Page 113 of Home Run

My phone was waiting for me on the kitchen counter, with a Post-it stuck on the top that said:

Found it under the couch cushions, gone for a run. Be back soon.

The euphoria at finding my phone vanished when there was nothing from Tanner, no missed calls. No messages.

“Mom,” I said as she dropped the store bags of baby clothes onto the couch next to the one I’d brought in. “I’m?—”

“Go and call Tanner.”

“Thank you,” I said, throwing her a grateful smile.

I hit Dial before I’d even made it to my bedroom, and it rang long enough that my heart was racing by the time he picked it up.

“Hey, Mills, how’re you doing? Feeling better?” His dimples pulled in as a smile broadened his face.

“I did.”

“And you have fun with your mom?”

“Yes, thank you, it was so—” I was about to say kind, thoughtful…and then it hit me just how much shit from me he’d put up with.

Tanner, the kind, thoughtful,saneperson and not the lunatic I clearly was.

“Oh, Tanner, I’m so sorry.”

His brow creased. “What?”

“I’m so sorry, I’m sorry for last night and all the times I was horrible to you, and for being such a pain in the ass?—”

“Whoa, Mills, slow down?—”

“I’m sorry about everything. Me, you.Us?—”

Tanner opened his mouth to say something, only someone else’s voice sounded out.

“Is that Millie? Millie, I’m sorry about last night.Sorreeeee.” Parker snatched the phone away. “If it makes you feel better, I feel terrible.”

I tried not to laugh as he pushed his bottom lip out in a huge pout. I’d almost forgotten about Parker, who started all this, but had actually done me a huge favor.

My head would still be up my ass if he’d kept his mouth shut.

“No, but seriously, I’m sorry. I’m sorry if I caused a fight between you and Tan because we love you, and we can’t wait for the baby to arrive?—”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Tanner grabbed his phone back before I could say anything. “Sorry, babe, I need to go, we’ve got a team meeting. I’ll call you later, ’kay. Bye.”

“I—” but the screen went blank before I could finish.

The giddiness I’d felt when I’d first seen his face subsided, and my chest deflated a little. And for the first time, I noticed he didn’t finish the call telling me he loved me.

“Mom?” I called out, opening my bedroom door.

“In here?—”

Following her voice, I found her standing in the middle of the room, hands on her hips as she surveyed the space. In the ten minutes I’d been on the phone, she’d already unpacked everything and separated it into laundry piles of whites and multicolors.

I’d also started to create small piles of baby things—books, blankets, soaps—and placed them on the floor given the furniture wasn’t being delivered for another couple ofweeks. Swatches of paint were on the wall to the left where Tanner and I had tried to decide what shade we wanted because Corduroy had been vetoed. Aside from that, and the huge fluffy duck Holiday had bought, the room was empty.

“Where’s everything going to go?” she asked.

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