Georgie and I needed to talk. Bad. She had my son. This wasn’t about lust or just tossing her on the bed and taking her anymore.
And Jeremy needed to know he had a father. I needed to know him. My parents would want to meet him, and I needed to fucking act like a man.
Fast.
As I heard the sizzle of the machine, I found the coffee and made that, too.
However, it smelled bad and I stilled. I picked up my apps for morning delivery that I had in case any hotel coffee the team booked for us sucked. The smell of the coffee seemed off, but I waited till it finished percolating.
With one test, I knew I’d better use the app. And, coffee was ordered.
Jeremy came downstairs, and I silently made him a plate. He stared at me like I was some wonder as I held up the orange juice. He nodded and then came beside me and said, “Mom says I need to eat yogurt every morning.”
“Got it,” I said and grabbed the tub of Greek yogurt. He pointed to a bowl and I let him serve himself.
He was clearly a good kid. He put the lid on and grabbed his own silverware. After he finished, he said, “I need help catching the ball.”
“My son?” I said, with my hand pressed to my heart. “After school, why don’t you and I throw around a ball?”
“I’d like that.” He grabbed his phone on the table and tossed it at me. “Can you put your number in my phone so I can talk to you?”
I quickly typed my mailing address and phone number. I then asked, “Can I put my parents in there, too? They’d want to meet their grandson.”
His eyes widened like I’d just offered him some sacred relic in an adventure film, but he added syrup to his waffle and asked, “Where do they live?”
I passed the butter that he skipped. “Fort Myers, Florida. I see them a lot during spring training.”
He didn’t take the butter. Georgie must be all about health.
Jeremy asked, “Is that where you’re from? The cards say Chicago.”
“They moved there when they retired,” I answered fast. “And, it’s nice to have family around during practice.”
He still didn’t move for the butter but then turned his phone down on the table and said, “Before I talk to them or you, I’ll have to ask my mom.”
“Of course,” I said cheerily, like that was a non-problem. Georgie was mine and so was Jeremy. Now we’d figure out how to be a family. Last night was my token start when I carried the two sleeping people back to her house from the address she’d given me. I’d found the keys in her back pocket and driven them without waking them much, other than agreeing to stay on the couch, because I needed to take care of them. I jumped up from the table, eager to see Georgie again. “I’ll go wake her so she can join us.”
“Okay.” He sipped his orange juice as birds chirped in the backyard.
I then took to the stairs like I’d been here for years, though I’d spent the night on the couch without exploring much. The hotel had seemed far, and I’d known I'd miss my family. I’d brought slumbering people home in the early morning hours to sleep better and for my son to have a normal routine, not in a hotel.
As I opened her room, the light of the day already streamed in. Georgie’s brown hair billowed on her cream pillowcases. And her face without stress as she slumbered was still the same girl that had bewitched my soul years ago. For now, I sat on the edge of her bed and juggled her feet as I said, “Good morning.”
She tossed for a minute and sat up, rubbing her eyes as she asked, “Where am I?”
“In your bed.” I winked. Today we needed to figure out how our lives melded. Last night, we’d ordered wine, and the sun of the day must have drowsed her as she'd passed out during the massage I’d given her as a way of getting her used to my touch again. And despite how I jiggled her in my arms as I carried her to my car, she hadn’t woken.
She’d trusted me enough with her body and our son last night to get them home, and I refused to mess that up. Now she ran her hand through her hair and asked, “What happened last night?”
I scooted closer to her and ran my hand through her soft locks. “I brought you and Jeremy home and had your car brought over an hour ago. I was sure the tow truck would wake you half an hour ago.”
“I never sleep this soundly.” Her face reddened as she came closer to me and then she pulled back and shook her head as she asked, “Did anything happen between us?”
Part of her soul must have some faith in me, and I’d earn more of that. I jumped off the bed. I was here to build trust. Lust had to take a back seat now. I needed to figure out how Jeremy fit in my life almost as much as I needed to keep Georgie, “You were exhausted and I prefer you awake, willing and open to me.”
Her face reddened, but she clasped my hand like she needed to hold me, but she didn’t look at me as she asked, “I passed out? That’s not like me.”
Good. She remembered how she'd asked me to stay and talk in the morning. I patted her hand and said, “It was late. And you were enjoying the massage.”
“Now, that I remember.” She glanced up and that sparkle in her eye caught my attention.
