14. Brooks
CHAPTER 14
brOOKS
I t was the bottom of the third inning and since we’d been having some good hitting runs, I was up to bat third. I was standing at the top of the stairs of the dugout, waiting to enter the batter’s box, which gave me an easy way to glance back at Harlowe.
My chest wanted to swell at the fact that she was pregnant and I’d been the one to make her that way, but I was still grappling with the idea that she was carrying my kid. That was the reality and we had a ton to talk about because of it. Movement that I caught out of the corner of my eye made me turn my focus fully toward the crowd just in time to see Harlowe hurrying up the stairs.
“Think you scared her away?” Silas asked while looking out over the field, watching the game.
“Fuck off,” I said in a light tone.
When I caught Camden’s gaze, I furrowed my brows and nodded my head toward her friend who’d just run out of here like her ass was on fire.
Camden opened her mouth, bent slightly, then used her hands to motion in front of her, all of which told me that Harlowe was on her way to throw up again.
Morning sickness wasn’t just for the morning, I guess.
There were some very clear memories of my mom being pregnant when I’d been a kid. With seven years between Camden and me—five with Cobb—of course I remembered some of it. But none of those memories included my mother being so sick.
“Head in the game,” Silas reminded me, though he and I hadn’t talked about Harlowe since I’d stopped at her apartment earlier. Hell, we hadn’t mentioned her to one another since that time on the plane when we’d been out of town. Not until now.
But he was right. My head needed to be in this game.
None of my other brothers knew about Harlowe. They knew she was pregnant, but not that the baby was mine and they had no reason to suspect, either.
Only Silas. At least there was one person I could talk to if I wanted to and soon enough, everyone would know.
This game wasn’t even a battle. With only six games left before playoffs began, we just had to hold tight and today, we cleaned up with a win that had never been in question. That was how we really needed to end the season. We were firmly in first place by four games, so unless we really started to suck, our place in the playoffs was assured. We’d get some days off while the Wild Card Series took place before we headed into our next series.
The team wasn’t going to fuck up. Not at this point and our minds were already on the playoffs, as I was sure our manager’s was.
After showering, I grabbed my bag to head out, but Silas stopped me.
“Hey.” He stepped in front of me as I headed to the door. “You talk to her? I assume you did because she was here.”
“I went to her apartment as soon as we got back.”
“And?”
I ran my tongue over my bottom lip but didn’t answer him.
“So, it’s true, then?” He watched me for any reaction, so after glancing around to make sure no one else was listening, I nodded. “Fuck, man. What were you thinking?”
I furrowed my brows and stepped toward him. “What?”
“I mean… That’s Camden’s best friend. She’s going to lose her shit over the fact that you hooked up, whether you two stay together or not.”
“I’m not afraid of my little sister.”
Silas snorted. “You probably should be. She did grow up with us.”
Now that was true. Growing up with five brothers hadn’t been the easiest for our sister. Probably especially the brothers she’d gotten stuck with. In school, there had always been so much attention on us and even not at school. People had wanted to know about us or Dad. The great player who was now in the Hall of Fame.
Which was why Camden’s cardinal rule was hands off her friends and eventually, that pretty much just meant Harlowe, though I’d never slept with or dated any of her friends until now. They had all been too fucking young back then.
“So how’s this going to work?” he asked, bringing me out of my own thoughts of how Camden was going to take this news.
“I haven’t talked to Harlowe about any of that yet, but if you get out of my way, I’ll go do that and let you know.”
Silas chuckled. “Yeah. OK.” Right as I stepped past him, he added, “Congratulations, man.”
Now I grinned. He was the first to say that, to mention the pregnancy as a good a thing at all. It made sense given he was the only who knew but fuck… it was good to hear.
I glanced over my shoulder, not trying to hide my smile. “Thanks.”
At least then I was able to get out of the clubhouse and into my car without another interruption. Harlowe had left the game sick. She’d never come back after running off, so I wanted to check on her at least. I would’ve liked to take her something to make her feel better, but I had no idea what that was and no one I could ask.
When she answered the door, her copper hair was down and she was wearing pajamas—just a T-shirt and pajama pants—and those hazel eyes were surprised to see me standing there. Harlowe looked like she’d been sleeping. She stepped back to let me in and closed the door behind me.
“Did I wake you up?” I asked once we were inside. She went to the couch and brought her blanket over her legs once she’d sat down. I took a seat at the other end.
“It’s fine. I just nodded off at the end of the game, I think.” Her eyes met mine. “Did you win?”
“Yeah, we won.”
“Congrats.” She gave me a two-fingered salute that made me want to laugh. She was so fucking adorable in everything she did, it was ridiculous.
“You ran from the game pretty fast.”
“Had to barf.”
I cocked my head to the side. “The game was that bad?”
She snickered. “No. But it seems your kid didn’t want to watch.”
My chest tightened like someone had reached in, grabbed my heart, and squeezed. My kid. After swallowing hard, I asked, “Are you still sick a lot?”
“No. Just at inconvenient times.” She shook her head then took a sip of the pop she had on the table in front of her. “Actually, it’s been a lot better, but today… not so much. Maybe I ate something she doesn’t like.”
“‘She’?” I didn’t think she could know that yet. I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I’d been doing a lot of reading on the internet this last week about pregnancy and probably knew more now than I’d ever wanted to. But I’d stopped short on the whole getting the baby out part. I knew how it happened. Had friends who were dads. I just didn’t want the gory details yet.
Harlowe shrugged but smiled. “A hunch. Nothing more. Nothing’s developed yet, so when I had an ultrasound before at the hospital, they couldn’t see anything."
“Heartbeat?” I asked, but she shook her head again.
“Too early. I have an appointment in two weeks. I’ll be almost to my second trimester, so they’ll for sure hear it then.”
“I want to be there,” I said immediately. The idea of hearing my baby’s heartbeat inside of her was overwhelming. I couldn’t miss it.
“The appointment is at 8:30 on a day that you’re in town.” She looked over at me with those ever-watchful eyes. “I did that in case you’d want to be there.” She took another drink. “I always intended to tell you. I was just kind of put off by the way you were with me the day I tried and after that, I thought maybe after playoffs would be better.”
I slid toward her so that I could rest my hand on her shoulder. “Don’t wait. Anything that happens, don’t wait, and I appreciate you making the appointment when you knew I could go.”
“You’re welcome,” she said quietly, but it sounded more like she was tired. “I’ll be glad to see this first trimester go.”
“I bet.” The internet told me that morning sickness usually got better in the second trimester and I wanted that for her. “You need to pack a bag.”
Her brows slammed down so quickly, I almost lost sight of her eyes. “Why would I need to pack a bag?”
“We need to talk and I think you should come home with me.” That hadn’t been my plan, but I’d said it and it was out there and suddenly, I wanted nothing more in this moment than for her to come home with me.
“No way.” She flipped the blanket off herself and stood before pacing round her living room like a caged animal.
“Uh, yes.” I stood too but didn’t pace. “It’s either that or I’m staying here. We have a lot to talk about and it’d be easier to do if we’re in the same place.”
She threw her hands in the air. “You’ll be glad to hear of this invention called the telephone. It’s so advanced now. You can even talk through moving pictures.”
As if I didn’t know what video calls were. “Listen.” I grabbed her wrist so that she’d stop and listen to me. “You’re not feeling well tonight. I’m going to take care of you since it’s my kid making you sick. Hell, I’d do it, anyway. Which means, we’re staying in the same place and it’s up to you where that is. Here where you only have your bed or my place, where I have multiple.”
“I don’t need you to do that, Brooks. I can do this on my own.” Because her independence had always been of the highest importance to her. She didn’t have family to rely on, so she’d always made a point to be able to do everything on her own.
Only this time, it was different.
“I know you can, but you don’t have to. Not this time and it’s not just about you, either.” I gave her a pointed look. We might not have been a couple, might not have been married having a kid, but we were in this together because we’d both made that baby. “So, pack a bag or I’ll pack one for you, but I promise, I won’t get everything you want to take with you.”
She sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Have you always been this bossy?”
I snorted. “Yes.” And she knew that. It came with the role of oldest brother. “Now go.”
She stood there another few seconds like she was about to argue with me some more then growled. “Fine,” she finally snapped. “But I’m not changing out of my pajamas.”
“Good. Great.” I gently pulled her toward the direction of her bedroom. “Now go pack.”
As she walked to her bedroom, she called out, “And you have to get me a cheeseburger on the way because I’m hungry now.”
“Even better,” I called after her as I realized that I was smiling.
Some men might’ve found dealing with their grumpy pregnant woman nerve-wracking, but I was going to love every minute of this. Harlowe’s independent grumpiness was part of what I lo— liked about her. If that was made worse by her being pregnant, I’d take every second of it.
And if she wanted a cheeseburger, she was going to get it, even if she threw it up twenty minutes later.
While she was off packing, I cleaned up the living room, taking her glass and the empty plate from the coffee table to the kitchen, where I rinsed both and set them in the sink, then went back out there to fold up the blanket. Right after I’d turned the TV off, she came back out with a bag that I took from her so that she wouldn’t have to carry it.
I was sure she could. That didn’t mean I was going to let her.
“And I want a vanilla milkshake to go with my cheeseburger,” she told me, as if it were a challenge.
The corners of my mouth twitched as I fought a smile. “From the same place?”
“No.” She grinned over at me. “The cheeseburger needs to be from Five Guys. The milkshake from Sonic.”
“Perfect,” I told her.
“They aren’t near each other.”
“I don’t care.”
Because I didn’t. I’d run all over Detroit for her if I had to.
“I’m serious.”
I took a step toward her, which made her breath catch. “And I told you that I don’t care. I’ll make as many stops as you want me to. If you want a hundred milkshakes from a dozen different places, I’ll get them for you.”
She moved her head to eye me suspiciously. “You’re not usually so easy to convince of things.” She was right. I wasn’t, but this was absolutely different. “One night,” she finally said.
“We’ll see about that,” I countered as I pulled her door shut behind us and used the key she handed over to lock the deadbolt. “Do you want the milkshake to drink in the car as we go to Five Guys?”
She shook her head. “I want them together.”
“As you wish.”
Once we were in the car, she let out a long sigh, so I waited to hear what she had to say next. “How much would you hate me if I said I didn’t want to stop anywhere at all?”
I furrowed my brows, glancing at her, then back out to the road I’d just gotten us onto. “Not at all. Aren’t you hungry, though?”
She nodded. “I am, but I also just want to curl up someplace soft and warm.”
“Got it.” I took the next left, which was in the opposite direction of everything she had said she’d wanted. “I’ll take you home then go get the food. If you still want it.”
“Thank you,” she said softly as she laid her head back against the headrest.
Harlowe was tired—anyone could see that—but she had to eat, so I’d do my best to get both done so that we could talk over dinner.
Once I’d gotten her inside, she went right for the couch and I grabbed a throw blanket for her because that was how she’d been sitting at her apartment. Then I grabbed her a glass of water, which was what she wanted, and was ready to go out.
“Just so that I’m a big pain in your ass,” she started, which made me want to laugh. Anything she asked of me, I wanted to do, so it wasn’t a pain for me. “Would you be able to get some Diet Vernors? It helps settle my stomach when it needs settling.”
“Will do,” I told her before leaving her there on the couch.
First stop was the store for the pop that she wanted. Then I went to the restaurant I tended to order from because there were meals with actual vegetables. I ordered a steak because I hadn’t eaten since the afternoon and I got her a burger, even though she said she changed her mind. It’d be there if she wanted it. I even stopped at Sonic to get her vanilla milkshake.
Back home, I pulled into the garage and pressed the button to shut the big door and got everything inside.
“I kind of wish I hadn’t told you I didn’t want anything,” she said as she came around the corner from the living room.
“Got you a cheeseburger and fries and also as side of roasted vegetables,” I told her before she could comment. Then I set the vanilla milkshake in front of her and she couldn’t have stopped the smile that appeared if she’d tried.
“I said I didn’t want either thing.”
“Then you just said you had changed your mind again.”
“True.” She bit her lips together then grabbed the milkshake and straw to take a long drink. “It’s not cravings,” she told me.
“No?”
“Not yet, anyway. It was more about how my stomach was feeling. Sometimes I’m starving. Other times eating is the absolute last thing in the world I could ever want to do.”
“I get it.” I braced may hands on the countertop. “If you change your mind again, you don’t have to have any of it, but it’s here if you want it.”
She thought about that for a moment then smiled. “Thanks, Brooks. It’s kind of nice to have someone else around.”
I was sure it was and if I had my way, I’d be around in a completely different capacity, but that wasn’t what was important here. Right now, the focus was on making sure she had everything she needed to grow us a healthy baby.
That was my most important job right now.