Chapter 49

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Cole

Knowing that Crawford pled guilty and won’t be getting bond makes me feel better. After taking Adriana to bed, I was able to actually fall asleep without worry.

I’m driving Adriana and I to the stadium for therapy. Our appointments are back to back, so we decided to go and wait for each other. We park and head into the stadium.

“I didn’t ask yesterday, but is it hard to be here?” I ask Adriana.

“It’s weird. Easy though. I have too many memories that are good here for the one that was horrible.” She answers me.

I take her hand and kiss the back of it as we walk. We reach the therapist's office and sit outside of it. Dr. Jane comes out and tells me to come into her office. I kiss A’s cheek and follow her.

I talk with Dr. Jane about my fears and my feelings. She validates them all. As we talk about the events that have happened and I process them, I feel like the weight slowly lifting from my shoulders.

“Alright, Cole. Here’s the deal. I’m going to tell coach you can play, but once a week you have an appointment with me and if you guys are on the road, we will do a remote check in. Got it?” Dr. Jane asks.

“Sounds good to me. Thank you, I feel better already.” I say.

She walks me to the door and calls A in next. I wait the forty-five minutes for her to complete her session. She walks out with red eyes and I’m automatically on alert.

“Calm down, Casanova. They’re good tears. I promise.” She tells me.

“Okay. You ready to head home?” I ask.

“Yes. Dr. Jane, I’ll see you next week.” A tells us both.

We walk to the parking lot and get into my truck. The drive home is quiet. When we get home, I help A out and we go straight to the backyard.

I take a seat on a lounge chair and pull Adriana to sit in between my legs. She rests her back to my chest and just relaxes.

“So, Dr. Jane had an idea about a press conference.” I tell her.

“She told me the same idea. What are your thoughts?” She asks me.

“Honestly, I’d rather answer questions all at once instead of multiple times. What about you?”

“I agree. I don’t want to turn into a circus show.” She says.

“I don’t want that either.” I tell her.

We sit like this for a while longer. Enjoying each other’s company and the nice weather.

“Why don’t we have Ty and Heather over? We can order pizza and just hang out.” She suggests.

“Text Heather.” I tell her.

Not even fifteen minutes later, those two are coming through the gate.

“We’ll aren’t you two cozy.” Heather greets.

“What kind of a greeting is that, sis?” I ask her.

“One from the sister that introduced you to the woman you love.” She tells me.

“Well you aren’t wrong there.” I say with a chuckle and get up to hug her.

“What’s up, big brother?” I ask

“Oh, nothing much you?” He says suspiciously.

I look over at Adriana and she knows what I’m asking with my eyes. She nods at me.

“Well, Adriana is moving in with me.” I say with excitement.

“That’s nothing surprising.” Heather says.

“What my wife said. But we did bring you both a present.” Ty informs us.

“Why are we getting a present?” I ask

“Here.” Heather says as she hands us each a gift bag. “Open them at the same time.”

Well, okay then. I look at Adriana and she looks just as confused as I am.

We both open the bag up and take the tissue paper out to reveal a t-shirt. I take mine out of the bag and A does the same. I read the t-shirt.

#1 Uncle

Holy shit! Heather’s pregnant! I turn the shirt around to show Adriana and she already has her turned for me to see. Hers says #1 Aunt .

“Fuck yeah!!! Congratulations! I can’t wait to have a niece or nephew.” I tell them.

We have a big group hug. I’m so happy for my brother. I know he wants a family and I’m happy that he’s getting that. He deserves it.

“Thank you! We can’t wait for them to be here either. With that said. We also want to know if you two would be their godparents?” Heather inquires.

“Are you crazy?! Of course!” Adriana answers before I do.

“Good, because if something were to happen to us, we couldn’t think of any other people we would want to raise our kid or kids.” Ty says.

I see the tears in his eyes and I know that he’s thinking of us after mom and dad died.We were lucky that we didn’t have to deal with being younger and not having a place with family.

I nod. There isn’t anything I can say. I have tears of my own in my eyes. Adriana comes and snakes her arm around my waist. She has this megawatt smile on her face. Something tells me she knew already. I’ll have to ask her about it later.

We shoot the shit for a bit after I call in our pizza order. Once it gets here, we all sit down at the table outside.

“How was therapy today?” Heather asks.

“Helpful. I actually enjoyed it.” I tell her.

“Ditto.” A says as she chews.

“Speaking of, do you want me to get the press conference set up? The sooner the better to get it over with it?” I ask.

A finishes her bite.

“I think that’s a good idea, babe.” She answers.

With that, we finish eating and just enjoy hanging out with family.

“Want a beer Ty?” I ask.

“Yeah. I’ll go in with you to grab it.” He answers.

He must want to talk to me. We walk into the kitchen. I grab a beer for each of us.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“You seem better today.” He says.

“Yeah, A and I talked last night and therapy was a big help today, too. I’m going to continue to see Dr. Jane for a while.” I tell him.

“I’m glad to hear it. You know you deserve all the happiness, too.” He tells me.

“I know. That woman out there does that for me. I’m going to marry her one day.” I say.

“I know you are. And then we get to raise our families next door to each other.”

We cheers to that. This is the life I know our parents envisioned for us but also the life we want for ourselves too.

“They’d be proud.” I state.

“They’re proud. They see it all from the best view.” Ty says.

He always said they’re here with us. That they see it all. I know he’s right. I just wish they were here physically.

“I wish they were here.”

“Me too, brother. Call Art, get that press conference set up.” He says and walks back out to the girls.

He is right. The sooner it’s set up, the sooner we get to really move forward with our lives. I call Art and let him know what we want to do. He’s texted to check in with me here and there, not wanting to overdo it, but it’s nice to know he looks out for me, too. He lets me know he will text me with time and date and then I head out of the backyard.

“I called Art. He’s going to let me know when everything is set up. That okay?” I ask Adriana as I take the seat next to her.

“Yes, I really want to get it over with sooner than later.” She tells me.

I move my lips to her ear and she shivers.

“Did you already know about Heather?” I whisper.

“I’m not telling.” She giggles.

I love the sound of her giggle. I will never tire of hearing it. We enjoy the rest of the night with laughs and smiles.

Art worked his magic and got the conference set up within forty-eight hours. It’s why we are at the stadium on an off day. He also included Ty, King, Dane, and Dean to speak as well, since they were a part of the craziness.

The entire organization has shown up to support us. And not just them, the board members for The Grizzlies Care Foundation as well. I don't have to worry about who has my back because they’re all showing me I can count on every single one of them today.

“You lot ready?” Art asks us.

“Let’s do it.” King says and we all nod in agreement.

We take the stage and sit in our seats that have our names in front of them.

“Thank you for coming today.” I address the media. “As you all are aware, there was an incident here about two weeks ago involving another player that is not here today. He isn’t here today because he is awaiting sentencing at the local jail. Dylan Crawford attacked my girlfriend. He tried to steal my home. And now he will face punishment from the law. But I’ll let her tell that side, but the guys sitting with me today helped me rescue her. I want to thank them and the rest of The Grizzlies organization who have stood behind Adriana and I throughout this ordeal. Now I will turn this over to Adriana.” I state.

“Thank you Cole. Dylan Crawford is a man who doesn’t like the word no. He asked me to be his date for our foundation gala in which I turned down, as Cole and I were already dating, but not out to the public at the time. He didn’t take kindly to this. He essentially kidnapped me and physically harmed me while trying to be convinced to rectify my answer to him. I’m grateful to everyone on this stage who helped ensure my safety from this horrible person. That’s all I will say about this matter. The Grizzlies have been fantastic throughout this and supporting us. I love being a part of and working with Grizzlies Care and plan on continuing my work with Heather and the foundation. Now I will turn it over to King.” Adriana says.

The guys each take their turn speaking and we end with a few questions. I’m so proud of Adriana for handling this press conference like a pro. I had no doubts, even if she was nervous.

“Glad that’s over.” She tells me as we get off the stage.

“Me too. Now we can get back to our lives.” I say.

“Now we get back to winning too with you back in the lineup.” Kings says as he claps my back.

We stand around bullshitting for a little while until all of the press clears out. We walk as a group to our vehicles and say goodbye until tomorrow for our game.

“Ready to go home?” I ask A.

“Home. I like the sound of that.” She responds.

We moved all her stuff from the apartment yesterday to the house and now it really is home. Not just my house. It’s our home and I’ll be damned if anyone else ever tries stealing home from me again.