Page 50 of Grand Slam

Kelton lifts his hand and drags his knuckles along my jaw. “I’m not upset,” he assures me with a smile. “We’ll fix this.”

His phone rings before I have the chance to ask how and he hurries to answer, walking toward the bedrooms to get a moment to himself.

“Are you okay?” Liz walks toward me, pulling me in for a hug. “This is all going to work out. Next week someone else will be in the headlines.”

“Meanwhile I will always be known as the girl that trapped the pro ballplayer into taking care of me and his surprise child for the rest of our lives. I’ve got a target on my head Liz, and that’s exactly what I didn’t want.”

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Kelton

“I've already gotmy assistant on it,” Jerry assures me as I pace Emerson’s room. “She’s contacting all the major reporters, magazines, all our people are on this. We are gaining control of how this plays next. My question to you is, what do you want people to know? It’s your move, you just have to let me know where to go from here.”

“She’s the only girl I’ve ever loved. The one I left back in Chicago but never got over. Our paths crossed, we found out that what we felt before hadn’t faded. The difference between now and then? We have no intentions of making the same mistakes. It’s real, there is no trapping, it was all planned, she is the one. The one and only I want to build a life with. Tell it all, Jerry. We grew up together, she isn’t some random person I hooked up with. I don’t want anyone painting a fucking picture with her as a villain. Emerson is the kindest person and she doesn’t deserve this.”

“Okay,” he says and I sit on the edge of the bed, dragging my hands through my hair.

“So,” he finally says and I can already tell he is fishing.

“This is real,” I confess. “I love her Jerry, there is no question about that. I loved her years ago and I love her now. But knowing she’s carrying my kid.” My heart feels so incredibly full. “It’s overwhelming in the best possibly way. I’m going to be a father.”

“You are,” he says with a chuckle.

“I just wish my mom could have been here to be a part of this.” It’s coming up on the anniversary of my mother’s death. A day that still after all these years hits me just as hard. A day I will never forget, being away at a game, unable to say goodbye.

Somehow it’s hitting me harder this year. “She’s missing it all; me making it big, buying a house, falling in love with the perfect girl. She loved Emerson.” I pause remembering all the times she’d tag along with my mom and Liz. “Now me becoming a father, it’s a lot.” The missing her part not the other stuff.

“I’m not a sentimental kind of guy, Kelt, you know this.” He’s not lying, it’s never been easy figuring out what Jerry is actually feeling. He’s not a heart on his sleeve kind of guy. “But I have things I believe, and I believe that though you can’t see her, your mom still sees you. She may not hover like a real mom does but she’s able to check in from time to time and she’s real fucking proud of the man you’ve become. She’ll know that baby too, because she’ll be watching over him or her, like she does you.”

I nod, staring at the empty space on the wall.

“If you ever tell anyone I just said all that shit, I will deny every word,” he adds, making me laugh.

“Run with the stories, Jer,” I tell him skipping all the heavy stuff. “Drown out the bullshit and shove me and Em down theirthroats. I’ll have Liz send over some images. In case anyone needs visual confirmation.”

We talk a few more minutes and then end the call. I stay where I am for a little longer, scanning over the room and it’s the first time I notice all the boxes.

Standing up I walk over to the two stacked in the corner and lift one of the lids. Folded clothes fill the box to the top. Walking around I check a few more finding much of the same. Her closet still has a few things hanging, but for the most part it’s empty.

“Emerson,” I holler out still standing in the open doorway of her closet. Within seconds both her and Liz are in the room with me standing a few feet away. “What’s all this?” I point to the closet, then to the boxes sitting around the room.

Instead of her answering me she worries her lip.

“Em.” Reaching out I link my fingers with hers and tug her closer. Pressing her forehead to my shoulder I wait and chance a glance at Liz who is smiling big. I know if it was bad she wouldn’t look so happy.

“What’s with all the boxes?” I ask again and when I am met with a giggle I lean away so I can see Emerson’s face. She is smiling, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

“We’ve got news, Daddy,” Liz shouts, her hands out to her sides like she’s putting on some show of excitement. “We’re moving to Nashville.”

It takes me seconds for her words to click and I glance between the two of them. “Seriously?”

Emerson nods and Liz says, “yep,” overexaggerating the p with a pop.

I wrap them both in my arms and kiss the tops of their heads.

“Okay, okay,” Liz says, pushing me away. “All I need to add is this. If I’m living in that big beautiful house of yours with the two of you there better be really great insulation in the walls. I don’t want to hear any grunting, moaning, or bedposts knocking the wall.”

“You can live there until the guesthouse is built.”

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