Chapter 21

Parker

The days that followed were so damn hard for me, so I couldn't even begin to imagine how much harder they were for the rest of the family. I'd known Cassie's grandma for a long while, but I hadn't really gotten to know her until I met Cassie. Lauren was the only other one that was in a position even close to mine. The rest of them had known her forever.

We went back to Michigan for her funeral so she could be buried next to her husband. I'd heard a lot of stories about him, and he sounded just as amazing as her. That was hard to imagine though. Could she really have found someone as great as she was? They said she had, and I believed them. I was just sorry that I'd never gotten to know him.

Seeing her was hard for me. She wasn't laughing and joking and putting us all in our places. Instead, she was peacefully resting, and she was beautiful. I stood before her and said my goodbyes, promising to take care of Cassie and our part of the great family she'd built.

That moment was the only one I'd been away from my wife's side the entire time. I took care of everything our kids needed, and I took care of her. Each of the kids were dealing with things in their own way, but they had each other, and they had us. We were all getting through it together. Knowing they had another baby coming helped just a little, and I was glad we'd waited to share the news.

We said goodbye to the most amazing woman I had ever met, aside from her granddaughter that is, and then we headed home, all of us.

As each day passed, things began, little by little, to return to the way they were, as close as they could get anyway. Nothing would ever be the same for any of us again. We'd had no time to prepare and most of us hadn't been able to say a proper goodbye, but we were a family, and we were in it together.

Cassie spent a lot of her time with her mom, and I was fine with that. She needed it as much as Carrie did. I was there to help them in any way they needed. I spent a large amount of my time at Sammie's place, so she could rest, recover, and spend time with her new baby before heading back to work, if you called playing baseball all day working that is. Sammie didn't, and neither did I.

Lance was up Cassie's ass any chance he got, but I was sure to let him know that I was taking very good care of my pregnant wife and my little one inside of her. When he backed off a bit, I was shocked, but I was also relieved. I was home, and I wasn't going anywhere. I would be the one checking on her and getting her what she needed, and I was damn sure there wouldn't be anyone else at her appointments with her but me.

Did I miss my team? Of course I did, but I was happier being with my family than I'd ever been on the field. Did we go to the games? Hell yeah we did, all of us. The wives laughed every time they saw us, and when they noticed Cassie's belly growing again, they were just as happy as we were. The Pirates were my family too. They had been for years, and they always would be. Lance, Scott, and James all felt the same way I did. It was obvious every single time we stood together to watch a game. Of course, Sammie was always standing right there with us, and Carrie would be standing right next to her. It was a great thing to see us all together, and every time we were there, we talked about grandma and what she would have been saying about each of the players, knowing she was watching the game too, only she was watching with her husband instead of us.

Just thinking about the stuff she'd said to me in some of her messages when I'd been playing had me laughing out loud.

“You thinking about her too, wannabe?” Cassie asked, as she walked over and looked up at me.

“Always, princess,” I said, as I wrapped my arms around my woman and pulled her close. “It's impossible not to.”

“Yes, it is,” she said, as she let out a laugh of her own. “I love you, Parker.”

“Love you too, Cassie,” I said, as I leaned down, lifted her chin with my hand, and kissed her hard.

Then I turned her in my arms, pulled her back against my chest, rested my hands on her growing belly, and enjoyed every single second of the game, promising her, in my mind, that I'd never miss an important moment in my family's life again. I loved each of them more than I ever thought I could love, and I knew that I'd do anything I could to protect every single one of them.