Page 66 of Double Play
Me?
My stomach flips.
“Me?” I repeat, like I’m not sure I heard right.
Kai nods once, seriously. “Yeah. You. She’s your goddaughter.”
And suddenly the room goes quiet in that gentle way. Like everyone is holding their breath for me. I step closer slowly, hands out like I’m approaching something wild. Kai lifts Rowan out of the seat with terrifying care and places her in my arms like he’s trusting me with his entire soul.
Rowan is so small it doesn’t make sense.
Her cheeks are round, her lips soft, her tiny fingers curled into fists like she’s already ready to fight the world. I stare down at her and my chest does something I never thought possible. There’s this primal instinct that fills my chest, and as I sniff her tiny head, I know I’m done for.
I need this.
I want this in my future with Andres.
“She’s so tiny,” I whisper, and Andres steps close beside me, shoulder brushing mine. His gaze is on Rowan, but I can feel him watching me too, like he’s reading my face. Rowan shifts in my arms and makes a tiny sound, a newborn squeak, and my heart basically stops.
I look up at Andres, overwhelmed by all the feelings.
“Do you want one of these?” I murmur, my voice barely there. “"You know, someday?”
Andres’s expression softens instantly, like something in him melts and he doesn’t answer right away.
Instead, in a voice so quiet, so reverent, like he knows this is a sacred question, he asks me, “Do you,mi sol?” he whispers. “Do you want to be a dad someday?”
My throat tightens and Rowan’s warm weight in my arms feels like a future I never let myself imagine too clearly.
“Yeah,” I admit, voice shaking. “I do.”
Andres’s eyes glisten. He leans in, mouth brushing my temple, and his voice is so soft it almost gets swallowed by the ocean of emotion in the room.
“I want nothing more than to raise a bunch of kids with you,” he says.
I blink hard, thinking it will fight back the tears.It doesn’t.
When I look down at Rowan again, she yawns, her tiny mouth opening, her little tongue peeking out like she’s already got opinions. A laugh catches in my throat, wet and startled.
“Careful,” Kai says, watching like a hawk. “Support her head.”
“I am supporting her head,” I snap automatically.
“You better be.”
Isla swats Kai’s arm. “Stop hovering. Eat your food.”
Kai points at Rowan. “That’s my daughter.”
She points at me. “He’s holding her like she’s made of glass and love. Relax.”
“You’re doing good, Jack.” Adriana smiles at me, eyes soft.
Gael nods. “Yeah, look at you,carnal.A fucking natural.”
“I’m sweating,” I say nervously.
Rowan stirs again, then settles, cheek pressing against my forearm. And something in me quiets. There’s no stadium noise, no cameras, and no blood sugar alarms. Just a tiny life asleep in my arms and the man I love standing close enough to keep me steady.
