Page 29 of Home Run

“Sure,” Millie replied. “I should probably find out if I’m even allowed coffee.”

“Hang on.” I took out my phone and googled it. Pages and pages of pregnancy advice appeared on my screen. What to eat, what not to eat. When to drink, what to drink. There was so much and I’d only asked one simple question. When I focused back on Millie I really hoped that I didn’t look panicked. “It says here you can have one to two cups aday. But not too strong. You also have to avoid anything raw or unpasteurized.”

Millie sighed. “Oh man. Every time I think I’ve come to terms with what’s going to change, something new is added.”

Placing my hands on either side of her shoulders, I turned her to face me. “It’s going to be fine, you’re not doing this alone and we’ll learn together. Come on, let’s go and get one of your allocated two medium-to-weak coffees for the day.”

I might haveoofedasshe nudged an elbow into my side, but it did have me grinning until we found the nearest coffee place. I spotted Millie eyeing up a chocolate brownie and ordered her one of those, too, while she found a quiet table for us to sit.

“Okay,” I started, picking up the top leaflet entitledYour Baby, Your Cervixand putting it down again. Too early in the morning forthat. The next one looked safer—Your Twelve-Week Ultrasound,and started flicking through the list of things she should expect. I was about to tell her it said she should have a full bladder when my eyes dropped to the next line.

You will be able to see how many babies you’re carrying.

Babies. Plural.

I was a twin, and twins were hereditary. We had barely come around to the idea of having one baby, buttwo? A glance at Millie reading the cervix leaflet and finding her face slightly paler, I decided against bringing up the subject of twins.

I’d save it for another time. Maybe the doctor could deliver the news instead.

I sipped my coffee. “There’s a lot to think about, huh?”

“There’s so much. I don’t know how anyone does it. Do you think when you’re planning for a baby you already know all this stuff? Who tells you what to do?” She spread out all the leaflets on the table. “This isn’t even a full instruction manual.”

“Maybe they come with instructions.” I laughed, hoping to raise a smile through the panic on her face. It worked a tiny bit.

“I wish.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of paper. “I started a list.”

It didn’t take long to read. “It just says ‘school’ on it.”

She sipped her coffee, savoring it as one would when they know they can’t have any more. “I’m deferring my studies a year, but I have to figure out how to do it. There’s more to add, but when I was thinking about what to write it became so overwhelming that I put it away.”

I tried to think about all the guys in the club who had kids and how they managed. I was fairly certain none of their wives or girlfriends were still in school, but maybe I could ask them for advice.

“And then,” she continued, “I guess I need to figure out where I’m going to live.”

“Where you live?”

“Yeah, I’m in school housing, and I can’t live there with a baby. Plus, Radley isn’t going to want to live there with a baby, either, especially if she’s studying. You’ve seen our dorm, it’s not big?—”

“I guess?—”

“I was going to start apartment hunting this week, but I need to figure out what I can afford that’s not farfrom school and get it before the graduate students come back. And maybe I’ll get a part-time job, though my mom said she’ll help me…” she rambled. “I’ll have to buy all the baby stuff, and then…”

I stopped listening.

It hadn’t even occurred to me about her school or where she’d live. I’d only seen her place that one time, and she was right—you couldn’t have a baby in it. On the other hand, it was safe and secure, not to mention when Radley was there Millie also had the additional Secret Service protection. This entire situation might only be a week old to me, and the certainty of my future in it even less than that, but it was enough time to know that I didn’t want her to end up miles away from me in the city because it was cheaper.

“Millie.” I halted her mid-sentence. “You don’t need to worry about money, and you don’t need to worry about an apartment. I can organize all that. Or you find what you like and tell me, or we can go together. If you want to be near school, we will get the perfect space.”

The way her eyes unglazed as she heard my voice told me she’d been mostly talking to herself. “I don’t want your money, Tanner.”

I frowned at her. “I know, but that’s still my baby, too, and I can’t help you carry it, but I can help you do everything else. This list”—I waved the piece of paper at her—“it’s going to get long, and until November I won’t be able to dedicate a lot of time, so I need to be able to help in other ways. And you need to let me, because it won’t be an argument that you’ll win.”

Her face softened a little, and I could see the edges of asmile as she held my stare. Not that we’d ever argued per se, but whatever wehadhad I knew I’d not won. There was always a first time for everything, however, and I wasn’t budging on this.

She would never need to worry about money.

“Okay, thank you.” She picked up the brownie and bit into it. I made a mental note to keep her stocked up on chocolate as a bare minimum. It made her nicer.

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