32. Wyla

Chapter 32

Today is officially our last day here and between my mixed emotions about yesterday and my even bigger mixed emotions about leaving… you could say I'm a bit of a mess this morning.

I help Stevie get dressed in her Maverick's cheer outfit with Jett's name and number on the back, and I put Jett's jersey back on with some ripped jeans I'm definitely going to have to buy more of his jerseys because boy does he love it when I wear it.

"Mommy, do we have to leave tomorrow?" Stevie asks as I pull her hair up in pigtails.

I want to tell her I don't know if we have to. Jett's made it very clear he wants us here and if she had asked me this before yesterday I probably would have told her maybe not .

"Stevie, baby, give Mommy a little bit of grace, please. I don't necessarily want to leave either but we have our home in Aster Creek."

I finish the last pigtail as she stomps her little foot and pouts. "That's not fair."

Deep breaths, Wyla.

"Stevie, can't we focus on having fun today? We're going to spend all day with your dad."

Apparently there is a family picnic for the team today. Jett says they do it once a year where players can bring their families to let the kids mess around on the field then they have hot dogs and pizza. And families are invited to stay until game time.

Jett said when he invited us to come he hadn't realized it was on the schedule for this week but more time with him? Who am I to complain?

I slide two red bows at the base of hair ties as Jett knocks on the door. "Are my girls ready?"

The moment the bows are in, Stevie crosses her arms and her bottom lip hangs. "I don't wanna talk to Mommy right now."

Someone stabbing me right now would probably hurt less .

"Hey, Stevie Rose, don't talk to your mom that way." Jett brings out his ‘dad voice' for this one and it sends her over the edge.

She lets out this weird whine, almost crying noise as she races out of the side bathroom straight into her room, closing the door behind her.

Jett looks at me completely confused, but I feel like I could burst into tears too so he steps in to wrap me in his arms. "What happened? I thought we'd have at least eight years before we got a door slammed in our face."

"She doesn't want to leave, and I don't know what to do."

Jett sighs. I know he doesn't know what to do about our living situation either. "Let me talk to her. We can worry about the future tomorrow. I want to spend time with you and Stevie and that's all I'm going to think about today, okay?"

I nod. I can get on board with spending the day together, but I can't make any promises on the worrying front. Now, I'll admit my anxiety does seem a little more controlled with Jett. I've added that to the ever changing pros and cons list.

After Jett calms Stevie down, she apologizes for speaking rudely to me. I can't find it in myself to be upset at her. All I want for her is to have a good life, how am I supposed to know if I'm making the right decision?

With a big hug, we head to the stadium and the moment Stevie's feet hit the field she's a changed person. The drama completely left at the front door. Oh, to be a kid and let go of all of your worries in an instant.

I scan the field and notice there's really not a ton of kids here. Stevie's definitely the youngest one by a few years if I had to guess.

Callie stands up from one of the tables they have set up in the outfield and waves us over.

"Hey there, Stevie, I love your outfit," she says as we reach her.

"Watch what I can do!" Stevie starts to spin so her skirt floats around her. When she doesn't stop, I have to catch her by the shoulders to steady her. She giggles. "I'm dizzy."

Callie laughs back. "Yeah, I'd say so, but that was very cool in that dress."

"What do you tell her, Stevie?"

"Thank you." She smiles a toothy grin before reaching for Jett's hand. "Daddy, can you play on the bases with me?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course we can." Jett takes her by the hand, then looks at me. "You coming or do you want to stay here? "

Part of me wants to go but this morning left me feeling a little down. Some girl talk, even if it's talking about what we ate this morning, would really do me some good. "I think I'm going to stay here. Y'all have some fun."

Jett smiles and kisses my cheek as Stevie drags him away.

Once they're out of earshot, Callie links her arm through mine. "Girl, you look too sad for someone who just got kissed by her hot baby daddy. Wanna talk it out?"

"Hell yes."

Callie and I walk over to the stadium seats in front of first base, giving us the perfect view to watch the kids play and far enough away no one can hear us. I haven't made a ton of headway with the other WAGs yet, the looks and whispers seem less prominent than they were at the beginning of the week, so I'll take that progress for now.

"So, talk to me. What's up?"

I sigh, because what's not up? I feel like quite literally everything is up right now. I fill Callie in on my sisters and my hesitations about wanting to move here, then about Stevie getting upset at me this morning, so I feel a bit like a shitty mom even though I know I'm not.

I guess I really do need some girl talk because I word vomit all my guilt about leaving Jett five years ago and all of the stuff he missed, even though I thought I had worked through all of that already .

When I notice I've been talking nonstop for at least ten minutes, I stop myself. "Oh, gah. I'm sorry, that was a lot wasn't it?"

Callie laughs. "Wyla, you're talking to the girl who is currently unemployed, living with my older brother because our parents and most men are assholes. You think I'm not going to trauma dump on you? Girl, bring two bottles of wine and me and you will be crying some major tears in the dugout."

I wanna laugh but damn if my problems don't seem a little stupid right now.

I had asked Jett about Callie and Adam's situation. I'd never seen his parents come to the games and Callie never stays a minute later after the game ends. But since Jett's a guy, he doesn't have a ton of information. He told me he knows Adam's parents are—as Callie put it—assholes who only had kids for their image and when they didn't fit the bill, they kicked them out of the house and cut them off.

Callie gives me a little shove. "Don't pity me, Wyla."

"I'm not."

"I don't know how to tell you this, but you wear your emotions all over your face."

This time I do laugh. "Yeah, Jett tells me that too. Says he can see my brain getting carried away. "

I look out at the field where Jett's tossing Stevie in the air as she "makes a homerun." Yeah, in Aster Creek I'd be able to experience my sisters growing their families, but what about my family? It's been me and Stevie from the beginning but it's not just the two of us anymore.

"It's okay to be scared, Wyla. But Jett's got you, girl. I don't think I've ever seen someone more obnoxiously in love with a person as he is with you. And think of all the fun and exciting things you all could experience together."

Suddenly, I get this feeling of my life flashing before my eyes but not the past… my future. My life with Jett. The white dress, the kids, the adventures, and damn it, the love. I love Jett, and I don't want to do any of those things with anyone but him.

I can't help the smile that takes over my face. "You're right. Enough of my melodrama, do you want to go back over to the tables?"

Callie shuffles in her seat and glances out toward where everyone's sitting. "Nah, too many baseball players over there."

I sputter a laugh. "You do know where we're at, right? And what sport your brother plays?"

"Yes, I know. Listen, when you decide on moving here, you can bring over those bottles of wine and I'll tell you about the dickhead baseball player that caused me to move in with my brother."

"It sounds like you need a sister pile."

After talking to Callie for a little bit longer, we both got dragged out onto the field by Stevie to race her around the bases. But now we're finishing up our lunch, and I'm fighting Stevie to clean the food off of her. "Little girl, how did you get so much ketchup on your face?"

Jett sits back in the chair next to me watching and laughing as our daughter wiggles and fights to her best ability. "Mommy!" she whines. "Callie's waiting on me."

I'm trying to be quick, but then Callie scoops her up. "I'll rescue you, kiddo." She races off with Stevie giggling uncontrollably.

I turn to Jett and sigh. "You could have helped."

He wraps his arm around my chair. "I would have but y'all were being too damn cute."

"Jett, she had ketchup in her hair."

He chuckles and kisses my temple. "We'll get it out later. Let's see how good of a babysitter Callie can be."

"I give it ten minutes," Adam says, sitting back in his chair across the table.

"Fifteen," Jett counters.

I glance back at them. "Come on, guys. Give her a little bit of credit. She'll be fine."

I reach for my phone to check the time. We have about half an hour until the guys start cleaning up for practice. I'd almost give anything for this game to not happen tonight so I could spend more time with Jett.

Getting on that plane tomorrow is absolutely going to crush my soul, but I remind myself that it's not forever. After talking to Callie, I think it's clear what I want for my future.

"Hey, Jett." A player whose name I want to say is Will comes over to our table. I think he's the new starting pitcher who took over when Jett got injured. "You know what time it is?"

Jett glances at Adam, then back to Will. "Come on, don't make her do it."

"It's tradition, man. Bring a wife, gotta strike her out." Will shrugs.

Strike her out? Wife?

Adam stands with amusement. "I'll go get the stuff. "

Jett sighs and stands up too which makes Will clap. "There we go. Who knows, with your hurt arm she might even get a hit off you."

Okay, I'm right here. Someone tell me what's happening. "Jett, what's going on?"

He reaches for my hand to pull me up. "It started a couple years ago when some of the wives made a bet that they could hit a ball thrown by their husbands. So now, every new significant other has to do it on their first family day."

I'm normally pretty competitive but I don't really want to have to try to hit a ball in front of all these people that I barely know. "But Jett, we're not married."

He looks at me and laughs as if what I said didn't matter. "Come on, baby. Do me a favor, make me feel inferior and hit a ball I pitch."

Everybody—and I mean every-fucking-body—walks over to watch. I'm really trying to channel my inner sisters. I need Winry's freakish athletic ability and Waverley's confidence to pull this off without having a panic attack.

As Jett does some warm up throws with Adam, I feel like I'm gonna throw up.

"Mommy, are you really gonna hit a ball?" Stevie asks.

"I'm gonna try. I can't say I'll hit it. "

Callie picks Stevie up. "Oh, come on, we think Mommy can hit the ball, right?"

"Yeah!" Stevie chants and holds out her little hands for some high fives.

"Alright. Wy, you're up," Jett calls.

Fuckin' hell.

Jett gets me situated with a helmet that's slightly too big. "Sorry, Adam tried to get the smallest one. Does it feel okay?"

"It's a little big. Does that mean I'll get out of hitting?" Jett shakes his head. "Then I'll manage."

He hands me a bat then whispers, "We may have to see if that closet is free, this is making me hard."

I shove him in the stomach. "Get up there, so I can get this over with."

At home plate, Adam helps get me situated showing me how to stand before squatting behind me. "You don't have to swing at every pitch, Wyla. You get three tries. He's not going to go easy on you, but he's also not actively trying to strike you out. He'll throw consistently, you may want to watch the first one to see how he throws."

I take a deep breath. "Alright."

"Hey, no coaching!" Will hollers from the side, so Adam flips him the bird.

I chuckle, at least Adam's got my back on this, somewhat. Jett picks up his foot, steps and throws.

"Jesus Christ," I mutter as it flies past into Adam's glove.

Adam chuckles and throws the ball back to Jett. "You got this, Wyla."

"I'm not so sure." With another deep breath, I mentally prepare myself to actually swing this time.

Callie and Stevie cheer for me but I don't have much time to listen because Jett throws again. I swing but the unmistakable sound of a ball hitting a glove is the next thing I hear.

Adam throws the ball back. "You swung too early. Relax, Wyla, nothing happens if you don't hit it."

"What if I do hit it?"

"Bragging rights, mostly. Then I think Jett said something about a closet?"

I'm going to die of embarrassment today. Cool.

"Last one, Wy," Jett calls from the mound.

I dig deep again for the confidence and athletic abilities of my sisters. Jett steps and throws for the last time. I swing, and fuck, if I don't hear a ding noise this time.

It's not the most beautiful hit but it still makes it to left side of the field. My hands are practically vibrating from the bat, so I drop it just in time for Jett to reach home plate.

He picks me up and swings me around. "That's my girl." He sets me back down and gives me one hell of a kiss.

For a moment, all I hear are whistles and catcalls from some of the team, but then the unmistakable voice of our little girl comes through. "Mommy, you did it!"

Jett lets me go so Stevie can jump on me next.

"Good job, Mommy." Her arms wrap around my neck.

Someone get me a tissue. It's this dirt in my eyes, honest.