The Baby Project

The Chicago Cubs

Emma POV:

"Come on we're going to be late" Devon stomped impatiently as I slowed once again to look in the window to a baby story next to me.

"Can we go in here for a minute?" I asked him and he frowned.

"Why? The game starts in an hour and we still have a ways to go." He whined and I smiled in spite. He was too cute when he was whiney.

"Please?" I begged and pouted. He walked towards me and I knew I had won, so I walked into the store. It smelled of baby powder and had soft tone walls. It had exactly what the name promised, everything baby. I browsed the clothing and toys before heading over to the wall that I had wanted to go to in the first place.

"If we buy this, we can leave for your game right now." I said, pulling a mean card. He chuckled.

"Why do you need that? Isn't that why you have arms?" I decided to ignore his sexist comment. It was a front pack, baby carrier that I wanted. And by golly I was going to get it if he kept saying things like that.

"My arms are tired, she's to small for a stroller and we can't bring her carseat everywhere." I said simply and shifted Alliyah to my other arm.

His eyes followed her and he sighed. Nodding he handed me his wallet and took Alliyah from my arms while I went to go pay. He wandered towards the clothing  and I headed towards the cashier. After grabbing a pacifier, because Alliyah was going through a bout of colic, I was ready to pay. But all of the sudden Devon was at my elbow.

"We are getting this." He stated and set something on the counter. I smiled but didn't say a word as I saw what it was, a tiny pink onesie with the words "daddy's little girl" written in sparkly silver letters on the front.

After paying I took Alliyah into the bathroom for a quick diaper change and changed her into her new onesie, a sun hat, and gave her the new pacifier. She gurgled happily and played with silver letters as I cleaned up. When we walked back out I found Devon waiting for us. He smiled when he saw her clothing and I smiled when I noticed what he was wearing. The front pack carrier.

"I figured it would save time" he shrugged and I laughed. I helped him buckle her in securely and we were off to the game.  Devon had religiously listened to a certain radio station for a week just to win tickets to a Chicago Cubs game, down the street from us. When he got the call he was like a kid on Christmas.

"Come on we have to stop by the convenience shop to get foam fingers" he grinned at me and I laughed back at him. When we got there I grabbed Alliyah to slather her up with sunscreen and feed her really quick. I put her back in the front pack when Devon returned, foam fingers in tow.

"Can you get my back?" I handed him the sunscreen and turned around. He laughed and started to rub the sunscreen on my shoulders and back. I leaned into his hands and groaned. My back had been aching from holding Alliyah so much, part of the reason why I had wanted that carrier so bad. He chuckled and pressed harder.

"Oh my goodness that feels amazing" I groaned again and he laughed. I asked for some sunscreen on my hand to do my face while he finished my back and he gave me some. I rubbed it on my face and turned around.

"You missed a spot" he smiled and reached in to rub the spot away. I leaned into his hand for a moment and our eyes met. My heart sped up and I licked my lips. His finger ran across my bottom lip and I shivered. His gaze shifted between my eyes and my lips as slowly he got closer and closer.

As his lips touched mine, the memory of a night long ago resurfaced. I moved closer, careful of sleeping Alliyah between us, and rose up to my toes. His arms traveled to my waist and mine found themselves on his shoulders, where his white tank top didn't cover. He held me close and kissed me until we broke apart purely out of need for air. He kissed my nose and I smiled, but the smile fell when we heard the announcers voice say the game had started.

"Run." He said to me and we took off towards the stands, both of us laughing the entire way.

The game was, interesting. Well as interesting as a baseball game could be I suppose. There was a period of time in the middle of the game when the teams took a break and they had a little league playing on the field. They also had a band playing and cheerleaders doing acrobatics on the side lines.

"You know that I would do anything for Alliyah right? And that I would do anything you?" Devon asked suddenly, turning towards me. I stared back at him not really knowing how to respond. Did I know that?

"Sure" I answered softly. I looked up at him and he smiled at my answer.

"And that I would never intentionally hurt either one of you right?" He brushed his lips on Alliyah's hair and I smiled again. That I did know for sure. He was the type of guy to help not hurt.

"Yeah, absolutely. But why?" I asked, wondering what had brought these questions to his mind.

"I was just wondering" he laughed and put his arm around my shoulders. I welcomed the weight even though it still confused me. But being used to his confusing manner, I just let it go. A few minutes later I notice some commotion, the crowd is pointing to the big screen. A giant four screen. TV hanging in the middle of the stands. They were broadcasting random parts of the audience. I pointed along with the rest of the crowd and poked Devon to show him as well. I looked away for a moment to see what he was doing.

When I looked back up on the screen, there were two things immediately that I noticed. Firstly, the camera was focused on us. And secondly Devon was down on one knee beside me. Shocked I turned towards him, he looked up at me and smiled.

"What's going on Devon?" I asked with an almost fake smile and a very fake laugh. He gave no response and just looked up at me, until the entire stadium went quiet. My cheeks burned beyond belief.

He brought out a small piece of paper and a microphone.

"Emma, oh my dear Emma. Ever since the first day of third grade, when I met you, I knew there was something special about you. And I wanted to know what it was. Was it the gold highlights in your chocolate brown hair? Was it the way your green eyes sparkle when you laugh? Maybe it was the way you somehow were friends with everyone, and yet made everyone feel special in their own way. I don't know, but to a third grader you were pretty darn magical. Since then I've been looking for the perfect opportunity to get to know you, a few school projects later, I figured out that you didn't open up to just anyone and I needed something big. So I asked, well begged, Mrs.Adams to partner us for this project. I was so happy when she said yes, I almost walked up to you and hugged you. And as I got to know you better, I realized my choice was well made. I love raising Alliyah with you, I love being near you, and today, in front of all these people, I want to tell you, I love you.

Emma, will you marry me?"