Page 27 of Pitching for Keeps
He stops dead in the living room doorway, his eyes taking it all in. Specifically, the huge "Happy Anniversary" banner I may have gone overboard with, and the suspicious baseball glove with a bow on it.
"Happy anniversary," I say, trying for casual and landing somewhere around 'person who definitely has a secret.'
"You remembered," he says, which is ridiculous because I have our anniversary in three different calendar apps with multiple reminder notifications.
"Of course I remembered. June 18th. You pitched seven scoreless innings that afternoon."
"You wore your 'Future Mrs. Talley' jersey to the game."
"And your ERA was sub-one for that game."
He grins. "My wife knows my ERA from our wedding day. Have I mentioned lately that I love you?"
"Only six times this morning." I pat the couch next to me. "Come open your present."
He eyes the glove suspiciously as he sits. "You got me a glove for our anniversary? Trace, this is a first baseman's mitt."
"Just open it."
"But I'm a pitcher. Why would I need—" He stops talking as he opens the glove and pulls out the pregnancy test. For approximately seventeen years (okay, ten seconds), he stares at it without moving.
"Jay?"
"Is this... are you... we're having..."
"A baby," I finish. "Surprise?"
What happens next can only be described as a full on man sized celebration. Jay jumps up, spins around, pumps his fist like he just struck out the side, then immediately sits back down and grabs my face.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Like, really really?"
"Jay, I took three different tests to be sure. They're all positive. We're having a baby."
He kisses me, then jumps up again, then sits back down. "A baby. We're having a baby. A tiny person. A future athlete?—"
"Or artist, or teacher, or?—"
"Who's going to have your organizational skills and my athletic ability?—"
"Or my athletic ability and your organizational skills, which, let's be honest, might be better because your idea of organization is knowing which duffel bag has clean socks?—"
"A little baseball player!"
"Or softball player."
"Or soccer player! Soccer's great for hand-eye coordination, which translates to baseball?—"
"Jay."
"Or golf! Tiger Woods started at two. We should get those plastic clubs?—"
"Jay."
"Oh! Swimming! Swimming is great for?—"
