Safe On Base

by Sandra R Neeley

  Basilio nodded. “I know you're right. Just hard to wrap my mind around.”

  “Be proud. You defended yours against the enemy. You won. We all did. We saved who knows how many females out there from suffering at their hands. They obviously had no regard or respect for women.”

  Basilio nodded again, this time meaning it. “You’re right. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “For a while. Then you let it go and realize how lucky we all are,” Roman said.

  The dawn was just breaking over the tops of the trees, deep purples and reds, not quite morning yet, with thunder rolling not too far away.

  “There’s your sign from the gods that all’s as it should be. Sending a storm to wash away all traces from your land,” Riley said.

  Basilio looked up at the sky as the first drops of rain began to fall.

  “We heading out. You need to get yourself cleaned up and let your woman know she can come out of the safe room now,” Riley said.

  “I’ll be back a little later,” Roman said, embracing Basilio. “Thought I’d keep ya’ll company for a while.”

  “Alright. Be glad to have you,” Basilio answered.

  “I love ya, boy. Damn glad you’re okay,” Roman said, patting Basilio before turning and walking through the sprinkling rain drops back toward where they left the trucks.

  “Me, too, Uncle Roman,” Basilio called.

  Roman waved without turning around, he hadn’t had a lot of love in his life. It was hard for him to show affection.

  “I’m headed off through here,” Travis said, stepping toward the tree line right behind them.

  “Thank you for coming, Travis. You didn’t even hesitate. Much respect and thanks,” Basilio said.

  “Back at ‘cha, Base,” Travis said, winking at Basilio and giving the first indication that he actually knew Base from his Major League career. “Let me know if you’re ever in need again.”

  “Same. I’m here for whatever you need,” Basilio said, watching the Tiger shifter walk into the woods on his property.

  Basilio smiled at Riley. “Thank you, Riley. Richie, and Lucas,” he said looking over at Richie and Lucas. “I don’t know what I’d have done if ya’ll hadn’t come when I needed you.”

  “Don’t need to wonder what if, it didn’t happen,” Riley answered. “We gone, you get some rest and take care of your woman.”

  “She doesn’t need to know any of this,” Basilio said, waving toward the spot in the distance behind the barn.

  “No, she does not,” Riley agreed as they walked toward the house together. Riley, Richie and Lucas broke off from Basilio and headed toward the drive where they’d left their truck just as the bottom fell out and the rain fell so hard it distorted everything not right in front of you. Basilio looked up at the sky as the rain fell on him, washing away all the blood and gore from the night’s battles. He took Riley’s advice and took it as a sign that the good Lord was washing away all the evil that had converged upon him and his family, restoring their home to the peaceful place it had always been.

  He made his way up the steps and onto the porch. He walked inside his home, once again setting the alarm and going upstairs. He went to the closet in his bedroom, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a teeshirt, then knocked on the door of the safe room.

  “You can come out now, love,” he said.

  He heard the electronic code being entered from inside the room, then the door sprung open about two inches when the hydraulic bar released it. Then it was pushed open and Renata was in his arms, her face stained with tears.

  “It’s okay. I’m okay. Everyone is fine, love,” he said, kissing her lips and holding her face in his hands to look down into her eyes. He glanced inside the safe room and saw Kaiser, still sound asleep, all curled up and hugging his bear. “Did he ever wake up?” Basilio asked.

  “Not at all,” Renata answered, laughing through her tears.

  Basilio looked into her eyes and kissed her again. “It’s over,” he said. “No more threat, Renata. It’s over. You’re free, Kaiser is free.”

  Renata nodded and then the real tears began — tears of relief.

  “Let’s get Kaiser out of there and get some sleep,” he said, still holding her close while she cried.

  “Okay,” she agreed.

  Basilio lifted Kaiser and his bear from the safe room and placed him in bed with them. Then he got in bed and held Renata against him as they both fell asleep.

  Chapter 15

  ~Two months later and one week to go before Basilio had to let his coach know his final decision on returning to the team.~

  Riley stood on the makeshift pitcher’s mound on the homemade baseball diamond out to the left of Basilio and Renata’s house. He very gently threw the ball to Libby, who stepped into the pitch and hit it with no problem. She ran to first base, where Travis did his semi-best to tag her out.

  “Aw, come on!” Lazarus called from third base. “That ain’t fair! You know he could have tagged her out.”

  Travis just grinned and made a lewd gesture at Lazarus from across the homemade baseball diamond they were playing on.

  Maia whistled from the batter’s box where she waited her turn at bat. “Hey! Ya’ll gonna play ball or whine like a bunch of…” she paused for effect and smiled evilly when she finally finished her sentence, “pussy-cats?”

  “That is wrong!” Riley added to the mix. “That is so wrong,” he insisted.

  Maia snickered and got into her stance, waiting for her chance to hit the ball.

  “I was going to take it easy on you, but no more! You going down, baby!” Riley shouted competitively.

  They’d been lounging around enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon at Basilio and Renata’s house, eating barbecue and fishing in the pond — but not for Kaiser’s bullfrog — when someone came up with the idea of a baseball game. A quick baseball diamond layout later, and they were playing. The Cats against the Rest.

  Riley was team captain of the Cats, which consisted of Richie, Lazarus, Travis, and Yvette, since they were all feline shifters. Travis was a Tiger, the rest of them Panthers. Maia was team captain of the Rest, which consisted of Basilio, Lucas, Roman, and Libby. Maia was a Wolf shifter, Basilio and Roman were Primates — Silverback to be exact, and Libby was human, but athletic as all get out.

  Constance, Richie’s mother, with help from her beau, Moe, was watching over Kaiser and Cristie who were determined to catch a fish.

  Renata was content to walk around the property, showing Riley and Maia’s little one all the pretty flowers and the leaves blowing in the wind. Alex kept Renata company while she strolled around the yard.

  “Mom!” Kaiser screamed, running toward her.

  Renata turned to look at him. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Isn’t the ice cream ready yet?” he asked. “It’s been going for like a week!” he complained.

  “It’s been forty-five minutes!” Renata said, laughing. “It has not been a week!”

  “Feels like it,” Kaiser mumbled.

  “Here, let me take the baby and you go check on the ice cream,” Alex offered.

  “You don’t mind?” Renata asked.

  “Of course not. I’d love to take care of the baby. We’ll head that way in a few minutes,” Alex said, cuddling Riley and Maia’s little one.

  “Wanna race?” Kaiser asked his mom.

  “Race? I will beat you there with time to spare,” Renata said.

  “One, two, three, go!” Kaiser yelled over his shoulder as he was already running toward the front porch of the house.

  Renata took off running after him. “You cheated!” she yelled after him.

  “Did not!” he screamed, laughing while he didn’t even break stride to look back at her — he just kept running.

  Riley pitched the ball to Roman, who smacked the ball so hard it echoed all around the yard.

  Roman took his time jogging the bases, knowing that Yvette, who was playing outfield, would have to go af
ter his ball so he had plenty of time to run.

  Basilio stopped paying attention to the game. He was watching his mate and his son laughing and running after each other, their laughter and giggles infectious.

  Lucas turned around to see what Basilio was looking at and realized Renata was checking the four ice cream makers they had going on the porch. “Is it ready?” he shouted.

  Moments later Renata turned and faced them from the porch, licking the spoon in her hand. “Ice cream’s ready!”

  “Hell yeah!” Lucas said, dropping the bat in his hands to the ground and hurrying toward the house.

  “What about the game?” Riley asked.

  “Called on account of ice cream,” Basilio answered as he jogged toward the porch and the ice cream makers his mate was switching off.

  Just a few minutes later and all the chairs, love seats, and swings placed around the expansive porch were taken as everyone enjoyed their ice cream.

  “Alex? Come give me the baby so you can get some ice cream,” Maia called, getting up from the pallet she’d laid out on the porch once she had Cristie and Riley situated with their own bowls of strawberry ice cream.

  “We’re coming. We’re just having a good time looking at the pretty things outside, aren’t we?” Alex called back to Maia, snuggling the baby in her arms.

  “Everybody have some?” Renata asked, scooping ice cream out of the third ice cream maker. ‘Yes’s’ and ‘yeps’ answered her inquiry from all directions. Renata looked around as everyone but Lazarus answered. He was standing still watching Alex walking toward them slowly as she pointed out a bright yellow butterfly to Riley’s and Maia’s little one as she held the baby close, then pressed her lips against the baby’s forehead.

  Lazarus had a silly smile on his face as Lucas stepped up beside him. “Alex looks good with a baby in her arms.”

  “Yeah, she does,” Lazarus answered, still smiling.

  “Female ought to have one of her own,” Lucas said.

  “Yeah,” Lazarus said, still smiling and watching Alex. Then he realized what he’d said, and what Lucas had said. “Wait, what?! No. I can’t be mating females and making babies!”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean you. You ain’t male enough to mate her and give her what she needs, somebody will. Go on, keep dragging your feet, Laz,” Lucas said.

  Lazarus glared at Lucas.

  Lucas smiled at him and handed him two bowls. “One for you and one for your woman,” Lucas said, before walking away to get his own bowl.

  Kaiser took his bowl of ice cream and went straight for Basilio. He climbed up on the porch swing beside him and scooted his little self over until he was plastered against Basilio’s side. “Hi, Dad,” Kaiser said, eating a spoonful of his ice cream and smiling up at Basilio. It was clear he adored the male.

  “Is it good?” Basilio asked, stroking Kaiser’s hair out of his face and pressing a kiss to the boy’s sweaty head.

  “Yep. I got chocolate,” Kaiser answered. “What kind are you going to get?”

  “I’m not sure. Mom said she’d bring me a bowl,” Basilio answered, watching Renata serving up two bowls for herself and Basilio, after she’d made sure everyone else was served.

  “Vanilla,” Renata said, walking over and holding out a bowl to Basilio.

  “My favorite,” he said.

  “Me, too,” she admitted, taking a bite. “I could eat this stuff every single day,” she said moaning at the taste. “Nothing better than homemade vanilla ice cream,” she said.

  “Sure there is,” Basilio said as he and Kaiser moved over to make room for her to squeeze in next to him.

  “There’s playing ball with your friends on your homemade baseball field. There’s watching your mate and your son racing across the yard screaming and laughing. There’s realizing that the people that you’ve surrounded yourself with are not just friends, they’re family, and they will always have your back, just like you have theirs. Nothing better than realizing you’ve found your home, and your people,” Basilio said.

  “You’re right. I’ve never been happier,” Renata agreed, settling back against him.

  “Me, either,” Kaiser added, happily licking his spoon.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Later that evening after all of their friends and family had gone home, Basilio’s Silverback sat perched in the top of an oak tree perfectly still, watching the birds and squirrels flitter about. Slowly he lifted an arm and pointed at a small red fox trotting out of the tree line opposite them and slinking over to the pond to take a drink before running back toward the trees.

  The little boy sitting in his lap looked up at him wide eyed and amazed. Kaiser couldn’t shift yet, but that didn’t mean that Basilio couldn’t begin to teach him all about becoming one with his beast. Kaiser loved that he had a daddy that understood exactly what it felt like to share your mind with a beast that sometimes thought he was the boss.

  The front door of their house opened and Renata walked out onto the porch, a dish rag in her hand as she dried her hands. “Kaiser? Basilio?” she shouted.

  Basilio turned Kaiser around to face him and held the boy tight. Then he simply stood and stepped off the thick branch they’d been sitting on, landing gracefully on the ground beneath the tree.

  Renata waved then stepped forward, letting the screen door slam shut behind her as she walked to the edge of the porch to wait for them.

  Basilio set Kaiser on the ground, then shifted back.

  “That is so cool,” Kaiser said excitedly. “When can I do that?” he asked.

  “When you get a little older. And I’ll be here to walk you through all of it,” Basilio promised. “But for now, let’s go see what Mom wants.”

  Once they got a little closer to the house, Kaiser started running and talking to Renata at the top of his lungs the whole time he ran. “Did you see that? That is so cool! I wanna do that! Dad says when I get a little older, I can do that, too!”

  “I’m sure you will, baby. I’m excited for you. Can’t wait to see your Gorilla.”

  “Think he’ll be a Silverback like Basilio?” Kaiser asked.

  “Whaaat?!” Basilio asked, coming up behind them and grabbing his sweats off the porch to slip on. “Like he’ll be anything else!”

  “I’m thirsty. I’m going to get a drink,” Kaiser said, going into the house.

  “What’s up, love?” Basilio asked. “You feeling okay? Today wasn’t too much was it?” he asked, going up the steps to place a hand lovingly on her belly.

  “Oh, no, I love having our friends over. I’m fine,” she said, putting her hand over his where he caressed their newly conceived addition to the family. “I just spoke to your coach. He asked if you could call him today.”

  Basilio’s mood deflated a little. “I’ll try to remember,” he said.

  “Hey, what’s the problem?” Renata asked, taking a seat on the metal glider love seat a few feet away on the porch. She patted the seat beside her.

  Basilio walked over and sat beside her.

  “Tell me why you haven’t called him. You’ve said you would the last three times he’s called, but you always seem to manage to forget,” she said.

  Basilio looked out across their front lawn and curled his hand around hers when she placed it on his thigh.

  His thumb leisurely stroked back and forth across the back of her hand as he thought about how to explain what he was feeling. Finally, he decided to just go for it. He looked at her and just let it all spill out.

  “What should I do, Renata? I don’t know how to make everybody happy. There are too many things that have to be addressed and I just can’t possibly satisfy everyone,” Basilio said. “Something’s got to give, and it’s not going to be my family.”

  “Instead of trying to make everything work at once, why don’t you tell me what you want. What does your heart tell you?” Renata asked.

  “This is my home. You and Kaiser are everything to me,” he immediately answered.

  �
�I know that, Basilio. What I’m asking is, if we weren’t a consideration. If you knew that no matter what you chose, we’d be right there beside you, what would you choose?” she pressed, looking lovingly into his eyes with a soft smile on her lips.

  Basilio thought about it for a moment, then quietly he began to speak. “I’d take you and Kaiser with me, and I’d go back and finish the season for Coach, and for my teammates. Then I’d play out next season as I’m supposed to, and then make a retirement announcement, do it the right way with all the fanfare and make it all official. Then I’d come back here and never have to leave again.”

  “What happens to our home if we’re in Birmingham?” Renata asked.

  “We won’t be there the entire time. During the season, yes, quite a bit. When it’s off season we’d be here, and if we had a few days off for whatever reason, we’d come home and just go back the evening before I had to report back for practice.”

  “Okay. And for the time during the season that we would have to be away indefinitely?”

  “We could have Uncle Roman check in on it a couple times a week. We could even ask him to stay here from time to time. We could ask Riley, too, so Uncle Roman could get a break from having to come by so often if he wanted one. I’m sure Riley could have whoever was headed out this way just swing by and check it all out. We could pay them to keep the property bush-hogged and pick up our mail and all. Keep the pond clean and the weeds out of it.”

  “And feed my frog,” Kaiser added, coming to sit beside Renata.

  “Where would we stay in Birmingham?” Renata asked, smoothing Kaiser’s sweaty hair from his face.

  “Our home there?” Basilio asked shrugging. “I put it on the market because I know it’s not where we want to be, not where we want to raise our family, but it hasn’t sold yet. We could hold onto it and stay there when we’re in town until my retirement from the team, then sell it.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Let’s get it done,” Renata said, standing up.

  “Wait, what?” Basilio said, looking up at her while she grinned at him.