Page 36 of Batter Up!

“You guys are excited about being uncles?” I asked. I wasn’t sure how they would take the news, but I never thought it would go in this direction.

“Hell, yeah!” They both said at the same time.

“I want to be there when you tell Dad,” Carter said with mischief in his eyes.

“Yeah, he’s not going to take it well. I first have to plan on how to get Molly back. Then, I’ll tell Mom and Dad in person.”

“Grand gesture,” Landon said. “It always works in movies and shit.”

“No,” Carter disagreed. “You need to get to know her. Show her you want to start over and do things the right way.”

“I like that,” I said and couldn’t believe I was taking love advice from my bachelor brothers. “My guys here all suggested a grand gesture, too. Maybe I could do a combo of both. A grand gesture of getting to know her.”

“That could work,” I heard another male voice say.

“Hey, Alec,” I said as Carter’s best friend’s face came into view.

“Hey, T,” Alec gave me a chin nod. “You know I have sisters, and they love that grand gesture shit in movies and books.”

I nodded and thanked them for their advice.

“Let us know how it goes, man. And congrats on being a dad,” Landon said. “I gotta get to bed. We have a day game tomorrow.”

“Night,” I said and disconnected the video call.

The next couple of games on the road were a lot better, and after talking to the guys and my brothers, I was feeling better about becoming a dad. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I was going to do my best. We had a night game on Sunday and then a travel day on Monday, but we weren’t planning on being home until late on Monday. I talked with Mack about how Molly had a doctor’s appointment on Monday. I wanted to be there. He said if I paid for my own bus ticket, I could leave right after the game on Sunday.

I hated having to ask to borrow money from Landon, but he was more than willing to loan me the money. He even offered to have me fly if that would help, but the closest airport was a couple hours away, and it just made more sense to take the bus into the station right there in Riverbend.

I didn’t know what time her appointment was, and since I hadn’t gotten her number, I couldn’t text her to ask her. Luckily, there was only one doctor's office in our small town, and it opened at 8 am. I was there when they unlocked the doors, even though I was exhausted after not sleeping well on the bus, but I had my phone, headset, charger, and a cup of gas station coffee. I sat and watched videos of the team we were playing starting tomorrow and looked up every time I heard the door open. Finally, at 10:42 a.m., an adorable redhead walked in the door and went right up to the receptionist. I watched as she took the clipboard and sat down on the other side of the waiting room without even looking up.

“Molly,” I said hoarsely as I walked over closer to her and sat in the chair across from her. “Hi.”

She looked up at me, and her head snapped back, almost hitting the wall behind her. “What are you doing here?” she asked with a little bite in her tone.

“You said your appointment was today, so I took a Greyhound back after the game last night, and I’ve been here since they opened.”

“But you were in Minnesota,” she said, blinking like she couldn’t believe I was here. It gave me a little hope since she knew where our team had been playing.

“I was on the bus all night,” I explained and held up the empty coffee cup. “I’m exhausted, but I wanted to be here for you.”

“I haven’t heard from you in thirteen days,” she said, and I noticed for the first time that her eyes were puffy and red. She probably had been crying a lot and not sleeping well. I felt like an even bigger asshole. “Why now? You know what? Nevermind. We’ll be fine without you, Stone. Thanks, but no thanks. You said you couldn’t do this.”

“I was a dumbas- I mean a dumb idiot, and I made a terrible mistake,” I said as I realized there were people in here, including a few small kids in the waiting room. “I wanted to call you, but I forgot to ask for your number,” I said while ringing my fingers together. “Please, forgive me, Molly. I’m so sorry!”

“My bakery has a landline, ya know. With technology these days, I’m sure you could have contacted me if you had really wanted to.”

“Shit. I didn’t think about the bakery,” I rubbed my hands over my tired eyes and groaned at myself. I was officially the dumbest asshole ever.

She looked down at the clipboard and began filling it out again. I just sat there as she finished the information and turned it into the receptionist. She had a few words with the receptionist, and she came back to her seat with slumped shoulders.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“Nothing you can help with,” she said quietly and looked defeated.

“Molly, I really am sorry for what I said. Can we please start over? I want to be part of our baby's life, and I want to get to know you better. I was in shock and wasn’t thinking clearly. Please. Give me a chance.” Molly looked up, and I saw tears welling up in her blue-green eyes. “Please.”

“Molly Green,” a nurse from the office door called out.

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