Page 315 of Vegas Heat

We hug and we cry and we celebrate the joining of these two families, but we only have a few seconds to do it before I spotDanny and Rush. They each carry a bottle of champagne which they’re currently shaking as they run toward us, and when they get close enough, I grab Gabby in my arms as they each unleash a spray of champagne over us.

I kiss her as our families and my teammates—mybrothers—surround us, and as Taylor sings about the love story, I find my very own happy ending as it comes true.

I’m back in the game. I got the girl. We’re having a baby. I have supportive friends, including my future father-in-law, who is one of my best friends. My brother is healthy, and my mom is here.

As it turns out, this life is pretty damn good.

CHAPTER 28: GABBY

I meet Kaylee before the crack of dawn for a workout, and she takes me into a yoga room.

“We thought we’d try out some prenatal yoga, so we’re interviewing a few different candidates,” she tells me. “They’re each here for a ten-minute segment with you today. Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll be in there, too, but just to make it really, really clear, I’m in there for the interviews only. I am not pregnant.”

“Right now,” I tease.

“That I know of,” she says with a shrug.

“Are you two trying?”

“He’s trying every free moment he has, I’ll tell you that much.”

I giggle. Ben Olson is a former party animal tamed only by his sassy wife, but that doesn’t mean he calmed downallthe partying. He just parties withhernow. Naked, apparently.

“I have some hot gossip, too, but I’m not supposed to talk about it.”

“You can trust me,” I say, goading her into telling me.

She giggles. “I know, and I also know you’re a baseball girl now so you don’t have a stake, but you know Travis Woods?”

I nod. “The wide receiver?”

“Yeah. I heard through the grapevine that he has some secret daughter nobody knows about. He’s never evenmether. Isn’t that crazy?”

“Can you imagine having a child out there and not knowing?” I ask.

“I think it’s a little different for women since we know when we give birth. I guess he slept with his mom’s friend years and years ago and she and her husband couldn’t have kids. Well she got preggo and nine months later out popped a girl with Travis’s eyes.”

My own eyes widen at the description.

“Kaylee?” a woman in a leotard and leggings asks as she walks up to us.

Kaylee’s eyes widen as she pretends to zip her lips, and I nod my confirmation that I won’t tell anyone thehot gossip.

The leotard lady is the first yoga instructor, so we get to our workouts as I help her decide which one to hire.

A few hours later, I’m back on the couch and I hold my hand out to stare at the ring again. The fire crackles in the fireplace as a movie plays on the television, and Cooper is snuggled in beside me with his hand on my thigh. I can’t focus on anything but the gorgeous sparkle coming from the third finger of my left hand. It’s a filigree vintage style halo ring with a round diamond, and I’ve never seen anything sparkle as brightly as it does…except, of course, for our love, as cheesy as that may be.

It’s our one day off before we hit the road toward Chicago for our first away series, and I’m so ready for this. I’m excited to really dig into my job as I find my footing.

I know it will be chaos once we’re on the road and it won’t be like this, so I’m taking the time to soak in every second.

Until my phone rings.

I pick it up off the cushion next to me and my chest tightens as I flash the screen at Cooper. He pauses the movie.

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