Epilogue #2
“They did?” Scotty looked up at Nick with awe. “Did you do this?”
“I might’ve asked around about whether we could get you with a few of the players. Having the whole team stick around after the game was their idea.”
Scotty hurled himself at Nick, who nearly lost his footing before he caught his son in a hug. His eyes met Sam’s over the boy’s head, and they shared a smile.
“I want to see what you learned at that camp,” Sam said. “See if I got my money’s worth. Show me what you’ve got.”
“Thank you,” Scotty said softly, his gaze taking in both of them.
“Thank you so much.” Then he was gone in a flash of navy and khaki, running for the dugout with his backpack in hand.
The players greeted him warmly, welcoming him into the dugout.
He disappeared for a time, emerging in the camp uniform of white baseball pants, an orange Feds T-shirt, cleats, an orange Feds hat and orange baseball socks.
Still dressed in their formal attire, Sam and Nick were escorted to seats behind the Feds dugout where they could watch the scrimmage game on the field. The players divided up into two teams and made a huge fuss over Scotty, who grinned from ear to ear the entire time.
“This is so cool,” Sam said as she reached for Nick’s hand. “You’re the best dad ever.”
He linked their fingers and brought her hand to rest on his leg. “Sometimes being vice president doesn’t totally suck.”
They shared a laugh, and as their gazes met and held, a feeling of peace, happiness and contentment flooded her. No matter how ridiculous their lives got—and they got pretty ridiculous on a regular basis—this was what made it all worthwhile. He and Scotty made it worth the hell and heartache.
The team played ball with Scotty for two hours and then presented him with a ball they all had signed, as well as his own Feds jersey with the name Cappuano and the number 2 on the back.
“Ohhh, I like that,” Scotty said. “Number two because my dad is the number two guy in the US.”
The team’s captain, Cecil Mulroney, smiled at Scotty. “You got it.”
They also gave the same jersey to Sam and Nick, who posed for photos with each member of the team and thanked them profusely for the time they’d given Scotty.
“Keep working on the fundamentals, Scotty,” one of the players said. “You’ve got real potential.”
“I do? Really?”
The player smacked the bill of Scotty’s cap. “You sure do.”
“I can’t thank you guys enough for this.” Nick shook hands with each of them once again. “He’ll never forget it. You’ve got a fan for life.”
“It was a pleasure,” Mulroney said.
Scotty chattered excitedly on the way back to the car and during the short drive home. He profusely thanked Brant, Darcy and the other agents for helping to make the baseball stop possible.
“I’ll never, ever forget this day,” he said, hugging Sam and Nick before he went upstairs to shower.
“I’m so glad you loved it,” Nick said. “I felt terrible that your camp got derailed because of me.”
“It wasn’t because of you, and you shouldn’t feel bad. We knew what we were signing up for when you took the job.”
Sam smiled and shook her head at Scotty’s maturity.
“Maybe so,” Nick said, “but it killed me to see you disappointed. Go get some sleep. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Scotty started for the stairs but stopped before going up. He turned to look at Nick. “I want you to know… The day I met you was the best and luckiest day of my life. Nothing will ever top that, not even playing baseball with the Feds.”
Before Nick had a chance to absorb the emotional wallop of Scotty’s statement, he had gone upstairs.
Nick expelled a deep breath. “Whoa.”
Sam wrapped her arms around him. “Well played, my love. Very well played.”
“He thinks he got lucky…”
“We all got lucky that day.”
“Indeed we did.” With his hands on her hips, Nick directed Sam to the stairs. “I need a closer look at this dress.”
Not caring who might be listening or watching, Sam giggled like a girl. “You’re so shameless.”
“I think I’ve been very, very patient today while you pranced around looking like something out of a wet dream.”
“A. I don’t prance. And B. That’s disgusting.”
“Nothing disgusting about it.” Ignoring Darcy, who was positioned outside Scotty’s door, Nick nibbled her shoulder and directed her into their room, closing the door behind him. “What a long damned day waiting to get my hands on my sexy bridesmaid.”
“You held up admirably.”
He yanked at his bow tie, removed it and tossed it aside. “It wasn’t easy.”
Sam unbuttoned his shirt from the top, working her way down until her favorite chest was revealed. “You know what the luckiest day of my life was?” She looked up at him. “When this gorgeous guy came to my rescue at a party and handed me his monogrammed handkerchief.”
“You know what’s funny about that? Your luckiest day was mine, too.”
Sam smiled up at him and drew him into a kiss. “We had a few roadblocks to overcome, but it all worked out the way it was meant to.”
He wrapped her up in his love, holding her close to him. “It sure did.”
Bringing Noah Home
A Fatal Series Short Story
By: Marie Force
Avery Hill carried his coffee mug upstairs to take one last look at the room next to the master bedroom, making sure everything was ready.
He’d come home after spending the night at the hospital to shower, change his clothes and pick up the infant car seat they needed to bring the baby home.
He and Shelby had spent the summer decorating the nursery in soft yellows and grays, colors suitable for a baby boy or girl.
She had wanted the baby’s sex to be a surprise, and Avery had been more than happy to go along with whatever she wanted.
A boy. The baby was a boy she’d named Noah, and today he’d come home to the room with the life-size baby elephant that Avery had seen in a store window and had to have for the child he would raise as his own.
They’d done the math and determined there was no way the baby could be his biological child.
He’d been conceived before they got together, while Shelby was undergoing IVF treatments with the assistance of a fertility clinic.
For a time they’d thought it might be possible, but now they knew otherwise.
It didn’t matter, though. He already loved Noah as much as he could possibly love a child he’d fathered. And he loved Noah’s mother with his whole heart and soul, which was why the events of last weekend had been so devastating.
He’d said the wrong name while having sex with the woman he loved—and not just any wrong name but the worst possible wrong name.
He’d paid a big price for that mistake ever since.
Shelby had packed a bag and left his house, the home they’d shared for months now, and gone God knows where.
Most of her stuff was still here, and if he had his way, she and her things would be staying where they belonged.
She’d had the baby without him by her side as they’d planned during months of birthing classes. Only when a nurse had taken pity on him had Shelby allowed him into her room to see her and Noah.
She had agreed to bring the baby home to Avery’s house.
Everything they’d bought for the baby was here.
It would be silly for her to go elsewhere.
But because she’d conceded that fact and agreed to come here, that didn’t mean she planned to stay.
Her joy over the baby was trumping everything else at the moment, including the anger and hurt he had caused.
Avery wasn’t under any illusions that the crisis had passed and knew they faced a long and difficult road in getting things back on track between them—if the damage he had done could be fixed, which was a very big if at this point.
His cell phone rang, and he took the call he’d been expecting from his personal physician. “This is Avery. Thanks for returning my call.”
“No problem. What can I do for you?”
“I need a recommendation for a therapist who specializes in couples. Someone I can count on for complete discretion.” The last thing he needed was his work finding out he was in therapy—or why it had become vitally necessary.
“Sure, I can send you a few names. Is everything all right?”
“Not at the moment, but hopefully, it will be in time.”
“You know how to reach me if I can help.”
“You already have.”
“I’ll send an email to your personal address.”
“Thank you.” Avery waited for the message and opened it when it popped up ten minutes later.
He chose the first name on the list, a woman, and placed the call.
Ten minutes later, he had an appointment for next Tuesday.
He’d wanted that done before Shelby came home so he could tell her he was taking steps to fix what was wrong with him.
Now he could only hope she would stick around long enough for him to make amends for his horrific mistake. The alternative didn’t bear consideration.
Shelby spent the morning learning how to bathe her new son and met with the lactation specialist, who declared her a breast-feeding machine.
Watching Noah latch on to her nipple ranked among the most amazing things she’d ever experienced.
The nurses said he was a good baby. He ate, slept and pooped exactly the way he was supposed to, which was a huge relief to his mother.
His mother. She wanted to giggle with the sheer joy that came from a title she’d once thought would never apply to her. At forty-three years old, she had finally made that dream come true.
Almost a full day after his arrival, Shelby still couldn’t believe he was hers and she got to keep him forever.
She carefully dressed him in the outfit she and Avery had chosen to bring him home in.
Thoughts of Avery set off a dull ache inside that muted her joy, so she pushed those thoughts, along with worries about the job she’d impulsively quit, to the back of her mind.
There’d be time to deal with Avery and her job situation later.