Page 80 of Crew
He nodded. “Okay. But you have to teach me. I never played baseball before.”
“I can do that.”
He gazed up at me, brows pinched. “What if I miss the ball?”
“Then I’ll throw it again.”
He let out a little sigh like that was exactly the right answer. Then sat down on the floor with the glove in his lap, testing the ball with his other hand, squeezing it like a stress toy.
Mallory stood near the kitchen watching us.
“He’s gonna remember this.”
I peered down at him, then back at her.
“Me too.”
We hadn’t seen each other in person since Raleigh. Mallory and I had kept in touch, video chatting when our schedules lined up, but I could tell it wasn’t quite the same for him. I wasn’t part of his day-to-day.
Still, she told me he’d started watching my games. She’d flip on the Seawolves when they were on, point me out when I stepped up to the plate, or when Knox made a play at first. Apparently, Grady had started calling me “my Crew” without even thinking about it.
Now he washere.
When I glanced at Mallory again, she gave me a silent okay.
“Hey, G?” I kept my voice quiet. “Can we talk about something?”
He held out the ball in his hand. “Are we gonna play now?”
“Soon. There’s just something I want to say first.”
I motioned for him to follow me to the couch.
“You know how we’ve been talking lately?” I asked as we took a seat. “On video calls?”
“Yeah. You showed me your bat. And the locker with the shoes.”
“That’s right.” I smiled a little. “And you’ve been watching the games with your mom?”
He perked up. “You hit the ball so far.”
“Well, I try.” I chuckled at the compliment. “But I want to tell you something really important. Something I just found out a little while ago.”
He stopped playing with the ball. His eyes were steady on mine.
I took a deep breath and draped my arm lightly across his shoulders. “I’m your dad.”
He blinked. “You’re my daddy?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know before. But now I do. And I really want to be part of your life. If you want me to.”
He looked at Mallory.
She moved forward and kneeled near us. “It’s true, baby.”
He leaned in, tucked himself against my side, and curled his fingers into my shirt. “Okay.”
I wrapped my arm around him. He was so light, but somehow that moment carried the weight of everything.
