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K elsey had planned everything for the wedding, and my only job was to show up. We had chosen to have the ceremony during Tom’s Christmas Break. He and I had grown close over the last few months, and I wanted him to be able to attend.

We also agreed that we would never make Crew choose between us for holidays and would only seek a childcare provider for Crew when the other parents weren’t available.

And yes, we had all agreed that I was equally a parent to Crew.

Christmas Eve wasn’t my first choice for the ceremony, but it worked with Tom’s hockey schedule.

After a season of baseball travel, Kelsey and I committed to doing our best to travel to as many of Tom’s games as possible.

Our nine-month-old little boy was crawling and restless and much less likely to sleep for the entirety of a flight.

That sweet baby stage was over, and he had begun to push Kelsey’s buttons.

I could see significant changes in our future; traveling with a toddler would be too much without hiring additional help.

We’d also rented a place in Colorado to stay while Tom played at home; he planned to get a short- term rental in Boston for the summer.

However, if we ever committed to moving outside the city, the Beacon Hill home would be available for him and even Kelsey’s parents if they chose to live there.

The Minutemen had a brief playoff run, winning both the wild card and then going on to take the division, but fell in the pennant race.

My father had completed rehab, and the changes in him had been day and night.

Once alcohol was out of the picture, my father was able to work on himself, and part of that work has led to a genuine relationship.

We had initially agreed not to talk about baseball, though, in the off-season, he’d been able to work with me constructively to work on my mechanics and pitch delivery.

Kelsey had gotten more comfortable with asking for what she wanted. She stopped considering it as spending “my money” and realized I considered us a family. Tom provided child support, and Kelsey deposited every penny into a bank account for Crew.

She and Avery had broken ground on a small non-profit that provided child care to single mothers who worked in hospitality and other fields with non-standard work schedules.

The Minutemen Boston Fund assisted in providing scholarships for women struggling to cover child-care costs and also worked on granting women with tiny wishes when they were facing other barriers to success.

Kelsey still planned to finish school but had decided to wait to return until I retired.

“Are you packed?” Kelsey asked breathlessly.

Crew had finally fallen asleep for the night, and Kelsey was racing around to complete all last-minute details.

Our flight to St.Thomas was first thing in the morning; we’d meet her family at the airport.

My family would meet us at the villa on St. John, which we had booked for the next two weeks.

She had left Monica to handle the shipment of all our wedding décor, dresses, and tuxedos, and we were left to pack only our vacation clothes.

“I’m ready,” I said, pulling her to my side. “My mother raised me to follow directions.”

“I have something for you,” she said shyly as she produced an envelope.

I opened an envelope, removed a white sheet of paper with clinical notes, and scanned it to see “IUD removal.” We had talked extensively over the last few months about expanding our family, and Kelsey knew that I was ready to welcome as many more children as she wanted once she felt ready.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” I asked, doing my best to hide my excitement.

“I am. I want Crew to have close relationships with his siblings.”

“Baby, but that’s not my question. Is this what you want? Or is this something you decided to do for me and Crew?” I asked, searching her eyes to see if I could identify even an ounce of hesitation.

“That came out wrong. That was part of my consideration, but just a part. I have a partner with you, and I can see my pregnancy experience as something not wrought with fear and loneliness but anticipation, love, and excitement. And I know that you will never consider Crew to be anything other than your child.”

“I wish I’d been there for you then, too.”

“Oh, yeah. That would have been the best time for us to start dating,” she laughed, trying to make light of the situation.

She had come a long way from the woman I met who worried she was a walking red flag and had grown into a woman confident and comfortable in our relationship.

But she still joked about how rare it was for a relationship like ours to work out.

“I saw your pregnancy pictures, Kelsey. You’re beautiful to me, whether in the middle of a hard run, covered in paint, or nine months pregnant.

” In the last month, Kelsey had taken to personally painting every inch of our home; she’d turned another bedroom into Crew’s room, moving him out of the nursery, which I now recognized as preparation for us to use the nursery again for baby number two.

But during that time, her hair was frequently spattered with paint, and her hands and nails were stained.

I loved seeing her work on making this our home, not just mine.

“Boy or Girl?” Kelsey asked.

“Healthy,” I answered without a second of hesitation.

“Sam the third?”

“No. I don’t want him to be weighed down with expectations.” My father and I had come a long way, but most of our struggles came because he tried to relive his career through me. I would have chosen to play baseball no matter what, but I would have loved it more without that pressure.

“Do you have any regrets? Do you love what you do?” She asked.

“Yeah. I loved this last season, but mostly, I loved having someone there cheering me on. I loved knowing that, win or lose, I had you and Crew to come home to. It was a reminder that baseball wasn’t all I had, and while I’m going to miss it when it’s all over, you guys are so much more than a career.

You’re my world; baseball is my paycheck. ”

Kelsey zipped her suitcase and moved it to the hallway, placing it next to mine and Crew’s. The three suitcases were symbolic of the last year and a reminder that we had several years of insane travel ahead of us. But there was no other woman I would want as my partner in this crazy life.