Page 106 of Tripped By Love

Marco - Two years later

MY BOY

“It hit me like a train, the first time he called me dad

In a three stick-figure crayon picture with all of us holdin’ hands.”

Performed by Elvie Shane

Written by Shane / Star / Columbia / Sutton

“Run, Chevelle! Run,” I hollered soloud my deep voice cracked. Then, I chuckled as he went scrambling toward third base instead of first. He’d hit the ball off the tee all the way into far-right field, and the other team had to scramble for it, but my boy was running in the opposite direction.

There was laughter and screaming from the crowd behind us.

Chevelle tagged the base and looked back at me with the largest smile I’d ever seen on his face with his brown hair falling into his eyes under the helmet he was wearing. He jumped up and down on the bag as if he’d made a touchdown. One of the players from the opposite team walked up, tagged him with his glove, and said, “You’re out.”

Chevelle’s face fell. “But I’m on base.”

The kid was only one year older than Chevelle, who was barely four, but he sounded older as he rolled his eyes and said, “You went the wrong way, moron.”

It only took a couple large strides for me to reach their side.

“Jeff, we don’t use words like that,” I said to the boy. “Remember, we’re all learning. That’s the point of tee ball.”

Chevelle looked up at me with his big eyes glistening. Damn. If he cried, I’d cry too. I held out my hand, and he slid his small one into it. I led him off the field toward the dugout, and when I risked looking into the stands, Cassidy was already making her way down the bleachers with one hand on the rail and the other on her swollen belly. A belly filled with our daughter who was sure to make her way into the world any day now.

I knelt down in front of Chevelle and unsnapped his helmet.

“Was I supposed to go to the other base, Daddy?” he asked, voice wavering.

My heart leaped at the name. Just like it did every time he said it.

“Yep. But we all make mistakes, Snickerdoodle. It’s okay. It’s how we learn.” A lump hit my throat. I hardly ever thought of the mistakes from my past anymore. I was too busy filling my days with happy moments. With love and family.

This boy had become mine in a way no one would ever understand. He may not have had my DNA running through him, but I was his dad. He was my son. We were a family. He called Jonas his brother and Maliyah Grandma whenever we saw her—which was a lot. We flew to her, or she flew to us. Even with Jonas away now, she still came to Grand Orchard.

Cassidy reached us, placing a hand on my shoulder, bending slightly to catch Chevelle’s eyes and saying, “That was an amazing hit!”

His chin wobbled. “I ran wrong and got out.”

Cassidy nodded. “You did, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that you had an amazing hit. You’ll know better next time.”

Chevelle looked from me to her as one of his teammates came up. “Chev, that was an awesome hit. I wish I could hit that good. Can you show me how you do that at practice?”

Chevelle’s face lit up. He pushed away from me and ran off to the bench with his teammate in tow. I stood, and Cassidy wrapped her hand around my waist, having to tilt her body slightly to the side so she could tuck herself under my arm with her stomach protruding. We watched as the two boys chatted away.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

“For what?” I said, frowning.

“For showing him it’s okay to make mistakes. For being everything he and I need. For loving us.”

I kissed her, flames immediately leaping to life between us in a way that was completely inappropriate on the baseball field in front of half the town of Grand Orchard. She laughed as she pulled her lips away and would have taken a step back if my grip on her hip hadn’t tightened.

“Angel, I’m only the man I am because of the two of you.”

“The three of us.” She smiled, bringing my other hand to her belly. “And I believe Jonas and Maliyah would have a thing or two to say about taking some of the credit.”