Page 303 of Vegas Heat

“Well, your dad and Joanie have some making up to do, so I went for an early time slot.”

She makes a face of disgust, and I laugh.

“We have some making up to do, too, in case you forgot. I have a surprise, so be sure to bring an overnight bag when you come over.”

“A surprise?” she asks.

I just shrug mysteriously, and then I change the subject. “By the way, my mom was already on my case last night about you.” I roll my eyes, and she laughs.

“What did she say?”

“She said I was miserable and needed to fix it. She said a lot of things, but walking away from that conversation made me think about how I’d rather walk away from the game than continue on this road without you.”

Her eyes get misty at that. “I love her.”

“She loves you, too. And just wait until we tell her that you’re going to have her grandchild.”

“Are we telling them tonight?” she asks.

I shrug. “Your dad knows. May as well make it official, right?”

She nods, and she leans on the edge of her desk.

“How have you been feeling?” I ask.

“Pretty good, all things considered. Not really any nausea, but sometimes I get headaches, and I’m always hungry. Like always. And I have to pee a lot.”

“The baby is healthy?”

She nods. “Everything is growing just as it’s supposed to so far.”

“I know September ninth is the due date, but where does that put us now?”

“Fourteen weeks, four days. About the size of a kiwi this week.”

“A kiwi?” I ask, bypassing the wayfourteen weeksstabs into my heart. I’ve missedfourteen weeksof this. An entire trimester. I walked away, and I could’ve missed even more.

I will never forgive myself for that, and I will do everything in my power to make it up to her.

But even as I think it, I realize I’m not sure what that will look like. I physically won’t be able to be there for every moment since I’ll be on the road with the Heat for a good chunk of the year. But plenty of guys in the league make it work. I’m confident we will be another success story.

“I have this app that tells me how big the baby is and I chose the food comparison.” She shrugs, and I chuckle.

“Do we know gender yet?”

She shakes her head. “Not for a few more weeks, but I’m convinced it’s a girl.”

“How do you know?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Just a guess. An instinct, maybe.”

“Do you already have a name picked out?”

She shakes her head. “Haven’t even thought of that.”

“I’m sort of partial to Kiwi.”

She giggles. “You would be. Maybe Sunshine Junior.”

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