Page 90 of Home Safe

“Head? Shoulder? Heart? All ready?” he asks, uncharacteristically serious.

No, I’m absolutely terrified. Scared that my shoulder could give out. Scared that I’m not going to play up to snuff, despite a great training camp. Sad that the woman I love isn’t here to watch me play. Nervous that my mind is too distracted by her to play my best.

Forcing a grin, I smack his visor down. “Readier than you,” I say. “Let’s get out there.”

As I rise to follow Adrian out of the locker room, I hear thepingof a message notification from my phone. When I check the screen, there’s a new voice memo from Danae. My fake grin becomes genuine as I hit play.

“Hey, Griff. I assume you’ll be heading onto the field soon for warm-ups, so I hope I catch you in time. Please ignore the squeals in the background. I’m hiding in the library storage room while the first-grade class plays at centers. I just wanted to tell you good luck and that I wish I could be there to hug you before the game. You’re going to be amazing, and I can’t wait to talk to you tonight. I love you.”

Although the rest of the team has filed out of the locker room, I take an extra minute to listen to the memo one more time. When I make my way to the field, I have a lot more pep in my step.

The starting position players do our typical dynamic stretches and warm-up throwing routines. Smiles are big as we watch the stands fill in and fans hold up homemade signs with our names. Drew points out a giant cutout of me giving Adrian a piggyback ride off the field last week, and we laugh until we get yelled at to focus.

As we head to the dugout after warm-ups, Adrian jogs next to me. “Sam’s here, but not Danae and Jason?” he asks.

“Yep,” I say. “Con of having opening day be an afternoon game on a Thursday. But Danae sent me a good-luck voice memo, so I know she’s thinking about me.”

“Yeah, it sucks that they can’t be here,” he agrees. “You know she’ll be watching at home, though, once they get out of school.”

Huffing a laugh, I say, “Actually, I don’t know that she’ll be watching at home. She still hates baseball.”

“She seems to love you, though. That’s gotta count for something,” Adrian says, face serious. In the next second, his goofy grin is back. “Besides, you know that Jason is going to demand she turn it on as soon as they get home from school. The nickname Fireball suits him for more reasons than one.”

Chuckling, I clap Adrian’s back. “You are not wrong, my friend.”

“Let’s go out there and have some fun,” he says, eyes twinkling.

I take a second to look around the stadium. The grass, the red dirt, the white lines. The mass of individual bodies dressed in blue and white. The laughter, the chatter, the music playing over the speakers. I inhale the earthy scent of the field, the buttery aroma of popcorn, the salty smell of sweat. I feel the leather of the baseball mitt on my hand, the comforting squeeze of how the material has molded around my fingers over time.

Exhaling, I smile over at Adrian. “Let’s go have some fun.”

“It was the best catch ever!” Jason practically screams into the phone, and I can’t hold in my laughter any longer.

“I’m glad it’s that easy to impress you,” I say. The kid has broken down practically every play of the game, but he’s taken extra time to gush about one particularly tricky catch I made in the eighth inning.

I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t made my heart double in size.

“No way, it was just that good. A total Wizard of Defense move!” Jason says. “I can’t wait to watch in real life on Saturday!”

“Yeah, I’m excited for you to be there, too, Fireball. Make sure you save a few chicken tenders for your mom, okay?” I say. “Can I tell her hi real quick?”

“Oh, okay. I’ll give her the phone. See you Saturday!” he chirps before yelling, “Mom! Mr. Griffin wants to talk to you!”

I’m not sure how Danae doesn’t break down crying every time he calls her “Mom,” because that’s certainly the response I’m fighting every time I hear it.

“Hey, babe,” Danae says softly a few seconds later.

“We’ve officially moved to ‘babe’ territory, huh? Have you alerted Kara?” I tease.

“Ha ha,” she says. I imagine Danae rolling those beautiful hazel eyes and kick myself for not starting this as a video call. There’s a smile in her voice when she continues. “I will gladly call you ‘babe,’ Griff, and whatever other terms of endearment come with the ‘I love you’ territory. But never will I ever call you ‘Wizard of Defense,’ so strike that from your expectations.”

“I think I can handle that,” I say. “Remind me again why I didn’t drive straight to your house right after the game tonight?”

“Because Jason is getting into bed right now,” she reminds me.

“Seems like all the more reason for me to be there,” I say, dropping the octave of my voice.

“Andit’s a school night,” she adds, but her tone sounds flustered now.

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