The Baller: A Down and Dirty Football Novel(81)

“Da Da Da.” Of course, she hadn’t learned Ma Ma yet. My daughter was definitely a daddy’s girl.

Brody started telling the baby some story about her namesake accidentally dropping her teeth down the garbage disposal, and I let the two of them have their time together and snuck back down the stairs. A little while later, Brody came down. His black shirt was half white with talcum powder. He pulled me into a kiss, then leaned down and kissed my belly. “Marlene just went down early. How long have you been home?”

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Long enough to solve my Wheel of Fortune puzzle. I love it. Thank you. Do I win a prize?”

“A big one. I’ll give you that later.” He winked. “Did you open your box?”

“I didn’t, actually. I wanted to give you your present first.” I walked over to the bag I had left by the doorway and pulled out a simple white box wrapped with a red bow.

“I took the baby to the park half the day so she would pass out early.” He shook the box. “I’m hoping there’s a sexy teddy for you in here.”

“It would have to be a maternity teddy at this point.” My belly was definitely bigger earlier this time around. I rubbed at my bump. “I don’t think maternity and sexy cotton teddy go together very well.”

“You’re nuts. I think you look hot as shit this way. Extra curves.” His hands cupped into the universal gesture for large boobs. “Extra tits. I might keep you knocked up for years.”

I smacked at his abs. Hard as a rock. I really was one lucky woman. “Open my present, perv.”

Brody slipped off the bow and opened the box. He scratched his chin, then picked up the brown leather mitt. “You do know this is a baseball glove, right? I play football.”

“Wiseass.” I took the ball out of the box and handed it to him. “The center of the ball is made of cotton. For our two-year anniversary.”

“Oh. Thanks, babe.” He leaned over to kiss me, but I put my hand on his chest and stopped him.

“Try the glove on.”

He pouted at my rejection but did as I asked. Slipping his fingers inside, he found my second present. After he had removed the rolled-up papers from the glove, he went to toss them on the table.

“Those aren’t stuffing. That’s your one-year paper anniversary present.”

Brody’s forehead crinkled as he unrolled the first of a series of sonogram prints. He looked down at the picture and then back up at me.

“What’s this?”

“I had to stop in to do a urine test at the OB today. Just to check my blood sugar. My count was normal, but the doctor did a sonogram to check my fluid level.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yep. But take a closer look at the picture.”

He held them up to his face. “Is that—?”

“A penis.”

Brody’s eyes flared. He would never admit he wanted this baby to be a boy. In all honesty, he would be perfectly happy with a house full of healthy girls. But if he could pick the sex . . .

He surprised me by lifting me up and spinning me around. “A cock! My baby’s got a cock!”

I laughed. “That’s one way of putting it.”

When he finally put me down, he spoke to my stomach. “Did you hear that, kid, you’re going to be a man.”

“Um . . . I think he’s going to be a boy first.”

My crazy husband picked me back up and spun me around again, this time yelling, “A boy, we’re going to have a boy! A boy, we’re going to have a boy!”

I laughed. When he put me down, he opened the sliding doors that led to the yard and screamed to whoever might hear him: “A boy. It’s a damn boy!” He was so loud, the whole neighborhood probably knew now.

I loved that I could give him this gift. We were so blessed; there wasn’t much more to ask for in life. We had found true love, had a healthy baby girl and a boy on the way, had friends we adored and jobs we loved. We were happy beyond our wildest dreams. Dreams that weren’t even imaginable for either of us only five years ago.

When Brody stopped yelling, he walked to me and cupped my face in his hands, speaking softly. “I love you, Delilah Easton.”

“How come you’re whispering now?” I teased. “Don’t you want the whole world to hear how much you love me?”

He kissed my lips. “Didn’t you hear? I just told them.”


THE END