“Rinny, wait for me!” Daniel called after his best friend as the two ran through the fields outside our house.

“Wait for you brother, Daniel!” Gage hollered as he and Coby unloaded Dick. “His legs aren’t as long as yours.”

Gage could make all the excuses in the world for Owen, but at two, that kid was fast as greased lightning. By the time he put some height on, he’d be able to outrun Daniel, Corinne, Max, Sam, and Gracie with little effort. Although, even though Gracie Kyler was more than a year older than Owen, he already passed her like she was sitting still. She was more of a ponderer than a doer, and the other kids—ours and the Kylers’—wanted to touch everything and experience it for themselves. Ellie and I had our hands full with the six of them. I didn’t have a clue how the two of us would manage seven, but we’d find out in a month when Gage finally got the little girl he’d wanted since Daniel was born. Elizabeth was due in just about four weeks, and already, Gage had taken to calling her Lizzy.

“Dude, quit running your mouth and help me get this crib out or your daughter’s going to be sleeping in Dick.” Coby kept a straight face, even though Ellie and I both giggled. He stood at the back of my car with his hands on his hips staring Gage down, who hadn’t taken his eyes off his boys.

Gage wasn’t concerned about either of his sons; he wanted to be out there running around and in the middle of everything they did—not dealing with baby furniture. I’d seen that look in his eyes hundreds of times when the dishes needed doing or laundry needed folding—everything else could wait so he could play with the boys.

“Don’t talk about my daughter and Dick in the same sentence. It’s perverse.” It wasn’t until Daniel stopped and held his hand out for Owen that Gage finally turned back to the trunk and clapped Coby on the shoulder. “Old age hasn’t been good to you, Kyler. Don’t you ever work out with your students? Lift some weights? Run some bases? Your muscle tone is starting to mimic your eyesight.”

“The box is six feet long. It’s not a matter of not being able to lift it, it’s awkward, and I don’t want to tear up your walls going up the stairs.”

“I’ve got something six feet long for you—” My husband dropped his hand to his crotch like he was about to make a crude gesture that I was sure Daniel and Owen would not only see from a mile away, but they’d replicate it with pride.

“Gage! There are kids around.” I watched their interaction from the rocking chair on the front porch with Ellie at my side.

“In case you haven’t noticed, Old Mother Hubbard, there are always kids around.”

Ellie snickered as she rocked. “I wonder whose fault that is?” she said loudly enough for everyone to hear, but slightly murmured so she could pretend she wasn’t antagonizing him.

Gage had always teased Coby about keeping Ellie barefoot and pregnant, but he adored kids, especially ours. I’d wondered if he was going to be as insistent on filling our house with a continuously growing family as Coby had been with Ellie. Then in an ironic twist of fate, the day we found out our next child was a girl, Gage told me unless I wanted more that he was happy with the size of our family.

“What’d you say, LeeLee?” Gage squinted his eyes lightheartedly and dared her to engage in a verbal sparring match with him. The problem was, Gage didn’t play fair—no one could compete with someone who didn’t follow the logical flow of conversation.

She rolled her eyes and turned away from my husband and hers. Ellie gave up entertaining Gage’s antics years ago—four kids would do that to a girl. Personally, I loved his spirited banter and hoped it was one aspect of our relationship that never changed. His silliness kept our relationship light and our family laughing.

“Did you get the crib I wanted?” I scooted forward on the seat to use the armrests for leverage. Hoisting my pregnant body off a chair took more effort with each day that passed and each inch I grew. It didn’t matter that this was the third time I’d been down this path, it never got easier to waddle. And with less than a month to go, I could no longer see my toes which made walking an accident waiting to happen—I couldn’t count the number of Legos Gage has dislodged from my feet. The damn things were like landmines all over the house with three boys who loved to build.

“Blue with giraffes, right?” Gage winked at me, and my heart raced.

It never ceased to amaze me that even after five years together and two kids, he still made me weak in the knees and caused my chest to expand every time he smiled. There had been a time where everything about Gage drove me insane, and I couldn’t stand him, I just no longer remembered when that was.

“If that crib is any other color than antique white, you’re sleeping with Owen tonight.” I couldn’t threaten him with Daniel. Our oldest son was a carbon copy of Gage, and the two had a connection that could only be witnessed, not explained. Sentencing him to a night with our first son was hardly a punishment.

After Daniel was born, I’d practically had to drag Gage out of his room at night. He’d gone so far as to buy an air mattress. I admit, it was a queen so we could both sleep in there, but I reminded Gage that if he ever wanted a girl, it wouldn’t happen on our son’s bedroom floor.

He never slept in the nursery again.

“Owen snores.”

“So do you.” I shuffled down the stairs to the driveway where Coby had one end of the box in his hands and the other perched in the trunk waiting on Gage.

Coby wasn’t a stranger to Gage’s games any more than Ellie, the only difference was he continued to entertain my husband. “Explain to me again why you didn’t pay someone to deliver this beast and assemble it for you? What’s the point in having all that money if you’re still going to make your friends do your manual labor?”

“Remember that fence you refused to pay someone to install?”

“You mean the one Ellie and I didn’t need until you bought our daughter a horse?”

“I didn’t need a crib until Katie got pregnant.”

“Again, whose fault is that?”

“I’m not seeing your point here, Kyler? I gotta be honest, if you’d do more lifting and less yapping, this would all get done a lot faster.”

Gage still stood with his hands on his hips when I reached his side to look at the furniture in question, I grinned when I saw the top of the box.

“Why do you doubt me, Patty Cake?” He took a step closer, his abs touching my protruding belly, and took my cheeks in his hands. The glimmer in his eyes and the way he looked at me had my heart melting. “Do you really think I want to set you off? You’re like a linebacker right now. You could do some real damage if you came at me with any speed.” And we were done.

“Jesus. Katie, I know a good divorce attorney if you need one. Gage, I have no idea what you did to convince that woman to marry you, but alimony and child support would put you into bankruptcy. You might want to rethink your approach.” Coby laughed at every word that came out of his mouth.

“What’d I say?” The smirk lifting his lips told me Gage already knew the answer to that.

“Gage, either you get the other end of this box, or I’m going to start dragging it, and I won’t be responsible for damage to it or your house. I’m not interested in getting a tan or sweating my balls off in this heat while you insult your very pregnant wife.”

My husband’s brow furrowed, and his hands still held my cheeks, tilting my head up to see his eyes. “You know I love you, don’t you, Crock-Pot?” He suddenly seemed worried that he’d taken the jokes too far.

“I love you, too.” I settled my hands on his hips for support and lifted up on my toes the best I could to taste the only lips I ever wanted to sample again. And when I pulled back, breaking the kiss, I held my stance with a threatening grin. “But if you don’t get my crib upstairs, I might just ask Coby for that phone number.”

“A queen can’t leave her king. Not to mention, we’re about to go from man-to-man to zone defense. You need me on your team.” He wagged his brows. Gage was right, even if I didn’t love him—which I did—or if I could fathom a life without waking up next to him every morning—which I couldn’t—Daniel alone was reason enough to stick out the marriage.

If I were going to have the miniature version of my husband, I might as well have the original in all his glory. And there was no way I’d ever let Gage have our firstborn; he was my heart, the best parts of both of us. Which would only leave, joint custody…meaning Gage moved into Daniel’s room, because he’d never be able to stand living apart from either of his children…again leading me back to having him around. So really, the only option I had was Gage. Not that I wanted anything else. Even in his imperfect state, he was perfect for me.

I dismissed Gage after he popped me on the butt and went to help Coby. The two of them passed me going into the house with the large box, and I resumed my spot on the porch next to Ellie.

“Did you ever dream this would be your life?” She rocked back and forth and sipped tea through a straw. Her eyes never left the kids even though she spoke to me.

Ellie asked the question as a joke—the humor was evident in her tone. It was a playful conversation, one we’d had hundreds of times while chasing each other’s kids and husbands in circles. Yet, as I stared out into the fields surrounding our house, the ones Gage grew up in, and watched our sons playing with their best friends, I stopped long enough to consider all that my answer implied. Daniel still had Owen’s hand. Rinny, Max, Sam, and Gracie hung on the fence and pointed at the horses—we now had six…including Sherbet who came to our house the day Gage showed up at the Kylers’ residence with two more; one for each of the twins. And though I couldn’t hear anything the kids said, each one had a smile on their faces—they always did when they were together. The older ones made sure to include the younger ones, they all played well with each other, and Daniel and Corinne were inseparable.

The answer to her question was, no. I never imagined I’d have friends like Ellie and Coby or that our families would work as one whole unit. I never thought Gage would be the incredible husband that he was—the man lived for our family and me. The love I’d anticipated he’d have for his children so far surpassed what I believed he was capable of that it went beyond comprehension. Yet, somehow, he made me feel like the most precious thing in the world each and every day. Gage Nix had given me more than marriage and children. He’d breathed life into an existence so dark I never thought it would see the light of day. Gage had opened the window to my soul and let in fresh air. Plain and simple, he gave me life.

I leaned against the chair and rolled my head to face her. “Never in a million years did I imagine life would be this good.” I didn’t divulge all the other thoughts running through my head.

Ellie knew by my tone and the expression on my face, I believed life was just about as perfect as it could get. My life was what romance novels were written about. I got to wake up next to the sexiest man alive, and not only did he adore me, he was an incredible person. He gave up a life of fame and fortune most men would kill for in exchange for a simpler dream.

When he and Coby came back outside, Coby took the rocking chair next to Ellie, and Gage helped me out of mine. He sat, then pulled me back onto his lap, and wrapped his arms around my belly. Together we watched the kids as the sun went down on the afternoon. My head fell back onto his shoulder, and I shifted slightly in his lap, so my side pressed to his front, and I could slip my arm around his waist. There was no place I’d rather be.

He turned his head toward mine, and in a rare moment of serious sincerity, he whispered, “I wouldn’t give this up for a million dollars, Katie.”

How many men could say that with honesty? I only knew of one.

The Home Run King.