Epilogue
Celia
The crowd was wildly cheering and chanting as the Arizona Dragons took the field for the first game of the regular season. Celia was seated beside Jasmine, who just might be cheering the loudest.
“What do you think about your first game so far?” she asked her daughter.
Jasmine continued to clap. “This isn’t my first game, Mom. I went to all the spring training games.”
“But this is your first game in a big stadium with all these people.”
“It’s kinda like the soccer games I went to.”
She wasn’t wrong. They were very similar. The biggest difference was the temperature. At the end of March in Valley Falls, they’d still be wearing winter coats. Not in Arizona. The weather was warm enough that they could wear shorts almost year round.
A definite perk to their move.
As suspected, Jasmine had been completely on board with them moving to be closer to Kyle. They’d packed a few bags of important things and flown with him back to Arizona the morning he left. Jasmine was enrolled in school immediately, and Celia had been added to the local middle school as a long term substitute, filling in wherever she was needed. Most of their belongings were packed up and shipped to Arizona within days. They left a lot of furniture in the apartment because Kyle wanted them to be able to go back and forth whenever they wanted to visit family and friends.
A part of him still hated that she’d been the one to give up her life just so he could have his.
She tried explaining over and over again that what he didn”t understand was that she wouldn’t have a life if he wasn’t in it.
Each day, he understood that a little more.
They’d had a month of family dinners and walks in the park and falling asleep in each other”s arms. That was all about to change now that the season had started. She would miss him when he traveled, but knew it wasn”t going to last forever. Some day, he’d be finished with baseball and they’d have all the time in the world together.
Until then, she’d cheer him on, no matter what.
As Kyle came up to bat in the bottom of the first, he turned and looked up into the stand where she and Jasmine were sitting. He made a heart with his hands, something his daughter had taught him.
“Mom, did you see that?” Jasmine tugged on her arm. “He did the heart I showed him.”
“I saw, sweetie.”
Celia knew he couldn’t see her or hear her, but that didn”t stop her from waving and yelling his name loudly. His first pitch was a strike and his second was a ball. She had her fingers crossed under her chin as the pitcher wound up for the third pitch. When the ball reached the plate, Kyle swung his bat and the crack of the ball against the wood had everyone on their feet.
The ball flew out of the stadium in right field for a home run.
The crowd went wild and she and Jasmine cheered right along with them. After rounding the bases, Kyle once again looked up toward them. The smile on his face was huge and one that she’d seen many times in the last month.
He was happy.
So was she.
After the game was finished with the Dragons winning four to one, Celia and Jasmine went down to the locker room, where they waited outside. There were lots of other family members waiting outside, most of whom she’d met during spring training. Jasmine was busy playing with the daughter of one of Kyle’s teammates, when Celia saw the locker room door open.
Kyle was the first one out.
She didn’t hesitate to run toward him. He caught her mid stride and swung her in a circle.
“You were amazing!” she said laughing the whole time.
His smile was huge as he held her in his arms. “Knowing you were here made me feel amazing.” He kissed her hard and quick.
“Don”t forget about me,” Jasmine said from beside them.
Celia gave Kyle another quick kiss as he lowered her back to her feet.
“I’d never forget you.” He grabbed Jasmine around the waist and hoisted her up into his arms, twirling her in a circle, as she giggled the whole time.
Celia watched the man she loved shower their daughter with love and affection. He’d taken to being a dad in stride, and while there were always bumps along the way, he acclimated like he”d been doing it his whole life.
“Are my girls ready to go home?” He had Jasmine in one arm as he slung his other around her shoulders.
“Always,” she said, looking up at the two people she loved most in the whole world.
He bent his head, giving her another kiss, this one lasting longer and turning her legs to mush.
“Can you guys stop kissing?” Jasmine said, making a gagging sound. “Although Kimmy told me that once, she saw her mom and dad kiss and then like a year later, she got a little brother.”
Kyle pulled back, his voice full of laughter. “Is that right? What do you think, Mommy, is that how it’s done?”
They’d talked many times in the weeks since she’d moved to Arizona about having more kids. They both were for it, but wanted to wait just a little while longer so they had some time as a couple, before adding more kids.
Celia slapped his arm. “You know exactly how it’s done.”
“I’m not so sure.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I think we should keep practicing so that when the time comes, we are experts.”
She couldn”t stop her smile from growing. She’d wanted this sort of happiness in her life, but she’d never believed it would happen. Kyle proved her wrong. On so many things. For all her mistakes and bad judgements, she’d somehow ended up right where she’d always wanted to be.
In the arms of the man who loved her.
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Thank you for readingWalk Off. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. A huge Shoutout to Pat Johnston and Paula Evens for all your help. I couldn’t do this without you.
Keep reading for a sneak peak at the first chapter of Late Tackle, book 1 in the Valley Falls Strikers.