Page 21 of Stealing Home

“Yes, I do.” He looked down at Lucia. She’d finished her bottle and was asleep against his chest, her tiny cheek pressed against his shirt. When he spoke again, his voice was soft. “I’ve got two weeks before I have to report. In two weeks, I’m supposed to pack everything she needs, figure out how to fly with a baby, learn how to install a car seat, figure out bottles and diapers and naps and…” His throat tightened. “And then I’m supposed to go play baseball like my entire world wasn’t just rocked.”

The apartment had gone completely still, and Dom turned his head to look at Evan and CJ. From the way they were looking at him, he knew his panic was written all over his face. CJ stood from the couch and clasped his shoulder, giving it a squeeze before he gently took Lucia from him, and Dom stood and began to pace.

“I still have to figure out where she’s going to sleep in my apartment. Hell, I don’t even know where she’s going to sleep in Arizona.” He hadn’t meant to say that aloud.

But now that he had, the thoughts he’d been carefully ignoring came rushing forward from the corners of his brain. He needed to call the hotel to see if they had cribs or if he would need to buy one. Did the team even allow babies at spring training? Of course they allowed babies. Players had families.

Except most players didn’t become fathers out of the blue, two weeks before they had to report.

Dom would have to figure out child care. He’d have meetings, workouts, games, film study. How was he supposed to do all of that while taking care of an infant? Could he hire a nanny? Should he hire a nanny? Did that make him a bad father? He barely knew her, and already the thought of leaving her with someone he didn’t know made his stomach knot. What if she cried during the game? What if she got sick while he was on the field? What if she needed him? What if⁠—

“Dominic.” Frank’s voice cut cleanly through Dom’s spiral. “Look at the problem in front of you. You don’t have to solve Arizona today.”

He let his father’s words sink in and took a slow breath. His father was right. Dom’s brain had skipped fourteen steps ahead, the way it always did.

“I know,” he said finally.

“I know,” Frank said with a chuckle. “You’ve been doing that since you were six, trying to solve problems that haven’t happened yet. But you don’t know what you don’t know. Focus on one thing at a time. Get the DNA test. Tell your team. The rest will be figured out as it needs to be.”

“You’re right.” Dom sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face.

“I know.” His father sounded smug, and Dom laughed. “Now, fair warning, your mother is looking at plane tickets right now.”

“Ma,” Dom started, but Celeste cut him off.

“You’re not talking me out of coming,” she said firmly. “Your father is coming too. We’ll come next week instead of tomorrow, and we won’t stay long, but we are coming.”

Dom smiled despite himself. “Yeah, all right. Send me your flight info when you’ve got it. I’ll send a car for you.”

“Send both of the boys,” Celeste requested. “It will give me a chance to get to know them better.”

Dom groaned and looked at Evan and CJ. They laughed and nodded in agreement.

“They’ll be there.”

“Good,” she said. “Now go take care of my grandbaby. I love you.”

“Love you too, Ma,” Dom replied. “You too, Pops. I’ll see you soon.”

When he finally disconnected, he watched Evan and CJ making faces at Lucia.

His phone buzzed against the cushion where he’d placed it. Then again. Then so many times in a row that Dom thought it would vibrate right off the sofa. The Rizzo sibling group chat had a hundred and four unread messages. Most of them were from days when he’d muted the chat for his own protection.

There were five Rizzo kids, and Dom was the baby, which meant he was everyone’s favorite and everyone’s project. Nico and Giulia were thirty-one and twins, which Ma claimed was why neither of them had ever let anyone else finish a sentence. Nico was a firefighter and had been married for two years, and Giulia was a nurse in the emergency department at a large hospital. She was single by choice and exhaustion. Dante was thirty and an electrician who considered his bachelorhood a lifestyle. Sofia was twenty-eight and the closest to Dom in age. She owned a hair salon and had gotten married in November. Ma was still talking about the event like it had happened last week.

Sofia

MA JUST CALLED ME SCREAMING IN ITALIAN

Nico

Is it true

Giulia

Wait. You called CJ and Evan before you called a registered nurse?

Dom