Fallon #3
He nods as his hands make their way up the back of my shirt. “Okay, beautiful. Give me a kiss that will tide me over until tomorrow night.”
After a very heavy make-out session in the pickleball club parking lot, full of unfulfilled longing and promises of what’s to come, I’m on my way to Harper’s playoff softball game.
I can’t help but touch my kiss-swollen lips.
I’ve fallen so hard, so fast. We’re only a few months in, and already I can’t imagine my life without him.
It’s the easiest relationship I’ve ever had.
I feel secure in it. I feel cherished. Is this what it’s supposed to be like when it’s the one?
I never felt a sense of calm like this in my marriage, even at the beginning.
I pull into the game in time to see Bailey and Kam hitting ground and fly balls to the girls on the team as they warm up. I’m glad the game hasn’t started yet. I hate missing even a few minutes.
Bailey and Kam coached the team to a league championship last year. Expectations are high…among the parents. The kids are mostly excited about the fact that two professional softball players are their coaches.
I walk toward the stands and see Tanner sitting with Amanda, Beckett, Reggie, and Piper. Climbing the bleachers to sit with them, I bump Reggie’s shoulder. “It’s nice of you and Piper to come to the game.”
She smiles. “It’s a beautiful night. Sam is out with the boys doing some of the dirt biking crap I hate.
Piper and I are having a girls’ night. She wanted to support Harper and Andie.
” She looks around the bleachers area and scrunches her face.
“Some of these parents are so young. I’m closer in age to the grandparents than the parents.
It’s weird being the same age as old people.
The fucking Golden Girls were my age. Do you know how hard that is to wrap my head around? ”
Amanda smacks Reggie’s leg. “Shut up. We are not the same age as Blanche, Rose, and Dorothy.”
Reggie makes a duckface. “Look that shit up. We’re closer than you think.”
Amanda shakes her head. “No way.”
Reggie rolls her eyes. “Look around, Amanda. These women think the 90210 reboot was the original, while we used to rush home to see new episodes of Charlie’s Angels.
” She points to one of the young moms in head-to-toe Lulu Lemon who’s bending over to pick up her baby boy and throwing him in the air like he weighs nothing.
“I can’t bend like that anymore. I tried to give myself a pedicure the other day.
I couldn’t even reach my toes. What’s worse is, even if I could bend like her, my vision has gotten so bad I can’t even see my toes to paint them.
I wake up at three in the morning for no reason and can’t fall back asleep.
I walk into a room and can’t remember why.
My back hurts when I sit wrong. I want to strangle my husband when he chews his food.
I’m one more sensory overload away from prison. ”
Amanda giggles. “You’re a hot mess.”
Reggie shakes her head. “Nah, I’m not pretty enough to be considered a hot mess. I’m more of a room temperature inconvenience.”
Beckett throws his arm around Amanda. “It doesn’t bother you when I chew, right, cherry pie?”
Amanda sweetly smiles as she shakes her head. “No, baby. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
She looks at us with wide eyes and mouths, “I want to kill him when he chews.”
I see Tanner rolling his eyes. He leans over and whispers, “You’re not in perimenopause yet, are you?”
I cross my arms in annoyance. “Umm, no, thank you very much. I’m much younger than they are. I’m not even forty yet.”
He holds his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. Just making sure. I know you want more kids. How did pickleball go with the big guy?”
I can’t contain my smile. “Really well. We beat Darian and Jackson.”
“Ooh, I bet she took that well,” he says sarcastically.
I giggle. “She smashed her paddle into the wall and broke it.”
He chuckles. “Yep, I’ve seen it happen many times.”
I turn to him and quietly say, “Jett mentioned again that he wants to meet Harper. I’m on the fence. Are you sure you’re good with it?”
He bites back a smile. “I was banging the nanny. I’m pretty sure I’ve lost all rights to pass judgment.”
I can’t help but let out a laugh. “True.”
“But since you’re asking,” he continues, “my answer is I trust your judgment implicitly. I know you would never bring anyone into Harper’s life unless it was the real deal. If you’re serious about him and think it may be for the long run, then he should meet her.”
I nod. “You’re right. It’s just hard. There are no guarantees that we’ll work out.”
He shrugs. “Of course not, but if you think it’s headed in the right direction, go for it.
If you end up with him, his relationship with Harper will be an important one.
And maybe you need to test the waters a bit.
I wouldn’t have married a woman who didn’t have a great relationship with Harper. Who Harper didn’t love.”
Oh jeez, I never thought about it that way. What if Harper doesn’t like him?