35. Come to the Game
35
Come to the Game
“Don’t piss off nurses. They’re like the mafia. Piss off one and you piss off the rest.”
— Unknown
Natalie
“Will you be watching the game today?” Dylan asked.
I considered being a bitch and saying no.
But he had come home last night by eleven and given me a really nice packed lunch with my favorite energy drink, apologized for wasting my time, and handed me several crisp hundred dollar bills.
When I’d come home from work Saturday morning, there was a cooler full of Mexican food waiting by my door. The salsa told me it was from Alex and his family, but the note just said, “For Natalie. Love Dylan.”
It was a bribe not to be mad at him, but one I was willing to take. Still, I’d spent all of Saturday crashed out after the crazy night working, and I cowardly didn’t want to talk to him in the evening. I knew he had pregame rituals, so I pretended that I was really doing him a favor by not bothering him.
This morning, I’d come over and he handed me the baby and asked if I would be watching the game.
“Ellie likes watching it,” I said. “And it’s better than that weird bald-kid show.”
“High praise,” Dylan replied with a grin. “Then, if you’re watching, know that I’m playing for my girls today.”
He kissed my cheek faster than I had time to react, not that I would have stopped him. I liked those kisses on my cheek that felt so safe and normal. A man kissing his wife before he headed off to work.
And then he was out the door and off to the stadium.
It made me wonder if Friday night had just been a fever dream. If I had imagined our fight, or maybe I’d missed the part where we made up. I really hoped I hadn’t missed that part, because make-up sex was usually pretty awesome.
It was Penelope’s last few days in the garden with my aunt. I felt bad that I didn’t really have a plan for her after this weekend. Dylan had been so busy this week that I doubted he’d had time to set up placement on a farm. Bitterly, I wondered if Alex’s cousin also wanted a goat. They could just have everything then.
“Are your ready to watch Dylan on TV today?” I asked Ellie, enjoying the toothless smile she gave me. I almost said, “Are we going to watch Daddy on TV today?” but I managed to catch myself. I understood why he didn’t want the single dad life for a child that wasn’t his. I knew he loved Ellie, but I also knew that it was a big ask. Not to mention, I wasn’t sure what all the legalities were since he wasn’t her biological parent. I was just really glad that Dylan was rich enough to be able to afford all the lawyers who could figure this stuff out.
There were perks to being rich.
I tried not to be sad or angry. I tried not to cry as Ellie and I snuggled on the couch, but it was hard. I didn’t want to lose this. I didn’t want these wonderful Sunday mornings to go away. I turned on the pregame, but wasn’t really paying attention.
I was starting to recognize names: Marcus, Franklin, Cameron; and positions: quarterback, center, and running back. I now understood, thanks to Annette, how the game was scored and I didn’t feel like a complete idiot at least, but it was still a foreign language most of the time. Besides, we still had several hours before the game actually started.
I did my laundry and made Ellie and I a snack. We snuggled and napped like we usually did on our days together. It was simple and felt normal, yet my heart ached with the idea that this could be the last time. I hated that I might not have these baby snuggles. That I would watch her grow via Facebook photos and random birthday invites. I wouldn’t be in her life like a parent anymore.
Even though I loved her like she was my own flesh and blood.
I would die for this kid. I would chop off my arm if it meant she would have a good life. I kept catching myself dreaming about parent-teacher conferences and school dances. Would she be sporty or bookish? Would she like princesses or Pokemon? What books would we read together?
So many future things that I wasn’t going to experience with her.
I knew that those things were never guaranteed anyway. I wasn’t married to her dad. I was a glorified nanny, but still... that didn’t stop my imagination from wanting a life with her.
I was glad when the game started and I had something outside of this apartment to focus on. I almost didn’t want to watch. I hated watching as Dylan got hit and tackled, but I loved watching him run. He made a great play and the camera zoomed in on him, and even through his helmet, I could see the joy of the game on his face. He’d faked out two guys and made a gain of thirty yards. Even the announcers were impressed.
“We have the old Callahan back!” they cheered.
It looked like we were going to win the game. I say we, because I did consider the team mine now, even if I hadn’t done a darn thing to justify the win. No, that wasn’t true. I’d worn the Twister’s jersey Dylan had given me for my first in-person game. And my lucky underwear.
Just because I wasn’t thrilled with Dylan’s choices at the moment didn’t mean that I wasn’t going to support him with everything that I could.
I was a team player.
My phone rang. Alex’s number popped up.
“What do you want?” I answered sounding mad but smiling so he could hear the teasing in my voice.
“I need your help,” Alex replied, his voice not full of teasing or smiles. I sat up straight.
“What do you need?” The teasing vanished. I was already switching into nurse mode.
“I need you to come to the stadium,” he replied. I could hear voices in the background shouting, but it sounded like he was in the VIP suite watching the game. “It’s an emergency. I think I may need stitches.”
“I can’t give you stitches. And I have Ellie. If it’s that bad, you need to go to the ER,” I told him. “You can call McKenna. It’s a good excuse to talk to her unless the date went badly last night.”
“The date went amazing, thank you very much,” he informed me. “But she can’t help me. I need you for this. I can’t explain it on the phone, but it has to be you.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. He probably just needed a band-aid or something. Besides, didn’t they have EMTs at the games? I was sure he could get better help than what I could give.
“I have Ellie,” I reminded him.
“Bring her.” Alex sounded confident again. “Please. I need you to get to the stadium. Please.”
There was something in his voice that made me want to hop in the car and drive. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t pain. It was something earnest and sincere.
“The game is almost over. The traffic is going to be insane,” I whined, glancing at the TV. It had been a close enough game that no one had left early. “And I really hate lugging that baby car seat everywhere.”
“I promise I will make this easy,” he coaxed.
“There is nothing easy about hauling a four-month-old baby into a crowded stadium, Alex,” I informed him.
“Come on,” he pleaded. “I never ask for anything. Just this.”
“You ask for plenty!” I said with a laugh. “Remember who got you your girlfriend?”
“Please, Natalie.” Something in his voice had me pausing again. The sincerity.
I sighed. “Fine. It’ll take me a while to find parking, but I’ll go get us in the car.”
I heard more voices on the other end of the line. “I have a driver coming to get you. He’s got a car seat base already installed. You don’t have to deal with a thing. Thank you. I promise you, this is important.”
I glanced down at the phone to make sure I was still talking with Alex. How had he fixed that up so quickly? I guess he probably had all sorts of contacts being Dylan’s personal assistant, but getting a private driver with a car seat installed was pretty impressive.
When I got Ellie and her car seat down to the lobby and into the car, Alex’s skills had me even more impressed. The base was the correct model for Ellie’s car seat. There was also my favorite brand of energy drink, snacks, diapers in the correct size, and a bag of new wipes.
Alex was getting good at this.
I stared nervously out the window as the driver expertly worked his way through the traffic. The radio played softly overhead.
“Dylan Callahan had his best game this season,” the first radio announcer enthusiastically yelled.
“Considering it’s the first game of the season, it’s not that impressive,” commented his co-host.
“Given what we saw during preseason, it’s his best. I would even say better than last season,” the first continued. He then went on to list Dylan’s accomplishments for the game. Even if I wasn’t dating the guy, I would have been impressed.
I tried not to fidget, but my knee bounced in a quick tempo rhythm to drummers only I could hear. Ellie dozed in her car seat next to me and I tried to prepare myself for whatever this could be. What could possibly be so important for Alex to summon me like this? He couldn’t need something medical, since there were better medical professionals available in the stadium. I was a nurse, and while that was pretty awesome, I was not a paramedic with a full ambulance at my disposal.
So, logically, Alex wasn’t calling me to the stadium for him. He had to be calling me there for Dylan.
The announcers hadn’t said that he’d been hit or had another injury, but I wasn’t sure they would if he wanted to keep it quiet.
Anxiety ate at my soul, especially since I hadn’t been able to set things right with him yet. I loved him. I hadn’t told him that yet, but I wanted to. I needed to. I wanted him to stay in my life. I wanted him.
So I just hoped this whole emergency trip to the stadium was Alex being an idiot.
The driver pulled into a secret parking area that was probably reserved for the really important VIPs. This is where the superstar celebrities got to come into the stadium. They didn’t have to wait in traffic or go through the security lines. Alex and several men in maroon jackets were waiting for me. Outside, I could still hear the thunderous applause and cheers of the fans celebrating the win.
“Leave the car seat here,” Alex instructed, looking like he did not need any kind of medical help. “They’ll make sure it stays safe, but it’s too bulky.”
I frowned at him, but he didn’t give me anymore information. I unhooked Ellie’s straps and cradled her in my arms. The men in maroon coats ushered the three of us down a cement hallway, past what I assumed were the locker rooms, and into a conference room full of reporters and cameras. The head coach was speaking and answering questions with a huge smile on his face.
I would have backed out of the room, but Alex was right behind me.
“I’m going to take Ellie out to a quieter spot,” Alex said, holding out his arms. “You need to stay here.”
I opened my mouth to protest, or at least ask what was going on, but up front the Coach said, “And now the man you all want to hear from, Dylan Callahan!”
In that moment, Alex swiped the baby out of my arms. I glared at him, but didn’t want to make a scene, not with all these reporters here. Instead, I turned and looked at Dylan.
He wore a team branded t-shirt and his hair was wet from a hasty shower. Everyone in the room was clapping.
“What changed for you this game?” shouted a reporter. “You played like a totally different player!”
Camera flashes sparkled as Dylan grinned at the question. “You mean, like a good one?”
The room filled with good-natured laughter. Dylan looked around the room, his eyes finally settling on me. His shoulders relaxed and he took a deep breath before answering.
“My daughter. The reason is my daughter.”
The room stopped laughing. Reporters looked at one another, unsure of what they had just heard. Dylan Callahan had a daughter?
Alex was on the stage beside him, handing Ellie to Dylan. The reporters buzzed, all of them looking around for where the baby had come from. And I realized that Dylan had asked Alex to hand him Ellie so that the reporters wouldn’t suspect me as Ellie’s birth mom. He was protecting me, because if I had handed him the baby, all those cameras would have been pointing at me as the baby mama.
“This is my daughter,” Dylan announced, holding Ellie up high enough that the camera’s had a good shot of her snuggling into him. Luckily, she didn’t seem phased by the lights or the strange sounds once she was safely nestled in Dylan’s arms. She gave the most adorable little yawn and snuggled into him with a happy little sigh that made everyone in the room let out an, “aww.”
I, however, was very fazed.
I just stared at him, my heart pounding a mile a minute and hope flooding my system so hard I thought I might float away on it.
“I adopted her officially this morning,” Dylan continued. “But that ball I caught today, I just started imagining it was her. I don’t dare drop it now.”
The reporters all laughed and the cameras flashed.
“Is there a mom in the picture?” A reporter called out.
“As I said, this was an adoption. This little girl came into my life and there is no way I can let something this good slip through my fingers. So, I am never letting her go. I know a good thing when I see it.” Dylan’s eyes met mine. “And I’m not letting a good thing go without a fight.”
I knew he meant that for me too. He wasn’t just talking about Ellie. He wasn’t going to let me go without a fight either. I nodded, my chest and throat so tight I couldn’t have said a word even if all those reporters hadn’t been there.
Dylan gave me a huge smile that lit up my world. Tension left his shoulders and suddenly I could breathe again.
“Oh she’s asleep,” one reporter noticed. “Should we keep it down?”
“Oh no,” Dylan said, shaking his head. “She needs to learn to sleep through noise, so just don’t scream questions at me and we’ll be fine.”
He did the rest of the press conference with his daughter sleeping in his arms. I couldn’t pay attention to a single question after that, and they were all football and game related so they didn’t matter to me anyway. What mattered was that Dylan was keeping Ellie. That Dylan wanted me to know that he was playing for both of us now.