Chapter 21 - Tyler

I was officially a girl dad. I couldn’t be happier! When I stepped out of Molly’s room and into the waiting room, everyone stood. I couldn’t believe how many people had stayed! My old teammates, Molly’s staff, my family, her friends, and Dominic’s mom were even here.

“So, we have two healthy, red-haired babies.”

“Helping the redhead population! I love it!” Emma said very excitedly.

“Come on, Stone, tell us their genders already!” Cooper called out.

“We have one girl!” The cheering from our friends was sure to wake up some sleeping patients, but I had to grin. “And another girl!”

“I knew it!” my brother, Carter, exclaimed. “I was the only one to say two girls!”

I had to laugh as several people handed Carter bills of money. I couldn’t believe they were betting on my children’s genders. “You know, some of those winnings should go towards their college education.”

Carter laughed, “Nah, I’ll just buy my nieces pretty things and make me their favorite uncle.”

“Do my granddaughters have names yet?” my mom asked as she came over and gave me a huge hug.

“Well, as you all know, Baby A will be Hazel. We think we have a name picked out for our other little angel, but when you meet the girls, we can let you know for sure.” I told everyone how they were more than welcome to look through the nursery windows to watch the girls get their first baths and check ups. I had to laugh as most of our family and friends stayed and watched in awe. I took lots of pictures that I knew Molly would want to see. I took pictures of not only the babies but also of people’s reactions as they watched them.

“So which one is Hazel?” Hayden asked as he stepped over to congratulate me.

“I have no idea,” I said with a laugh. “I know they aren’t identical twins, but with both of them having red hair, they really do look a lot alike.”

“You know, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen from Full House are fraternal and not identical,” Penelope said.

“No way!” Cooper exclaimed. “They look so much alike!”

“I know, right?” Penelope said as she smiled at Cooper. I don’t think she realized that she was smiling at him and suddenly walked away to talk to Meadow and Emma. I had no idea what had happened between the two of them, but I knew my buddy had better decide what he wanted. Dating a single mom would take a lot of effort on his part, and apparently, he had some making up to do.

“How’s Molly doing?” Dominic asked as he came over to me. “Is she okay after having surgery?”

“I think she’s just fine. I know she’s more tired than anything. She’s also very relieved the babies are here and healthy.”

Dominic nodded, “I’m glad. I can’t believe I have two nieces.”

“Tell me about it, man,” I said and gave him a hug. “I have two daughters.”

“I think we’re going to head out to the hotel,” Mom said as she came over to us. “We’ll be back in the morning. I think I saw a baby clothing store when we were on our way here. I need to pick out some girly outfits.”

“I love that, thanks, Mom,” I said. “Molly will love that.”

“Are you still going to have them come home in baseball outfits?” Hayden asked me.

“I don’t see why not. But if anyone sees any newborn headbands with bows on them that will match my Storm or Raptors jersey, I know Molly would love that. I think we’ll have one girl wear a Storm jersey and one wear a Raptors jersey.”

“We will find what you need!” Meadow said.

“And if we can’t, we’ll make it,” Emma added.

“I think we will definitely need a girls trip to that baby clothing store the minute they open up,” Penelope said.

“Oh, I like that idea,” my dad said. “Us guys will figure out something to do.”

“I second that idea,” Dominic agreed. “I’d rather not shop.”

“Neither Molly or I are big on the color pink, so if you guys can find outfits in yellow and purple that would be awesome. I think that is one way we are going to be able to tell them apart. Hazel will wear yellow items, and her sister will wear purple.”

I thanked everyone again and hugged them all goodbye.

By the time I got back in the room, they were bringing our girls back in. The nurse was helping Molly feed baby Hazel, in the yellow blanket. I picked up the baby in the purple blanket and began rocking her back and forth. As I looked at her little nose that matched my wife’s, I knew Molly had picked out a good name for her.

During the night, Molly woke up several times to feed the girls. Each time, I would burp or hold the baby that she wasn’t feeding. I loved our teamwork, and even though we were both exhausted, we were definitely on a natural high. It felt like we had only been asleep for minutes when we heard a knock on the door. I looked out the window and saw the sun was shining. We had made it through our first night as parents.

We heard a familiar voice say, “Can I come in?”

“Olivia! Hi!” Molly greeted her. “Is your shift really this early?”

“No, I came in early to check on you guys and see if TBN has an actual name yet,” she said. “Oh, look at you feeding her! How is it going?”

“It’s challenging for sure, but I love it,” Molly explained. “We’re all getting the hang of it.”

I looked over at my wife, who gave me a head nod along with a smile. I got up and picked up the baby in the purple blanket from her hospital bassinet. I took her over and gently placed her in Nurse Olivia’s arms.

“Hi, pretty little girl. You’re too cute to be called TBN,” Olivia said as we heard voices in the hallway.

“Tyler? Molly? Can we come in?” I heard my mom’s voice outside of the room.

“Come in, Mom,” I said and gave her a hug followed by my dad, who came in after her. “What happened to shopping with the girls?”

“Oh, they’ve got a handle on it. I had to see my granddaughters.”

“Would you like to hold her?” Olivia asked.

“Hold on. Before you give her up, can someone get a picture of them?” Molly asked as she continued to feed Hazel.

“Do you, uh, need me to leave?” Dad asked. I could sense his discomfort.

“Only if you’re not comfortable,” Molly said. “I don’t mind at all. She’s just eating.”

Dad nodded and said he would stay in the room, but I could tell he was keeping his gaze off my wife. He instead busied himself with taking his phone out and snapping some pictures of Olivia holding the baby.

“We were just about to announce the babies’ names, so you’re just in time,” I said.

“Oh, good!” Mom said with a clap of her hands. “Which baby is Hazel?”

“This hungry princess is Hazel Eloise,” Molly said with a smile. “Named after my mimi.”

“That’s a beautiful name!” Mom and Olivia said at the same time and then just laughed.

“Mom, could you stand next to Nurse Olivia so we can get a picture of you three together?”

“Sure, honey,” Mom said and walked over to our new friend and nurse.

I switched my phone to video mode and began recording as Molly told them our other daughter’s name.

“I would like you guys to meet Olivia Susan Stone,” Molly said.

Both women gasped, and my mom already had tears running down her face.

“What? No way,” Nurse Olivia said. “There is no way you would name your baby after only knowing me for a few hours.”

“You were there for us in more ways than a normal nurse would be,” Molly said with a smile. “When I looked at her face, I didn’t see her as Sophia or Willow. She looked like Olivia to me.”

“We had already decided on using family names for the middle names,” I explained.

“Well, I am very honored,” my mom said as she wiped away her tears. “Thank you.”

“Would you like to hold your namesake?” Nurse Olivia asked. “I just can’t believe someone would name a baby after me.”

“Michael, did you get a picture of the Olivias together?” Mom asked Dad.

“I think so,” he said.

“Well, take another one, just in case.”

After several more pictures, Nurse Olivia handed baby Olivia over to her grandmother and said she had to go clock in for her shift. She did mention she’d be back later to say goodbye at the end of her shift. She was still in disbelief that we had named our second baby after her.

“Hi, sweet girl, I’m your Gigi,” Mom said. “And this here is your - what did you decide to be called, Michael?”

“I don’t know. Maybe just Grandpa? They can decide when they are older what to call me.”

“How about Gramps? Or Pop? Or Granddaddy?” Mom suggested.

“You better pick one, Dad, or she’ll pick something like Granddude,” I said with a laugh.

“Ok, fine. How about Gramps?” Dad said with a sigh.

“I love it,” Mom exclaimed a little too loudly, and Olivia began to fuss in her arms. “Oh, well, maybe Miss Olivia doesn’t like that nickname.”

“I think she’ll like Gramps just fine,” Molly said with a laugh. “I think Olivia is just hungry.”

“Gramps it is,” Dad said as Mom took Olivia over to be fed. My mom picked up Hazel and began burping her softly. I could just tell she was loving being a grandmother.

By that afternoon, all our friends and family had taken their turns coming in to meet our girls. They came in small waves and were very good about making sure to be quiet while our daughters were sleeping. Everyone loved the family names as middle names and agreed that Olivia looked like an Olivia. Dominic even nicknamed the girls Hazelnut and Olive-Oil.

Molly was very grateful for the bags upon bags that the girls brought in. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had picked out every baby girl outfit that was yellow or purple in the town of Springville.

Before I knew it, I felt like the girls were playing dress up as they dressed Hazel and Olivia in different newborn outfits. There were a lot of ooohhhs and aaahhhs going on in the hospital room.

I talked to Molly and made sure she was okay. She said her girls would more than take care of her. I kissed her and my two precious angels and said goodbye. I was ready to get out of the hospital room and needed to go for a run. As I walked past the nurses station, I stopped to ask them a question.

“Is there nail polish I could get that would be safe for my babies to wear?”

One of the nurses laughed and said it was surprising, but many dads had asked this question. She said as long as it was non-toxic and odorless, it would be safe for a baby”s toenails. She wrote the information on a Post-It note for me, and I thanked them.

I met up with Hayden, who I called earlier, in the waiting room. He handed me some of his shorts and a t-shirt for me to change into. I needed to go for a run, and he said he’d go with me. We found a park near the hospital and ran for about five miles. I had missed running with my former teammate. We talked about how he had hoped to move up this next year and how he thought I might move up to the Coyotes or even get traded to another big-league team. I was open to either, but I wanted to be as close to home as possible.

He mentioned he had heard from a few friends back home that his ex-girlfriend, Quinn, had moved on and was dating the first baseman from her college’s baseball team. Apparently, she had a type. We also talked about how well Cooper was doing and that we were really proud of him. I mentioned how much I missed Ivan and hoped he was enjoying time with his family.

I had a video chat with Ivan earlier today to introduce him to Hazel and Olivia. He had six-month-old Valentina in his arms. She was babbling a lot and kept trying to grab the phone out of her dad’s hands. “Our girls will grow up friends, I hope,” Ivan had told me. He said that he and Camila were both hoping that at least one of our babies would be a girl for that reason. Ivan said he was still saving money and had found an immigration lawyer in hopes of bringing Camila and Valentina to America soon.

“I still can’t believe Dom is done. He’s been in the minors for as long as I can remember. We played together for the Davenport Aces when I first came up a few years ago,” Hayden said.

“I know, but he’s going to be an awesome agent. I think he’s really going to push for us to be sent up and get us good deals. He will fight for us. My current agent told me I was too old to put in any effort towards.”

“Damn. Yeah, you definitely needed a new agent.” Hayden slowed to a jog and looked both ways as we crossed an intersection to go to the other side of the park. We continued our run and then stopped at the local drug store to see if they had any nail polish I could get. While I was there, I saw the most beautiful daisies in purples and yellows and knew I had to buy them. They had a few orange and blue flowers mixed in, but I thought my wife deserved flowers.

“I have to say, I’m really proud of you. Who would have thought you’d come this far after a one-night stand. You’re a good family man and a good teammate, Stone,” Hayden told me.

“Well, thanks, man. It takes the right woman for you to want to be a better man. Not only is she good in the bedroom, man, and let me tell you - she is the best I’ve ever had. And as corny as it sounds, out of all of the stats I’ll put up in my career, the one that will be the biggest is winning her heart and having our babies! I hope you find yourself someone like Molly.”

After Hayden dropped me off at the hospital, I walked into the room to find Penelope, Camden, and Peyton were visiting along with Emma and Meadow. Camden was sitting on the hospital couch bed with two pillows propped on his side, and he was holding Hazel in his arms. Penelope was taking pictures of him as Emma sat close by to make sure the baby was doing okay. Molly was holding a sleeping Olivia in her arms, and Peyton was laying in bed next to her and watching the sleeping baby. Meadow was taking pictures of Molly and the two girls in bed with her.

“I’m sure glad you are here, Cam, or I’d be the only guy,” I said as I walked over and gave Molly a kiss on her head.

“I’ve been the only guy forever,” Camden said with a groan. “Why couldn’t you have a boy for me to play with?”

“Sorry, bud. Maybe next baby?”

“Or maybe your mom could have more babies. I know someone who would volunteer as tribute in a heartbeat,” Meadow said with a laugh.

“Shut up!” Penelope said and pointed her chin at Peyton. Her daughter wasn’t even paying attention to the conversation, but apparently, her son was.

“Oh, I know who that is!” Emma said with a giggle.

“Me, too! You would make adorable babies!” Molly added from her bed.

“Mom, you need a tribute to have a baby? What is that?” Camden asked.

“I’ll tell you when you”re older,” Penelope said as she glared at Meadow.

“Okay,” Camden said and looked back down at Hazel who was starting to wiggle around. “Does someone else want to hold her? I’m ready to finish the LEGO kit Mom got me.”

“Wow, that whole ‘I’ll tell you when you’re older’ thing really works?” I asked in amazement.

Penelope laughed and shook her head. “Not every time, but sometimes, it does.”

I lifted Hazel out of Camden’s arms and took his seat when he got up to start playing on the floor. I turned Hazel around and lay her down on top of my legs. I pulled her legs out of the little yellow pajamas with ducks on them that she was wearing.

“What are you doing?” Emma asked from next to me.

“Well, I know they aren’t identical, but they look a lot alike to me, and I don’t want to mess up who is who.” I told them how I asked the nurses what kind I could get and began to paint Hazel’s tiny toenails yellow. It was definitely going to take a few coats since the yellow was so light.

“Are you going to paint mine and Olivia’s toes, too?” Peyton asked as she climbed down from Molly’s bed to come see what I was doing.

“I can do yours, but I only have purple and yellow,” I told Peyton.

“You could do a pattern of yellow, purple, yellow, purple,” Emma suggested.

“Yes!” Peyton cried out a little too loudly. Hazel got startled and began to fuss on top of my legs. “I’m sorry, Hazel. Please, don’t cry.”

I picked up my daughter and cradled her in my arms. She began to settle down as soon as she was close to my chest.

“I have an idea!” Emma said. “Can Peyton help me paint Hazel’s toes?”

“Of course!” I said.

Emma guided Peyton and helped her paint my daughter’s toes while she was still in my arms. Molly made sure to ask Meadow and Pen to take some pictures. After Hazel’s nails had a few coats on and were dry, they were a bright yellow, and we traded babies. Molly fed Hazel while we painted Olivia’s toes purple. My second daughter was much more wiggly, and Peyton just laughed as Emma showed her how to hold her leg down gently and talk to the newborn sweetly. Emma was amazing with kids, and I knew she was going to be someone we could definitely trust with our girls once Molly went back to work.

After Olivia was in her bassinet and asleep, I kept my promise and painted Peyton’s toes in alternating colors. When my wife asked me to paint her toes the same way, I gladly did that for her.

After all the girls and Camden left, I climbed into bed next to my wife. She held Hazel, and I had Olivia in my arms. Molly put her head on my shoulder, and I turned on the TV to Sports Network Corp. We lay there and watched Landon’s team in game five of the League Championship. His team was up three games to two. One more win, and they would actually make it to the World Series. I was so proud of my brother!

We watched Landon come up to bat, and he hit a line drive into right field and was able to make it to second by sliding quickly. We both got excited, and both babies began to stir because of our loud celebrations. After we talked to them in soft voices and told them about what their Uncle Landon was doing, they seemed to calm down and go back to sleep.

“I love our little family,” Molly said as she looked from the TV screen and back to me. “I’m so glad you were here for all this.”

“I’m so glad, too. We should try to get pregnant every February or March so you can have all the babies in the off-season.”

“Sounds good to me, but how about not every year? Let’s wait two or three years between babies, please.”