Bret Welker, our third baseman who came up with me, was up to bat after me. He was on a hot streak, and they intentionally walked him. It made sense with first base open, but I just rolled my eyes. Evan Harris came up to bat next. He hit a single on the first pitch thrown to him, and we all advanced to load the bases. Unfortunately, the next two batters struck out, and it was now up to Chance Wagner, our designated hitter. You could tell he was trying for a grand slam with his first swing, but he just fouled off the ball.
“Just a single will get me and Isaac home!” I shouted.
Chance repositioned his bat and took a warm up swing. The pitcher threw three more pitches, and Chance foul-tipped all but one. It was definitely a battle at the plate. The next pitch went wild and towards the wall behind the catcher. Chance brought his hand out to me and waved for me to come in. I began running as fast as I could and slid into home plate at the same time the catcher got the ball and tagged me. I wasn’t sure if he tagged me before my hand hit the plate or after because it was that close.
“SAFE!” the umpire yelled. I jumped up and gave a high five and a pat on the ass to Wagner.
“Nice job,” our DH said and took his spot back in the batter’s box.
“You did your job, Stone,” Douglas told me and then said in a low voice. “Go ahead and check your phone now.”
I thanked him and just shook my head as I went over and pulled out my phone. A text had just come in from Molly.
My everything: Safe at Home! Great call by the umpire! We’re heading home now. The babies are still safely inside me, for now. The doctor gave me some medication to help promote their lung maturity. She does think they will come sooner than later, and I’m on strict bed rest until their birth. Call me after the game. Love you!
We ended up losing the game in extra innings when one of the opponents got a homerun off of our relief pitcher. Coach Berger was mad that we lost but knew we had played our best. We were now a whole game behind in the standings and only had a few games left. Did it make me a bad teammate to hope we wouldn’t do well and advance to the playoffs because I wanted to be home with my wife?
In the end, I got my wish. I didn’t play any differently than I normally would. We ended up getting second place in our division, only behind by a game and a half. I wasn’t sure if I would start the next season with this team. I could get called up to the Coyotes, or I could easily get traded. All I knew was that my life would change during this off-season, and I couldn’t wait to get home.
Bed rest for someone who was normally on my feet baking and taking care of customers from 5 in the morning until well into the afternoon was not fun. Penelope and I had our first big fight when she insisted that I take her bedroom, and she would sleep on the couch. I couldn’t take away her bedroom, but she said I would need the privacy and the access to the ensuite bathroom. In the end, she moved all my stuff into her room and moved her stuff out into the family room. She said it was just temporary until Tyler got home, and he and I moved to the motel anyway.
Laying around the first few days was fun. I got to watch all the reality shows I wanted and rewatched my favorite shows. I also got to read a lot of books from my ‘To Be Read’ pile. But after a few days, it got boring, and I was restless. I also played a lot with the kittens, and they enjoyed taking naps on top of my belly. My stomach was big enough for two kittens to curl up and sleep on top of!
Tyler coming home was a huge relief, and I was so happy to see him. I was excited because the longest we had lived together was a few weeks before he got moved up to Double-A. Now, he would be home for at least five months. I was so glad the babies waited for him to get home.
He and the guys moved all my stuff out of Penelope’s apartment and into the motel close by. Ty was able to take me to my thirty-four week checkup, where everything looked good, but I was still on bedrest. Afterward, he took me to the motel, our home for the foreseeable future. As grateful as I had been for Pen’s bedroom, it was nice to have a change of scenery. The motel room was an extended stay, so we had a small kitchenette with a fridge, microwave, stovetop, and a small kitchen table. Tyler said it was definitely an upgrade for himself to have a full-size refrigerator. Before I knew it, our friends had stocked the small kitchen with bottled water, my favorite fruits, things Ty could cook without needing an oven, and any snack foods I could possibly be craving. At the moment, I craved any food I saw a commercial for and wanted it right then.
The first night my husband was home, I had the best sleep ever. I started with my head on his shoulder while sleeping on my side, but my stomach kept getting in the way. We ended up spooning with his arm resting around my belly. Having his hand laying over my stomach seemed to make the babies calm down during the night, and I actually didn’t have to wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night for the first time since I had been put on bedrest.
Tyler and I spent the next few days watching Landon’s team in the playoffs and making fun of reality shows together. I introduced him to Gilmore Girls, and he introduced me to The Big Bang Theory. I know my very active husband did not like laying around and watching so much TV, but he did it for me.
A few of the Raptors stuck around during the off-season, so he did spend a lot of time with them to keep active. He would go running, play a pick up game of baseball, or go to the gym with Dominic, Cooper, Hayden, and Ian. Ivan had gone home to the Dominican to spend the off-season with Valentina and Camila. He sent a lot of pictures, and I couldn’t believe how big and beautiful their little girl was getting. It definitely made me anxious to hold my own babies. While Tyler was with the guys, Penelope, Emma, or sometimes both would come over and spend time with me, so I was hardly ever alone.
I was sitting up in bed with Peanut asleep on my belly. Penelope was in my bed watching a dating reality show when the door opened, and Cooper and Hayden came in after Tyler.
“Hey, guys!” I said with a smile as I was wrapped around my pregnancy pillow. “Can you believe that one guy wasn’t a match for the blonde? I just can’t believe it.”
“I wouldn’t have called that at all!” Hayden said with mock outrage. “I bet she cried her eyes out, didn’t she?”
“Of course!” Penelope said with a laugh.
All three guys were shirtless and sweaty after their run, and I could see out of my peripheral vision that Penelope was checking out Cooper. When we first met him, he was tall and lanky, and now, he was starting to have muscles everywhere. He was really taking his time at the gym seriously.
“Which couple do you think will win?” Cooper asked Penelope as he sat on the end of the bed closest to her.
“The curly haired brunette and the guy with the man bun are my favorites,” Pen said but wouldn’t look directly at him.
“Ah, so you like a guy with a man bun?” he asked as he put his hands through his hair to emphasize that he had a man bun.
“I like the one on the show,” she retorted.
“Uh huh,” Cooper said with a smirk. “Anyway, I made you something, shorty.”
“Oh, lord,” I said as I slowly turned my body around, and Tyler helped me sit up against the headboard. I felt like a beached whale. “I’m afraid to ask.”
“Ty mentioned you were getting sick of the wallpaper in the motel.”
“Definitely!” I said as I pointed at the gray wallpaper with accents of little ferns and carnations. “If I never see another carnation again, I’ll be happy.”
