Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Abby
“Mom, let’s go.” Mav’s voice carries into my room, probably from where he’s waiting by the front door. I grab a hoodie from my closet, pull it over my head, and jog out.
He’s standing exactly where I thought he would be: in the entryway with his coat and shoes already on. “We’re going to miss Dad’s game.”
“It doesn’t start for ten more minutes,” I tell him, sliding into my tennis shoes.
He lets out a heavy breath. “And we live six minutes away from the field, and it usually takes us at least three minutes to get loaded in the car.”
I look up at him with a small smile on my face. “Mav, you do know you are seven. Right?”
“Umm… yeah?” He looks at me like I have several screws loose in my brain.
Grabbing my purse from the hook by the door, I ruffle his hair. “Come on, let’s go. According to your calculations, we’ll be right on time.”
Mav was spot on, because just as we pull into the dirt parking lot beside the softball field, the guys jog out of the dugout.
Mav bolts from the car and runs to the dugout where Cole’s team is set up.
If you had told me a few years ago that Cole and his brothers would be playing on an intermural softball league in town, I would have thought you were bat shit crazy. It turns out falling in love does wild things to people.
I make my way over to the bleachers, finding all the girls grouped together. Their guys think it’s blasphemy that we sit together, even when their men are on opposing teams.
And when I say all the guys, I really mean it. By some weird twist of fate, all four of the ladies are in relationships with three different men each. That makes twelve men in total.
Riley pats the empty spot beside her as soon as she spots me. They all offer greetings when I make my way up.
“Hey, you,” she says, bumping her shoulder against mine.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, my eyes tracking down to her barely-there baby bump.
She gives me a small shrug. “Eh… I’m better than I was a month ago. I finally feel like I have enough energy to do something other than lying on the couch all day.”
“You’re out of the first trimester now, so it should be better for a while,” I tell her, not wanting to sugarcoat the end of pregnancy.
I remember how miserable I was at the end with Mav. I would gladly do it all again, but damn, that was rough.
“At least you have three men to take care of you night and day,” I add.
“They don’t ever leave me the hell alone,” she groans. “They think I’m going to spontaneously combust or something.”
I can imagine it one thousand percent. Cole was like that with me when I was pregnant with Mav, and he wasn’t even in love with me.
“I think they’re also a little scared of me right now, with my roller coaster of emotions.”
“Good. They should be a little scared of you. Us women should always keep the men in our lives on their toes,” I say.
Sienna, Avery, and Hadley all look up at me from the row below.
“Are you saying this because you have a man you are currently keeping on his toes?” Avery asks with a wicked smirk.
“Or multiple men,” Hadley adds in. “That’s actually more of the norm with this friend group.”
“Umm… no. The only man in my life is that cute one in the dugout, currently reading a book about snakes.”
“Is Theo reading in there again?” Riley asks, jokingly.
The humor drops from my voice. “No. There’s no man.”
Sienna gently squeezes my knee. “Do you want there to be?”
My head tilts to the side. “I mean, sure, but I’m okay with the way my life is. As long as I have Mav, it will be okay.”
As I say it, I’m reminded of how lonely it can get those weeks Mav is with Cole and his family. I often find myself picking up extra shifts just to avoid being home alone.
Some me time is a good thing, but too much of it hurts.
An uncomfortable feeling starts creeping through my veins. I really don’t want to talk about this with the women who are in very committed relationships with their groups of men.
It isn’t that they wouldn’t be supportive. I know they would be. I just don’t like talking about it with anyone.
Other than Kane…
That one night, I allowed myself to open up to a complete stranger.
I still don’t really understand why I did it, but he mirrored my feelings. I mean, he was at the bar in the first place because he was missing his son so much.
I hope wherever he is, he’s happy and has found a way to make peace with the times he’s apart from his son.
A loud crack of a bat making contact with a ball draws my attention back to the field.
Hadley and Sienna scream loudly as the team their guys are on scores a run. Avery and Riley groan in unison, since their men are on the opposing side.
Mav wanders over with his chapter book dangling from his fingers. He wiggles himself in between Riley and me until we make enough room for him.
“Hey, bud,” Riley says, pulling him into a hug. He rests his head on her shoulder, hugging her back.
Some people might be threatened by another woman having an important role in their son’s life, but I’ve never felt that way. I’ve always gone with the belief that the more people my son has to love and support him, the better.
She loves him like he was her own, and as a mom, there is nothing else I could ask for. Seeing their relationship grow has been pretty special.
“How’s the baby?” he asks her.
He has been so worried about the baby since the day he found out. When he’s with me, he often wants to call Riley just to check on them.
He’s already protective of his little brother or sister, and they haven’t even been born yet. He’s going to be the best big brother.
She rests her hand on her stomach. “The baby is good.”
“When are you going to find out if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“In about a month.”
Cheers erupt around us. This time, Avery is the one making most of the noise.
Will Kingston got the last out of the inning. He blows a kiss to her as he jogs toward the dugout. A faint blush spreads over her cheeks.
The guys high-five all the kids leaning over the fence near home plate on their way to their respective dugouts.
“You want to go hang out with them?” I ask Mav.
“I will. Later. Is it okay if I just hang out with you two for a little bit?” he asks, turning to look at both Riley and me.
She and I share a look over Mav’s head. I think there are tears in both of our eyes.
I press a kiss to the top of his head. “Of course you can.”
I don’t know how much longer he’ll want to spend time with me like this, so I plan to soak up every second.