Chapter 6
The day of the final cut came. Gabe had been training hard for the last two months, doing extra work, pushing himself harder than he ever had. And it’d paid off. If he’d lost any respect for taking a month off, he’d gained it back and then some. He was faster and played harder than most of the other guys. He felt confident, but there was always a chance he was getting cocky and had missed it somewhere.
They were all seated in the indoor gymnasium at the training field. Coach Tucker faced them, with the team’s owners and the assistant coach. They were going to find out who made the team, and see the new jersey design. As a brand new league, none of the teams had names, logos, or colors yet.
“Hello trainees,” the owner said. “Let me first just say that we appreciate all your hard work over the last months. We know that you want to make this new league as successful as we do. It’s been a tough choice to narrow things down, but we have the players that will become one of the very first all-shifter teams. We’re please to announce the team name and logo.”
Someone rolled out a large square display on wheels, covered in a sheet. The owner reached out and dramatically pulled the sheet away, revealing a framed jersey.
The jersey was bright blue with gold and gray trim. The team name, Springfield Grizzlies. The logo in the center of the jersey was a large gray paw, with blue and gold swipe marks running past it.
Everyone in the room clapped and cheered. All Gabe was concerned about was whether or not there was a jersey with his name on the back.
“I would now like to announce the members of the inaugural Springfield Grizzlies team. If your name is called, please come and receive your jersey.”
The owner started to call out names and one by one, the players went down and took their jersey from Coach Tucker as he gave each one a hard slapping hug. The list seemed to be getting long. It seemed like a full team had been selected, but some of the best players were still sitting.
The owner gestured to the group of men standing proudly with their jerseys. “This is our second string team. And now for our starters, the athletes that stood out more than any others over the last months.”
Gabe let out a breath. That explained it, then. The owner announced these names with their positions. Both Kenny and Carlos had made it. Then, the position he’d been waiting for. “And our starting quarterback…” He looked right at Gabe. “Gabriel Randall.”
Gabe walked to the front of the room, hugged Coach Tucker, and took his jersey. There, on the back in large white letters, it said “Randall” above the number three. He’d noticed that the owner had number one and Coach Tucker had two, so this meant he got the first numbered jersey. A symbol of status.
He could feel his ego swelling. He was the top bear of the whole team. But he also had a lot of responsibility. If they lost or a play went wrong, they’d look to him first to see what could have been different. And more times than not, it could be considered his fault. The weight on his shoulders was heavy. But he was strong enough and fast enough to take it.
Once all the names were called, the owner addressed them one last time. “That’s our team. If you did not receive a jersey, I’m sorry. You didn’t quite make the cut this year, but feel free to return to open tryouts next season to give it another shot.” He turned around and faced his team. “We’ll have a reception dinner to celebrate. You get one week off, then we’ll have a month-long training camp so that we can learn how to be a team. We’ll practice plays, hold scrimmages, and make sure we’re the tightest team possible before the pre-season starts. A lot of people will have their eyes on us. We need to make this season good, Grizzlies, and I have no doubt that we will.”
Training camp was the most intense and most exhilarating month of his life. Gabe had been in camps like this before, back when he was in the semi-pro league in the days when his teammates knew he and a few others were shifters, but kept it a secret, just like all the other teams did. But this was the pros now and everything was much more intense. Where their training before had been about getting the individual athlete in the best shape possible with drills and workouts and skill training, this was all about them working together as a team.
They explored each other’s weaknesses and strengths. They ran play after play, trying to find holes and fill them, trying to make every move as tight as possible so that when they played another team, they couldn’t break into their formations and make them miss the play. They worked together closely and got to know each other and each player’s unique style. Maybe the best part, though, was that now that they were all on the team, they weren’t competing against each other anymore. Now they all worked together to improve, they didn’t try to outshine each other.
But it had been brutal, too. There was little rest time. When he stepped off the plane back in Springfield, he was exhausted and looking forward to the week they had off. He was so tired walking through the airport that he thought he was seeing things when he saw Carolyn standing there. Because she was not only there, but because she also looked… pregnant.
Gabe had been walking alone down the wide hall, heading toward the bathroom while they waited for their luggage to be available. That’s when he saw her standing at the edge of a bookstore, looking at the new releases.
“Carolyn?” He walked over to her, sure now that he wasn’t just seeing things.
Her head snapped in his direction and her eyes widened. “Gabe. Hi.”
He gave her a quick hug and that confirmed what he thought. Her stomach was much more round than it had been last time he saw her. “How are you?”
“I’m okay. How have you been? You look good.”
“I feel great.” He grinned and pointed to his t-shirt and the Grizzlies logo. “I’m pro now. Just got back from training camp.”
She smiled back. “Awesome. I’m glad I got no more late night I’m-sitting-in-the-bathroom calls.”
“Yeah.” He chuckled. “You really helped me with that. If it weren’t for that night, I don’t think I’d be here right now. Thank you, Carolyn. Really. Thank you.” He surprised himself when his eyes filled with tears. He blinked them away, but not before she saw them.
She hugged him again. “I’m glad I could be there for you. And I’m glad you turned things around and didn’t go back. It’s always so easy to go back.”
“So, what have you been up to? Are you…?” He looked pointedly at her stomach.
She put her hand there and looked back up at him with a guilty expression. The look on her face made his heart skip. He thought back. How long had it been since they slept together?
“Wait a second,” he said, his face going pale. “Is it… mine?”
She pulled her lower lip into her mouth. There were tears in her eyes, now, too. She nodded and looked away from him.
“Whoa.” Gabe ran his fingers through his hair, letting the shock wash over him. “Why didn’t you call me? Geez, Carolyn, I would have—”
“What? Talked me out of having it?”
“That’s not what I was going to say. And no, I wouldn’t do that. Not if it wasn’t what you wanted. And clearly, it’s not, but you should have told me.” He felt the anger rise in his chest. It was easier to be mad than to think about what this all meant. Easier than being in shock.
“Well, considering the condition you were in at the time, I thought it would make things worse. I didn’t want to be the one to push you over the edge. And you never called me after, so I didn’t think what we had was that important to you.”
“It’s not that it wasn’t important—and you never called me, either—it was more like, it was so perfect, I didn’t want to ruin it. I wanted to keep it this perfect night where you came and saved me and I could look back and know that someone cared. It meant a lot to me. And besides, I was a complete wreck. It was hard to think about facing you after you saw me at my absolute worst.”
She nodded slowly. “This perfect night where I saved you and we made a baby. I guess it’ll mean a lot for a different reason now.”
“I guess so. Why are you in the airport? Are you picking someone up?”
“No.” She picked up the backpack beside her that he hadn’t noticed before. “I’m leaving.”
“To go where? When will you be back? We have a lot to talk about.”
“No, we really don’t, Gabe,” she said. “I’m going home. I’ve left school and I’m going home for good to have the baby, and I’ll stay there near my family.”
“Where’s that?”
“Colorado.”
“What! That’s across the country. Why? I mean, I know we don’t really know each other, but this is my baby, too, and I want to be there for you.” The tears came back to his eyes and he felt like his only mission on earth at this moment was to find a way to get her to stay with him, here. “Please. Stay. We can get a place, we can even get married if that’s what you want. I want to help you. I want to take care of the baby and of you. Please, Carolyn, let’s give it chance. We might be really great together. I think we owe it to our child to at least try, don’t you think?”
She shook her head. “I can’t do that. I have nothing here. I came here for school, to get away from everything, but my whole family and everything is there.”
“No. Not anymore. I’m here, which means half of your family is here. The father of your child is here.”
She looked up at him for a long moment. “You don’t know me. You really want to jump into a relationship with me, under all the stress of having a baby, when you’re just about to start a pro football career? Will you even be home ever?”
“I will be. I’ll travel a lot, that’s true, but it’s short trips mostly. I can bring you on the longer ones, and when the season starts, I’ll be making really good money. I can have someone help you while I’m gone. If it doesn’t work out, you can always leave later. But let’s give it a shot at least. Give me a shot. Please.”
She looked around the small shop as if it would give her the answer she was looking for.
“We don’t have to jump into a relationship if you don’t want to,” he continued. “We can get a place and have separate rooms and just get to know each other. We really don’t have to be in a relationship at all, I guess. We could just live together and raise the baby and be friends or something if that’s what you want. Co-parents or whatever they call that. I don’t know. This is kind of a shock to me, you know? And the only thing I know for sure right now is that I can’t just let you go and walk out of my life and take my only child from me. I have the right to be in my kid’s life, and I’m trying to do the right thing, here. I’m willing to do this however you want, as long as you stay.”
She closed her eyes and her face crumpled. She leaned forward into him and he wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry on his shoulder for several minutes.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “You’re such a decent guy, Gabe. I didn’t give you enough credit. I judged you and assumed you’d write me off and wouldn’t want anything to do with either of us. I thought you’d try to convince me to give the baby away or something so you wouldn’t have to deal with it all. And I should have called you. If I would have known you were doing so well, I would have. But I didn’t know. The last time I saw you… you were falling apart. I didn’t want to make it worse, but I also didn’t want to be the one to have to put you back together. I’ve done that before and it was a disaster. And it didn’t work. I didn’t want to bring a baby into that mess. But if you’re really willing and you want to do this, okay. I’ll stay. I mean, I’m going to go right now, but I’ll make it a visit. I’ll come back. The ticket is just non-refundable and it’s been a while since I saw my family anyway.”
“Promise?”
She nodded and wiped her eyes. “I promise. I will come back and we’ll see what happens.”
He gave her a tight hug. “Thank you. I’ll start looking right away for a place. I’m not making a lot of money right now, but I will be soon.”
“Well, I can get job or whatever until it closer if that would help. It’s not like I have anything else to do.”
“You won’t go back to school?”
She shook her head. “I’ve already withdrawn and it’s too late. And honestly, school is the least of my concerns at the moment.”
“Right, sure. That makes sense.” He took her hands in his. “Have a good trip. Call me, text me. Every day, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I’ll find a place and I’ll come pick you up when you get home and we’ll go out. Our first real date.”
She chuckled and nodded.
“You will come back, right? Swear?”
“I will. I swear.” She tried to pull her hands free of his, but he held tight.
He was terrified to let her go. He didn’t know if he could trust her. What if she was just saying she would come back, and then she didn’t? It’s not like he could force her to stay, though, even if she did decide not to come back. There was little he could do, aside from trust her and give her every reason to return.
“Thank you,” he said finally. “For coming back, but also, for having my baby. This is a really big deal to me. So, thank you.”
She smiled at him. “You are not at all what I expected. In a good way.”
“Good.” He hugged her, kissed her cheek, and let go.
She walked away, her backpack slung over one shoulder. She looked back once and he waved. She held up her hand in return to wave, then kept walking. He watched her vanish into the crowd, knowing he had a lot of work to do. Not only to prepare himself and his life to have a baby, but also to win her heart. She didn’t seem like the type to be easily won over, but he’d do everything he could to make it happen. To give his baby the best life possible.