12. Noah

12

This has been the longest week of my life. I don't know if I'm coming or going or if I'm supposed to sit still. If it's not waiting for the week to pass so Peyton can take her pregnancy test, it's me spending hours on the phone with Alan trying to figure out the next steps in my career.

"I think, regardless, this is my last year in Portland."

"You don't want to wait and see what they come back with?"

I shake my head and then mutter, "No. They've had their time. If I'm their guy, their future, they'd have made an offer by now. Clearly, I'm not. With the draft coming up . . ." I trail off. It's never a bad thing for a team to draft multiple players for the same spot. But when they're not communicating with their captain, who happens to lead the offense, that becomes a problem. "I don't want to be caught off guard."

"I agree. There is interest from other teams. One being there."

I run my hand through my hair. "Here, or near Beaumont. Peyton wants to move home."

"What about her job?"

"She's upset with the situation and is seriously considering staying home after the baby is born. Neither of us want to hire a nanny, and honestly, she doesn't need to work. Or she could open her own business and become a freelance analyst doing what she does for the Pioneers for anyone in the league. Peyton isn't worried about finding work."

"I didn't know congratulations were in order," he says.

"They're not. Yet. We'll know tomorrow."

"All right, let me get to work on some stuff. Do you want to leak this to the media?"

"Nah. If they draft the way I expect them to, the media will run with it."

"Roger that." Alan hangs up and I stand there looking out the window. I hear Peyton behind me before I feel her wrapping her arms around my waist. Her head rests on the middle of my back. Well lower back because she's so damn short compared to me. I wouldn't want her any other way.

I rest my hand over the top of hers and sigh.

"It's going to be okay," she says as she squeezes me tightly. "No matter what, everything will work out."

"You have a lot of faith in people."

"Just you," she says as she maneuvers her way under my arm. I look down at her and close my eyes as her fingers trail lightly over my face and through my hair. "They don't deserve you."

"Or you." I pull her to me, cradling her against my chest and resting my chin on top of her head.

"Can I be real for a moment?" She leans back as much as she can without me letting go. We look into each other's eyes for a moment before either of us speak again.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

"What if you finish out your contract and retire?"

My eyes widen.

"Hear me out," she says as she once again traces her fingertips over my face, staying near my forehead. "Each time you get tackled or sacked I fear the worst. Sometimes, you stay down longer than I expect, and the team docs have to go out and see you. Yes, I know sometimes you do it because you're giving your O-line a break, but other times, I worry. What if something happens to you or this?" She runs her hand over my hair, her nails dragging against my scalp. I know she's talking about my brain. "You have a lot to live for especially once we get pregnant. I know I speak for our future children here, but we'd really like for you to stick around for a long time."

"I hear you, Peyton."

"That's all I ask."

"Tell me this. What would I do in retirement?" I'm not yet thirty and she wants me to retire. It's not unheard of, but not necessarily the standard. Although, by thirty-five I could see it.

"Coach with Nick. He's back to coaching baseball and he'll be the head coach for football. You know he'd bring you on as an assistant without hesitation and then turn it over to you. Train Mack. Get him ready for college. There are endless opportunities. Hell, most retired athletes open gyms and run clinics. If we go back to Beaumont, you could open a facility. Give the kids of Beaumont a place to play basketball, add batting cages, artificial turf, and a roller rink."

"A roller rink?"

Peyton shrugs. "I've always wanted to learn how to roller skate or even ice skate. We didn't have a place like that growing up. If we did, maybe you would've stayed out of trouble."

My eyes widen at her statement. "I was never in trouble."

"And I'm still a virgin," she says sarcastically.

"Well, we both know that's not true," Noah says with a smirk.

She pinches me, then laughs. "Whatever you decide, I'll support you."

"And you? What are you thinking?"

Peyton shrugs. "Depending on the test, we'll see. I know I'm young, but being married to you and possibly being pregnant with our first and maybe only child . . ." She pauses and places her hand over her lower stomach. "Right now, I can't imagine leaving him or her for hours on end. I know our moms will be there to help, but I really want to be a hands-on mother."

I kiss her forehead and pull her into my arms. "Like you, I'm in your corner. Whatever you want to do, we'll do."

"Like get a dog?"

I lean back and look at her warily. "A dog?"

She nods and bites her lower lip. "I really like Beau and I think I'd like to get one. We didn't have a pet growing up and I've always wanted one."

"All right. Want to go to the shelter?"

"Wow, if I knew it would be that easy, I'd have asked ages ago."

Noah kisses my forehead. "How many times do I have to tell you, babe, anything for you."

Both of us realize, once we get into the car, we have no idea where the shelter is. I drive aimlessly until Peyton finds one on her phone. After parking, I leave the SUV on for a moment and look at my wife, bouncing in her seat, eager for a dog.

"No one says we have to bring home the first one we see."

"I know. There are things I want."

"Like?"

"Well, obviously baby friendly, especially with Ollie. He yanks on Beau's ears. Not that Beau seems to care. House trained. Not afraid of water, traveling or people. With the amount of people we're around, a skittish pup wouldn't work for us. And I'd like one a little smaller than Beau. He's a big boy."

"I want an Irish Wolfhound," I tell her. She has no idea what one looks like and looks it up on her phone.

"That's a mini horse and we live in an apartment. They're pretty though, but something tells me we won't find one in the shelter."

"Probably not. Are you ready to go in?"

Peyton nods, opens her door, and slips out of the car. I meet her around the front, and we go in. We tell the young man at the front that we'd like to look at available dogs. He seems enthused and says we can go in and let him know if we want to meet one. As soon as we open the door, barking erupts.

"I hate it here."

"Yeah, me too," I say. "All these poor dogs looking for a home."

"Maybe that's something else we can do in Beaumont, if you decide to retire."

"What's that? Work at a dog shelter?"

"No, open one or foster dogs until they can be adopted."

I sigh heavily. "That would be a huge undertaking. Let's start with one first and see how we do as dog parents."

Peyton huffs. "If Elle can do it, so can I."

No doubt.

We walk by each cage, reading the information the shelter has on the sheet attached to the kennel. I'm on one side, Peyton on the other. We follow the rules of no petting even though some of the dogs look at us, desperately seeking attention. At the end, we meet, and both shake our heads. Each one had something that didn't meet our requirements.

"They're either not good with babies or other dogs. The other things on my list we can work with, but not those."

"Definitely not."

I thank the young man for his time, and we head back to the car. Peyton finds another shelter, and then another. Each one yields similar results as the first.

"I want to adopt," she says. "I think that's important. We have the ability to give a dog a good home."

"While I agree with you on adoption, we may want to consider going to one of the stores like Ben did or finding a breeder. With a breeder, we'll know more about the temperament of the parents and such. The store, well those are overpriced and I'm not a fan of them. Although, the one in Beaumont is like the others."

"Adopting gives a lonely pup a home."

"Yes, but you can't adopt them all."

She eyes me, as if I'm challenging her. Peyton will need to buy a new house if she wants to adopt multiple dogs. As I already stated, we live in an apartment in Portland and our house in California doesn't have a yard. As is, we'd have to find a space or clear one for a dog to go to the bathroom.

"Maybe this is my way of putting off the inevitable."

"Which is?" I ask her.

"The pregnancy test."

"You have until tomorrow morning."

"True. But I'm antsy and eager. And I do want a dog because we could never have one because we were either on tour with the band and by the time we stopped doing going, Elle was deep into cheering and went to a lot of competitions. And I was . . ." She pauses and looked at me. "Following you around. I don't know if I would've given up my obsession with you for a dog."

I start laughing and she sighs. "You're something else."

"Eh." Peyton shrugs. "There's one more not far from here. Let's see what they have."

We drive for a bit and then pull into another parking lot. This shelter is bigger than the others we've been to. We go inside and for the first time, they ask what we're looking for in our forever friend.

Peyton gives the woman the list and explains our lifestyles, stressing how a skittish pup wouldn't be best due to extensive traveling.

"What breed?"

Peyton shakes her head. "It doesn't matter, really. Something medium size, unless you have an Irish Wolfhound. Apparently, my husband has always wanted one."

The woman's eyes go wide. "We actually got one in the other day. I just listed her on the website. She's about six months old."

"Can we see her?" I ask instantly.

"Yes, come this way."

We follow the woman through the door, down a hall, and into a large room with more cages. I hate the cages.

"Here she is."

In the back corner this predominantly gray fluff ball sleeps. I crouch down and let out a low whistle. "Hey, girl." She picks her head up. "Come here." I look at the employee. "Can I go in?"

She nods and undoes the latch. Peyton and I walk in just as the pup stands.

"She's huge, Noah."

"She's perfect, Peyton. She's still a pup and we can train her. Their temperament is perfect for a family. They're non-aggressive, loyal, and very smart."

"I won't be able to walk her on my own when you're working."

I scratch under her chin. "I'll train her to stay at your side. If that doesn't work, we'll hire someone, but everything in me says she's going to be perfect."

"How do we get her?" Peyton asks the woman.

"We run a full background check on you before we agree to adoption."

"How long does that take?"

"A day or two. Sometimes three."

My heart sinks. I continue to focus on this girl and the way she's loving the attention she's receiving from me.

"How can we make one happen within the next thirty minutes?"

"Um . . ."

"A sizable donation?" Peyton suggests. "Your adoption fee is three hundred. I'll add a zero if you run the background checks on us now so my husband can take that little girl home."

"Did you just tell me you'd give me three-thousand dollars?"

"We'll double it," I say, without looking over my shoulder. "My wife has all my personal information to get this started."

"Okay. Well, in that case, follow me right this way."

Peyton and the woman leave. I stay in the cage with this sweet angel. She hasn't jumped on me once, nor has she bitten me. While sitting there, I look in her mouth at her teeth and gums, check her paws and belly, pushing on spots I've seen other vets do on television.

"Well, you look healthy, but we'll take you to the vet anyway."

She sighs and leans into me.

"You need a name," I tell her. "Not sure how we're going to come up with one since your new mom has asked me to come up with a list of names for our new baby."

At the word, baby, her ears perk.

"Did whoever have you before have a baby and then drop you off here?" I pet her head, scratch behind her ear, and then nuzzle her. "That won't happen with us," I tell her. "You're going to have a big family. You can swim every day, run in the sand, chase a ball, and have a best friend in Beau."

I know it's probably wrong for me to talk to her like she's already mine, but I'm unwilling to leave her. This is a sign. From whom or what, I don't know, but it has to be.

Peyton returns an hour later. "Let's go."

I don't move. "Is she coming with us?"

My wife keeps her expression stoic. "You're looking at our first child," she tells me.

A smile spreads across my face. I pump my arm in the air, startling the pup. "Look at that, you're coming home with us."

"First stop is the pet store. We need everything."

I scoop the pup in my arms and take her over to Peyton, who dotes on her. "Please don't steal my husband."

Moving the dog slightly out of the way, I lean down and kiss Peyton. "I love you. Thank you."

"You better be right about this, Westbury."

"Oh, I am."

We thank the woman as we leave. Peyton climbs in and takes the puppy from me, while I slip onto the driver's seat. On our way to the pet store, I say, "She needs a name."

"She does. I say we post her photo online and let your fans decide on what her name should be."

"Oh, this ought to be fun."

"Famous last words, Westbury."

At the stoplight, I look over at Peyton and our new puppy. Peyton's loving her, just like I knew she would. Now, all we need is for tomorrow to be just as good as today.