When the game ended, every single person in the stands rose to their feet and gave Jack a standing ovation. They chanted “Carter” throughout the innings and I was in tears pretty much the entire night.
Chance didn’t understand why I was crying, but he loved watching his dad pitch. His eyes were so focused and intense and I recognized that gleam. I was certain we had a future ball player on our hands. Although every time the crowd screamed for Jack, Chance covered his ears and exclaimed, “It’s too loud!”
Knowing this was the last time I’d ever be in this stadium watching Jack play made me want to throw up. The life we’d always known up until now was ending and I had no idea what to expect.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. It wasn’t that hard to think back to the time when Jack broke his hand and how mean he’d become. There was a part of me that was terrified to even entertain the idea of him acting like that again. What if he completely changed after tonight? What if he hated being free from baseball and didn’t know what to do with himself?
I worried.
But all I could do was hope he’d made his decision for the right reasons and that he never blamed or resented me or Chance for them.
Melissa reached over and grabbed my hand. “It will be fine.”
“What will?”
“I know what you’re thinking. You’re worried. Your face always does this little crinkle thing right here,” she pointed at the bridge of my nose, “when you’re worried. It will be fine. Jack will be fine.”
“What if he hates me and thinks I ruined his life?”
“Do you hate him and think he ruined your life?” she fired back.
I frowned at her hard. “No. Why would I think that?”
“Because you had to quit your job and move out here to be with him. You haven’t worked in almost five years. Do you blame him for that?”
“Not at all.”
“He won’t either.”
I closed my eyes and knew she was right. “Thanks, Melis.”
“I don’t know why you don’t just talk to me in the first place. You’d save yourself a lot of brow-furrowing.”
I chuckled. “Remind me next time.”
“I shouldn’t have to remind you. Hell, if you don’t know how smart I am by now, you’ll never learn.”
“Probably true,” I admitted with a smile.
“Let’s go get that husband of yours,” she said as she tugged me out of my seat and led the way to the tunnels.
The seven of us walked down into the corridor and waited for Jack to come out of the locker room. I worried that it might be a long night since it was his last. His teammates would want to tell him good-bye, and I knew that there were reporters waiting to interview him as well.
I stood in the corridor, holding my son’s little hand. At five years old, he still let me hold his hand in public, and I loved that. I dreaded the day he’d pull his hand away from mine and tell me he wasn’t a baby anymore.
“Think he’ll be long?” Dean asked, carrying his two-and-a-half-year-old son in his arms.
I nodded. “Probably. It’s the last time he’ll be in there, so we might be waiting all night.”
Chance tugged at Dean’s shirt. “Uncle Dean. Uncle Dean.”
Dean glanced down at his nephew. “Yeah, little guy?”
“Put Coby down. I wanna play with my cousin,” he demanded and Dean leaned over to do exactly that.
“Be careful, he’s wobbly,” Dean warned.
“What does wobbly mean?” Chance asked with a frown.
Melissa leaned down so she was eye to eye with him. “It just means that sometimes when he runs, he’ll fall down. So don’t chase him too fast, okay?”
“Okay, Aunt Lissa.”
Chance and Coby ran around in circles between the other players’ wives and relatives. The other families gave us sad smiles, each probably convinced that Jack didn’t get any offers worth taking and that was why he was leaving. I smiled back, a huge, happy smile, which seemed to puzzle them. They didn’t get it. But they didn’t need to. This wasn’t about them. It wasn’t about anyone other than Jack and our family.
When the door swung open, I found myself shocked to see Jack waltzing through it, carrying a large duffel bag.
“Daddy!” Chance pulled his hand from mine and ran toward Jack.
“Hey, you.” He planted a big kiss on Chance’s cheek. “Did you like the game? We won.”
“No. It was too loud and it hurt my ears. And Mommy cried.”
Jack’s eyes were instantly on mine. “Why’d you cry?”
“I was moved, Jack. The way the crowd reacted to you. It was really emotional for me to watch.”