Page 50

CHAPTER FIFTY

Emerson

“We have time for this you know.” I sit in the glider Kelton just brought home for the baby’s room.

It’s beautiful and expensive and a little excessive, but perfect.

I’ve figured something out quickly. Kelton doesn’t skimp out when it comes to those he loves.

Me and the baby have gotten the best of everything and I’ve gotten used to getting spoiled. I know it comes from love.

“We have time yes,” Kelton says, looking back over his shoulder as he holds paint samples to the wall. “But I don’t want to rush it and then hate it. I’d rather get the paint on the wall and the mural.”

“Mural?”

“Yeah, I told you.” He turns around to face me. “I’ve got that guy that is going to paint the stadium and then whenever we find out what we are having he’s gonna add us walking holding the hands of our little girl or boy toward the outfield.”

It’s incredibly adorable how into this room decoration he is getting.

“If it’s a girl he’s gonna do pink jersey accents, my number, and last name. If it’s a boy he’ll do blue.”

“Because a girl can’t like blue?”

“My little princess can like anything she wants. If my prince wants pink, he’s got it, if my princess wants a monster truck, it’s hers.”

“So in other words you are going to be over the top.”

“Over the fucking moon, baby.” He winks before turning back to the wall and holding up the different shades of samples.

Boy or girl, this little one was going to be surrounded by baseball.

“What are we doing in here?” Liz asks, walking into the room that will be the nursery. Carrying a bag of licorice and a bottle of water she flops down on the floor at my side.

“Oh this is nice,” she adds when she notices the glider, dragging her hand along the side of it.

“Your brother just brought it home.”

“And we are trying to pick out a color for the walls.”

“I thought there was a field or something being painted on the wall,” she says, taking a bite of the licorice and I glance from her to her brother and then back to Liz again. “What? He’s been talking about it for the last month,” she says.

Her house is almost done. It has a perfect location with a view of the tree Kelton planted in honor of their mom.

Her pool is small, but a great size for her.

Like her own little private oasis. Two bedrooms, a mini version of our kitchen, and a built in eating nook that also has a retractable wall so she can bring the outside, inside whenever she wants.

I’ll admit I love having her only a small walk away. I’ve always had Liz in my life and if she wasn’t here I’d feel a little lost.

“We have until January,” I say. Both Liz and Kelton look at me. “That’s like five months away.”

“Do you realize how fast that is going to fly by?”

“Says the guy that isn’t carrying the future ballplayer,” I say with a laugh.

“We don’t know that yet, there very well could be a future ballerina growing in there.”

I smile and glance over at Liz. The guy must love being surrounded by girls and being outnumbered. He’s so sure we are having a girl.

I love to tease him. In fact every one of us; me, Gran, and Liz are constantly referring to the baby as him. I even managed to get half the guys on his team to go along with the boy theme.

Honestly I will be happy either way because I know regardless the child will be the luckiest kid out there because their daddy is going to be so present and attentive.

I can’t wait to meet the person Kelton and I have created.

It may have been unplanned, all of this may have been, but I believe that everything we went through to get here was only to make us stronger.

It was the building process to ensure he and I were stable enough to handle the amount of life we’ve been blessed with.

And they were right, January would be here before we knew it.

My parents were planning a visit once the baby arrives.

They are both ecstatic about becoming grandparents.

They’ve been traveling the world, telling everyone all about how their daughter is marrying a professional baseball player.

I’ve never corrected them because the first time they said it Kelton was on the phone with me and them and his quick response left me speechless.

“Marrying Emerson will be one of the best days of my life, running head to head with the day she makes me a father.”

Looking down at the ring on my finger I smile, because it still feels foreign.

But after his double header last week against the Geneva Grands, exhausted and with dirt on his face he dropped to his knee just outside the locker room and asked me to marry him.

With his team behind him and me staring down at the box in his head I nodded my head and felt the tears drip on our joined hands.

It was the perfect proposal from the perfect man on the perfect day, I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I wouldn’t change a single second. I don’t need fancy dinners with flowers and candlelight. I need real, and that night the man I love had nothing but raw emotion when the moment hit.

As if Kelton knows what I was thinking he walks over, bends down and kisses the top of my head. “Love you, sweetheart,” he whispers and I lean back taking the second kiss he offers.

“Love you,” I say in return as Liz makes gagging noises at our side triggering us both to laugh. She may act like it grosses her out but I know without a doubt she loves seeing us happy.