by Cole Bates
“Let’s play ball!”
The roar of the crowd as I took the mound was almost deafening. I was trying to block it out and concentrate on the task at hand. I was still trying not to look up, but the tradition was so much of this sport for me that I couldn’t help it. I glanced into the stands and looked at Alex first. He didn’t have the sign any longer but he was on his feet with his fingers in his mouth whistling. I grinned at him and looked at Linda. She blew a kiss at me. I winked at her and then with my guts literally shaking I looked at Dad and had to do a double-take. He had Alex’s sign but it had been flipped over and on the back, crudely written in sharpie it said, “Ryan Reed is my son. #34 makes me proud. I love you, son.”
My eyes welled up with tears and I realized that if I missed this pitch it would be his fault for making me lose my concentration…and I didn’t care. I made eye-contact with my dad and put my fist over my heart. He did it back to me, the way he used to when I was little and on the mound. I finally looked at the batter then and when I threw the pitch it was like everything in my life came together at that moment. It sailed out of my hand, curved just like I wanted it to and as the batter hit nothing but air with his bat I heard the slam of leather against leather. My team walked off that field as winners, but I had already known that whatever happened I was going to be better than okay.
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
ALEX
“Mom!” I was yelling down the stairs like I did when I was a kid, but I was a nervous wreck and I needed my mother. She went down twenty minutes ago and said she’d be right back. “Mom!”
“Alex Michael Matthews! Stop yelling like you’re five years old. I’m coming.”
“I’m sorry. My hands are shaking and I can’t get this tie right.”
“Where did Harry go? I thought he was helping you with this.”
“I don’t know. He left and you left and I’m losing my mind…”
She smiled and took hold of the offensive bow tie. “Take a breath my love everything is going to be just fine.”
“You know this for sure? Have you heard from him? Has Ryan or Marty either one even called today?”
“They’ll be here.”
“Mom, how do you know? Harry said the chairs are already filling up. The minister is here. Everything is ready and the other groom is nowhere to be found!” Ryan and I planned this wedding at home in Cooperstown in Mom and Marty’s backyard. We wanted to get married in the place it all began and the place we had both decided we would make our home someday. We planned it for the first weekend in April when the weather would be nice and we would both be on spring break. My big performance this year was as Simba in The Lion King. It was so much fun and it had just closed last week to rave reviews. I got a call from an agent that wants to talk about me doing some auditions on Broadway and I have an appointment with him in two weeks. Ryan was still in the middle of baseball season but they didn’t have any games over spring break. It was supposed to be perfect and it had all been going smoothly until he got the call three days ago.
“They will be here. Ryan is not going to miss his own wedding.”
I wanted to believe that but I knew how important what he was doing was to him. He’d been contacted by the General Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. They drafted Tom last year and now they wanted to meet with Ryan while they were at home for their series against one of the California teams. They wanted to talk about a major league contract. This is what Ryan has been working for his whole life and I was rooting for him and praying for him…but I was going to be completely devastated if he didn’t make it back for our wedding. Marty went with him for support so we’d not only be missing one of the grooms but the man who was walking me down the aisle. I felt like I was going to have a nervous breakdown. “Even if they drove up right not they’d never be able to get ready in time!”
“Do you still want to marry Ryan if he doesn’t have time to put on his tux?”
“I’d marry him naked. I just want to marry him.”
Mom laughed. “God, I shudder to think of what that would do to Marty. Have a seat here on the bed and concentrate on your breathing. I’ll call and see where they are…”
“They’re here!” Harry stuck his head in the door. “They just got back.”
“Oh thank God!” Mom said. “He was about to go into full-blown drama queen mode.” She winked and smiled at me. She knows how I feel about being called that. I knew she was only trying to lighten my mood though and I appreciated it. I appreciated her so much. I got up and hugged her tightly and said,
“Have I told you lately that you have been the best mother a guy could have ever asked for?”
She hugged me back and said, “No, but I see it every day in you. You’re amazing, talented, kind, and smart, funny…I couldn’t have even imagined having a better son. The only thing better is now I have two. Are you ready to do this?”
“I’m so ready.”
Harry was gone again as Mom and I walked down the stairs together. As soon as we got to the landing I saw Marty standing there in his tux. Mom kissed his cheek and whispered something in his ear to make him smile. He watched her be led to her seat by Harry and I could see the love for her that he had in his eyes. Once she was seated he turned to me and said, “Hey kid, you ready to do this?”
Marty and I have always had a decent relationship, but not what I would ever really call close. After Ryan came out and Marty decided he’d rather accept it than lose his son, I actually felt like there was a little more distance between us. I wondered sometimes if he blamed me for Ryan’s choices or if the day we’d had a heart to heart at breakfast before Ryan’s first home game had embarrassed him somehow. I never asked about it, though. I’d gladly take the blame or whatever I had to take if it kept him close to his son. Ryan adores his father and I love seeing him happy. “I’m ready. But there’s something I wanted to say to you first if that’s okay?”
“Sure.”
“I’m sorry that I begged my mom not to marry you and I’m glad she didn’t listen to me. Of course part of the reason will always be Ryan but I’m a firm believer in soul mates and I figure Ryan and I would have found each other either way. Mostly I’m glad because I’ve never seen anyone make her happy the way you do. Thank you, Marty, for everything.”
Marty did something then that he’d never done. He hugged me and when he pulled back he actually had moisture in his eyes. “There’s something I need to say to you too. It’s something I should have said a long time ago. I love you, kid. I love how you are with your mother and I love how you at the very least respected me for a long time before you even accepted me. I love how you are with my son. I know that’s hard to believe but all I ever really wanted for him was a happy life and the more time I spend with him, the more I realize that he has that, because of you. You’re the glue that has held this little family together and I won’t ever forget that you let your understudy take over the show so that you could be there for my son the day I was prepared to act like an ass and maybe lose him altogether. So thank you for the tough love talk,” he said with a wink. I had gotten a little rough with him at breakfast, but it all needed to be said. I’d even asked Mom to leave for it and none of us had ever talked about it since.
“That’s still between us though right?” I asked him with a wink.
“Yeah, kid because you know what I’ve learned about real heroes in my old age?”
He put his arm out as the guitarist began playing the song I was walking down the aisle to. I took it and we stepped into the doorway. I could see Ryan standing up there underneath the altar with Tom who was standing up for him as his best man. My heart swelled so big I was almost afraid my chest wouldn’t be able to hold it. It burst as Marty and I began walking and I said, “What’s that Marty?”
“Real heroes don’t wear capes unless they’re doing a production of Phantom of the Opera. Real heroes are the guys working in the background to make sure everyone they love is happ
y and know how much they are loved. Real heroes know when to stay in the background and when to step up and in all of my life, I’ve never seen anyone step up for someone the way you did my son. I’ll never forget the words you said and I’ll never be able to thank you, Alex, for writing those words on that sign that day and handing it to me. It was what was in my heart, but I’m afraid I was just stubborn enough that without your help, I may have never said it.”
“You’ve thanked me enough by making the man I love happy and being here for us today.” We stopped at the edge of the altar and he took my hand and placed it in Ryan’s. He stepped up and gave his son a big hug and did the same to me. Before he went and sat down he said,
“I will always be here for you both.”
Ryan had tears rolling down his cheeks as the minister began to talk. I knew that some of them were for me and some for his dad and as I’d find out later some for the baseball contract he’d signed only hours before. They were tears of joy for our life together and if I had anything to say about it, he’d have cause for a lot more over the next fifty years or so.
If you’re interested in being the first to hear about our newest titles and promotions, we’d love to have you join our Exclusive Readers List: