just laughed and gestured for Charley to sit next to me. You would think that with a name like Charley, she would be the tom-boy in the family, but she was definitely the most girly. She excelled in dance classes and loved wearing dresses and bows and playing around with makeup. None of us knew where she got her excessive girliness from and blamed Aunt Emma. Out of all of us kids, Charley definitely looked most like Dad, a fact that I was a little jealous of. She had his brown hair and emerald green eyes. She also seemed to have his height. At only eight years old, she was already almost as tall as Liv and me. Her dance teachers all talked about how they loved her long legs.

Olivia and I were both on the shorter side but would probably end up just a little taller than our mom. We both had Mom’s red hair, but I had blue eyes, and Olivia had Dad’s green eyes. I took pride in the fact that I was an inch and a quarter taller than my twin.

While Olivia scooted over to begin working on Charley’s hair, I got up and began doing my pre-game stretches. Dad always taught us that stretching and hydration were just as important as throwing and catching.

“Daddy! Daddy’s on the phone for you, Hazey!” Our youngest sister, Lucille, came running into the room and held up Mom’s cell phone. If Charley was the clone of dad, then Lucy was Mom’s clone. She had the same bright red hair that Liv and I had, but she was also very petite and shared Mom’s blue-green eyes. She loved to follow Mom around at the bakery, even at 5 in the morning, and help her get ready for the day. I didn’t know any other six-year-olds that would willingly get up that early. Not me, that’s for sure. The only thing I got up early for was if our team had an away game, and we had to get up early to get on the bus.

I grinned down at Lucy and took the phone from her small, outstretched hand.

“Dad?” I asked as I looked at the phone screen, where my favorite person in the whole world was smiling back at me.

“How’s my Hazelnut?”

“Ready!” I said with all the confidence that he had instilled in me. “We’re gonna kick some major ass!”

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