Home Run King

by Stella

  “I don’t have anyone to invite, Ellie. It would just be awkward, and I’d feel like all I was doing was asking for people I don’t know to buy me stuff.” My attempt to cover how downtrodden I felt failed when my voice gave me away.

  Her fingers wrapped around mine on the table, and with a gentle squeeze, she said, “Katie, the team loves Gage, and you’re an extension of him. If you let them, they’ll be the friends you need.”

  I wanted to accept, not because of the shower or the gifts, but simply to bring both parts of Gage’s life together, so he didn’t feel like he always had to choose. He’d struggled for weeks with missing things at home and leaving me alone while he roamed all over the country playing ball. I debated, with Ellie waiting on an answer and Corinne staring at me like she didn’t understand how I could turn down a party.

  “That’s an awful lot of trouble for you to go through. And I’m not sure how Gage would feel about it.”

  Ellie began to lay out her argument in favor of a shower. I listened, and out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Corinne hopped out of the chair and began digging through Ellie’s purse. Content with having found whatever she was looking for, she wandered out of the room.

  “…it will be fun, I promise. I wouldn’t tell you—”

  “Hey, Age,” Corinne’s tiny voice carried through to the kitchen and interrupted Ellie’s persuasion.

  Both of us stopped and turned to see the little girl trailing circles around the couch with Ellie’s cell phone pressed to her ear.

  “Mama wants a pawty, but Eighty say no.”

  “Corinne! What are you doing?” Ellie’s sharp scolding had me holding my breath.

  Her daughter spun around with her mouth open like it was obvious and she didn’t understand what her mother had missed. She dropped the phone about six inches from her ear, and said, “I tawking to Age, Mama.” The little girl rolled her eyes and then pulled the phone back to her ear to listen to whatever Gage said on the other end.

  Neither Ellie nor I had moved an inch when Corinne walked back into the room and stood next to me. “He want to tawk to you.” Both of her dark-brown eyebrows went up with a look that told me I was in trouble.

  I hesitated to take the phone and glanced to Ellie for backup, but the traitor just held her hands up.

  “Don’t look at me. I can’t help that your boyfriend’s best friend is a nosy three-year-old who always gets her way.”

  “Actually, I think you have a large part in both of those things.”

  Ellie winked at me, and I took the phone from Corinne.

  “Hello?”

  “What’s up, Captain Crunch?”

  “Not much. Just having breakfast with Ellie.” It was a slight exaggeration since technically, there was no food, but Gage didn’t have to know the details.

  “Starbucks is not breakfast, and you can tell Ellie I’m disappointed in her.”

  “Somehow, I don’t think that would bother her much.”

  “She worships the king; she’d be heartbroken. Be that as it may, I’ll deal with Starbucks after I handle this.”

  “Gage, you can’t prevent every Starbucks in Tuscaloosa from selling Ellie coffee.”

  “Never underestimate me. You’d be amazed at what I can make happen when I set my mind to it. Why’s Corinne upset? And what kind of monster do you have to be to tell a kid she can’t have a party?”

  “First of all, I didn’t tell Corinne she couldn’t do anything.”

  “Not the story I heard.”

  “And you’re going to take her word over mine?”

  “When it comes to getting you out of the house and social gatherings, yes—her word might as well be the gospel.”

  “Do you even know what we’re talking about?”

  “No, but I don’t need to. If Rinny wants a party, she gets a party. We already have the horse, and her little friends—”

  “It’s not for Corinne.” I didn’t bother letting him complete that thought. Baby showers and manure didn’t belong in the same vicinity of each other. There’d be enough poop without a horse the day our son arrived. I sighed and added, “Ellie wants to throw us a shower.”

  “That seems kind of silly since we already have three.”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Not the kind you bathe in. A baby shower. She wants to invite the guys from the team and their families.” This was one of the only times I’d ever been around Corinne that I wanted to put her in timeout for meddling.

  “Make sure the guys are home. It’d be kind of crappy to ask the Kylers to fly everyone out of town.” He couldn’t be serious.

  “She was thinking mid-September.”

  “I’m sure she has the schedule memorized. She wouldn’t miss one of my games.” He never ceased to amaze me.

  If Ellie weren’t so head over heels in love with Coby, I might’ve been worried about how much Gage believed she worshiped him.

  “I don’t think it’s such a good idea, Gage.”

  “Nonsense, Sweet Potato Pie. And tell her Corinne wants a carousel.”

  “She never said that.” I watched Ellie’s face across the table.

  She could hear every word Gage said, and her only response was to shake her head. I didn’t know if she was as mystified by the things that came out of Gage’s mouth as I was or saying no to the carousel. Either way, I’d let her deal with Corinne and her bestie on that one. I wasn’t getting involved in that argument. There was no doubt in my mind if Ellie refused Gage’s whim for her daughter, Gage would just go behind her back and do it anyhow.

  “She didn’t have to. We communicate telephonically.”

  “You mean telepathically?”

  “Sure, we’ll go with that. The team’s waiting, but rub your belly for me and tell the prince his daddy loves him.”

  “This poor child is going to have serious issues growing up,” I muttered with one hand on my stomach, exactly where Gage always placed his when he talked to our son.

  I handed Ellie her phone back after I hung up with Gage. Corinne had her hand on her hip that jutted out to the side like she knew she’d won the battle. I gave Corinne a playful stink-eye and conceded my loss.

  “I’ll agree on one condition.”

  My comment was addressed to Ellie, but Corinne had apparently overheard Gage as well. “That we have a carewsel? With pwetty ponies?”

  “You’ll have to talk to Gage about that,” I replied.

  Corinne bounced and clapped her hands, knowing she’d get what she wanted regardless of what Ellie or I said.

  “What’s that?” Ellie asked.

  “Promise you’ll keep it small and casual. If it’s guys from the team, I’d rather it be more about Gage than me.”

  “That I can do. And we can use this as a way for you to get to know the other wives. It’ll be fun. I promise.”

  “You realize I’m not his wife, right?” Gage Nix with a ring on his hand and a woman who shared his last name was laughable.

  Her left shoulder raised and then dropped casually. “Might as well be. He’s tied to you for life come the day”—her pointer finger danced in circles as she pointed to my ever-growing belly—“that little guy makes his entrance into the world.” There was no mistaking the love in her voice or the grin on her face. She adored Gage, and I had no doubt his son would mean just as much to her. “And no other woman in their right mind would try to handle Gage Nix and his son, unless they were related to him. Marriage is just a piece of paper; a baby is an unbreakable bond.”

  “Speaking of unbreakable bonds, when are you going to share your newest one with the world?”

  It was no secret Coby loved having Ellie barefoot and round. I hadn’t been around for either of her pregnancies, but I’d heard enough from him and Gage over the months to realize his mission in life was to fill their house with as many children as she’d agree to have.

  “How’d you know?” Ellie looked around before she located Corinne in the living room with a jar of Nute
lla and a spoon.

  “Don’t look at me. I didn’t teach her that trick, and I’m not the one who buys the crap from Amazon by the case.”

  “We haven’t told anyone. I’m not sure how well Corinne’s going to take the news. How did you figure it out?”

  “Lucky guess. There was no other reason for Coby to have gone to the doctor with you. So when he came home happy, I knew you didn’t have a terminal illness, which only left one thing. Why do you think she’s”—I tipped my head toward the toddler in the other room, afraid saying her name might catch her attention—“not going to handle it well?”

  Corinne adored her little brothers and doted on them like they were her own living baby dolls—until they started crying or had on dirty drawers, then she was nowhere to be found.

  Ellie fidgeted with her hands on the table, refusing to look me in the eye. “There have been a lot of tears over Gage not loving her anymore.”

  I didn’t know what to say or why she’d think that. “Why would that have even crossed her mind?”

  “Coby and I have been trying to prepare her for their relationship to change once he has his own child. We didn’t want it to come as a shock for her when his attention wasn’t focused on her the way it is now.”

  The thought of Corinne and Gage’s relationship changing hadn’t crossed my mind. Gage had more than enough love in his heart for two kids, and he adored Corinne. It was crazy how the two were connected, and that would never change.

  I could only imagine how, as a mother, Ellie must’ve felt, needing to have those conversations with a preschooler who couldn’t even begin to understand what any of it meant. I softened my voice and leaned in closer. “Ellie, nothing’s going to change between them. She’s the light of his life. We’re talking about a man who goes to a kid for life advice. You don’t really think he’d let go of that, do you?”

  “You’ll see how hard it is when he’s on the road. What little time he has at home, he’ll want to be with his son, not another man’s daughter.”

  Peering over Ellie’s shoulder, I watched the little girl dangle her feet off the couch and sing along with the cartoon on the screen with a spoonful of hazelnut goo hovered in front of her mouth. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. I knew how much Gage loved her, and I refused to let anything come between the handful of relationships he held close.

  “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “If that were the only thing happening, you might be right. Only time would tell. Bringing another baby into our house with Sam and Max so young, she’s going to feel the impact of that. An infant requires more attention.”

  “I take it this one wasn’t planned?” I found that hard to believe after seeing Ellie’s agenda.

  “Nope. If a man ever convinces you the pull-out method works, slap yourself and then him.”

  “Girl, I don’t even want to think about the possibility of another one. I’m as big as the side of the house and still have two and a half months to go. I doubt I’ll let Gage touch me once pregnancy is a possibility again.”

  She winked. “You might be able to ensure that as long as the two of you have separate rooms.”

  I raised my coffee cup to toast her. “All the more reason to keep my own.”

  The contraption in front of me looked like some form of torture device. “What is that?”

  Ellie tilted her head to the side like she couldn’t tell if I was joking or not. “A breast pump.”

  I was a nurse; I should have known that, but other than my rounds during clinicals, I hadn’t spent any time around mothers or infants. She pulled the display off the shelf and pressed each one of the plastic cups against her shirt.

  “You hold them here—or get one of those bras that keeps them in place—and flip the switch. The machine does all the work, but you can use it as an excuse to read a book, or hell, just get thirty minutes of peace. And trust me, you’ll make more than he consumes. This will become your most prized possession when you’re engorged.”

  I pushed her hands down so people wouldn’t see her thrusting her breasts forward to demonstrate how it worked. Thankfully, no one was around to witness her performance.

  “Ellie!” I laughed, primarily out of embarrassment. “Put that thing down.”

  She returned it to the shelf and promptly took the scan gun from my hand. Not only did she flash the laser on that three-hundred-dollar gismo, she then clicked on the extra bottles, the additional carrying case, and enough storage bags to feed twelve children.

  “How long do you think I’m going to be doing this?” I pointed to the pump like she’d lost her mind.

  Her brow quirked and a grin lifted the corner of her mouth. “Depends. How long do you want to keep those around?” She dropped her stare to my chest, and then returned her eyes to mine to wait for an answer.

  I snatched the gun back from her and added another five boxes of milk bags to my ever-growing registry. Just because I kept pumping didn’t mean I had to continue breastfeeding. If I could keep the perfect D-cups pregnancy had given me by running this device, I’d buy ten of them just to make sure I always had one that worked.

  She pointed to a small purple box. “Don’t forget the lanolin.”

  “What’s that for?”

  “When your nipples crack and bleed.” Ellie continued to walk like she hadn’t just dropped an epic bomb while I stood there shell-shocked.

  “What?” I cried, loud enough for a woman pushing a cart past the aisle to stop and glare in our direction.

  Ellie waved me off—she had a bad habit of dismissing my concerns. “It’ll pass.”

  That was it. No further explanation, no details of what to expect, no little pity-party for what my nipples were going to endure—like it was a rite of passage every mother took. I wasn’t so sure I cared about keeping my buxom chest after all.

  The two of us had managed to get an afternoon alone so Ellie could help me create a registry since Gage was on the road. Coby had all three kids at home, which kept him running without Ellie’s help, although Ellie didn’t make any attempt to keep the trip short. We talked about every gadget on the market and why I needed it or not.

  “A lot of this stuff looks like you can’t live without it, but when you figure out how long it takes to clean or sanitize it so you can use it, you quickly realize it was marketed to the mother who believed she needed it all—not the one who actually had a baby attached to her tit trying to do things with one hand and no sleep.”

  It was a good thing Gage hadn’t made this trip. The only things that would have made it on the list were the things Ellie thought were useless…like a baby spa bathtub and a special diaper waste container. “Get the scented bags. It does a better job of masking the smell—and trust me, it will smell—and is way easier to deal with than the twisted mess that comes out of that thing when you have to empty it.”

  Other than the wipe warmer that Ellie said I shouldn’t live without, we loaded up the list with sheets, blankets, bottles, diapers, wipes, a stroller, car seats, diaper bags—one wasn’t enough; apparently, it was all the rage for the dad to have his own—and furniture for the nursery.

  “It seems a little presumptuous to put furniture on the list.” I didn’t want Gage’s friends thinking we needed that kind of help.

  “Oh, you don’t add it so someone else will buy it.”

  “Then why put it on?”

  “For the discount the store gives you for buying things off your list. Anything left, you get like twenty percent off if you purchase it yourself.”

  “Don’t I need the furniture before the baby comes?” The order of this didn’t make any sense to me.

  “Of course, but the baby shower is weeks before your due date. So after the shower, you come back and buy what you need that you didn’t get…using the discount.”

  It was a good thing I had somehow forged a friendship with this woman; otherwise, I’d be completely lost. I hadn’t expected it to take so long to create a registry, and
I wondered where she got her continuous energy from. I was ready to fall over from almost the moment I found out I was pregnant, and it hadn’t gotten any better the further along I went, but not Ellie. She was like the Energizer Bunny.

  When we got back to her car, I could have closed my eyes and gone to sleep the instant I buckled my seatbelt.

  “You look like you could use a little pick-me-up. Wanna swing by and get some coffee?” She put the car in drive and pulled out of the parking space.

  My lids were heavy, and I hoped I made it home before I passed out. All the coffee in the world wouldn’t help my current state. “I think I just need a nap.”

  “No rest for the weary.” She patted my knee and smiled at me before directing her attention to the traffic she pulled into. “We still have to pick out invitations.”

  I was seconds away from protesting when I thought about just how selfish that sounded. Here was a pregnant woman with three kids and a husband at home, who had taken the afternoon to do this for me, and the idea of going into the store to pick out a pack of invitations about sent me over the edge. Surely I could make it an extra ten minutes.

  “Coffee it is.” I chuckled and closed my eyes to catch a quick breather.

  It was pointless to even try. This woman seemed to know where every Starbucks in town was and had mapped out the most direct route to caffeine and then a stationary store. I downed the iced coffee as fast as I could swallow, thankful Gage hadn’t managed to get us banned. It was just a matter of time before he pulled his voodoo magic and one of us got turned away at the drive-thru, but it hadn’t happened yet. I could only hope that since it had been several days since he’d made his idle threat that he’d forgotten. If it weren’t for the liquid gold Ellie brought me in the mornings, I didn’t think I’d even take a shower, much less put on real clothes. And even those visits had gotten terribly casual. Yesterday, Corinne and Ellie both showed up in pajamas, and I went back upstairs and changed to join them.