by BK Harrell
“Sure, dad. What do you want to talk about?”
“Your mother. You know I love her very much. I love both of you so much…and I really want to make our family whole. Since you’re the man of the house, I want to ask you if I can have your permission to marry your mom.”
Harry sat there looking out over the Pacific Ocean and thought about what to say. His heart was beating a mile a minute, this was what he wanted more than anything. He had prayed every night for this to happen, but he was going to make his dad sweat a little or for a while. “I’ll tell you what, dad. I want to make sure that you’re worthy of her, so if you do any of the following three things then you have my permission. I don’t want her to have to settle for second best. You do any of these and you have my blessing. You can win the triple crown, win the MVP, or win the World Series. You do any of those things and she’s all yours.”
Coop wanted to laugh, but he saw the serious expression on Harry’s face and wasn’t quite sure if he was joking or not. “Any one of those three, and I have your blessing?”
“Yes sir.”
“Okay. Guess we’ll wait and see.” Coop thought as long as he kept up his hitting and didn’t get to many intentional walks he should win the triple crown. He was still flirting with hitting .400 for the season. He was leading in homeruns and RBIs by a wide margin so that he could control. The team had a twelve-game lead going into the second half, and barring a catastrophic injury, they should make the playoffs, but the World Series was no guarantee, and the MVP was a crapshoot since the baseball writers voted on that. No pressure he thought. Just the rest of his life. Coop laughed to himself as they got back up to finish their run. He was impressed that Harry kept the pace the entire time, and didn’t even seem winded when they returned to the hotel.
The rest of the day passed in a blur as they got ready for the game. Coop walked Sarah and Harry to their seats before heading to the clubhouse. He wanted to have a good showing and since home field advantage in the World Series was dependent on who won the game he would play longer.
The game was a success for the National League as they spanked the American League 10-3. Coop was named MVP of the game, but Harry quickly pointed out he meant season MVP.
They enjoyed the rest of their vacation in San Diego and the road trip was a success for the team and Coop.
They returned home in time for Harry to leave for a travel ball tournament in Mississippi. Coop hated that he had to miss the games, but his game schedule didn’t allow him to have the time off to travel with Harry and Sarah. He lamented the fact that he couldn’t be the father who coached his son’s team, but Harry was very understanding about Coop’s job.
***
The final weeks of the season wound down and Coop was going to win the triple crown without a contest from anyone else. He was having the season of his life, and he felt like he owed it all to becoming a family man even if he still hadn’t been able to ask Sarah to marry him. Soon enough. A few more weeks and then the playoffs would be here and then the off-season.
Chapter Eighteen
Coop was exhausted as he awoke to Sarah’s phone ringing. Sarah and Harry had spent the night after the loss to the Kansas City Royals. He listened as Sarah picked up her phone and walked out of the bedroom to speak to whoever called her. He knew she was off today as Lincoln and Cole had closed the practice except for essential personnel for tonight’s game seven of the World Series. They had managed to sweep the Dodgers in the first round, beaten the Cardinals in six games and were now down to a winner take all game seven in the World Series. Coop laid in bed and stared at the ceiling thinking about the day ahead. The biggest obstacle would be keeping himself from getting too excited before the game. He was planning on a light workout and then an afternoon nap before heading to the stadium.
“Sorry that the phone woke you. I need to run to the office for a few minutes to take care of something. Is it okay if Harry stays here with you? I was planning on keeping him home today anyway. I’ll make sure he doesn’t bug you too much.”
“I think that’s just what I need. A day with Harry to relax and play video games.”
“Sorry, I didn’t intend to go to work, but a friend really needs my help.”
“No problem. I love you, and I’ll miss you while you’re gone.”
Sarah drove to the office wondering why Marcie would have called her this early, but it must’ve been important. When Sarah arrived, she found Marcie waiting for her in her office.
“Okay, I’m here. What seems to be the problem? Whatever it is better be good because I’m missing morning sex with Coop.”
“I think, I might be pregnant.” Marcie said.
“You think you might be, or you are?”
“I’ve been really tired the last few weeks, but I passed it off as too much travel, too many late nights and not eating well enough. Then this morning I woke up nauseous and barely made it to the bathroom. I then started thinking about it and realized that I missed my period. So, I’m pretty sure that I’m pregnant.”
“Okay. Come on. First, let’s do a pregnancy test and find out.”
Marcie followed Sarah to the exam rooms and gave her a urine sample while she waited in the exam room. Marcie was pacing the room when Sarah walked back in.
“So, congratulations, you’re pregnant.”
Marcie erupted into a joyous squeal. “It certainly wasn’t planned, but I’m so happy. Cole and Jennifer will be ecstatic as well. I just can’t tell him until after tonight. He has so much on his plate. I don’t want to take his focus away from the game tonight.”
“Okay. I’m so happy for you two. You’re going to make an awesome mom. Well to a newborn. Let me find the ultrasound tech, and we’ll do a quick scan to make sure everything is okay. Follow me, I’ll get you settled while I go find her.”
Sarah put Marcie in the ultrasound room and gave her a gown to change into. She left her there to find the on-call tech. Sarah finally found Liza in the tech area researching her patient for the following day.
“Morning, Liza. I need two favors if you don’t mind.”
“No problem, shoot.”
“Marcie is in the exam room waiting for you. I need you to do a transvaginal ultrasound to confirm a pregnancy for me, and the second thing is please keep this quiet until Marcie tells Cole.”
“No problem, boss. Just let her know I’ll be there quickly.”
“Thanks, I owe you lunch.”
“You don’t owe me anything. I’m happy to help.”
Sarah went back to wait with Marcie and explained the procedure since it would be more of any invasive ultrasound than the normal. She got Marcie ready and then Liza entered the room. Sarah introduced them and stood off to the side as the ultrasound was performed and saw that everything was normal. She printed off several pictures and gave them to Marcie to share with Cole.
When Sarah walked in the door to Coop’s house, she found her two favorite guys sitting on the couch playing video games. She smiled as she watched father and son compete against each other and laugh together.
“I’m back. Y’all ready for lunch?”
“Yes, ma’am. I beat dad this morning, so I get to choose.”
“Sorry, but this is your dad’s big day, so he gets to choose. We need to hurry up so he can come back and take a nap.”
Sarah collected her crew and drove them to lunch. The atmosphere seemed different today as they ate. She passed it off to Coop’s nervousness over the game tonight. It was undoubtedly the biggest game he’d ever played.
After lunch, Sarah took Harry to the batting cages, so he could work off his nervous energy, and Coop could take a nap undisturbed.
Coop laid in bed smiling as he tried to go to sleep, but it was no use. His mind was racing a mile a minute with thoughts of the night ahead. Win or lose the game, he’d hopefully be a winner with Sarah. During their morning of game playing, Harry told him he had his blessing to marry his mom since he had won the triple crown. Coop f
inally gave up, deciding he needed to get the ring cleaned and ready for tonight. Sarah would be surprised after she and the rest of the girls threw out the first pitch.
***
The feel was electric in the stadium. It seemed like every person in attendance was hyped up and ready to go seven more games. The lineups were introduced and Travis Tritt sang the National Anthem. Everyone was ready for the first pitches to be thrown out. Coop took his place behind the plate with Rhett and a few other guys as Tom Glavine and John Smoltz stood out beside Nicole, Marcie and Sarah ready to throw out the first pitches. With the pitches thrown, handshakes exchanged, and pats on the back, Coop took Sarah’s hand and led her out to the pitcher’s mound.
Sarah didn’t know what was happening until all of a sudden, she saw Coop get down on one knee and extract a necklace from his uniform that held a perfect diamond ring.
“Sarah Buckley, I’ve waited ten years for this moment. I bought this ring to give to you on our graduation day. I didn’t get the opportunity then. I have carried this ring with me and worn it for ten years. Finally, fate has brought us back together. I asked our son if I could marry his mother, and he informed me that I couldn’t ask until I won the triple crown, the MVP or the World Series. Today he gave me his blessing, so here I am in front of you on bended knee asking. I love you more than life itself, knowing that you have given me such a wonderful son has almost completed my life. The last thing I need for my life to be complete is for you to marry me. I want us to be a family, and to grow our family. Will you do me the greatest honor of all and marry me?”
Sarah felt the tears falling down her cheeks. This was what she had wanted for so long. She loved Coop with all her heart, but she couldn’t find the words so all she could do was nod.
“I love you, baby, but I need to hear you say it.”
“I love you, Coop, yes I’ll marry you, but please don’t make me wait too long.”
“I’d marry you tomorrow, but I want you to have your dream wedding.”
“My dream wedding is getting to marry you.”
Coop pulled Sarah into his arms and the crowd went wild as he dipped her and kissed her. He went to take the ring off the necklace and put it on her finger when Sarah stopped him.
“Don’t change anything before this game. I want to think that I bring you luck when you’re wearing it. Give it to me after you win.”
“Deal.”
Sarah kissed Coop one last time before hustling off to her seat next to the field. She accepted congratulations and hugs from her friends and especially from Harry. She couldn’t believe she was finally engaged to Harrison Cooper.
Sarah’s nerves were shot by the bottom of the ninth. It had been a close game until the Royals had gone up by three in the eighth inning. The Braves were down to their final three outs and it would take a miracle for Coop to get to bat, since he was due up fifth. Sarah could hardly watch the game. Somehow, against the best closer in the American League, they had managed two hits and a walk sandwiched around a strikeout. Coop was up to bat with Rhett on deck. They had to pitch to him, which they hadn’t done all night. Sarah couldn’t watch, as she closed her eyes and said a silent prayer for Coop. With her eyes closed, Sarah heard the crack of the bat and didn’t need anything else to tell her that Coop had just won the game and the World Series with one swing of his bat. She opened her eyes just in time to see the ball sail deep into the center field bleachers. The crowd was going crazy and she watched Coop circle the bases and get mobbed by his teammates as he touched home plate.
Coop could hardly breathe. He’d just won the World Series for his team. He looked over to see Sarah and Harry going crazy. He ran over and pulled Sarah and Harry into his arms. “Was that good enough for you, son?”
“Awesome, dad. I love you.”
“I love you too, slugger.”
“I love you, too, Coop. Whether you won or lost, I won because I got you. Now go celebrate with your teammates. We’ll be waiting for you, Mr. World Series MVP” Sarah said as she pointed to the scoreboard where it was just announced that he was the MVP.
Coop celebrated with his teammates and accepted his MVP award, but all he could think about was getting to his family. It had been a long time coming, and his prayers had been answered. He had it all now, and looked forward to his life with his family.
Epilogue
Elisha Martin loved her life. She was a certified Nurse Midwife, worked for the best practice and boss in the country. She had been dating a wonderful guy for almost a year now, and there were indications that he wanted to take it further, but wanted to wait until he was finished with his residency. Even though she was feeling on top of the world, she couldn’t fight this niggling feeling that the other shoe was about to drop on her happy life.
Elisha sat at the nurses’ station finishing paperwork contemplating the happy aspects of her life, but she’d not always had a happy life. Hell, truth be told, she wasn’t even really Elisha Martin, at least she wasn’t always. The reality was, she used to be Angela Collins from Ash Flat, Arkansas. Elisha pondered how she had managed to survive her former life. She had been your basic white trailer trash living in the backwoods of Arkansas. She had managed to get herself tied to the wrong guy. Eddie had been charming and sweet when she met him. Angela had been naive at the time and willing to do anything to get out of her family’s circle of poverty and drunkenness. She had grown up with an abusive alcoholic father and an absent mother who preferred a heroine needle to motherhood.
Elisha had taken one look at the slick Eddie, and her sixteen-year-old heart and hormones went chasing after him. What she didn’t know was that Eddie was no better than her father. Unfortunately, it had taken three years and multiple trips to emergency room for her clumsy accidents, before she finally had the courage to go to the police and tell them the sordid story of Eddie Carson, his abuse, his drug business, and methamphetamine lab. Eddie was still doing twenty to thirty years in a state prison for his convictions. That had finally been the motivation for Angela to change her life.
Angela boarded the first Greyhound bus she could get out of Ash Flat, and never looked back. Her destination was the big city of Atlanta where she hoped she could get lost in the mass of people, and no one would find her. She legally changed her name to Elisha Martin and enrolled in a community college program. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life until she was befriended by her neighbor who was a labor and delivery nurse. Elisha had been a good student when she’d been able to go to school. She’d spent too much of her young life making excuses for her parents and cleaning up their messes. She had managed to graduate but not at the top of her class. Elisha worked hard to finish her associates degree before enrolling at Georgia State to complete her bachelors of nursing degree. Unfortunately, the cost was more than she could afford, and she ended up taking a job stripping at a high-end club in Atlanta.
Once she finished her degree and started working, she found that she still enjoyed the dancing and the money, but more importantly, she enjoyed the control she held over the men who watched her dance. It wasn’t until she was in graduate school and her bosses found her stripping that she decided to get out of the business. Her last night had been memorable because she had met Jeremiah. Although it had taken a while for him to ask her out, they’d grown their relationship.
Elisha managed a tired smile as she realized she was a twenty-nine-year-old woman who was finally in love. She understood why it had taken so long for Jeremiah to come around, given the way his last relationship had ended, but they were definitely moving forward. The hardest part, was hiding her past especially when they moved to the meeting his parents phase of the relationship. The problem was she couldn’t reciprocate and had to create a lie as to why they couldn’t meet her parents. She was an only child, so she had no siblings, the truth be told, she felt like her parents were dead to her. So, while technically a lie when she told Jeremiah her parents had died, it was what she truly felt.
El
isha shook her head to clear her thoughts. Exhaustion and her mind were not her friend this morning. Why these thoughts had decided to invade her mind today she had no clue. She reached for her now stale cup of coffee and her friend Dr. Sarah Buckley, soon to be Dr. Sarah Cooper, walked over and handed her a fresh cup of coffee. “Please remind me the next time we’re scheduled to work on a full moon. I’m calling out sick or something. What is it with full moons that make babies want to show up? Somehow, we ended up with a full moon, Friday the thirteenth, and a pay day. Triple whammy, and now after fourteen deliveries and six false labors I’m so ready to call it a night and crawl back to my townhouse.”
“I know what you mean. It’s almost over. I saw the relief team coming in to start rounds. Hopefully we’ll be out of here soon. At least you get to go home. I have to go dress shopping today to pick out a selection of dresses, before we go for a formal appointment next Saturday.”
“Sorry, I wish I had sympathy, but you get to marry an uber hot baseball player. You know I love you and don’t begrudge you, but until I get my happily ever after, I’m going be a little jealous.”
“Hey, you have Jeremiah. I know he wants to wait until he graduates, but you could always put a bug in his ear about living together. Might make things a little more permanent.”
“Yeah, given his history, probably not going to happen. Thanks anyway. I’ve still got a lot of paperwork to finish after I turnover to my relief, so I’ll wait to walk out with you.”
“Sure, but don’t take too long, because I’m ready to blow this joint after turnover.”
Elisha finished up and was waiting for Sarah to walk to their cars. Finally, Sarah emerged from the locker room and they headed out. Thankfully, they had parked next to each other and could be each other’s safety buddy. Elisha hated this time of year with cold mornings and a lot of overcast skies. Just as they reached her car, her phone rang. Elisha looked at the screen and saw private number. Letting exhaustion overrule her normally cautious brain she hit answer as she held the phone to her ear. She knew it was mistake immediately when she heard.
