Home Run: A Texas Heat Romance

by Camilla Stevens

  “How do we know what’s wrong?” he pondered.

  “Well, it’s either one end or the other,” she laughed softly, reaching in to pick Bree up. “Or she could just be in a cantankerous mood.

  “Only one way to find out, isn’t that right, sweetie?” she cooed into Bree’s screaming face, surprisingly calm in the face of that torrent. “Although I suspect this one is hungry.”

  She walked over to one of the chairs and settled in, tucking her legs up into the chair. Carter watched with interest and curiosity, as she unbuttoned the top of her nightgown and pulled out a breast, directing it with one hand toward Bree’s screaming mouth. It took a moment but as soon as the nipple popped in, an instant calm fell over the bedroom.

  “Voilà!” she sang out softly.

  She looked up and saw him staring. She gave him an amused smile. “You can sit down, you know,” she said, nodding toward the other chair opposite her.

  He blinked as if realizing it was there and walked over to settle into it. It was mesmerizing watching Bree quietly suck away while Jordan stroked her hair. Now that it was quiet, it was actually calming. He had a chance to embrace it completely. And he loved what it revealed.

  Jordan and Bree. They were his. He was theirs. A family.

  It reminded him of the day’s events. Now that everyone had gone home he could broach the subject of his mother.

  “So,” he segued, “you and my mother…?” He let the question hang.

  “She visited in the hospital,” Jordan said, still smiling down at Bree. “We…came to an understanding. I think she’s come around.”

  She finally looked up at him. “Some people are allowed second chances. Heaven knows we of all people should know that,” she said, giving him a wry smirk.

  He smiled in return.

  She looked back down at Bree. “I will say this though….” She brought her head back up. The smile was gone. There was a flinty stare in her eyes. “However you work things out with your father, that’s on you. But he’s never getting anywhere near my daughter.”

  Carter looked down at the tiny figure in Jordan’s arms and couldn’t have agreed more.

  Jordan saw it in his face and her expression softened. She looked down at Bree again.

  “I think she’s done here,” she said, pulling the nipple out with a pop.

  Carter waited for the cries to come but none did. Apparently, Bree was sated. He watched as the tiny eyelids blinked slowly until they stayed shut.

  “There we go,” Jordan said. She looked over at him thoughtfully then slowly untucked her legs and got out of her chair. She brought Bree over to him.

  “Here,” she said, placing her into his totally unprepared arms.

  It was the second time today he held her. This time it felt a little more natural. He looked down at her small, sleeping form and knew that his heart was forever hers.

  Jordan went back over to sit in the chair she had just vacated to watch him with a smile on her face. “Is your heart breaking yet?” she teased.

  He chuckled softly. “A million times already.”

  They sat like that for several minutes, Carter embracing every detail of his daughter, and Jordan embracing the picture of them together.

  “Hey, Slugger,” she said softly. His eyes shot up to her.

  She walked over and knelt on the floor beside him. “Will you marry me?”

  It threw him. In the past several months the ring hadn’t come up. What with Jordan taking the bar, then starting work, then taking her maternity leave. Then, he was constantly away for games, then on to the post season. It had been a whirlwind.

  But he didn’t need a ring to know she was his. By now, he knew she felt the same way. Obviously, he would be giving it back to her…but they would do it right. It certainly wouldn’t be Jordan on her knees asking for it back.

  He leaned over to her and whispered. “No” He bopped her on the nose, just for good measure.

  “What?!” she yelped, flinching away from his finger.

  “Shhh!” he chided, giving her a scornful look and eyeing Bree still asleep in his arms.

  “What?!” she repeated in an outraged whisper.

  “Calm your panties, Jordan,” he teased in a whisper, grinning down at her. “If anyone here is going to be doing the asking…it’s going to be me.”

  She gave him an indignant frown, torn between wanting to have a discussion about this and not wanting to wake Bree. He was enjoying every minute of it. This wasn’t payback, but hell if he wasn’t going to follow through on the plan he’d had ever since she’d decided to come back into his life.

  He winked down at her. “Trust me, sweetheart…it’ll be worth it.”

  44

  It was the first home game of the season for the Sluggers. Jordan’s family had decided to make a family day of it in honor. Naturally, they all had season passes, but it was rare to get them on a day when they could all make it.

  Bree was now six months old and seemed to be a good luck charm for both her parents. A month after she was born, the Sluggers had won the World Series. Jordan was pleased to find out that Bree’s college would be more than paid for when she learned what Carter’s player’s bonus share was—which was nothing compared to the Sluggers more than doubling his salary. Jordan’s own little accomplishment of finding out she had passed the bar seemed minor by comparison, but Carter had gone over the top with the congratulatory gift, replacing her 5-year-old Honda with a “more lawyerly” white Lexus SUV.

  She had thought for sure that ring would make an appearance at some point. At first, Jordan was a bit disappointed, but as their life together continued on in familiar comfort, she found it bothered her less and less. She knew she was his, and he was hers.

  Jordan’s job at Morris was going…well, it was going. She was doing everything she had done during the summer, and then some. The late nights were starting to wear on her. Worst of all, she missed Bree and Carter terribly. Now that he was starting up baseball again Bree would be missing both her parents a good chunk of the time. It was something Jordan would have to come to a decision on.

  She looked over at her little good luck charm, who had been happily passed around from family member to family member during the game. Right now she was with her designated favorite, Ben. She cooed happily up at him with a smile as she tried to grab his lower lips with her tiny hand.

  Considering he was now 14 years old, it amazed Jordan that he even had the patience or tolerance for dealing with a baby girl, but he reveled in it. Based on the way Bree laughed and gurgled in his arms, she obviously felt the same way. Jordan was almost jealous, and she couldn’t put her finger on which one of them it was that she was jealous of.

  The jealousy was most definitely supplanted by the hot dog—extra mustard—that she had in her hand. Let Ben and Bree play grabbsies with one another. Jordan was more than happy to indulge in her second favorite part of being at a Sluggers game. The first being quite obvious.

  They were at the bottom of the 7th inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Sluggers had been killing it and the score was now 7-2. Jordan couldn’t help but smugly attribute it to Carter Fox’s own good luck charms being securely in the stadium with him.

  “Ms. Douglas?” a voice behind her said, just as she was about to take a second bite of her hot dog. There were at least three Ms. Douglases in the vicinity but she looked up all the same. It was a young woman, semi-professionally dressed in a pencil skirt and a short-sleeved blouse with an official Sluggers’ badge around her neck.

  The woman smiled down at her. “Hi,” she said brightly. “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind coming with me. The Sluggers’ are planning a small ceremony during the 7th inning stretch to honor Carter for his outstanding home run performance last year. They really wanted you to be out on the field for it so I was tasked with getting you down there in preparation.”

  Jordan started for a moment. Her heart burst with pride that the Sluggers would be acknowledging the
man that she loved like this.

  Of course, they wanted to honor him!

  “Now?” she asked, looking longingly at her hot dog. “Do you think I have time to finish this thing first?”

  The young woman was apparently low enough on the totem pole to blink her eyes in a panic instead of insisting her going down to the field.

  “Oh go on Jordan!” her dad urged.

  “Yeah, just go!” Ben pleaded. “Take it with you and finish on the way.”

  Eventually, everyone joined in the prodding, bringing an expression of relief to the poor woman’s face.

  Jordan decided to throw her a bone and got up out of her seat, still holding on to her hot dog. The woman’s eyes flicked towards it, but she eventually seemed to think better of saying anything about it. Jordan took another bite as she followed the woman up the stands. It would be long gone by the time they made it down.

  She could still see the action from where they ended up, standing near the field, in an entranceway. It was actually a pretty good vantage point from which to view the game. Unfortunately, the Sluggers had managed to get one out while she was en route to this location.

  She happily munched on her hot dog as she watched the Sluggers at bat. Bobby Ramos hit a double and got one more point for the team. Jordan cheered as she took another bite of her hot dog.

  She was cognizant of the woman eyeing her hot dog while they waited. She finally turned to her.

  “Trust me,” she mumbled, the fresh bite warbling her words. “I’ll be done with this”—she lifted what was left of the bun in the air—”by the time I have to be out there.”

  Based on the woman’s confused expression, she obviously had no idea what Jordan was saying.

  Jordan turned her attention back to the game. She nearly choked as a pop-up ball was caught, unfortunately Bobby decided to try and advance anyway and was tagged out. She yelled in frustration as the two outs ended the inning, before realizing that she had one bite of hot dog left.

  The poor woman next to her was about to faint, so Jordan stuffed the whole thing quickly in her mouth, giving her a reassuring smile that she didn’t really feel. It was a lot of food.

  She chewed as fast as she could, all the while smiling reassuringly at the woman. Eventually, she just swallowed in one painful gulp, readying herself for her field appearance to support her man. That seemed to calm her somewhat.

  “You have mustard on your lip,” the woman said, pointing to her face to show her where it was.

  Jordan ran her tongue over her upper lip, lapping up the tangy smear. She smiled as she remembered the first time she had done the exact same thing at a Sluggers’ game.

  Her thoughts were interrupted as the woman startled her. “Okay! It’s time,” she yelped, giving Jordan the once over and apparently not entirely approving of what she saw

  Jordan was wearing a Sluggers’ Jersey, #47 obviously, and a pair of cut-off shorts that were practically hidden by the baggy top. A Slugger’s cap shielded her eyes. If she’d known there was going to be a ceremony she would have dressed accordingly.

  As Jordan was led onto the field she became gradually aware that there was no one else there. There was no grandstand or trophy or anything.

  It was just her.

  She looked around at the empty field and the filled stadium with a growing sense of extreme self-consciousness. Eventually, she saw Carter Fox walk out towards her with a smile on his face.

  What was going on here?

  When he approached her and bent down on one knee, it all came together. She brought one hand up to her mouth in surprised joy. She had another fleeting moment of regret that she hadn’t worn something a bit more…special. Then she thought better of it. What better attire than her guy’s—fiancé’s—number on her back for the world to see?

  “Jordan,” she heard it reverberate around the stadium and saw the microphone clipped to his chest. So everyone here would be a witness. “It was at this very stadium almost two years ago that I first saw your face on that screen. From that moment on, no other woman could compare. You’ve stood by my side through my ups and my downs. Now I’m asking you to stand by my side forever. Jordan Douglas, will you marry me?”

  Tears immediately sprang to her eyes. Her bursting heart overtook her capacity to even breath the words. She saw the flicker of panic in his eyes and she immediately reached out a hand to cup his face…his perfect face.

  She nodded vigorously to reassure him. She loved him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. He gave a smile of relief.

  “Yes!” she finally blurted out. “Oh yes!”

  It was caught on his microphone and she heard her voice echoed back to her. A second later a cheer went through the crowd in support of the couple.

  This had definitely been worth it.

  Epilogue

  “So today’s the big day?” April asked.

  “Maybe we can use some other word besides big,” Jordan said, smirking at her friend.

  April just laughed.

  They both worked at Houston Legal Aid Society, which was a much better fit for Jordan that Morris & Gibson had been. She had given her notice to the firm almost a year ago. Between Carter’s hectic in-season schedule and missing all of Bree’s life events, it was a no brainer.

  Now, she worked part time at the legal aid clinic, which gave her the flexibility to take off when she needed to. Like, for example, going for her ultra sound.

  “You guys didn’t have to do the cupcakes,” Jordan said, eyeing the tray of treats, half of which were blue and half pink.

  “Well, you wouldn’t let us throw you a baby shower,” said Carla, the administrative assistant. “We had to do something to pay you back for all those breakfast tacos you bring in practically every day.”

  “So what are you guys hoping for?” asked Emily, another attorney.

  “I don’t care, as long as it’s—”

  “Yeah, yeah,” said April, “as long as it’s healthy. Now what do you really want?”

  Jordan laughed. “Well, you know Carter. He loves Bree to death but, and he certainly hasn’t said anything, but I’m pretty sure he wants a boy.”

  “Speaking of which…” April looked past her shoulder.

  There was a definite buzz of electricity in the air as Jordan heard the bell over the front door ding. As usual, when her husband made an appearance, there was a shift in the atmosphere. The combination of his celebrity status and imposing size was enough to stop all conversation and have all eyes focused on him.

  He had Bree, who was now a little over two years old, in one large arm. She was wearing a coral sleeveless dress and white sandals. Her light brown head of curls was up in a pony tail.

  “There’s my little kitten,” April gushed, walking over to tickle her.

  Bree laughed and shrieked away from her favorite person in the world, second only to Daddy. Then her eyes caught the tray of cupcakes and she reached for them, nearly toppling out of Carter’s arm.

  “Whoa sweetie,” he said, quickly reaching around to secure her with his other hand.

  “Unh,” she protested, straining in his embrace, until Carter finally grabbed one for her.

  “Pink!” she insisted and, being permanently wrapped around her little finger, he happily switched out the offending blue cupcake for pink.

  “You’re going to regret that, I guarantee it,” Jordan said coming over to him and reaching up on her tip toes to kiss him.

  “Mmm, that’s the kind of sugar I prefer,” he said against her lips.

  Jordan smiled, then leaned in to her daughter. “Hey there, baby.”

  “Cupcake!” Bree said, holding up her recently acquired treat to show her mother with a broad smile on her face. Jordan wanted to eat it up.

  “Yes, it is! Are you ready to go see your little brother or sister?”

  She was patently ignored in favor of the pink frosting.

  Jordan turned her attention to Carter. “I guess that answers that,�
� she said with a laugh. “Are you ready?”

  Carter blew out of his mouth, looking at Bree’s frosting covered chin. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “Uh oh,” Jordan said, looking in the back seat.

  Bree was already fast asleep in the car seat. Obviously being fawned over in the office was very tiring business. The half eaten cupcake had fallen out of her hand, leaving a nice pink frosting stain on the seat.

  “What is it?” Carter asked, looking in the rear view mirror of his truck.

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “She dropped it didn’t she?”

  “I told you you’d regret it,’ Jordan chided, laughing. “Still want another?”

  “A bit too late now, sweetheart,” he said with a smirk. “Besides, I kind of like being a daddy. In fact, I think we should keep doing this, you’re kinda sexy when you’re pregnant.”

  She slapped him on the arm, chuckling. “You’re hopeless.”

  “We have a healthy heartbeat,” said the doctor. “Two arms, two legs, and lookie there, even a head!” he went on, teasingly.

  Jordan liked him. He countered her obsession over every detail of the pregnancy with a calm reassurance that was neither patronizing nor critical and often quite humorous.

  “So, do we want to find out if we’re painting the nursery blue or pink?”

  Jordan looked up at Carter with her eyebrows raised. She truly didn’t care, having been honest when she told her friend she just wanted a healthy baby.

  Carter looked down at Bree who was curled against his shoulder, still sleeping, two fingers stuck firmly in her little mouth. Once again he blew out his mouth and nodded down at his wife

  “Let’s hear it, doc.”

  “I guess that’s a yes,” Jordan said, smiling at her doctor.

  “Okay then, prepare yourselves….”

  A very healthy, 8 pound, 1 ounce Carter Fox Jr. was born at 2:47 on a perfectly lovely day.

  The parents and big sister are all doing fine.