10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Marketa

“ W hat are you doing? Shouldn’t you be getting ready to hit the gym?” I questioned, pulling a shirt on.

“Probably. But the men in charge are being dicks and a few other guys are getting ready to cut out. I have a small gym in my place where I can work out if need be. What are you doing?”

“I’m getting ready to go. You know, doctors appointment and all that.”

“I thought it was tomorrow!”

“It was. But they called me this morning, said the doctor had something come up and was wondering if I could come in today.”

“You wait right there, Shorty, I’m on my way!”

I giggled at the giddiness that was evident in that one little statement. A week ago, after our little jaunt at the arena, I told him I had booked an appointment, and he was bummed he couldn’t make it because it was a practice day. Gym days could be skipped, practices could not.

So, I could see why he was giddy now. And honestly, it was precious to me. I didn’t think Shawn would be all in like he has, but he’s showing me the kind of man he is, that he wants to be for me and this baby, and that’s twisting something in my heart.

I really didn’t do this to trap him. I wasn’t even planning on telling him, but looking back, I know he would have been so upset and hurt. I don’t think he wanted a kid yet either, but he wasn’t flipping out over it.

Not like I’ve seen most men do. And that was refreshing.

Of course, we hadn’t brought up the not too far off future of explaining this to my dad or how we plan on parenting. But I can admit, I’m not giving up my baby. And frankly, I’m not giving up Shawn.

I would love to say things are slow, and they have been, other than that one time a week ago in the arena. We’ve kissed, but there’s been no other sex. Yet. He’s kept to his word about getting to know me.

I peeked out the window as I heard a car in the driveway and quickly locked up. I jumped in his car, giving him a kiss on the cheek, causing him to grin.

“What’s that for?” he questioned, taking my hand as we left.

“Just wanted to. You’re a pretty great guy, Shawn, and I’m annoyed my dad won’t give us the time of day.”

“I know, Shorty. I know. But you know, maybe this is some unknown blessing.”

I lifted a brow at him, waiting for him to explain to which he just shrugged, making me laugh.

“I can’t explain everything, Marketa.” As he pulled up to a red light, he reached over and tugged a lock of my hair. “I want her to have your dark hair.”

“But I love your brown curls. Mine’s just black.”

“And glossy. And with those stunning blue eyes, everything about you just pops. And I want our baby girl to look just like you.”

Can we talk about uber sweet? Where did this man learn the dirty talk, and the pillow talk? Which seemed to do numbers to me.

“How’s your stomach this week?”

“Good! Having morning sickness hit while my dad is away during the day has been nice. I mean, it’s never nice. But it hasn’t been as bad. It’s been a couple days since I’ve had to throw up. However, I’m going through string cheese like crazy. Will have to go to the store soon to restock up. She must like it, because I don’t.”

“Well, she’s already got an interesting appetite for her.”

Two hours later, we’re stuck in a back corner, staring at the little baby in our first picture. Though it wasn’t the best image, we knew it was there, and that was enough for us to be excited over it.

“Isn’t she precious?” I whispered, running my fingernail over the little peanut there.

“She is. Even if we don’t know it’s a she.”

I turned my eyes from the picture to him, nudging him.

“Don’t be that way. I just know you’re going to have two girls on your hand, and you won’t know what to do with them.”

“Oh, Shorty, I know very well what to do with them.”

“Oh yeah, Superstar? And do share with the rest of us what you plan on doing?”

“Well, with her mother, I want to be all in.”

I couldn’t help but swallow hard at that. Sure, we’ve danced around the topic of dating, and it’s a slow road, again. But we never talked about putting a label on us, especially given what was going on with my dad.

However, I could agree with him. I wanted to be all in too. I didn’t want to just co-parent with him, I wanted to be parents, in whatever form that looked like to him.

But being that his dad walked out, and my mom did too, I think we were both solid on the idea that no matter what, at the end of the day, this little one would have both parents.

“And what’s all in? It’s a little soon for marriage.”

He chuckled as he took the picture and set it aside, then took my hand and held it in his.

“I want you as my girlfriend. I want us to go out in public, and not worry. I don’t want to be sneaking around. I’m proud of you, proud of us, and I don’t like hiding it.”

“I know, Shawn, and believe me, I do too.” I glanced down at our hands, thinking of the way to word what I was feeling. “I’ve never thought about a family, about settling down. Sure, way later on in life, but not this soon.

“But I’m not turning it away. I want it all, with you and our baby. I also want my dad to be happy with his grandbaby. I just don’t know what that looks like yet. Can you just give me some time to figure out how to break this all to him?’

“Don’t you know, Shorty, that waiting for the right time never works out?”

“I do. But I also know my dad. You will pay for everything and I’m not ready to do that to you, or your career. The team you have right now is strong and it can go far. I don’t want to be the cause of something happening.”

“Marketa, that’s not for you to worry about, baby. I told you, I’m fine if I have to leave the NBA and just focus on you.”

I knew he said that, and I did believe him. He loved the game, but it wasn’t his passion, it wasn’t his end goal. He could retire and not blink an eye.

“I also know this is important to you, Shorty, so I’ll give you the time you want, because it’s you and I will get what I can. But know, I don’t like betraying Coach like this, and I don’t want to keep sneaking around for too long.”