Page 13 of Catching Dreams

“I love you so much. That all sounds good. I really wish I could come back with you. I want to be there for you, and I want to see my guys.”

“I wish you could, too. I’m sure they would love to see you,” I said as I let out a large yawn.

Ty chuckled and squeezed me in his warm embrace. “Go to sleep, baby. I’ll wake you up before I leave in the morning. I love you.”

“I love you more.”

The next morning, I woke up to my alarm and didn’t want to leave my wife in the nice, warm bed. Molly fit perfectly in my arms, and even with a little drool coming out of her mouth and her hair going in all different directions, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I slowly got out of bed and tried my best not to wake her. I looked down at my phone and saw a ton of missed calls and texts. One text stood out to me, so I clicked on the message from Coach Henderson.

Coach Henderson: If you can, try to come a little early. I need to see you in the Bobcat’s coach’s office when you get to the stadium. Let me know when you get here, and I’ll meet you there.

I went into the bathroom and jumped in the shower. All I could think about while I washed myself off was that I was going to be fined or something worse for leaving the game in the middle of an at-bat. Would they send me down to High A or even back to Single A? I didn’t think going back to Single A would be horrible since I would see my guys again. I would miss Montgomery but not too many of the other guys on the Lightning. The more I thought about it, the more I hoped they were sending me back to the Tigers. Then, I could be around Molly and help with the rebuild process. She could even stay with me and the guys. I know they wouldn’t mind. Cooper would probably complain about sleeping on the couch, but I know he would do it for my girl. I got dressed in my workout gear since I knew after my meeting we would have practice.

I went back out to the bedroom and smiled at the fact that Molly hadn’t moved an inch. I left her a note on the pillow I had slept on.

I gently kissed her on the forehead and quietly left our room. I saw Penelope and her kids eating the continental breakfast and stopped by to say good morning.

“Hi, Molly’s boyfriend!” Penelope’s adorable little girl called out.

“Hi, Penelope’s daughter,” I responded with a chuckle. I ruffled her brown hair and then gave her mom a hug.

“I have a name, you know,” the sassy little girl said.

“And so do I, Peyton,” I said as I grabbed a banana off the fruit basket.

“His name is Tyler Stone,” Penelope’s little boy told his sister. “Are you going to the stadium, Mr. Stone?”

“Just call me Tyler, Camden,” I told him. “And, yes, I’m heading to the stadium.”

“Is Molly still sleeping?” Penelope asked as she gave me a hug.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’d let her sleep but make sure she’s awake around 11. My game starts at 2:30, but I’m hoping there will be time to grab lunch with you guys.”

“Oh, check out is at 11. I’ll have to get her up before then.”

“Don’t worry about that. I paid for both rooms to have a late check out. I hope you guys are okay coming to my game today.”

“Thanks, Ty,” Pen said with a genuine smile. “We’d love to come to your game.”

“I’m so excited!” Camden called out, with his mouth full of waffle.

“Can I come, too?” Peyton asked.

“You better!”

“Will Cooper be there?”

I had to laugh. I had heard all about how awesome Cooper was with kids. Who knew? “No, he’s still in Ohio. But I know he’d be here if he could.”

Peyton scrunched up her nose, “I liked it better when you played on Cooper’s team.”

“Me too, kiddo,” I told her. “Well, I gotta get going. See you guys later.”

As I crossed the street to the stadium, I texted my coach to let him know I was on my way. I went to the players’ entrance and was led to the home team locker room. Manager Seth Enlow’s name was on the plaque of the closed door. I knocked, and the Lightning’s batting coach, Randy Downey, answered the door.

“Come on in, Stone, and have a seat.” Coach Downey said, and I noticed that the pitching coach, Connor Collins, was also in the small room. Head Coach Steve Henderson sat behind the Bobcat’s manager’s desk.

“Hi, coaches. Am I in trouble? I am so sorry about leaving the plate mid at-bat, but I had to. I had been scared to death that my girl died in the tornado, and I was so happy to see her,” I said in a fast ramble. “I just had to run to her. I’ll take any fine you give me, or if you’re sending me back down, could I at least go back to the Tigers?”

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