The Last Strike by A.R. Henry
Epilogue
6 months later
“I thought the stadium was closed for renovations?” I ask as Weston drags me through the locker rooms towards the field.
Our life has been a whirlwind since we got back together six months ago. After Weston’s team won that championship game they kept winning and didn’t stop. They were just crowned the college world series champions last week, and Weston promised he would take me and Cami on a vacation sometime in the next few weeks to spend time with us.
He’s been gone a lot, but the recognition the team has gotten for doing well has been worth it. The team hadn’t been in the world series in decades, so for him to even get in the tournament was a big deal. And when they won? The college president personally called him a few hours later to let him know they would build the new stadium he had been pushing for since the beginning of his first season four years ago.
A month after Weston and I made up he asked me to move in with him. I only objected for about a minute before agreeing. I knew I wanted to be with him and living together was naturally the next step for us. We might have skipped one very important step in the whole traditional date, get married, have a baby life plan though.
I took a test this morning that showed two very important pink lines. I’m planning on telling Weston tonight at dinner. I can’t wait to see his reaction. I’ve known for a while now that he’s been ready to add another to our little trio. He made it pretty obvious last month when I found my birth control pills in the trash.
He told me that we were going to dinner tonight to celebrate the end of the season, but for some reason he pulled into the parking lot at the stadium instead. He’s been silent since we got out of the car, and naturally I’ve been pestering him with questions.
As he leads me through the dugout towards the pitcher’s mound I look around at the empty stadium. It’s eerie with all the lights on, but no fans to fill the stands. Once we get to the middle of the pitcher's mound he finally stops and turns to me with the strangest look on his face. Almost like he’s nervous.
I glance around before saying, “We’re allowed to be here, right? Why do you look so freaked out? I’m not going to jail for whatever prank you’re trying to pull.”
When he bursts out laughing, I hit him playfully in the stomach.
“That mouth, Cherry. I love that mouth so damn much.”
I grin up at him. “I love your mouth too. I especially love what that mouth was doing this morning—”
“Cherry,” he says, cutting me off.
“Yeah?”
“Shut up. You’re ruining it.”
“What do you mean I’m ruining it? You’re the one that started talking about mouths—”
As I’m rambling, he suddenly bends down, and at first, I continue because I’m just assuming he had to tie his shoe or something, but then I realize that he’s not wearing shoes with laces. The next thing I notice is the small black box that he must’ve gotten from his pocket sometime during all this. The last thing I notice is that when he bends down, I can suddenly see into the guest team’s dugout. Where all of our friends and family are standing.
Huh.
This is weird.
Then he opens the box.
Inside is the most gorgeous oval diamond ring. The gold band is wrapped in smaller diamonds, and it’s everything I would have pinned to my dream ring Pinterest board. My mouth drops open, and my eyes fill with tears. I can’t believe the immense joy running through my system right now. I get to spend the rest of my life with this man. I’m not worthy.
“Cherry, baby, I had this whole speech planned, but I know you and your mouth. You aren’t going to let me finish—”
“YES!” I scream and jump up and down.
Luckily this man knows me well because he jumps to his feet and wraps me in his arms. We laugh and cry together while he spins me in circles around the very baseball mound I once hated him on.
It’s funny how things work out.
Thank God for second and third chances.
Thank God for baseball.
Without them, I wouldn’t have my happily ever after.
I guess this is a fairytale after all.