Sorry it took so long, but here is the final chapter! I don't really have any plans for this story, but if there are ideas people want me to write as bonus chapters, I would be happy to :)
I'm just not sure how much people actually care about this story, lol
Enjoy!
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I couldn't believe it.
Today was already Violet's birthday; one whole year of her life had passed in a flash, and I couldn't fathom how big she had gotten and how much she had grown into a little human with her own personality.
I had been running around all morning, setting up the backyard for her party. The fall weather had brought a cool breeze to the recent summer air, and we were only having a small party with some friends, family, and Bo's teammates, opting for a celebration in the backyard.
I walked back into the house to grab an orange gingham sheet for the table outside. I saw Bo lying shirtless on the couch with Violet snuggled into his chest, the two watching tennis on the TV while she babbled away using nonsense words. Bo would occasionally nod or answer her, helping to further whatever story she was telling him.
I smiled at the two as I continued going in and out of the house like a madman, trying to make sure everything was perfect before the guests started to arrive despite the fact that I still had several hours to prepare. To honour the season, we were having a fall-themed party and decorated the patio with oranges, browns, and yellows.
I had just walked back into the living room, looking for a candle to set out on the table, when I felt Bo grab my wrist, yanking me down to the couch and into his side. I giggled as I fought to get out of his grip, trying to continue my preparations despite moving through the house like a tornado.
"We still have three hours. Come sit with us, please," Bo said, exaggerating a puppy dog face afterwards.
I swung my head back with a laugh, finding humour in his attempts to convince me to sit down. As I kicked my feet up on the coffee table, I decided it was probably best I took a break for now anyway.
Violet raised her head and looked over at me, a smile gracing her features as her little teeth poked out.
"Hi, my angel," I said in a baby voice, rubbing her soft cheek as she giggled back. Bo leaned his head back on the couch as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, squishing the three of us in together.
"You stink from practice."
"I do not stink."
"Did you shower when you got back this morning?"
"I don't stink," he said, raising his voice in a joking tone.
I picked up Violet from off his chest, standing up to get her ready for the party.
"Go shower before the party, you're stinking up our daughter too" I said slyly sniffing Violet before walking down the hall.
"I don't stink!" I heard him yell.
I laughed as I placed Violet down on the carpet in her bedroom, walking over to the closet to pick out an outfit.
She had started walking a couple weeks ago and was still working on her balance, normally using the furniture or walls around her as support. I could hear her stumbling over to me to see what I was doing as I rummaged through the closet and drawers to find what to put her in.
I scooped her up in my arms as I changed her into a pale yellow plaid onesie, decorating her head with a burnt orange bow headband. I squealed at how cute she looked, causing her to let out a similar shriek, kicking her feet with equal amounts of excitement as we both giggled to each other.
I walked out of her bedroom and headed down the hall to mine and Bo's room so I could take pictures of her on the white bedding. I could hear Bo in the shower as I laid her on the plain duvet, continuing to kick her feet in excitement and giggling as I took pictures while telling her how pretty she was.
After our little photoshoot, Bo came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, eyebrows knitting together when his eyes landed on Violet. He let out a loud laugh as he held onto his abdomen, Vi and I both looking at him with confusion on our features.
"What the fuck is on my daughters head?"
"It's a bow, it's cute"
"It's the size of her are you kidding"
"Oh don't be dramatic, it's just a headband"
"A headband? I wear a headband, that thing is a propellor. One gust of wind outside and she's gone"
We giggled at his stupid joke, the three of us messing around with each other before we had to get ready. I lifted Violet into my arms, fixing her headband and deciding this was the perfect moment to tease Bo.
"Daddy doesn't think you look pretty" I said in a baby voice.
Bo rolled his eyes as he got dressed, walking over to take Violet into his arms and walk down the hallway, sticking his tongue out at me as I giggled.
"Mom is trying to dress you up like the Queen of England," he bit back.
The guests would be arriving soon so I decided to do a once over of everything outside. It was technically Violets birthday tomorrow, but with the Blue Jays having a home game, we figured it would be easier for everyone if we did the party today so that we could celebrate with those closest to us.
What Bo doesn't know is that Violet, with my help obviously, is throwing out the first pitch tomorrow, something he's always dreamed of since I was first pregnant with her. I felt a little bad for keeping it a secret from him but I wanted it to be a surprise for tomorrow.
Just as I had finished perfecting the table, I heard a knock at the door, racing to go answer it as Bo watched me run past him, laughing at my eagerness to bring the guests in.
The door opened to reveal the Bassit's and Gausman's, the girls in their fall coloured dresses as they twirled around to show me.
I lead everyone to the backyard to get them settled as more guests started to pile in, mainly Bo's teammates and their family, some of his personal friends, and his and my parents.
The party was going great, the kids ran around barefoot in the grass with each other, Landry and Toby slowing down so Violet could waddle after them. Sutton held Violets hand through pretty much the whole party, adoring her since the first day she met her and was excited to have a real life baby doll. I watched as they played some form of tag, all of them not really old enough to establish rules so it was more like a game of "run around and poke each other." Their giggles filled the backyard as I occasionally snuck videos of them because how could I not when they were all so cute.
The boys all stood around the barbecue and talked about baseball (like always), making jokes about the recent games they played and would occasionally offer advice to each other. I giggled as they all looked like dads on the patio grouped around the grill. Dressed in their button ups and jeans, they all sported similar looks as they were wearing what could only be classified as the "dad fit."
The girls and I sat on the patio furniture, getting a nice break from the kids and our partners as we talked about everything we needed to get off our chests. Kourtney recently found out that her and Justin were pregnant, the exciting news sparking conversations between the group. As always, we continued to share our kids milestones and how crazy it was to see them growing so fast in front of our eyes. Laughter continued to fill the backyard and my heart was full at the sight of all the people I loved most here.
As the day progressed, we decided it was time for cake as the kids could no longer contain their excitement for the sweet treat. Bo and I sat with Violet as his parents brought out her butterfly shaped cake, my dad standing at the end of the table to video everything while my mom took pictures off to the side. We sang "Happy Birthday" as the candles illuminated her small face, accentuating her tiny features that mimicked those of her dad. She babbled throughout the entire song, attempting to sing along with everyone as we laughed through our words at how cute she was.
Bo and I helped her blow out the candles as she clapped, her dad reaching down to brush her hair away from her forehead and swarm her face with small kisses. I felt tears pool in my eyes at the thought of her already being a year old. As everyone cheered while she dug her fist into the small cake, I stood back and took everything in.
It had been the hardest year of my life, something I never imagined myself doing so young and something I never saw myself at being good at, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I learned so much about myself and what it means to be a mother, what it means to love someone else more than you could ever love yourself. I had struggled for so long with my self image and what other people might think of me that I forgot to focus on who I wanted Violet to be. I didn't want her to be someone who's insecure or overly self-aware, I didn't want her worrying about what other people thought of her, I didn't want her making decisions based on what would please other people. I wanted her to be confident, carefree, and to enjoy the small details of her life without the strain of others opinions.
Bo and I had worked so hard to get to this point and seeing Violet sat surrounded by all the people who cared about her the most, made all the pain and mental anguish worth it.
I realized in this moment that I was made to be Violets mom.
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The next day, Bo headed out early to warm up for the afternoon game at the Roger's Centre. While he was aware that Violet and I were going to be there, he had no clue what would be waiting for him on the mound.
Violet was dressed in a pair of shorts with an oversized "Daddy" jersey as she sat on the floor, waiting for me to help her with her socks and shoes.
Despite her not really understanding what was going on, she must have known something was happening today as she was rambling "dada" all morning. I hoisted her onto my hip as I took her downstairs to take some pictures for Bo before we left.
Up until this point, we had never shown Violet to the public. People were aware of my existence and the fact that we had a baby, but Bo had always been extremely private about his personal life and we didn't want to stick Violet in the spotlight of Toronto media. With it's tendency to nitpick negative things rather than focus on the positives, we didn't want Violet to be subject to that, opting to keep her face hidden to avoid any kind of commentary.
Today, however, I wanted to be special. Not only did we just celebrate her first birthday, but Bo has been in a slump recently and has been struggling at the plate, dampening his mood. I'm hoping the motivation of having Violet there to watch and pitch a ball to him, participating in something he has loved since he was a kid, will help him get his game back.
Once I finished take pictures of her in her outfit, we headed down to the Roger's Centre to meet with the organizers who would bring us out to the mound. It also happened to be Junior Jay's Sunday so little Ace would be out on the field with Violet too, adding to her excitement as she loved petting the large bird.
Once we arrived, some of the other wives had been waiting up at the private area, hugging Violet and telling her how excited they were to see her pitch. She played around with the other kids for a little while longer until the minutes started counting down to the game.
I brought her down to the field when I saw Bo walk to the edge of the dugout, waiting for the guest who would throw the first pitch to him, a look of confusion on his face as they always knew who it would be in advance.
As the announcer began to speak, I stepped out hand in hand with Violet, slowly walking her out to the field as the stadium erupted into cheers. Despite my fears of the loud noises scaring her, she began to giggle and look at the crowd in amazement, the camera following her features as she continued to stumble to keep up with me, overwhelmed with all the people she was trying to look at.
Bo was frozen in his spot, unable to believe the moment he had been dreaming of since he found out about Violet was finally coming true. He walked over to the home plate and crouched down to the ground, smiling over to Violet and scrunching his nose up at her, imitating the face she always makes when she sees him.
I could see he was getting a little emotional, trying to keep it together in front of everyone as he would occasionally look up at the sky to halt the tears that were forming in his eyes. Violet stood on the turf, giggling at Bo as he gave her small waves. A lot of the boys were now standing outside the dugout, cheering Violet on before she threw the ball to Bo.
I crouched down next to her and put the baseball in her small hands, telling her to throw it to daddy as Bo held his glove out for her to see. As the drum roll began for her to throw the ball, she seemed to forget her important task, being too excited to see her daddy and eventually running over to him with the baseball in her hand.
Bo laughed as he scooped her into his arms, the fans laughing with him. He brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her forehead, telling her how good she did despite her not actually throwing the ball. She held it up for him as he took it from her small hands, signing it and handing it back to her as she cuddled the ball into her arms, Bo saying a, "Aw so nice" to help push the notion of gentle actions towards things.
He placed her back on the field to allow her some time to run around before the game officially began. Violet immediately waddled over to Davis, the two of them having become the best of friends recently.
He picked her up and walked her around the field as Bo came up and gave me a hug.
"Guess we gotta work on the fast ball huh?" I joked.
"Thank you for doing this, I know we agreed not to show her face much but I really needed this."
"I think we can relax on that a little, she really seemed to enjoy being out there."
We looked off to see her and Davis waving at Jays fans, the two giggling as he moved her to sit on his shoulders.
"Kick ass today yea?" I said before going to retrieve Violet.
"Course baby."
Once we were sat back with all the wives, the kids resumed playing as we all joked about Violets grand "pitch."
As the game began, Bo still continued to struggle at bat, the team falling behind by 2 as they couldn't get a run in. I could see the frustration on all their faces, especially Bo's as I knew he just couldn't understand why his swing wasn't working for him like it usually would.
By the 7th inning stretch, I was up with Violet, holding her on the railing as I moved her hands to help her follow the dancers. As we continued to dance, I heard the crowd erupt with cheers, looking up and noticing we were on the screen in the middle of the stadium.
I was a little embarrassed to be on such a large screen in front of thousands of people but I decided this was my opportunity to embarrass Bo even more, swinging Violet onto my hip as we both danced for the camera, giggling at each other.
The camera moved to film Bo's reaction, his cheeks red as a laughed with his teammates in the dugout. Violet smiled up at the screen as she saw her dad, kicking her legs with excitement.
When the game resumed, the boys spirits seemed to be lifted, swinging the bats how I knew they could. Watching Vladdy draw a walk to first, the bases were now loaded as Bo stepped up to the plate.
I felt that familiar feeling, the same one I felt when I was still pregnant with Violet. He was now up to two strikes as he continuously fouled balls off behind him. I held my breath as Violet clutched my shirt sleeve, staring intensely at her dad who had such a stern expression on his face.
There it was. The same crack I remember hearing in the kitchen that night, the feeling of my dry eyes as I stared at the ball fly over the field, unblinking.
We all stood out of our seats and I held Violet up in the air as she clapped, bouncing her around as we celebrated the new lead.
My heart swelled with pride at the smile on Bo's face as he pointed to the sky and jogged around the bases.
In baseball, this was one of the biggest accomplishments you could achieve in a game, an action that was guaranteed to put a smile on your face, have your adrenaline pumping. It's a memorable event that you carry with you throughout your career.
While I had never played baseball before, never experienced what it's like to be out on the field with a team, I knew one thing for sure as I stared at our daughter who was enamoured by her father on the field;
Bo was my grand-slam.