“It’s so weird to think of you without thinking about baseball.”
He glanced at me. “You think it’s weird for you, how do you think I feel? I have to figure out who I am all over again.”
“You know who you are.”
“A man in love with his Kitten?”
I gave him a mock frown. “Jack, be serious.”
“Part of my identity for as long as I can remember is being a baseball player. If I’m not that anymore, then who am I?”
“Who do you want to be?”
“Harry Potter,” he teased.
I laughed out loud and grabbed his hand. “Mission accomplished.”
Two Months Later …
I didn’t know what to do with myself with all the free time Jack’s help gave me. It made me realize that I had been living a sort of single mom life, although I’d never admit that to Jack now. It served no purpose. I simply made sure to thank him for everything he was doing to help.
Longing to make up for lost time, Jack refused to let me help with Chance’s homework, and woke up every morning to drive him to school. He even called Nora behind my back and told her I was ready to start taking on assignments. I had to tell Jack to “slow his roll.” Yes, I wanted to work again someday, but not the second after he had stopped.
“You’re trying to get me out of the house,” I said after learning that he reached out to Nora.
“I don’t want you to waste any more time not working now that I’m home,” he confessed. “I can handle everything here just like you did. You put your dreams on hold for me, and now it’s time you go chase them again.”
My hand flew to my open mouth and covered it. Jack never ceased to amaze me when it came to how thoughtful, caring, and loving he was. Lowering my hand, I said, “Staying home with my son isn’t a waste of my time. And now that you’re here too, I’m in no rush to be gone.”
“Are you sure? You’ve given up so much,” he started to say.
I shook my head. “I’ve given up nothing. My dreams aren’t gone. They’ll still be waiting for me when I’m ready to pursue them again. But that’s not now. Especially not now.” I couldn’t imagine focusing on a job now that Jack was finally home. I wanted to take the time to enjoy actually being a family in a two-parent household.
“Well, that’s good to hear because I’ve been gathering all these quarters, you see, and I can’t really use them if you’re not here to use them on.”
“Is that so,” I asked as I pressed my body against his chest and felt the need between my thighs.
“I have. I think I’ll spend this whole jar right now. Knock you up again.”
“I swear to God, Jack. If you give me another boy, we might need to adopt something female. Like a girl dog or something. All the testosterone around here is killing me. Between you and Dean and the boys, there are way too many Carter males running around.”
He laughed hard. He does that a lot lately, thank God.
Touching his cheek, I said, “I’ll never get tired of hearing that laugh or seeing those dimples.”
“Better get used to it, Kitten. ‘Cause I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m counting on it.”
He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine, then deepened the kiss in that way that always made me want to tear his clothes off. I always assumed that if Jack changed after quitting baseball, it would be for the worse. It never occurred to me that post-baseball Jack might actually be better. There was a whole other person who lived inside him that neither of us knew existed. This guy was much happier, much friendlier, and a hell of a lot less stressed.
Not that Jack wasn’t any of those things before he left, but like I said before, a weight had been lifted from my man’s shoulders. He finally felt like he could let loose and have fun, actually go out on the weekend and not be wracked with guilt over it.
Quitting baseball had been one of the best decisions Jack ever made. And leaving the sport didn’t make him miss the game, it made him love his life and the choice he made to finally have one. I loved my husband with every fiber of my being, and slept in his arms each night knowing he felt the same for me.
He’d promised to have me knocked up again by the end of winter. “It’s my new goal,” he said with a laugh.
“Consider it met.” I chewed on my bottom lip as he pulled back from my arms.
“W-what?” he stuttered. “Do you mean what I think you mean?”
I tilted my head to the side and smiled. “If you think I mean that we’re pregnant again, then yes.”
Jack wrapped his arms around my middle and lifted me off the ground, the world spinning beneath my feet. “Oh my God, Kitten! Yes! I love my swimmers!”
I laughed, pulling out of his grip and touching my toes to the floor. “Your swimmers? You love your swimmers?”
Shrugging, he added, “I love you too. But you know that. I’ll always love you. Always.” He lowered himself to his knees and pressed his lips against my belly. “And I love you too, little man.”
Rolling my eyes, I whined. “Not this again.”
Jack rose to his feet. “Yes, this again.” He placed a gentle kiss on my lips. “You’ve seen us Carter men in action. We breed boys.”
“You’re gonna be in a lot of trouble, mister, when you find out we’re having a girl.”