Epilogue
TWO MONTHS LATER.
Dallas
“All right, huddle up,” I shout to the team as they gather around me in a tight circle.
Placing my hands on my thighs, I lean down to their level.
I take each of them in and think about how far each of these kids has come since our first practice in the school gym.
There’s no more riding the bats like horses or running in circles.
They shifted focus from snacks and juice boxes to learning the game.
This is my team.
“Listen, I know we didn’t win our first game, and that’s okay. We can’t win them all.”
“Yes, we can,” Archie cuts in. “We have what it takes.”
“I agree with you, but when it comes down to it, we may lose some, and I want everyone to know that’s okay, too. But I love your energy, bud.”
“We got this,” Sage shouts.
“We do,” I agree, smiling at my little girl who’s loving this game as much as I always have. “If you all play the way you have over the last few months, I have no doubt we can win this one. Besides, we’re at our home field.”
“Duh. We play here every week.” Ethan says.
“Exactly.” I laugh. “Which means we know how this field works. We know every patch of dirt, every weird bounce the ball can take, and the way the sun glares. This field is ours and belongs to us. So do you know what that means?
“We don’t have to pay for hot dogs at the food cart?” Ethan says.
“No.” Archie smacks the back of his hand against his arm. “It means we have the home field advantage.”
“I still don’t get it, but okay,” Ethan agrees.
“It means we can win this,” I tell them. “When you play where you belong, you fight harder. You play like you have the whole town behind you. And guess what?”
“What?” they all shout in unison.
“You do have the whole town behind you. We’re up by one point, and if they don’t score, we win. Now let’s show them what a home field advantage looks like.”
“Yes! Let’s win!” they all shout in a half-organized cheer.
There are so many reasons beyond this one that make this field feel like home. And when I look over to the benches and bleachers we added before the season started, I see it.
I see her.
I came to Bluestone Lakes to figure things out and connect with my daughter. I never expected to meet someone who made me feel like I had been missing something all along.
This was only supposed to be temporary.
But then I saw Poppy laugh. Then she taught me how to braid my daughter’s hair. She kept ice cream on hand for Sage and brought her puzzles because she knew she loved them. She opened up to me in a way that made me feel like we can trust each other.
I eye the crowd, and seated on the right side of one of the benches is my ex-wife and her boyfriend.
Nathan and April have been seeing each other since before they decided to move right outside of Bluestone Lakes to a town called Bonneville.
Nathan opened an OB-GYN practice where he and April will take turns working between there and the hospital.
They’ll commute every few days, but we’ve all fallen into a practice of doing what’s best for Sage.
Sage has acclimated to the changes so well. She loves having two rooms at two different houses. The only thing she was adamant about was continuing school with her new friends in Bluestone Lakes.
Seated next to my ex-wife and her boyfriend sits Poppy. It’s like they’ve been best friends forever. She’s in the bottom seat in the bleachers, wearing my jersey. A San Francisco Staghorns jersey with my last name and number on the back from when I was the starting pitcher.
Every time I look at her, I remember that this is what home field advantage really means. It means finding where you’re supposed to be.
“Hands in,” I tell the kids, and they all reach into the circle. “Home run on three. One…two…three…”
“Home run!” they all shout before the group of kids filled with chaos and heart take the field.
I’m not worried about the way I used to be when I wanted to win a game more than my next breath. I know deep down, these kids got it in the bag.
I look to Tucker next to me, who looks deep in thought. “You all right?”
He nods, void of his normal fun expressions.
“I know now isn’t the time, but if there’s anything you want to talk about, I’m here.”
“We don’t need to get into it now, but I might want to talk about it later. But it’s the date on the calendar. It’s a hard day for me,” he says, his voice somber, and I know it’s something bigger than a conversation in the dugout between innings.
I clasp a hand on his shoulder. “Later then. We can grab a drink at Seven Stools. I’m here for whatever you want to talk about.”
“I appreciate that.”
The first batter hits the pitch Archie throws, and his brother Austin takes him out at first. Archie then throws a strikeout. I lean forward, placing my hands on my thighs as I watch the opposing team’s best hitter come to bat.
One more out.
That’s all we need for these kids to win this.
Archie’s first pitch, the batter swings, and I swear time slows. I feel like I’m back at the Staghorns stadium and watching us lose our chance at a championship title. That’s not what this is, I remind myself. These are just kids.
The ball flies through the sky into the outfield.
Gabe and Sammy, with her glitter shoes, run with their gloves stretched out in front of them, hoping to catch the ball.
My jaw hangs open when I see Sage also running.
Time stills even more. Tucker grabs my forearm as he watches, too, and any sound from the crowd is gone as I watch the ball fall directly into my daughter’s glove.
She looks down to see if it’s there, and turns to face me with a proud smile on her face, lifting the glove and ball in her hand.
Then the sound in my ears roars to life again.
Tucker is jumping up and down beside me before running toward the kids. They all pile on Sage, screaming and cheering. Poppy and April jump up and down, yelling louder than anyone.
We won.
We fucking won.
This might be a small town little league game with folding chairs, juice boxes, and paper scoreboards, but it feels like we just won the championship game under the bright lights of a sold out stadium.
My body finally reacts to the win, and I toss my baseball hat to the grass and run as fast as I can across the field to Sage. I dive into the rumble of kids and lift my daughter onto my shoulders. The kids all chant her name around me as I walk her to the crowd.
“You did it, Sage!” Poppy says.
“I’m so proud of you, baby,” April adds, giving her hands a tight squeeze over my head.
“Amazing catch, Sage!” Nathan adds.
“I did it! I caught the ball!”
“Yes, you did, bug. And we won the game because of it.” I tell her, setting her down next to us. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I wanted this for you, Daddy. You’re the best coach in all the land and deserved a big win.”
“I agree,” the kids chime in around us, rattling off their agreement at different times.
“The best!” Tucker adds with a fist to the air.
“This win deserves ice cream,” Sage says.
“Did someone say snacks?” Ethan chimes in.
“All the snacks, dude,” Tucker says, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
We all break out in laughter as the kids run off into the dugout to grab their things.
“I’ll go help her,” April says, leaving Poppy and me alone.
I step closer to her, cupping her face in my hands, and press a kiss to her lips before she can say anything more. As always, she melts into me, and God, I’ll never get used to it.
“You did it, coach.”
“They did it.”
“Well, they had an amazing coach to help bring this all to life the last few months.”
“I had some help with Tucker. I didn’t expect it to go as smoothly as it did after he insisted on helping me. But it turned out to be better than I thought.”
Poppy’s features soften at the mention of Tucker. Whatever he was feeling before during the game, she knows, but I won’t ask her. I want Tucker to be the one to tell me his story.
I hook an arm around Poppy’s neck, pulling her close to my body and turning to face the kids in the dugout.
They are still screaming. Gabe is trying to do a victory dance and ends up falling flat on his ass, and Ethan is asking everyone when and where we’re getting ice cream after this.
All the kids are running up the Sage, giving her high fives and hugs, celebrating her game winning catch.
At this moment, it’s clear.
We won something way bigger than this game today.
We found home.
Tucker and Scottie are next!
One small town. One renovation project.
One season of sparks too real to script.
But what happens when the cameras stop?
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