Jada~
"Let's do it like you did in 2023. Dinner, a band, and raffle prizes. Get the guys to come out again. That helped a ton."
"I don't want it to be the same."
"We'll make it different. This time you're focusing more on academic scholarships. That's different than putting money toward new baseball fields."
"How do we make that different though?"
"This is a stretch but why don't you visit the Milwaukee area schools and get the word out that way? It's not like we're making it super hard and rigorous to try to win a scholarship."
"That just takes a lot of time."
"But there's only one way to show that you mean it. Time is the answer."
"I wish there were more hours in the day."
"I have that thought every single day."
He laughs, "Yeah, I don't know how you do it."
He gets up and takes his iPad and the dishes in front of us, "What's your plan for the rest of the day?"
"I have to start getting ready soon to pick up Corey, Camille, and Wes from the Burbank airport. I'm going to drop them off at their Airbnb. I actually think I have to take Corey to get their rental car since they're not doing it at the airport."
"Why?"
"The last time they did it, some guy fucked them over and now Corey wants nothing to do with it."
I shut my laptop and plug it in, "What's for dinner?"
"I'm not sure yet. I'll ask when I get them."
"They're just going to tell you to make whatever."
"Yes, but I don't want to make something that's going to make her sick or make me sick."
We walk out of my office, "Are we telling them?"
"She'll figure it out and ruin it if we don't."
"Again."
"Exactly. But that means we need to tell our parents soon."
"I was thinking about it earlier. It'll have to be nonchalant. My mom will freak either way."
"And my dad will look at us like we're crazy."
"Not far from it."
He kisses me before we go out separate ways, "Oh, Christian, can you wake her up early? She'll be pissed but I'm sick of waking up in the middle of the night because she sleeps too long during the day."
"Yeah."
"Thank you."
"Are you waiting again?"
"Yeah, we like the surprise," Camille tells me as I start bringing out the food and placing it on the table outside.
Christian takes over for me as I bring Addie's high chair outside and put it in between two chairs.
"I do think it's a girl though."
"I know I'm biased but she is the best thing ever. Girls are so fun."
"Corey wants a boy."
"I figured that. What does everyone want to drink? We have wine, beer, seltzers, water, pop, about anything."
"You guys can drink, I don't care. I'll just have water."
Well, the boys can drink. I hand her a glass of water. "Corey?"
"What kind of beer?"
"Miller lite and Leinenkugel's."
"Miller is fine."
I hand him the can. "Christian?"
"Summer shandy."
I hand him the Leinenkugel's can. I grab a glass of water for myself. "What about Wes?"
"Water is fine for him."
I hand Camille the pink kids cup, "I hope he doesn't mind that it's pink."
"He'll get over it."
I fill a bottle with water for Addie as Christian carry's her to her high chair. I put our drinks around the table before we all start passing the food around and filling out plates.
Camille taps my arm, "I told you it's okay to drink."
I guess we're doing this now. "I can't."
"What?"
I watch it click in her head, "No."
"Yeah."
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am."
She gets up and hugs me, "When did you find out?"
"Christmas Eve."
"You don't waste any time."
We laugh, "Right?"
"When are you due?"
"Late August."
"We're only a couple of months apart. This is so exciting!"
"I think you're more excited than we were," Christian tells her.
"You weren't?"
"It just wasn't expected. You two are the only ones that know right now."
"You haven't told your parents."
"Nope."
"That's a dangerous game you're playing."
"Very much so."
"A very virgin strawberry marg for you," I say, handing Camille a glass of what pretty much is a strawberry slushie.
"Thank you."
I step out of the leisure area in the pool to extend the umbrella so it's covering us. "I checked the babies and both of them are passed out. The boys are working out and we are enjoying the sun with our non-alcoholic margaritas."
"I really need to convince Corey to move out here. It's so easy and calm. We just love Nashville so much."
"I don't blame you. I love Nashville but nothing beats this."
"True that. I don't want to leave."
"Stay as long as you want. We have the room."
She laughs, "Don't let me take you up on the offer. What were the boys doing?"
"I'm pretty sure they were trying to see how much each other could squat."
"They're going to hurt themselves."
"It's not our problem until it happens though."
"Sounds too much like them."
I splash some water on my legs. We both look back at the house as we heard the sliding door open. Scout comes out with Christian and Corey, "I thought you were working out?"
"We were and then we saw you two out here and it looks a lot more fun than working out so we changed."
Christian tries to sit next to me, "This isn't made for two people."
"It can be."
I look over at Camille as Corey tries to do the same thing as Christian. Two men, taller than six feet are trying to fit onto a leisure pool bed with their small, pregnant wives. "So much for relaxing."
I can't help but laugh as I see Corey basically laying on Camille. "You're comfortable, sorry."
Christian snuggles into me as I try to take a sip of my non-alcoholic drink. "I want a drink."
My eye twitches. I hand him the glass. "This is good."
"I know it is."
He sets the glass down on the cement table in between Camille and me. He puts his hand on my stomach as if I'm showing. "Your boobs look great," he tells me quietly.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
I slide down the outside of Addie's bedroom door. The only person she wants is me. I have to be in her sight otherwise she screams.
Corey comes upstairs, "What are you doing on the floor?"
"I'm about to have a mental breakdown and the floor seems like a good spot. What are you doing?"
"Bathroom?"
"All the way down."
"Thanks. Do you want me to get somebody?"
"It's fine."
Eventually, I get up and go outside to sit on the couch. I hear the sliding door open and Scout jumps onto the couch. He lays across my lap as Christian comes to sit in front of me, "Corey told me."
"I love her to death but if she can't see me, she screams. If anyone but me is holding her, she screams. I need like two hours to myself."
"It's just a phase."
"And it's already lasted too long."
"Can I do anything?"
"No, it's fine."
He sits on the other side of me. I hold his arm as he kept it around me. I love Addie more than anything. I love her sibling more than anything.
I can't picture myself without them. But sometimes I think about the time it was just us and Scout. Any time in the past five years has been the best stretch for me.
I know this phase will pass and she'll probably end up preferring Christian over me one day. But I can't imagine my life without my kids, without Christian, and without Scout.
"Mom, do you have any plans in August?" Christian asks his mom as we sit around the island.
"Not that I know of, why?"
"Well, we were hoping you'd come out again for a few weeks if you could."
She looks at me, "No way."
We laugh, "Yeah."
She hugs both of us, "When did you find out?"
"Christmas Eve."
"Two under two?"
"Yeah. She'll only be 16 months. August 30th."
"They'll be close together."
"Closer than we wanted."
Christian comes downstairs as I lay on the couch, "Well, she stopped screaming. She has good lungs."
I just nod as I focus on my phone. I move the blanket around as I thought he was coming over. When he does come over, he hands me a bowl of ice cream. "Oh, thank you."
"I figured you'd want some."
He lays on his back, his head in my lap. "I think she has some teeth coming in."
"Awesome."
I finish the bowl of ice cream. "How are you feeling?"
"Just tired. It's like I don't have any energy to do anything."
"Because of Addie?"
"No, but she doesn't help."
I run my fingers through his hair. He moves my shirt, "Do you want to know?"
"I think so."
"Me too."
"Do you have a preference?"
"No, but she's been pretty easy aside from the screaming."
He laughs, "The first kids are always easygoing. It's the second one you have to watch out for."
"That's exactly what I needed to hear."
He laughs again, "What do you think about a little me?"
"My freakin' dream."
"Really?"
"Oh my gosh, yes."
"A little you and a little me."
"Cutest kids ever."
"Right?"
"I'm happy with whatever."
"Me too."
"Okay, you can open the box," I tell my dad through FaceTime.
"What did you guys do?"
"Just open it. It's nothing bad."
I got my dad a 'Grandpa x2' t-shirt since we don't have any ultrasound pictures and we're nowhere near Milwaukee. By the time we're out there, I'll be close to halfway through this pregnancy.
He opens the box as Christian hands me Addie since she was wanting me more. "Read what you see."
Christian holds his arm around me. "Grandpa x2," he says quietly.
I watch Michelle react as it takes my dad a little longer. "Oh my gosh, really?" he asks, finally understanding the shirt.
"Yeah. End of August."
"Kind of a bad time again, huh?"
"Not the best. But we're excited."
"Do you know anything yet?"
"Not yet. We have an appointment when we get to Arizona."
"That's good. Let us know how it goes. We were thinking about coming down for a few games for spring training if that's okay with you guys."
"Of course," Christian says.
"I'll keep in touch about it. We're super excited for you guys."
"Us too. We love you guys."
"Love you too."
I shut my laptop, "Glad that's over."
"It's not like they would be upset."
"It's not that. I just don't like keeping such a big secret. I wish we could've done this in person but it's not a big deal."
He kisses me, "I know but we have to work with what we have and where we are."
I set Addie down on the floor but she stands up. She takes my fingers in her hands and we walk around the kitchen. "Da!"
He turns around and watches us walk over to him. He picks her up, "Would you stop growing? You're getting too big."
She laughs at him. "Should we get dinner? I don't feel like cooking unless you want to."
"Now?"
"Soon."
"Okay."
He puts his arm around me. Addie hits my hand away as I went to hold my hand around her back. "Now you want nothing to do with me?"
Christian laughs. "It was bound to happen."
He kisses me, "I love you."
Addie lays her head on his shoulder. God, she's so cute. I hug him and lay my head on his chest, "I love you too."
"Looks like baby is being stubborn right now and isn't positioned in the right place for me to see the gender. There's no need to be worried. But you can either wait to find out at a later appointment or we can do a blood test. It's ultimately up to you guys."
I look up at Christian for an answer. "It's up to you," he tells me.
"We can wait," I tell her.
"Okay. Like I said, there's no need to worry. Baby looks good," she tells us, reassuring everything is good.
"Okay."
As I sit up, Christian keeps his hand on my back. "Next appointment will be your anatomy scan. That's eight weeks from now, will you be out here?"
"No, we'll be in Milwaukee."
"Okay, I'll have the office ladies take care of that and send all of this to your doctor in Milwaukee. They'll also have your sonograms at the front."
"Thank you," we tell her.
"You're welcome. Congrats, again."
Christian hands me my shorts, "Already stubborn, huh?"
"Sorry."
He kisses the side of my head as I tie the waistband of my shorts. "I don't expect anything less."
When we get out to the car, we take a look at the sonograms before leaving. What we can see and what we know is that everything is okay and our baby is healthy. It doesn't bother me that we didn't get to find out today even though I would've liked to know. It gives us more reason to suspect what we're having and try to guess.
"Should we go get our girl?"
"Or we can stop for lunch?"
"Or we can do that. Where are you thinking?"
"What time do you have to be at the complex?"
"Not for another couple of hours."
"Just drive up to their house. I'm sure we'll pass something."
Christian and I enter Camille and Corey's house after knocking, "It's just us."
She comes from the kitchen, "Hey, she's sleeping in the guest room. I was just making lunch for them. How was your appoitnment?"
"It was good. We're both healthy."
"That's good. Did you find out?"
"No, this baby is already inherited her stubbornness," Christian tells her.
She laughs, "How so?"
"Baby wasn't positioned right and she couldn't tell what we're having."
"Couldn't they do a blood test?"
"Yeah, but I didn't want to be poked so we're going to wait."
"I don't blame you."
"How was she?"
"Fine. Her and Corey played together for awhile before he had to leave."
"Where's Wes?"
"He's at preschool but I have to pick him up soon."
"You should go wake her," I tell Christian, "I don't want you to be late."
"When did he start preschool?"
"This week. We both decided it was good for him. He needs that socialization with other kids. He can start kindergarten in the fall."
"No way. That's crazy."
"I know. It went by so fast. It'll feel like nothing when this baby arrives but I can't believe it."
"Does that mean you'll go back home in the fall and leave Corey in Dallas to finish out his season?"
"I don't know. We've talked about homeschooling until Corey's done but that's still a long ways away. He's not a free agent until 2032. That's six years away. I don't know what we're going to do because I love being able to travel with Corey but I also know it's not feasible for the long run especially with this one coming soon."
"I can't imagine."
Christian comes back with Addie as she still tries to sleep on him. "She's cranky."
"Wow, something else you gave your kids."
I laugh. "I promise she wasn't cranky before I put her down."
"She values her sleep as do I."
They look at each other and laugh, "You guys better get going before you're late. I'll call you tomorrow."
"Okay, thank you for watching her. We appreciate it."
"I didn't mind. We'll see you guys soon."