Page 70 of Catching Dreams

Molly was very grateful for the bags upon bags that the girls brought in. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had picked out every baby girl outfit that was yellow or purple in the town of Springville.

Before I knew it, I felt like the girls were playing dress up as they dressed Hazel and Olivia in different newborn outfits. There were a lot of ooohhhs and aaahhhs going on in the hospital room.

I talked to Molly and made sure she was okay. She said her girls would more than take care of her. I kissed her and my two precious angels and said goodbye. I was ready to get out of the hospital room and needed to go for a run. As I walked past the nurse's station, I stopped to ask them a question.

“Is there nail polish I could get that would be safe for my babies to wear?”

One of the nurses laughed and said it was surprising, but many dads had asked this question. She said as long as it was non-toxic and odorless, it would be safe for a baby's toenails. She wrote the information on a Post-It note for me, and I thanked them.

I met up with Hayden, who I called earlier,in the waiting room. He handed me some of his shorts and a t-shirt for me to change into. I needed to go for a run, and he said he’d go with me. We found a park near the hospital and ran for about five miles. I had missed running with my former teammate. We talked about how he had hoped to move up this next year and how he thought I might move up to the Coyotes or even get traded to another big league team. I was open to either, but I wanted to be as close to home as possible.

He mentioned he had heard from a few friends back home that his ex-girlfriend, Quinn, had moved on and was dating the first baseman from her college’s baseball team. Apparently, she had a type. We also talked about how well Cooper was doing and that we were really proud of him. I mentioned how much I missed Ivan and hoped he was enjoying time with his family.

I had a video chat with Ivan earlier today to introduce him to Hazel and Olivia. He had six-month-old Valentina in his arms. She was babbling a lot and kept trying to grab the phone out of her dad’s hands. “Our girls will grow up friends, I hope,” Ivan had told me. He said that he and Camila were both hoping that at least one of our babies would be a girl for that reason. Ivan said he was still saving money and had found an immigration lawyer in hopes of bringing Camila and Valentina to America soon.

“I still can’t believe Dom is done. He’s been in the minors for as long as I can remember. We played together for the Davenport Aces when I first came up a few years ago,” Hayden said.

“I know, but he’s going to be an awesome agent. I think he’s really going to push for us to be sent up and get us good deals. He will fight for us. My current agent told me I was too old to put in any effort towards.”

“Damn. Yeah, you definitely needed a new agent.” Hayden slowed to a jog and looked both ways as we crossed an intersection to go to the other side of the park. We continued our run and then stopped at the local drug store to see if they had any nail polish I could get. While I was there, I saw the most beautiful daisies in purples and yellows and knew I had to buy them. They had a few orange and purple flowers mixed in, but I thought my wife deserved flowers.

“I have to say, I’m really proud of you. Who would have thought you’d come this far after a one-night stand. You’re a good family man and a good teammate, Stone,” Hayden told me.

“Well, thanks, man. It takes the right woman for you to want to be a better man. Not only is she good in the bedroom, man, and let me tell you - she is the best I’ve ever had. And as corny as it sounds, out of all of the stats I’ll put up in my career, the one that will be the biggest is winning her heart and having our babies! I hope you find yourself someone like Molly.”

After Hayden dropped me off at the hospital, I walked into the room to find Penelope, Camden, and Peyton were visiting along with Emma and Meadow. Camden was sitting on the hospital couch bed with two pillows propped on his side, and he was holding Hazel in his arms. Penelope was taking pictures of him as Emma sat close by to make sure the baby was doing okay. Molly was holding a sleeping Olivia in her arms, and Peyton was laying in bed next to her and watching the sleeping baby. Meadow was taking pictures of Molly and the two girls in bed with her.

“I’m sure glad you are here, Cam, or I’d be the only guy,” I said as I walked over and gave Molly a kiss on her head.

“I’ve been the only guy forever,” Camden said with a groan. “Why couldn’t you have a boy for me to play with?”

“Sorry, bud. Maybe next baby?”

“Or maybe your mom could have more babies. I know someone who would volunteer as tribute in a heartbeat,” Meadow said with a laugh.

“Shut up!” Penelope said and pointed her chin at Peyton. Her daughter wasn’t even paying attention to the conversation, but apparently, her son was.

“Oh, I know who that is!” Emma said with a giggle.

“Me, too! You would make adorable babies!” Molly added from her bed.

“Mom, you need a tribute to have a baby? What is that?” Camden asked.

“I’ll tell you when you're older,” Penelope said as she glared at Meadow.

“Okay,” Camden said and looked back down at Hazel who was starting to wiggle around. “Does someone else want to hold her? I’m ready to finish the LEGO kit Mom got me.”

“Wow, that whole ‘I’ll tell you when you’re older’ thing really works?” I asked in amazement.

Penelope laughed and shook her head. “Not every time, but sometimes, it does.”

I lifted Hazel out of Camden’s arms and took his seat when he got up to start playing on the floor. I turned Hazel around and lay her down on top of my legs. I pulled her legs out of the little yellow pajamas with ducks on them that she was wearing.

“What are you doing?” Emma asked from next to me.

“Well, I know they aren’t identical, but they look a lot alike to me, and I don’t want to mess up who is who.” I told them how I asked the nurses what kind I could get and began to paint Hazel’s tiny toenails yellow. It was definitely going to take a few coats since the yellow was so light.

“Are you going to paint mine and Olivia’s toes, too?” Peyton asked as she climbed down from Molly’s bed to come see what I was doing.

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