by Len Webster
Kyle’s grin widened. “Are you kidding? I’m playing to win for my niece. Today’s game and every game for the rest of my life. After all, her uncle is the captain of the Red Sox.”
Evan laughed.
Yeah, his daughter was going to be so loved by her uncle.
He was as sure as the way AJ looked at him with love.
True and right.
It had been almost two months since AJ and Evan had told their families that they were expecting a daughter. Two months since Kyle had cried before his game against the Rockies. It didn’t take long for the people of Boston and the Red Sox fans to learn that their captain was going to be an uncle. Their baby’s gender was even a guessing game. But to keep some aspects of their pregnancy private, they kept the gender from the public. AJ didn’t mind being back in the spotlight, but she didn’t go out looking for it. As for Evan, he concentrated on work. His role in operations at Fenway Park was not easy. He had to ensure that the business side of Fenway Park ran smoothly. Now that he’d held the position for four months, he felt more comfortable in his job and even enjoyed it.
Being related to the long-serving Red Sox captain came with perks. So long as Evan was happy at Fenway Park, Kyle Gilmore was happy. And when Evan asked for a few days off to take care of some family business, it was granted. He was worried since Mondays were one of the busiest days of the week, but they still let him take a few days off.
Family business.
His family was his girlfriend, his girlfriend’s family, and his brother. They were his family. But this particular family business involved him leaving Boston for a few days.
It meant flying to Chicago of all places.
Evan closed the trunk of AJ’s car and walked around it to find her cradling her baby bump. He set his suitcase down and pressed his palms to her cheeks.
“If anything happens, like you don’t feel well, call me right away, and I’ll take the first flight out. Also call your mother until I can get home,” he instructed.
AJ let out a laugh. “Evan, I’m six months pregnant. I’m not about to give birth while you’re away.”
“I mean it, AJ. Anything, you call me.”
“You’re only going to be gone until Wednesday. You won’t miss a lot.”
He rolled his eyes at her. “I’m serious.”
She laughed once again. “I know you’re serious. I’ll call if she kicks or moves even a fraction while you’re in Chicago.”
She.
He loved it when AJ said she or their daughter.
It made his heart swell and fill with warmth that he had come to love so much.
“Have a safe flight, okay?”
He nodded. “As soon as I finish talking to my parents, I’ll come home.”
“Evan, you don’t have to talk to them if you don’t want to.”
He dropped a hand from her face and pressed it against the swell of her stomach. “AJ, I’m doing it for her and for you.”
“For me?” she asked once he lifted his chin so that his eyes met hers.
“I don’t ever want our daughter to feel the way you have when it comes to your grandmother. Sure, I might not ever get along with my parents, but I know that if I tell them they can be in her life, they will want that. It’s not about me; it’s about her. I don’t want her to feel what you did growing up when Will, Lori, and Reese used to speak about your grandmother,” he explained.
Her hands reached up and pressed on his chest. “You’re really doing this for her?”
Evan nodded. “She’s my daughter, AJ. I want everything figured out before she’s here with us. I want to at least know where my parents stand in her life.”
“You’re amazing. I know this is uncomfortable for you. Just know that I appreciate what you’re doing, and she would, too,” AJ said as she got on her toes and pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss. “Just come home safely, okay?”
“I will,” he promised as his hands reached up and steadied her face. Evan kissed her forehead and looked down at her. “I love you, AJ.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered before he pulled away and grasped the handle of his suitcase.
He kissed her once more, and promised, “I’ll call you tonight. Drive home safely, all right?” His girlfriend nodded as Evan set his palms on her stomach. “Daddy will be home in a few days. Don’t be too hard on Mummy, okay, Little Atom?” Then he smiled at AJ before he entered Logan International Airport, ready to finally see his parents after all these years.
Evan was surprised when the cab pulled up at an apartment tower in South Loop. He had always assumed his parents had bought a mansion outside of Chicago, but he had been wrong. After he had checked in at the hotel, he left his suitcase in his room and got in a cab to see his parents. His cab driver said that many business executives lived in South Loop’s luxury high rise apartments, so he understood why they chose this part of town to call home. Evan would have been fine without knowing where his parents lived, but he was doing this for his daughter. So that his daughter would never experience what AJ had with her own grandmother.
“Mr. Gilmore,” the man at the front desk said, getting Evan’s attention.
“Yes.”
“Mrs. Gilmore and Mr. Gilmore are aware that you are here.”
Evan nodded. “And will they see me?”
The man behind the desk stood and pointed behind him. “Yes, Mr. Gilmore. Just take the elevator behind you and use this key card to access the top floor. They are waiting for you.”
Taking the plastic card from the employee, Evan spun around and made his way to the elevator. Once he pressed the button on the wall and the doors opened, he stepped inside and swiped the key card on the panel. Then he pressed the top floor number and waited as the elevator ascended to his desired floor. The soft melody from the elevator’s speakers didn’t settle his nerves. At that moment, he was numb. He wasn’t sure how to feel. He was confronting his absent parents. It wasn’t to mend his bridges.
But for my daughter.
When the elevator opened, the sight of a grand foyer welcomed him. Evan stepped off the elevator and took in the apartment. It was luxurious and everything he expected of his parents. But unlike the family home in Brookline, this apartment in Chicago had warmth and personalization. It had the remnants of a family. And as he took in the picture frames on the table by the wall, he was shocked to find pictures of him and Kyle. His parents had never truly cared about him. They did love Kyle but never Evan. But when they left Brookline, they left both sons.
“Evan,” he heard a woman say.
He took his eyes from the photographs to find his mother in the foyer. She seemed softer in her features. Every time he thought of her, he always remembered her hard features—the lines on her face and the coldness in her eyes—but in front of him wasn’t that woman. Nor was the guilt in her light brown eyes.
“Susan,” Evan said. The term ‘mom’ had never fit her. She had never been motherly to him. It was all for show for his brother’s baseball career.
A tight smile strained her lips. “I didn’t know you’d be in town.”
Evan turned to face her properly. “I got time off work. I had to come see you and Christopher. We need to talk.”
“Your father is in the living room. Follow me,” she said before she led him out of the foyer, down a hallway, and into the living room.
And just like the rest of the house, it was stylish and grand. Leather seats and oil paintings on the wall. The summer sun brought light through the large windows and made the apartment feel even larger. Evan had planned to give himself tonight to think through what he wanted to say and see his parents tomorrow, then return to Boston by Wednesday morning. But after reading his girlfriend’s text message about how their daughter had kicked in her stomach, he wanted to return to Massachusetts as soon as possible.
“Christopher, Evan is here,” Susan alerted.
His father glanced up from his laptop, his eyes wide with surprise to see him. Christopher looked like an older version of Kyle with the same brown hair and light brown eyes. He set the laptop on the coffee table and stood. “I can’t believe you’re actually here in Chicago.”
“I asked Lucas for your address. He told me that you both allowed him to give it to me or Kyle should we ever ask for it. We need to talk,” Evan announced.
Susan nodded. “Would you like a drink?”
Evan shook his head as he walked toward the armchair next to where Christopher had just sat. “No, thank you. I’m fine.”
“Okay,” she said as she and Christopher sat down next to each other on the leather couch. “How are you, Evan?”
He winced, surprised that she sounded so genuine. “I’m okay.”
His father stared at him and then glanced at his mother. They nodded at each other before he asked, “Do you need money?”
Of course, that’s what they would ask.
“No, I don’t need your money. That’s not why I’m here.”
Susan leaned closer and revealed the picture that sat on the side table behind her, causing his nostrils to flare. “Okay. What can we do for you?”
“Where did you get that?” he demanded.
“Get what?” Christopher asked.
Evan pointed at the framed picture of him and Kyle at Evan’s Stanford graduation. “Where did you get that picture of me and Kyle?”
His mother glanced over her shoulder, reached over, and grasped it. When she turned, she gazed at the picture, her thumb brushing against the glass. “Clara sent it.”
Mrs. Parker?
“She did?”
Susan nodded and then lifted her chin, her eyes glazed over with unshed tears. “She’s been more your mother than I have ever been even though I never asked her to, Evan. Sometimes, I get a letter with some pictures from her. That one is my favorite. You graduated from Stanford.”
“That was over two years ago.”
“It was,” she said, setting the frame back on the table. “So what brings you to Illinois?”
Evan inhaled a deep breath and exhaled it shortly later. “It’s been tense between us for years. I get it. I’m the son who kept you in Brookline when you both wanted to travel and work. For so long, I’ve felt so much resentment toward you both. But I have to admit, I’m tired. I hate going through lawyers when I have to thank you for things like giving me the deed to the house when I turned eighteen. But we can’t continue this. We either settle it or cut ties.”
His mother gasped, and his father covered her hand with his. It was oddly nice to see that even though they never truly loved their children, they still loved each other.
“Evan, we never meant to hurt you or Kyle. We were starting a business. And yeah, your mother and I fought, but leaving Massachusetts was what saved our marriage. Noel and Clara took you in and gave you what we couldn’t. And they shouldn’t have needed to do that. We’re so sorry,” his father said. From the sympathy in his voice and eyes, it was evident he meant it.
“And we couldn’t bring you to Illinois with us. Kyle had baseball, and you had Alexandra,” his mother explained.
Alexandra.
He had Alexandra.
He had always had Alexandra.
Evan would have never joined his parents in Chicago if it meant that he had to leave her behind. Even when they were just best friends, he wouldn’t have done that to her. He cared and loved her too much to be without her.
“That’s who we have to talk about.” Suddenly, nerves succumbed him. They shouldn’t have, but they did. “I’d like to talk about Alexandra with you.”
“You want to talk about your best friend with us?” his father asked, confused.
Evan nodded. “Actually, Alexandra isn’t just my best friend …”
His mother’s brows furrowed. “What happened? You didn’t go to Stanford together.”
“No, we didn’t. She went to Duke. We’ve been through a lot together.” He paused and smiled at the thought. They really had been through a lot together, and they had come out of it stronger. His heart made a strong beat as he revealed, “She’s actually the love of my life.”
His mother’s concern faded away as glee consumed her face. “Evan, that’s great. I always knew you both had a special connection.”
“We’re together,” he added.
“Together?” Christopher said, skeptical. “Her father’s okay with you two being together? I know Noel and—”
“Noel knows,” Evan said, interrupting him. “We’ve been together since junior year of college. We even lived in Switzerland for over a year together. I’m here because of her.” Evan rubbed his lips together to give himself a second. A single second to decide if he wanted his parents in his daughter’s life. He didn’t know them, but then again, he had never given them a chance, so he would be the bigger person. “I’m here because when Alexandra was growing up, she had to watch and hear her cousins spend time with her grandmother. Because of her mother’s strained relationship with her own mother, Alexandra never got to meet her grandmother. It doesn’t hurt her the way it used to, but I know she’s a little upset by her grandmother’s refusal to meet her. Though she has never come out and admitted it, in Alexandra’s mind, she doesn’t think she’s good enough in her grandmother’s eyes.”
“I … I don’t understand, Evan,” Susan uttered.
He inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly, ready to reveal the truth to his surprising visit to Chicago. “I’m here today to mend bridges because I don’t ever want my daughter to feel the way Alexandra did when her grandmother ignored her.”
His parents’ eyes widened in shock.
“Your daughter?” his father breathed.
Evan nodded. “Alexandra and I are expecting a girl in September. And we can continue whatever this tense relationship is, but I’d like you both—if that’s something you’d want—to be part of her life. You don’t have to talk to me, but it would mean the world to Alexandra if you gave our daughter the chance to be a part of her life.”
“You’re going to be a father?” his mother asked in awe.
“I am,” Evan confirmed as he stood and pulled his wallet from his back jeans pocket. He flipped it open and removed AJ’s latest ultrasound. Then he handed it to his mother. “You can keep it. I have more at home.”
His mother unfolded the ultrasound and stared at it as his father asked, “Are you and Alexandra living in the house together?”
Evan shook his head. “I sold the house to Kyle. Alexandra and I live in Cambridge, close to MIT where she is going for her Ph.D.”
“Wow,” his father uttered. “I always wondered why you gave up the chance at Major League baseball.”
Smiling, Evan proudly said, “I gave it up for her. I followed her to Switzerland so she could work and learn at the best science institute in the world. I also gave it up for me. Kyle’s the professional baseball player. Not me. It would have hurt Alexandra more to be thrust back into the limelight. I would much rather work at Fenway Park than play there.”
Susan got up from the couch, stepped forward, and bent her knees so that her eyes were on him. Then she pressed her hands on his knees. “Evan, I have been an absent mother, and I know that. I will never stop being sorry for that. All the moments I missed, I got photographs of, and I knew I’d never get to be a part of your life. But if I can be a part of my grandchild’s life, I will.”
Evan’s lips splayed into a small smile. “It’s going to take time to make up for everything. Not with just me but with Kyle, too. But this is a start. I know Alexandra will like that you want to be a part of our daughter’s life.”
“I want to. I want to be in not only my granddaughter’s life but in my sons’ lives, too.” Then
she stood and glanced over her shoulder. “We both do, don’t we, Christopher?”
His father got up from the couch. “Yes.” He stepped closer and stood next to Susan. “We were neglectful parents who allowed a wonderful couple to raise our children. We owe Noel and Clara so much for raising you and Kyle right. And to know that you fell in love with their daughter … It feels right. And if you’ll let us, we’d like to be in all of your lives.”
Evan stood. “I can’t speak for Kyle, but we can try.”
His mother squealed. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for years. How long are you in Chicago for? We can go—”
“I have to get home to Alexandra. I hope you understand,” Evan said, interrupting his mother.
“Of course. You need to be with the woman carrying your child,” Christopher said. “Can you stay for dinner?”
“We can have dinner before I leave,” Evan said, his chest feeling light.
He had gotten rid of the bitterness that had held him back all these years.
For his daughter, he’d face the very worst to give her the very best.
It was almost two a.m. when Evan inserted the key into the lock and twisted the handle. After he entered the house he owned with his girlfriend, he pulled the key out and closed the door behind him. Ensuring the front door was locked, Evan set his suitcase by the door and headed up the staircase to his bedroom. Once he reached his bedroom door, he gently pushed it open and snuck inside to find AJ still asleep on his side of the bed with her phone on her chest and the lamp still on. After he had dinner with his parents, he had FaceTimed AJ and they’d spoken briefly of his parents’ involvement in their lives before she had fallen asleep. He didn’t tell her that he managed to get on a late flight out of Chicago and was coming home early.
Evan walked over to his side of the bed and picked up AJ’s phone from her chest. He set it down on the nightstand and switched off the lamp. Making his way around the bed, he reached AJ’s side and kicked off his shoes. Evan reached down and peeled off his socks, then removed his jeans and shirt, leaving him in just his boxer briefs. Pulling the thin blanket back, he slipped into bed, wrapping his arm over AJ. She turned slightly, snuggling into his chest. Evan dug his arm under her so that he could hold her properly.