Page 91 of The Yips

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. One thousand percent sure. I don’t know when I knew, but I think you fell in love with Crew the first time you set eyes on him. Since then, you’ve been a dad to him, and everything you’ve done for him shows how much you love him. When we go in there, your goal will be to protect us, our hearts, and not your own. And because you watch out for us so fiercely, I will watch out for you. You have every right to ask for what you want in there because what you want will benefit us and our family. We are our family.”

“Plus, Tom,” Sam said dryly.

“Ok, well, I guess we need to go in there and charm the hell out of Tom.”

Tom was in the conference room with his mother and attorney. I recognized Patty from the time I had spent with her on FaceTime. As soon as we walked into the room, their attention was on Crew, though he was sound asleep and completely unaware of the world around him.

“Sorry, he’s still sleeping. He fell asleep in the car ride over here; he should be awake soon, though.” I said while unfastening the belt and stroking his face gently, trying to get him to wake. He finally opened his eyes and looked from me to Sam in confusion as I lifted him out of the seat.

“Oh wow, Tom. I feel like I am looking at you when you were a baby,” Patty said in awe.

Tom stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do. “Do you want to hold him?” I asked.

“I don’t, ugh, yes. But I’ve never held a baby.”

I passed him to Tom, watched as headjusted to Crew’s weight, and again as Crew inspected him. Tom went to support his head, but Crew pushed back against his hand.

“He can support his head pretty well now; he’s getting close to sitting up on his own.”

“I tried to research everything I could; it said he might be afraid of strangers,” Tom said, swallowing audibly, his voice thick with emotion. “I was so afraid he’d cry when he saw me.”

It was then that I realized Sam and I weren’t the only ones nervous about this meeting. We all had so much to lose if it went wrong. And then we were all crying, even Tom’s attorney. “Lucky you, he was screaming when he first met me,” I said through tears as Patty chuckled.

“If his lungs are anything like his father’s, he got everyone’s attention.”

“He’s pretty quiet, but when he wants our attention, he knows how to get it.”

“Can I ask how serious your relationship is? I noticed you requested Sam have guardianship. Are you two engaged?” This question came from Tom’s attorney, Jaquelyn.

“Not yet,” Sam answered and nervously met my eyes before looking to the conference room screen for Anne’s assistance.

“I’ve advised my client not to agree to that until there is more of a commitment with your relationship. He’d also like to begin paying child support immediately. I realize that was not part of your request, but my client feels strongly about it. As for visitation, we agree that breastfeeding is important for Crew and that the cross-country travel will make things complicated. Have you thought about ways that we can make this work?”

“We have,” I answered. “Sam has an assistant who isamazing at planning travel schedules, booking flights, and making the most complicated schedules seem navigable. If Tom can provide her with his game and travel schedules, she can draft a plan to work through the period while they are both in season and find a way for us to bring Crew to him during the off-season.”

Sam and I had been looking forward to the off-season downtime, but Monica’s preliminary research into the Blizzard’s schedule did not allow much time at home.

“We plan to rent a place in Denver through the season to be close by for the home games,” Sam added. “We have room in our place in Boston for Tom to stay when he’d like.”

Tom looked over towards his attorney and quickly nodded his head. Jacquelyn spoke for her client, “You can leave Monica’s contact information for me, and we can get his travel schedule over to her later this afternoon.”

“I noticed you have a long-term contract in Boston. Do you plan to continue living there? What if you were traded?”

I answered for Sam, “If Sam were to be traded or change his contract, we’d still be based out of Boston, at least in the off-season. My family lives in the city, and his family is a short day trip away from us.”

“Are you thinking about asking for a trade?” Sam asked.

“I have two years left on my contract. I don’t have much leverage, but I’d like to find myself on the East Coast if possible.”

“If anyone understands travel, it’s us,” I said. I had planned to bring Crew to Sam’s game tonight. But did you and your mom want to spend time with him instead? I could bring him over before the game and pick him up afterward. Or you could watch him at the hotel. We have a crib set up there. It might be easier for you until you get ready to have an infant.”

Patty spoke up, seeing Tom struggle to find words. “We’d love to, and watching him at the hotel might be best for tonight.”

I felt Sam relax next to me when they agreed to watch Crew at the hotel. Yes, Tom was his father, but these people were essentially strangers who would have a legal right to be with Crew at some point. All of us were committed to creating a positive environment for Crew, but there would be numerous landmines we could step on at any time.

We shared the hotel’s address and agreed that Patty and Tom would arrive around five. This would give them time to get comfortable with Crew before I had to leave to get to the ballpark. Jaquelyn and Anne discussed edits to our custody agreement, and it looked like we were close. Sam would be able to be a guardian only after he and I were married, Crew would remain with me full-time while he was breastfeeding, and Monica would assist all of us in creating an equitable visitation plan.

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