“I can’t believe you’re leaving. It seems like just yesterday you started.” Missy Mills had managed to worm her way into the hearts of both Coby and me, not to mention Gage Nix’s. They’d met at one of Coby’s baseball games and had been inseparable since…well, when he wasn’t traveling.

“It’s not like you won’t see me. Coby will still be here, I’ll still come to all the games, and you and Gage practically live at our house.”

“I know, but it won’t be the same.” I loved Missy like a sister. She was the best girlfriend I’d ever had, but she was being ridiculous.

“I’m not moving, Missy. I’m just having a baby.”

Coby had been itching to get me pregnant since the day he’d proposed. I’d made him wait to start trying until after the wedding, but after that, all bets were off. It became his mission to fill our house with the patter of little footsteps, and when he set his mind to something, he gave it his all.

As soon as I started to laugh at her pouting, a trickle of wetness ran down my leg. “Maybe sooner than expected,” I spoke without realizing the words were audible, but Missy had heard them.

“What?” she shrieked in a voice so high-pitched I covered my ears to avoid it. “Like now?”

My pants were visibly wet, so it was a safe assumption the answer to that question was yes. I just nodded, frozen where I stood. That instinct everyone talked about didn’t kick in. I just stared at her with wide eyes and panic taking over my movements. It was too early—not really, I was due in three days, but going into labor at my going-away party at the school wasn’t ideal. I quickly tried to think of a viable excuse to leave, but before I could come up with anything, Missy butted in.

“Coby!” Missy yelled across the room, trying to get my husband’s attention.

He tilted his head up to her as though to say hello, not recognizing the urgency in her cry. I turned to meet his eyes, and his smile dropped. I could only imagine how terrified I looked, or maybe I was mortified that my colleagues would think I’d peed in my pants.

“Ellie?” he called over the heads of the people separating us as he pushed through them to get to me. In the blink of an eye, his arms were around me, and I was in the air and against his chest.

“Coby, put me down. You’re going to hurt your shoulder.”

“Like hell.”

I swatted at his arm. “We’re in a Catholic school, don’t cuss.”

“Don’t push me, Ellie.” He made his way through the parted crowd with me still firmly in his grasp. “I’ve waited nine months to meet this baby.” The look he gave me was a poor attempt at being stern.

“You can put me down. I can walk. My water just broke. I don’t feel any pain.”

He ignored my plea and continued walking until we reached the new SUV he bought for the baby, and then he slid me into the passenger seat. I couldn’t help but giggle at him. Never in my life would I have imagined Coby being so excited about becoming a dad, but if it were up to him, we’d have as many kids as my body would allow. I’d worried he’d be concerned with the delivery, knowing that’s how his dad had lost his mom, but it had never come up, and I certainly wasn’t going to mention it.

While he drove, I called our parents, who promised to leave as soon as they could pack their bags and get in the car. Regardless of how many times I told them not to rush, they blew me off. This was their first grandchild, and none of the three were willing to miss the baby’s arrival. I loved them for it, but it was a bit over the top. Or maybe that was just my frazzled nerves.

Coby had treated me like a porcelain doll since the day we’d found out we were expecting. He doted on me prior, but he’d become obsessive since seeing the two pink lines on the plastic stick.

I insisted he park and allow me to walk into the hospital, which didn’t make him happy.

“You’re in labor, Ellie. Now is not the time to prove a point.”

I rolled my eyes. “And this can take hours. Stop being so overprotective.”

We agreed to disagree, but I got my way. Less than thirty minutes later, I was admitted to the Labor and Delivery ward and hooked up to monitors. Our parents joined us a couple of hours later, and together, the five of us played the waiting game. While my parents were twitching with excitement, anxiety was written all over my father-in-law’s face. No one else seemed to pick up on it, but I ached for him. He’d never dated after losing Coby’s mom, never remarried, nothing—she had been the love of his life, and without her, part of him would always be missing.

When it came time for them to leave the room and for me to push, my parents left, bouncing around, waiting to hold the newest addition to our families, but Mr. Kyler lingered for just a moment. His eyes were rimmed red, and he was fighting tears, fearful his son would face the same loss he had twenty-four years ago. Without a word to me, he squeezed my hand and kissed my forehead. He turned to Coby, and the emotion he’d tried so hard to hide rolled down his cheek in the form of one lone tear.

“You make sure she’s safe, son.”

Coby seemed stunned. Unable to respond, my husband watched as his dad left the room filled with fear that history would repeat itself.

There were people all around us, and once the door shut behind Coby’s dad, they all started to move. Coby chose the moment my legs were spread and my vagina was on display to squat down beside me and say, “I can’t do this without you.”

I nodded my understanding and kissed his lips. He took my hand and stood beside the bed as a contraction came thundering through my body. What seemed like an eternity later turned into mere minutes—I’d completely lost track of time as we ushered life into the world. The pain had gone on forever, but the second I heard our baby cry, it seemed like only seconds since we’d arrived.

The moment the nurse placed our daughter on my chest, joy flooded my eyes in the form of tears. She was perfectly beautiful and stole my heart in one breath. I’d never felt the overwhelming love I did for the tiny creature in my arms. I never thought I’d see Coby look at another female with the amount of love he gave me, but watching him stare at her while she held his finger didn’t bring jealousy, it brought a greater love for a man I didn’t believe I could adore any more than I already did.

Somehow, this little girl instantly filled a void I wasn’t aware even existed. She already had Coby wrapped around her finger, and she didn’t even have a name. He’d taken her in his arms and stared at her in awe, cooing his love, and pronouncing his relationship to her. I couldn’t begin to express how precious these moments were in our lives or how important his daughter had become in the few minutes she’d been with us.

“We have to name her before you go get our parents.” We’d talked about names until it had become obnoxious, never agreeing on anything. Coby refused to admit there was a possibility of a little girl, so the only names we even had on a list of possibilities were all for boys.

Looking at him now, I couldn’t imagine him with anything other than the precious little girl he was so enamored with. “I’m open.” He glanced up long enough for me to see he was serious before returning his attention to his daughter.

I could already tell who would be the disciplinarian in our household…and it wouldn’t be Coby.

“Corinne Shaw.”

That got his attention. His head snapped up, and his eyes were wide. I waited, holding my breath for his reaction. “My mom’s maiden name?”

“She’s the reason we met.”

He bit his lip, fighting back emotion for the woman he didn’t remember but who his dad had never let him forget. He nodded his agreement. Before he went to get our parents, I gave him time to process it and cling to the little girl who owned his heart.

My mom and dad burst through the doors like the hall was on fire and snatched Corinne from me as though she belonged to them. But Coby’s dad needed to see me. He didn’t have to tell me why, but I loved him for loving me the way he did.

They all chattered amongst themselves as though I weren’t in the room and hadn’t just given birth to their first grandchild, but none of them even asked her name. That was until my father-in-law cradled her to his chest.

“What’s her name, Ellie?” He glanced at me, waiting for a response.

I smiled when I said, “Corinne Shaw.”

He didn’t have words, but I could see his heart in his eyes. My mother gushed over the name of her best friend from another life.

And I knew I’d made the right decision.

Foolishly, I’d believed Corinne would soothe Coby’s itch for offspring, but not even sleepless nights had deterred his desire to have me pregnant again. Thankfully, my doctor’s recommendation to wait eighteen months between children took precedence over his desire to see my stomach bulging, and I managed to put him off. But it was like he’d gone back to marking off the calendar. The day after we passed that date, he started in on me again, about how many more pills I had left in my birth control pack, and two months later, we found out I was pregnant.

I swore that after this pregnancy was over, I would be done. Carrying twins was far different than one, and I was ready to get this over with. My feet were so swollen all I could wear were flip-flops, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen my toes. And the idea of three children in diapers at the same time was more than I could handle. Luckily, I’d managed to get Corinne potty-trained before Max and Sam arrived. I’d insisted on finding out the sex of the babies this time, refusing to try to decorate another nursery after they were born. Corinne ran me ragged as it was. She was the spitting image of me but had her daddy’s soft-brown eyes. Although, I had no idea where she’d gotten her spunk.

The moment Coby held each of our sons, he looked at me and begged for one more. I couldn’t even consider it after the grueling delivery I’d just been through, but with the way he loved Corinne and me, I doubted I’d ever be able to deny him. He’d always been my best friend, but he was the most incredible husband and father I’d ever known. Everything about our lives had come full circle, and we were exactly where we wanted to be.

Together, we’d made it past third base and knocked this one out of the park.