Home Run

by Bernadette Marie

  “There isn’t anyone in our family who doesn’t.” Her voice carried the hint of irritation.

  “I know. I know. Promise me that this is only between you and me.”

  “I promise.” She nudged him. “But regardless of this, you’re going to ask her to marry you again? This is really what this is all about?”

  “We have something—wonderful.” The waitress set his beer on the table. He picked it up as she walked away and took a sip. “I don’t just mean me and Tori. I mean all of us. It’s only been a few weeks, but we really have a family.”

  “Chris, I’m excited for you.” She sat back in her chair and considered him for a moment. “And when she does tell you about the baby how will you handle that…I mean if it is Scott’s?”

  “If? What does that mean?”

  Arianna took a sip from her beer and held it in her mouth before swallowing it down hard. “You know for sure it’s Scott’s?”

  “Of course. They were in a relationship…”

  “In which you interrupted.”

  The wind rushed out of his lungs. He hadn’t even considered that their one night could have anything to do with her being pregnant. He had totally decided, on his own, that she had just gone back to Scott and that was that. Never once did he consider that this might have been the reason Scott had left in the first place.

  He wiped the back of his hand over his forehead. But if the baby was his, she surely would have told him. At this point what was there to lose?

  Unless she didn’t trust him. Unless she was waiting until he committed to her.

  He was suddenly feeling sick. When the waitress brought their food he asked for a glass of water.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” he said sipping the water. “Just faced with the reality of adulthood.”

  “Yeah, it usually comes in your thirties and totally messes things up.”

  He chuckled. He wasn’t sure he could wait a week to pop the question now.

  The next hour and a half was a whirlwind of chaos, as Christian liked to think of it. Every woman in his life had an opinion on what they thought Tori would like. He realized he should have only invited Sonia, but as they hadn’t done much speaking since he’d broken up with Tori, and it hadn’t gone well then, it would have been even more tense than the conversations going on around him.

  Clara had spotted a nice band. Nothing fancy, but with a nice engraved design. “She’s simple beauty.”

  His Aunt Simone was shaking her head. “No. Even simple beauty wants something that says Look at me!”

  His mother was quietly seated just beyond all the women huddled around the case.

  “You don’t want to help me?” He touched her shoulder.

  “Oh, I’m here for you. I can’t think of anyone I’d want to join our family more than Tori.”

  “Then why are you over here and not in the midst of that?” He pointed to the women in his family arguing over if Tori was a two-karat or a one-karat or a band-of-gold girl.

  Madeline Keller pointed her manicured finger to a ring in the glass and then looked up at her son and smiled. “This one reminded me of Tori.”

  It was simple and screamed elegant. It wasn’t among the engagement rings, it was an anniversary band. It had three diamonds, which were also not extravagant in size.

  “One for Sam. One for Ali. One for you.”

  He could feel his lip twitch and it meant she’d caused him to want to cry. It was the most perfect ring for her. And in his mind the third diamond would be for the baby. And at that moment it didn’t matter the paternity of the baby. What mattered is he wanted all three of those children and Tori.

  He hugged his mother and kissed her on the cheek. “Tori is lucky to have you.”

  “No. She’s lucky to have you.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Victoria had already cleared the dinner table before Christian had walked through the door.

  “I didn’t think you were coming,” she said, as her voice quivered as she said it.

  “Don’t give up on me yet. I texted you and told you I was coming.”

  She nodded. She didn’t like not trusting that he’d show up. “I know. You just haven’t missed a meal with us in almost three weeks.”

  “I don’t intend on missing another one at all.” He walked up behind her at the sink and wrapped his arms around her waist. She noticed his hands rested on her stomach and tiny butterflies let go inside of her.

  “I’m sorry I doubted you. I want this to work out this time.”

  Christian turned her around to face him. He was so handsome. The mix of Italian and Puerto Rican blood that ran through him gave him that dark, mysterious look. There were hints of him that looked like his father, but his mother’s gentleness had always resonated from him. Victoria smiled when she thought of how handsome or beautiful their baby would be.

  She’d had a long night thinking about him after he’d left wearing the T-shirt she’d long ago stolen from him when they were engaged and happy before the accident. Christian had gone through a lot of loss in the past year, as had she. He’d dealt with it differently and she’d not had the chance to. Her role had changed overnight. With every day that passed that he was part of their family, she realized that whatever had taken over inside of him, causing him to leave her as he had, that just wasn’t him. This man, who gazed at her with eyes of nothing, but admiration and love, was the man whom she wanted to share her life with.

  She’d made a doctor’s appointment for the next afternoon. And she’d already asked Sonia to watch the kids so she and Christian could have a night together. The plan was to tell him about the baby and ask him to marry her. She was quite confident he’d planned on asking her too, but under the circumstances and the secrecy, she thought it best if she asked.

  Those butterflies in her stomach ramped up in flight and she took a deep breath.

  “I have some dinner left over,” she offered as Chris’s hand came to her cheek.

  “I’ll settle for dessert.” He moved in and his mouth took hers. There was no softness, no ease into the moment. There was a heat that burned from his tongue to hers.

  She gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him closer until there was no room between them.

  “Wow. I sure have missed those kisses.” Chris rested his forehead against hers.

  “Me too.”

  “My mom wants me to invite you all over for dinner tomorrow.”

  Victoria bit down on her lip. “Can we take a rain check? I don’t have to work, so I asked Sonia to watch the kids, so you and I could have a nice dinner. Just the two of us.”

  She could feel what the moment and suggestion was doing to him, but he was fighting the manly urges she knew rattled in his body.

  “I’ll tell her to wait. Maybe,” he moved in again closer, “we can share some news with her when we do go over.”

  Victoria swallowed hard as Chris stepped away when the kids ran through the kitchen. Did he know? How could he know? Had Sonia or Scott…no. Scott wouldn’t do that and Sonia wouldn’t breach her trust. Maybe this was making him think about proposing. Should she do it now? Should she ask him and then tomorrow tell him about the baby? She had it in her head that having the picture would be the best way to do that. He wouldn’t be able to get mad when he saw what they created.

  Her hands began to shake.

  Chris picked up both kids and they gave him hugs. Those butterflies in her stomach must have multiplied, because it caused her to run to the bathroom and release the dinner she’d just eaten.

  She tried to kick at the door so it would shut, but Chris was right there.

  “How long does this last?” He asked and her eyes opened wide.

  “I’m sure it was just nerves.”

  “What could you possibly be nervous about?” He pulled the hand towel off the hook, wet it and handed it to her.

  “Us. This. Your mom.”

  “My mom? What could make you nervous ab
out her? She loves you.”

  “She does?”

  He sat on the floor of the bathroom across from her. “You belong in my family. You know that. Sweetheart, I’m sorry for all the pain I caused you. I promise to make it up to you.”

  “I just hope you won’t hate me.”

  His eyebrows narrowed. “I can’t think of a reason in the world I would hate you.”

  She could and that had her throwing up again.

  Christian drove away from the house close to midnight. He’d hoped to stay—to make love to Tori all night, but she was worked up about something and he could only assume that she was worked up over the baby.

  Since she still hadn’t told him about it, he had to only assume that the baby really was Scott’s. But, Christian was a Keller and Kellers didn’t let the opportunity to raise a baby born of someone else’s blood go unloved. His father and his aunts were adopted. Darcy had been an adopted baby and her parents had loved her unconditionally. Having Ali and Sam as his family and this baby which Tori is carrying—well it just made sense to him.

  He was taking that damn ring with him tomorrow and he was going to give it to her whether she was ready for it or not. And he was going to pack a suitcase and start moving in. He didn’t want to leave the house at midnight anymore. He wanted to live there with her and the kids. This mistake he made couldn’t dictate the rest of his life. It needed to be over. He needed to move forward and he was going to do that with his family.

  ~*~

  Victoria lay on the table in the doctor’s office. Her heart was racing as the doctor got the machine ready for them to look at her baby. Guilt was burning her gut. She should have invited Christian. She was about to hear the heartbeat of their baby. She was about to see their baby for the first time. Keeping this a secret wasn’t fair to him. He was missing out on this very special moment.

  But at that moment the doctor turned to her. “Are you ready?”

  She nodded and he put the jelly on her stomach and then the wand to her skin.

  He maneuvered it for a moment until, on the screen, came the small image of her baby.

  The doctor turned on the volume and she heard the rapid heartbeat. Tears streamed from her eyes. This was the most precious and wonderful moment in her life.

  “The baby looks good. We don’t usually look this early, but sometimes moms can bat their eyes just right.”

  “You have no idea what this means to me. Thank you.”

  She let the tears continue to stream down her face. The doctor took measurements and made different angle pictures that were then filed digitally. At the end, he printed a picture which showed the baby’s outline. Though it wasn’t much more than a bubble it was hers and Chris’s bubble. This was the most beautiful baby Victoria had ever seen.

  “Here you go. A keepsake.” He handed her the picture. “Do you have any questions?”

  “When will I stop being sick?”

  He patted her shoulder. “You should see that subside very soon. You’re almost through your first trimester. Just take it easy.”

  She nodded and gazed back down at the picture in her hand as the doctor left the room. “Hello, baby.” She ran her fingers over the image. “I love you so much.”

  ~*~

  Christian had taken the day off. The baseball field would manage one day without him. He had things to do.

  Comments had been made by Tori the night before insinuating that she planned to get back home from running errands by about four. He planned to be in the house by three.

  Knowing the kids would be at Sonia’s, he decided to start his day there.

  Sonia’s expression when she opened the door wasn’t necessarily one of excitement.

  “Chris, what are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to talk to the kids.”

  She narrowed her eyes on him. “Tori isn’t here. I don’t know…”

  He stepped up until he was right inside the screen door she held open. “I love her, Sonia. I’m not going to hurt her again. I want to marry her. I bought her a ring. Now I want to tell the kids about it. I want to make sure they are okay with it.”

  Her eyes went moist and he knew he’d pulled the right strings. “It has been a long year hating you. You were always good for her.”

  “I was wrong to do what I did.”

  “You were hurting.”

  “Yeah, well it clouded my better judgment. I’m not going to let that happen again.”

  Sonia chewed on her lip. “You’re sure you’re okay with the kids and everything going on in her life?”

  Christian played what she was saying over in his head. She didn’t actually say anything about the baby, so he wouldn’t either. “I’m ready for anything.”

  Sonia stepped back and let him into the house.

  When the kids saw him they ran to him, their arms open and then wrapped around him.

  “Can I talk to you two?”

  They each took one of his hands and they walked out to the living room. Christian sat the kids on the couch and knelt down in front of them.

  “I want to ask you two a question. First of all, I want to tell you that your daddy was my very best friend. And when you were born, he asked me to take care of you. And I want to do that. I also want you to know I love your Aunt Tori.”

  Sam look unenthused, but there was a giant smile on Ali’s mouth.

  “I want to ask her to marry me and then we would all be a family—forever.”

  Ali clapped her hands together and Sam watched. Then he clapped his hands together.

  “I want to know if you two would be okay with that?”

  “Yes!” they both answered.

  “And would it be okay if someday we had a baby or two? Would you be okay if more babies lived in our house?”

  “Can I hold them?” Ali said enthusiastically.

  “Of course. Someday, okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Okay. Now I want to show you something.” He pulled the ring from his pocket and showed it to them. “I want to give this to Aunt Tori. Do you think she’ll like it?”

  “Yes. I like it! She will like it. Can I have one?”

  He laughed and he could hear Sonia, just beyond the wall, laugh too.

  “You want a ring? I’ll buy you a ring. What about you, Sam? What do you want?”

  “Baseball!”

  Oh, this one was a kid after his own heart.

  “Okay then.” He pulled them into his arms and kissed each of them on the cheek. “You two stay with Sonia this evening and I’ll give her the ring and see if she’ll marry me.”

  As he left the house he wondered if he should have taken them with him. He still wasn’t sure Tori was going to want to spend her life with him. He had a lot of making up to do for the year he’d let her take on the world alone.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Christian arrived before she had. There were flowers on the table. Two champagne glasses next to the flowers and a bottle of sparkling cider, ready for celebration. Next to the glasses he’d displayed the ring.

  If they made it to dinner then he would call in a favor at the restaurant a buddy owned.

  It was nearing four o’clock. He looked at his watch nearly every minute, but she hadn’t walked in the door yet and he was growing more nervous by the moment.

  He was taken by surprise when the doorbell rang. He walked through the house and pulled open the door.

  Scott stood on the front porch with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. He was dressed in a fancy suit and his expensive sunglasses begged to be broken into a million pieces.

  “Oh, hi,” he said as if he were surprised to find Christian standing in the doorway. “I didn’t realize you’d be here. I wanted to talk to Victoria.”

  Christian bit down hard. “Tori isn’t here. Why would you want to talk to her? I think the statutes of limitations on the apology you owe her has passed.” He would have kept his tone kinder, but he couldn’t find it in him to do so.

 
“I beg your pardon? What about you? What about the way you left her to deal with everything she had to deal with? You think she’s got a better situation with you?”

  Christian moved toward the man who had him by at least three inches in height and a solid build. But he’d push him into the street if he had to.

  “Scott!” Victoria’s voice came from the steps behind Scott. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to apologize for my behavior a few weeks ago. I was a bit stressed with work and wasn’t prepared for what you’d told me.”

  Tori’s eyes widened and she shot a glance to Chris. His gut twisted. Scott did know. She had told him about the baby and she’d left him out of the loop completely when it came to knowing.

  “Scott, this isn’t the very best time.”

  Christian stepped out of the house and stood facing both of them. “C’mon, Tori, let him apologize for his attitude. Let him apologize for walking out on you when you needed him.”

  “Chris,” she said through gritted teeth. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He kept his glare on Scott. “Don’t I? Don’t I know that the moment you told him you were pregnant he walked out on you?”

  He heard her gasp and Scott stepped up to him until their noses nearly touched.

  “Well at least I see by your being here you stepped up to be a man. Though having a one night stand with someone else’s girlfriend isn’t what I’d consider being a man at all. But at least you’re here, which leads me to believe you’ve taken your responsibilities seriously.”

  “Oh, Scott! Chris!” They both turned their eyes to Tori standing next to them. “Please, Scott, you have to go. Please.”

  “Fine. I thought you might have thought this through. I was willing to give your baby a name. Obviously his father has some anger issues.”

  His words were a blow to his already twisted gut. “What did you say?”

  “You heard me.” Scott dropped the flowers and moved in again so that he was face to face. “You sleep with someone’s girlfriend and get her pregnant and I’m the one making an ass of myself? I don’t know who you think you are, Mr. Keller, but this isn’t the way to do things. If you were a real man…”