“Are you the one who’s been talking to the media about us? About me or Katie? Or even Daniel?” I didn’t care where we were or who could hear as I unleashed on Missy.

I had unresolved feelings where Missy was concerned, and after the last time I saw her at the baby shower, there was no way I could’ve held it back any longer. Unfortunately for her, she’d caught me at a vulnerable moment. Had I seen her any of the other times I’d stopped by on Coby’s break, there was a chance this conversation would’ve gone completely different.

“Excuse me?” She pulled her head back as if I’d slapped her.

“Someone is spreading lies to the media, claiming to be someone who knows us, who’s around us and has insider knowledge about Katie giving birth, Daniel having medical issues, and why I’m not traveling with the team. There’s only one person who knows just enough to make it believable yet doesn’t have a clue what’s really going on. And that’s you.”

“What would I have to gain by that, Gage?”

“I don’t know, Missy. What did you have to gain by showing up at the Kylers’ for our baby shower? Or saying what you did about Katie in front of all our guests and my teammates? I gave up trying to understand your motives a long time ago.”

She rolled her eyes, though I’d seen that reaction before. She wasn’t dismissing me; it was more of an expression of defeat or exhaustion.

“Listen, I’m really sorry about that. Ellie had a lot to say after that party, and she hasn’t spoken to me since. I honestly went there hoping we could all wash away our differences and move on.”

“That’s how you try to repair a broken relationship? You say nasty, hurtful, and untrue things about the person and…what? Expect them to forgive you? Did you somehow think anyone would side with you or back you up? We were there for a fucking baby shower, Missy.”

She glanced around, panic in her eyes over someone being in earshot of my language. Once she realized no one had heard me, she shoved me outside, and then closed the door behind her. “It was immature, and definitely not one of my finest moments. But I truly did not intend to go there to hurt her.”

“Then how’d it happen? How do you show up with good intentions only to pull a knife from your pocket and stab that person in the back? She’s your cousin, for crying out loud, Missy. Despite everything else, she’s your family.”

“I know. And it’s complicated, okay?”

“Oh, you don’t have to explain anything to me. Katie’s already told me all about it. How your mom did nothing to help her while she was dealing with her own mother. How when she needed someone the most, her own flesh and blood turned their backs on her. And here you are, making it sound like you two weren’t close because you grew up in different towns.”

She held out her hand to stop me—and probably, herself as well. Her jaw ticced defensively, and I knew she had to take a second to keep from losing her composure. There was one good thing about an ex…it made reading them a lot easier during heated arguments.

“I will take the fault for my part in how Kathryn has been treated by me. But that’s it. I will not be blamed for my mom’s actions or the poison she’d fed me my whole life where Katie and my aunt were concerned. I was a kid, for Christ’s sake. How was I supposed to know any differently? Did you ever doubt Granny when she told you things? How about when she talked about your mom? Did you ever stop and go, ‘I wonder how much of this is true’? I’m willing to bet you didn’t. So don’t stand here and blame me for doing the same thing.”

“I’m not. But it’s been a while since you were a kid who believed everything your mother told you. At some point, you had to have seen the writing on the wall. She’s younger than you, Missy. At eighteen, how could you possibly look at your fifteen-year-old cousin and assume the worst?”

“You don’t know the whole story, Gage. So don’t come at me like you know anything.”

“How do you know I don’t?”

“Because if you did, you wouldn’t be standing here asking me that.”

“Then why don’t you tell me?”

She balked and glanced around the parking lot, as if needing a moment to contemplate it. “It’s not my job to fill you in on her past, Gage. If she hasn’t, then maybe you should stop and ask yourself why.”

Had the media never ran with the story of Katie losing her license, I wouldn’t have entertained this from Missy. But it had. And not only that but once we’d had the chance to talk, we had both agreed to be open with one another. I shouldn’t have listened to anything Melissa Mills had to say, yet it was like a nurse drawing blood from my vein—I couldn’t look away.

“If you had anything of value to tell me, you would have. All you’re doing right now is trying to make me question Katie, doubt her, suspect she’s hiding something from me, when I already know she isn’t. But good try.”

“Did you know her dad used to beat her mom?” The words rushed out, as if it proved she wasn’t lying. And by the look on her face, I could tell she expected that piece of information to come as a surprise.

“Yes. I did. And he left when she was fifteen.”

“Do you know who her dad is?”

“No. And I don’t care to. He’s an abusive asshole who doesn’t deserve the time of day it would take for me to know anything about him.”

She licked her lips, probably salivating at the opportunity to share something salacious with me. “Jeremiah Crispens.”

Okay…she got me there. “Retired first baseman for Fresno—that Jeremiah Crispens?”

“One and the same.”

He’d been big in the league back when I was younger. I hadn’t followed him or really cared too much about him, but that was mainly because I wasn’t a Fresno fan. Prior to that, he’d played for a couple of other teams, though I’d been too young to pay attention to it. If they weren’t a Titan, I didn’t care about them—and Jeremiah Crispens was never a Titan.

The only reason this piece of information gave me pause was because Katie had never mentioned that her dad had been in the league, let alone had any sort of career with the sport. Then again, this was a man who’d ruined all others for her since she was a child, not a father. So it didn’t seem all that odd that she hadn’t ever told me about it.

“What’s your point, Missy? What are you trying to get at here?”

“You asked why I didn’t run to her when she was fifteen, when her dad took off. I’m trying to explain it.”

Yeah, right. More like trying to drown her cousin in mud, but whatever. Nothing she could say held the power to put a wedge between Katie and me, yet I allowed her to continue anyway, if for no other reason than to pick out whatever pieces I felt were worth talking to Katie about.

“My mom is six years older than my aunt, and until she went away to college, they were close. But after my mom moved out of the house, things changed. My aunt started hanging out with the wrong crowd in high school, was caught sneaking out late at night, not coming home all weekend. My grandparents were convinced she was on drugs, but back then, there weren’t too many options to test for them at home, and they worried that if they took her anywhere, it could negatively impact her future. They did all they could, including having my mom take a summer semester off to come home and try to straighten her out. Which, as you can imagine, didn’t work. If anything, it destroyed what little relationship they had at that point.”

I switched Daniel to the other arm. “Get on with it, Missy. My son will be hungry soon.”

She huffed, yet she didn’t stop. “When she was seventeen, she met Jeremiah. He was older, obviously—already in the major leagues—and my aunt saw an opportunity. After only knowing each other for two months, she wound up pregnant…with Kathryn. It had taken her two years, but she finally got him to marry her. She’d managed to secure herself a nice bank account, a big house, status, and whatever drug she wanted.”

“This is a waste of my time, Melissa. None of this has anything to do with me—or Kathryn. It doesn’t explain why you’d treat her the way you have, and it certainly doesn’t have any bearing on my relationship with her now.”

“Oh, it doesn’t? You don’t think the fact that her mother got pregnant with her on purpose to tie down a professional baseball player has anything to do with you?” She pointed to the car carrier next to me. “Cute kid, Gage. Tell me, did you just forget to wear a condom? Because we were together for years, and I was on birth control, and you never went without a rubber. Not once. So I find it a bit ironic that she’d wind up pregnant by accident.”

“And now you’re the one who doesn’t know what you’re talking about. But since you asked, I didn’t wear one. The first time in my life I didn’t put one on, and I was happily rewarded with the two most important things in my life—Katie and my son.” I lifted the car seat enough to prove a point.

“I bet she didn’t mind. Easier for her, huh?”

I smiled and thought back to that night. How Katie had touched my face, wiped away the tears of grief and sadness, the way she opened up about how badly she missed Granny. Then I recalled the moments right after our clothes had come off, her voice when she begged me to grab a condom, her determination to be safe. Now, I knew she’d pressed for it because she probably believed I had a disease or something. And I had gone to my wallet to get one. I’d opened it. And then I had set it on the bed next to her, forgotten until a few weeks later when she had called to tell me she was pregnant.

“You know, for someone who claims to have gone to the baby shower to mend fences, you’re not exactly acting like it now. Instead, you’re coming across as a very bitter person, adamant on destroying someone else’s life and reputation. I don’t give a shit what you think of her, because an opinion of someone couldn’t possibly get any lower than the one I have for you. And it makes me sad. Because at one point in my life, I thought I didn’t deserve you. Now I know it was the complete opposite.”

“You asked me to tell you why our relationship has always been strained. And I did. So when Ellie had extended an invitation to the shower, I figured it would’ve been a nice way to smooth things over. Ellie liked her, she’s tied to you for the next eighteen years, and when I stopped and thought about it, she has never really done anything to me. She’s an adult now, her mom is gone, it seemed like the perfect time to erase the past and start over. I regret what I said that day. When Ellie called and reamed me out, she set a lot of the record straight. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize to me. You owe that to Katie. But answer me this, Missy. How do you show up at someone’s party, at your friend’s house, with the intention of repairing a non-existent relationship, and then end up saying the things you did? You see, that’s where I find your apology flawed. And to tell you the truth, if you say it to Katie the way you did just now, she won’t believe a word of it. Neither do I.”

Tears lined her eyes, making the color swim behind the only piece of evidence that proved she was a human and not a heartless, heinous bitch. “I hadn’t seen you in a while, and for some reason, I assumed you’d be the same as I remembered. But you weren’t. You smiled like you used to—brighter, even. Life filled you, and it poured out through your eyes, making the spot noticeable, whereas before, it’d been lost behind the pain and suffering. And when you noticed me, you had a reaction. So much so, Coby had to take you out to the garage. I can’t explain it, but it did something to me. Gave me hope that maybe you weren’t over me, and now that you weren’t lost in that black hole you’d fallen into after your grandma died, there was a chance.”

“You thought about all this while you wore a diamond on your finger?” I glanced down to point it out, only to discover her hand bare, absent of all jewelry other than the thin silver band she’d always worn on her thumb.

“As shameful as it is to admit it, yes. I left you because I couldn’t watch you destroy yourself anymore. I couldn’t be the only one hanging on and fighting for you. I was weak—I admit that—and I gave up. So when I saw you and you were the same man I had fought so hard for you to be, I didn’t think about anything else. I didn’t contemplate my relationship or yours. All I saw was the man I love, torn up after finding me in Ellie’s house. It gave me hope. Then you took Kathryn outside, and you kissed her. I knew that was nothing more than a show for me. It didn’t hurt, because I saw right through it. But before you pulled away, you whispered something in her ear. That wasn’t meant for me. And it was enough to make me realize that all the hope in the world would never bring you back.”

“You knew the exact spot to hit that would hurt her the most, and you pummeled the fuck out of it.” I kept my voice low yet steady, stern, my face closer to hers so she would hear and feel everything I had to say, because this would be the last time I ever wasted my time on her. “You went after a pregnant woman, and purposefully did everything you could to beat her down with malicious intent. All because you were jealous. Because you finally realized you’d lost something to her, the cousin you never gave the time of day. I don’t give a rat’s ass who her dad was, how much her mom charged for a blowjob, or why she was conceived in the first place. She could’ve had the dirtiest past known to man, and she’d still be better than you. Katie doesn’t have a selfish bone in her body…whereas you are riddled with them.”

And with that, I walked away.

I ignored her pleas to hear her out, to forgive her, and hooked Daniel into the back seat of Mac, ready to put all this behind me. I needed to have some sort of conversation with Katie, and the forty-minute drive home gave me just enough time to sift through the garbage and doubt I’d left the school with.

“At the risk of being slapped…” I sat next to Katie on the couch while she nursed Daniel. “You’ve been rather hormonal for quite some time now.”

She slowly turned her head and glared at me, although she let me continue.

“I have done some reading, and that’s to be expected considering all the hormones that flood your body when you’re pregnant, and then quickly leaving you after you give birth. It’s quite impressive, if I may say so myself. And while I know they can make you mad, tired, sad, and definitely horny, would you say it’s possible they could also make you…oh, I don’t know, fall in love when you typically wouldn’t?”

Her glare softened into mild confusion. One brow quirked, and she slowly lifted the right corner of her lips into the sexiest smirk I’d ever seen. “Why are you asking, Gage?”

“Just curious. I’m trying to get all the facts of pregnancy down pat.”

“Don’t you think you’re a little late for that?”

“Not really. I was kinda hoping you’d give me a girl. Daniel is fun and all, but people always say he’s pretty. That’d be lovely if he were female…so you should totally give me one.”

“Our son is sixteen days old, and he’s currently suckling on my all-you-can-eat buffet—and before you say anything, that’s what it’s called; I’m in no way telling you that it’s all you can eat.”

“If you think sitting next to you while you got your titties out and my son in your arms will suddenly make me reconsider you giving me a girl, you’re sadly mistaken.” The glare returned. “Hey, at least I didn’t call them utters this time.”

“Yay for the small things in life.” Sarcasm was strong with that one.

“Anyway, can you just answer the question?”

“Why…do you think I only say I love you because I’m so hormonal?”

“Well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad.”

“Then make it sound good. I’d love to hear it.”

“Okay. Ready?” I cleared my throat and sat up straighter on the edge of the cushion. “With the insanely excessive amount of pregnancy hormones that have invaded your body while you so selflessly and graciously nurtured my son in your womb—or uterus, I still don’t understand the difference—I wonder if it was possible to fall in love with someone that you wouldn’t typically or ordinarily fall for. And then after you so humbly and thoughtfully brought my son into the world, and all those hormones have quickly and thoroughly left your body, would that mean all those overwhelmingly amazing feelings of love would go away, leaving you with the same lowly opinion of that person you might’ve had prior to the attack of hormones? It’s just something I’ve been pondering occasionally.”

“You do know that adding LY to the end of almost every word doesn’t make you sound sophisticated, right? And no. I don’t think that’s possible—for either one of your scenarios. I think having a child can definitely bring two people together who wouldn’t have given each other a chance otherwise. And even more so when they are living in the same house. Being pregnant doesn’t mean you’re walking around with rose-colored glasses on all the time and can just fall in love with anyone. Sometimes you have to be forced into a situation to see things for what they really are, and not the public persona they try to make everyone believe.”

“I’d say I’m lucky to have someone as smart as you, but you added an LY to one of your words. So that point is mute.”

“Moot.”

“Come again?”

“The word is—oh, never mind. You’re so pretty.”

“Hey, no wonder people say that about Daniel. Now it all makes sense.”

She ran her hand over my hair, kind of like she was petting an obedient dog. “You’re the most special person I’ve ever met.”

“Specialist.”

She blinked a few times and then said, “Huh?”

“You said most special…the correct word is specialist.”

“Yeah. You’re that, too.”

When Daniel finished his meal with a hearty burp, I took him from her and set him on his swing. Then I went back to her side. “I do have one more question for you, and before I ask, I need you to know that I don’t care what your answer is. Okay?”

Skeptical, she said, “Got it.”

“Did you ever change your last name?”

Fear flashed across her eyes, but the second my hand enveloped hers, it vanished. “Uh, yeah. It used to be a bit longer. I hated my dad, so I legally changed it when I was eighteen because I didn’t want any connection to him.”

I nodded and then dared to ask one more. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that your dad played baseball? This whole time, you’ve made it seem like you never paid attention to the sport, when you grew up around it.”

“I guess that would require two answers. The first is, telling someone that my dad had been a professional ballplayer would mean to me that I was somehow bragging about him. Making him out to be something special, when in reality, he was a monster. So I just never tell people. It’s not that I chose to keep it from you…it’s just that he’s not someone I care to discuss unless I’m talking about how much I hate him. And I wasn’t pretending or trying to act like I didn’t know much about the game—I truly didn’t. The sport never interested me. In my mind, it was connected to a shitty person who did even shittier things. Aside from watching your games with Granny, I never bothered to pay attention until after you moved in and would leave for games.”

I pulled the back of her hand to my lips and whispered against her skin, “I love you so much.”

* * *

The Titans had made it to the seventh game of the World Series. It was tied, three to three, the winner of the final game would take it all home. The losers would remember it forever and spend a lifetime critiquing every play they’d made.

I wanted to be a winner.

But I’d sat out every game since divisionals, and as much as it sucked, I’d have to support my brothers from the dugout. They’d gotten us here, and they could finish it. There was no doubt in my mind about that.

“Nix!” Coach called into the locker room. “My office. Now.”

All the guys perked up and turned worried eyes my way. I just smiled, shrugged, and left the room. This wasn’t a surprise. In fact, I’d requested this meeting. The day before the first game of the World Series, I’d sat down with Coach and told him how I felt—about the game, the team, my standing in the league. He’d tried to talk me out of it, but my mind had been made up. Ultimately, I loved the sport—always had and always would. But I loved my family more. I wanted to share my life with Katie, and traveling seven months out of the year made that incredibly difficult.

So, with a heavy heart and silent prayer, I sat in front of Coach’s desk, next to the general manager of the team. After hearing out my well-rehearsed speech, thanks to Coby, he reviewed my contract and then turned his attention to me.

“You have five years left on a ten-year contract. And you’re saying you want to buy yourself out? You sure you’re willing to write that kind of check just to stay home with your wife and kid? I don’t know about you, Gage…but that seems a lot like cutting off your nose to spite your face. What kind of financial support do you think you could offer them if you give up that kind of money?”

“With all due respect, sir, I have faith that it’ll work out the way it’s meant to.”

“And you’ve looked at all your options?”

“Yes, sir. Most of which my buddy Kyler has refused to do.”

He gave me a funny look before quickly shaking it off. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are your reasons against a contract renegotiation?”

“Ultimately, I have no desire to travel anymore. And since it’s safe to say you would never entertain a proposal that would eliminate that while still keeping me on this team, I took that option off the table.”

“Well, I will admit that I came here today already aware of the situation and where you stood in regard to leaving your family for extended periods. And if I may, I’d like to put my own offer on the table and let you contemplate it before making any final decision.”

“Absolutely. I’d love to hear what you have.”

“First and foremost, I’d like to point out what an exceptional player you are. I’ll be the first to admit that I was hesitant when you requested to be on this team. But over the years, I’ve seen substantial growth in you as a person, as well as your continued efforts on the field. You’re an asset, Gage. And as such, we don’t want to see you go. With that being said, there’s a developmental training position on our minor team, that if you so choose, is yours for the next five years. There’s no travel involved, and you’d be able to mold our young players into the next team to take us to the World Series.”

I was speechless. In fact, there was a good chance I didn’t even blink. My eyes were so dry I wasn’t sure my lids would be able to close without becoming stuck. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be offered this kind of compromise. It truly was the best of both worlds.

“Go home, think about it, talk it over with the wife, and let me know when you’ve reached a decision.”

“I’ll take it.” I hadn’t even waited until the last syllable was off his tongue before jumping at the opportunity he’d presented. “Thank you. Really, thank you so much. I won’t let you down.”

He said a few more things, as did Coach, and all the while, I just watched their mouths move, not hearing a single word. And when we all stood up, the meeting dismissed, I couldn’t wait to run home and tell Katie the news. However, Coach had different plans. We all shook hands, yet when he had mine trapped in his, he held on longer, and then he pointed to the chair I’d just stood from. I had no idea what else he wanted to discuss, yet not even the fear of the unknown could bring me down from this high.

“Tomorrow’s gonna be a big day. Win or lose, it’ll be the biggest day of every player’s life thus far. We’ll either walk off that diamond feeling invincible, or completely broken. We’ve always been a team here, always had each other’s backs. When you decided to sit out the last eleven games, whether they liked it or not, agreed with it or not, every last one of those men supported you.”

“I know, Coach. And I appreciate it more than they’ll ever know.”

“I can see it in your eyes—you want to play. I told you I wouldn’t push you, and I won’t. But if you’re sitting this one out because you think you’re doing everyone a favor, you need to cut that shit out right now. You ain’t doing anything for anyone by keeping them company in the dugout. The way I see it…you have to put on your uniform and report to the field whether you play or not. You have to kiss that baby’s head and walk out the door whether you put a glove on or not. So why not just play? Why not enjoy the last game of your Major League Baseball career and earn that World Series ring?”

“Because, Coach, I didn’t do anything to get us here. They did. And they deserve the spotlight.”

“Like hell you didn’t do anything to get us here. Were you not at all one hundred and sixty-two games this season? Did you not secure home runs? What about outs? Were you not the one at third base racking up out after out, game after game?”

“Well, yeah. I did.”

“Okay then. You got us here.”

“I don’t know, Coach.”

“Then sleep on it. I’ll see you tomorrow. You can let me know then if I’m adding you to the lineup.”

I shook his hand and left, now with far more on my mind than the renegotiation.

* * *

It was bottom of the ninth, and we were down by one. Just one point. We had a man on second, and I was up to bat. It was all on me. The entire championship fell on my shoulders. I was the one who’d ultimately decide whether my team would leave with smiles or tears.

And I immediately regretted my decision to play today.

After getting home yesterday, I’d filled Katie in on everything—the contract, the field team, what it would mean for us, and then the offer Coach had given me at the end. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. And I guess part of me knew that. The only reason I’d given in was that she’d asked if she would be able to attend…with Daniel. She wanted our son to be there when his daddy won the World Series. Honestly, only a heartless fool would turn that down.

I stepped up to home plate and turned my attention to the owner’s box, knowing not only was Katie there, more than likely pressed against the glass while holding her breath in her lungs and Daniel in her arms, but the Kylers were as well. I couldn’t see them, though I imagined Ellie and Coby flanked Katie on either side. And all throughout the stands were people on their feet, holding signs that read “Bring it home, Home Run King.” As if I didn’t already have enough pressure. I took a deep breath and brought my focus back to the diamond to prepare myself for the pitch.

Guthrie.

Joe Guthrie, the pitcher for the Eureka Redwoods, was a beast. The speed of his throws alone was amongst the best in all of baseball, but add to it the sheer precision, and what was left had been commonly referred to as lethal.

This was the absolute worst time to be against him.

I dug my toe into the ground and wound up.

A sharp whizzing sound broke free as the bat glided through the air, and then, a millisecond later, a thunderous clap rang out—the ball slamming into the catcher’s mitt. Strike one.

The crowd went silent, nothing but a faint buzzing could be heard.

Again, toe in dirt, bat in hands. I wound up, though this time, I tried to relax my stance a little more than before. And just like last time, I swung yet hit nothing. Strike two.

I glanced to the side, at the stands and the owner’s box one last time. People still clung to their homemade posters, most were biting their nails or covering their mouths with their hands. And as I tried to picture Katie, her fingers to the glass as if she could push a kiss through it and get it to me, the buzzing stopped. The air stilled and the static that had surrounded me since stepping up to the plate subsided. The only thing I heard was the sound of Granny’s voice and the words she used to say to me before every game.

“Take a deep breath, hold it in, let it fill you up until you’re ready to pop, and then let it out slowly between your teeth. There, now you’re deflated. No ego. No pressure. Just you. Because that’s the only thing anyone needs…you.”

As soon as the last ounce of air whistled past my teeth, I opened my eyes and stepped back into place. Instead of digging, I twisted. Instead of winding up, I pointed the end of my bat at Joe, smiled, and swung it backward until it hovered over my shoulder.

Joe crouched low, his hand behind his back—his typical preparation just before throwing a game-winning pitch. If only he knew he was throwing it for the wrong team. I watched him wind up and whispered, “You may have gotten two strikes on the Home Run King, but you won’t get one on Gage Nix.”

The ball left his hand.

The smile remained on my lips.

The bat flew through the air.

And once again, a thunderous roar rippled through the night.

I glanced behind me, fully expecting to find the catcher holding the ball. He wasn’t. And by the time I swung my attention to the outfield, wondering where it had gone, I was surrounded by a sea of Titans. Surreal, that was the only word that came close to how I felt at that moment. In the tiny space between two other players, I couldn’t ignore the sight of Joe, dressed in blue, kneeling on the pitcher’s mound. He had his face buried in his glove, his head practically between his legs. And one by one, the men in blue fell to their knees.

I was off my feet, in the midst of being hoisted onto shoulders, when I fought against my brothers to let me down. I didn’t care what was right or wrong—this was the World Series, and we’d just won. The entire stadium became nothing more than white noise as I approached Joe, shook his hand, and then moved on to the next.

And then I slipped out, leaving my teammates to celebrate without me.

I had someone else in mind to celebrate with—and quite possibly, another reason.

It was utter chaos getting from the field to the owner’s box. Hands reached out to grab me, security tried—and failed—to stop me, and shouts of excitement surrounded the stadium in support of me. And finally, after what seemed like hours, I made it to the room where the only people who truly mattered to me were waiting.

Katie didn’t see me as I slipped inside. She watched the excitement below while bouncing with Daniel in her arms, patting his butt with muted, hollow thumps. A replica of my jersey hugged her curves, and I had to admit, nothing beat the sight of my number—twenty-nine—in the center of her back and my last name stretched across her shoulder blades.

However, Coby noticed me, though he was in the middle of a conversation with Katie and Ellie. If either of them stopped talking, Katie would turn around, and I wasn’t quite ready for that. So instead, Cody leaned down to whisper into Corinne’s ear, held his finger over his mouth to reiterate what he’d said, and then handed her the black box with a slight nudge in my direction. If I managed to pull this off…it’d be a miracle.

I knelt to the floor when Corinne ran to me. Her eyes were big and bright, and she had her cheeks puffed out like she was a balloon close to bursting. I took the box from her tiny grasp and held her still in front of me. “Listen, I know a lot has changed lately, but you’re still my best friend.”

“What about Danyool?” she whispered, mimicking me.

“He is, too. You see, we can have more than one. Hopefully, one day Katie will give me another baby, and that one will be another best friend. But no matter what, you’ll always be the best one. Wanna know why? Because you were first. Just don’t tell the others. We wouldn’t wanna hurt their feelings.”

“No. Dats bad.”

“Yeah. So we’ll keep that our little secret.”

She held out her pinky finger and waited for me to hook mine with it.

“Okay, now…I have another question. I really want to marry Katie, but I can’t ask her until I know if you think I should or not. I’ve always come to you for advice, because you never steer me wrong—except for that one time when you told me it was chocolate on the trash can. So what do you think? Should I ask her?”

“Yeah,” she half whispered, half gasped with impossibly wider eyes.

“You wanna help me convince her to say yes?”

Rather than answer in the hushed tones she’d used before, Corinne began to scream with excitement and frantically jumped up and down. She definitely succeeded in getting everyone’s attention, including Katie’s. When her tranquil-blue eyes found mine, a smile spread across her lips, and then she slowly made her way across the room.

Thankfully, I was already on one knee.

“Say yes, Eighty. Tewl Age yes.”

Katie squinted at Corinne, clearly confused.

“Katie?” My quivering voice deepened, catching Katie’s attention. “I know we—”

“Mawry him, Eighty! Come on alweady. Say yes!”

This time, Katie didn’t seem as confused as before. It was much more of a surprise woven with disbelief. Holding Daniel closer to her chest, she stopped patting his butt and lifted her fingers to her lips.

“I haven’t gotten there yet, Rinny.”

“Oh, sowry, Age.” Coby finally swept his daughter up to allow me the chance to propose.

I took a deep breath and tried again. “Katie…I know we haven’t exactly followed the rules here. It’s like we started on third base and then worked our way back to first. But it doesn’t matter how we get there, because all I care about is making it to home with you. Make it home…home base…home plate. Crap, I can’t remember which way I liked best.”

“Home wun. You da king, Age. Eighty can be youwr queen. Say yes, Eighty, so I can weawr a pwincess dwess. Age say I can weawr one and have fwowers. But you have to tewl him yes, dat youwl mawry him.”

At this point, Coby could no longer control her. She had climbed over his shoulder so far he had to grip her calves just to keep from dropping her. Yet she didn’t seem to mind. Every time he turned to one side, she’d snake her head around and find us.

I had to put an end to this before Corinne resorted to threats to get Katie to agree. I cleared my throat and held out my hand for hers. “What do you say, Katiebug? Marry me?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

I gave Corinne a side-eye. “I wasn’t sure I’d be able to.”

Before standing to claim her lips, I pulled the two-carat, emerald-cut diamond ring from the box and slipped it on her finger past her knuckle. And when I lifted myself off the floor to kiss my future wife, I realized I should’ve done that first, before putting the ring on her finger.

Katie pressed her hand against my chest, keeping me at enough of a distance to stare at the diamond adorning her left hand. “What the hell, Gage? This thing will weigh my arm down. Not to mention, I could probably knock out a tooth if I’m not careful.” She lifted her eyes to mine and added, “There wasn’t anything smaller to choose from?”

“If you want small, you’re with the wrong man, baby. That’s more Coby’s speed.”

“Hey, Corinne.” Coby set his daughter down and then kneeled in front of her. “How awesome would it be to go down the aisle at Gage and Katie’s wedding…on Sherbet?”

Katie twisted her head to the side so fast I worried she’d have whiplash. “What did I ever do to you?”

But it was too late. Corinne was already bouncing on her feet and clapping, her curly hair resembling jumping springs. “Yeah! Jus wike a weal pwincess!”

“Hey, Rinny…” I waited until I had her attention. And as soon as her excitement simmered long enough to hear me, I met Coby’s eyes and smiled, staring at him the entire time I said, “Your mama has a baby in her tummy.”

Corinne’s eyes opened wide, and she turned to face Ellie, who was too busy killing me slowly with her death glare. “Anodder baby? And Age and Eighty getting mawried? Dis is da bes day ever!”

With a breathless laugh rolling through me, I laced my fingers through Katie’s hair at the back of her head. And when I drew her smiling lips to mine, as muttered, “It truly is the best day ever.”