“Okay,” he shouts with eagerness. Getting into position, he swings the bat like we practiced, making contact with the ball and sending it off the T. It rolls about six feet before stopping. He jumps up and down. “I did it.”
I tousle his fair hair. “You sure did. Try again.”
He places a ball on the T twice and it falls to the ground before he gets it settled on the right place. His tongue sticking out of his mouth as he concentrates, he swings harder this time. The bat makes contact with the ball with a cracking sound, and this time it gets some air under it and lands about ten feet away. He spins to face me, wide eyes taking up a sizable portion of his tiny face. “It flew.”
I hold my hand up for a high five and he slaps his palm against mine. At least Juliet taught him the importance of high fiving. “That was awesome, little man. You’re going to be hitting the ball out of this yard before you know it.” He nods emphatically. “Do you want to keep practicing?” I ask.
“Yep. I want to hit it out of the yard.”
Like father, like son. He’s already competitive with himself, like I am. Sports are in my blood and I have a feeling he’ll be no different.
We spend the next hour “practicing” before we head inside to wash up for dinner. I’ve had a total of eighty minutes in my son’s company and I’m already head over heels in love with him. If anyone doubts love at first sight, all they need to do is look at their child for the first time to experience it. I’m a full believer now.
How could I not be?
I fell for Juliet the first time I saw her, but this is a different feeling. It’s my heart wrapped in warmth and radiating outward through every cell I’m made of. It’s happiness filling me from head to toe like the stuffing inside a teddy bear, leaving room for nothing else.
How can I ever be angry again?
All the disappointment I experienced last night when I first found out about Emmett is behind me. I should be upset with Juliet for her deceit, and though we still have so much to work out, it's taking the backseat to my love for our son. In a split second’s time, he became the most important person to me, and he always will be.
“You guys looked like you were having a great time,” Juliet tells me as I finish washing my hands at her kitchen sink.
I smile. “We did. He’s an amazing kid, Juliet. You’ve done a great job raising him.”
“That’s kind of you to say, especially under the circumstances. You should be resentful toward me.”
“While I’m not okay with how you’ve handled everything, I’m grateful he’s such a happy, well-adjusted child. That’s obviously because of you.”
“Can you stay for a bit after dinner? Once Emmett goes to sleep, we can talk some more. Maybe we can iron out some of the things that are up in the air right now.”
“Sure, I can do that.”
She smiles at me, and it’s like a punch to my gut. I’m eighteen all over again, wondering how I’m lucky enough to be standing in her kitchen. I’ve never been able to completely push her out of my mind, no matter how many miles were between us or how many years had passed. I always assumed it was because she was my first in a lot of ways—first blowjob, first older woman, first taboo relationship, and first woman to steal a piece of my heart. They say you never get over your first love, so I chalked my lingering feelings up to that. But now I’m beginning to wonder if we were always meant to get to this point.
“Dinner was amazing. Thank you for going through all that effort,” I say, relaxing back against the cushion on her front porch swing.
“I’m glad you enjoyed everything.” She stretches her bare legs out in front of her like she’s on a high-flying swing. Of course my gaze skips right over to rake along the mile of golden flesh. Her legs are still fantastic.
“You still make the best chocolate chip cookies. My mom made me some last week and I’m not going to tell her this, but they couldn’t compare to yours.”
She laughs. “Your secret is safe with me. How are your parents?”
“They’re doing well. In the few months I’ve been back in the area, my mom can’t do enough for me. It’s like she realized she could’ve done more for me when I was younger and is trying to make up for it now.”
“That’s kind of sweet when you think about it,” Juliet replies.
“It is, but it’s unnecessary. I’m a grown man, and I don’t have regrets about my childhood. Could they have done more for me, spent more time with me? Yes. But they were busy working to provide everything I needed. And they made me capable of taking care of myself at a young age. Independence isn’t a bad thing.”
She turns sideways on the swing, her knee touching the side of my thigh. “Will you do things differently with Emmett?”
I meet her curious gaze. “I guess a lot of that will depend on you.”
“Why me?” she questions.
“I’m assuming you want this to be his primary residence.”
“I do.”
I take a quick glance around the surrounding neighbors’ front yards. Everything is well manicured and there isn’t a lot of traffic since this is a cul-de-sac. “This is a great neighborhood for him to grow up in.”
“That’s why I chose this house. The yard’s big enough to add a pool when he’s older and there are other kids his age nearby.”
“You made a great choice. Let me ask you, did you sell the other house because you didn’t want my parents to see that you were pregnant?”
“That was part of the reason. The other being that I couldn’t get you out of my mind and I didn’t want reminders around.”
I grin crookedly. “You have a permanent reminder for at least eighteen years. How’s that working out for you?”
She half shrugs. “I didn’t take that into consideration at the time,” she admits, and I chuckle.
“This is a nicer place to raise a child. The old neighborhood was all older families. He wouldn’t have any friends to play with.”
“That’s what I tell myself.” She smiles.
“I know it’s only been twenty-four hours, but have you given any more thought to how we’re going to tell him I’m his father?”
“Yeah, I didn’t sleep much last night.”
“Me either. It felt like the night before Christmas to me. So much anticipation I could barely restrain myself from coming over here as soon as I woke up this morning. If it hadn’t been for needing to go to work, I might have shown up on your doorstep.”
“I would’ve made you coffee and breakfast if you had.”
“Don’t tell me that or I might.”
“It’s all good. I have a feeling you’ll be spending a lot of time here.”
“It’s good that you’re preparing yourself, because you’re going to be sick of me soon.”
“I never asked you what you’re doing for work.”
“We had other things to talk about. I’m currently working as a producer for a sports network. In another month, I’ll have my own show on there.”
“You’ll talk about sports for the duration?”