Pulling her into my arms, I tell her, “Adopted kids are really yours, you know?”
“Not biologically.”
“No, but does that really matter? Love is love, right?”
Allie rests her head against my shoulder, and I realize I could die a happy man right now. This woman is everything I’ve ever wanted. Being with her is the biggest dream I could imagine.
“So, you’re staying in Elk Lake?”
“I am,” I tell her. “But it would really help sweeten the pot to know that you’ll be my girlfriend.”
“You want me to be your girlfriend so soon?” she asks. “I thought you big city types liked to date around.”
“Been there, done that,” I tell her. “I’ve known you most of my life, Allie. And I know that I’m more than ready to be your boyfriend, if you’ll have me.”
Allie sighs against my shoulder. “This is the best day ever.”
“It really is,” I agree.
I’m not sure what the future holds, but I know one thing for sure: dreams change, and you have to be ready to pivot when that happens. I no longer care about coaching at a fancy school and making it all the way to first in state, so long as I have Allie in my life.
Having said that, I’m not ready to throw in the towel with the Crappies. I’m going to work as hard, if not harder, than I did with the Bulldogs. Who knows, maybe in five or ten years, we’ll have something to show for it.
In the meantime, I’m going to focus on my personal life, and there’s no one else I can see doing that with but Allie.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
JULY
ALLIE
Life is one wild ride. If you’d told me at any point in my childhood that I’d wind up with Noah Riley, I wouldn’t have believed you. Noah, the boy, didn’t give me the time of day. He was never mean or anything, but he sure never saw me as dating material. Noah, the man, is a completely different animal. He’s caring, attentive, fun, and full of big ideas. I seriously can’t get enough of him.
Noah and I have spent the last eight and a half months nearly inseparable. In addition to teaching at the same school, and co-coaching our basketball teams, our weekends are full of day trips, long walks, and yes, even bowling. All in all, it’s been a blissful time.
My parents have taken wonderful care of Margie, and she’s thrived under their loving guidance. With the help of a recommendation letter from Teddy, along with high test scores, Margie has been offered a theater scholarship to Northwestern. With her tuition covered, her parents have offered to pay her room and board, so long as she minors in something they decreeto be practical.
After Margie decided to let me adopt the baby, Jordan really buckled down and focussed on his basketball season. He won MVP on the varsity team and even drew the attention of some scouts. He was offered a scholarship at the University of Indiana. He and Margie never got back together, but they did manage to maintain a decent friendship, which I give them both a lot of credit for.
The Crappies went from being eight hundredth and something in the state to ending the season in four hundredth place. Noah figures at this rate, he might take them all the way to first in five years. With that goal in mind, he’s started running a year-round basketball program for middle school and high school players.
I started taking classes online so my teaching credentials will be up to par. I have accepted the full-time position as English teacher at Elk Lake High. They’re going to look for someone else to take over the girls’ basketball team because I’m going to have a baby to go home to during next year’s season.
My parents have shifted all their extra-curricular interest in photographic pursuits into becoming grandparents. They even paid my down payment on a house which just so happens to be a block from theirs. They say that’s so I can walk over after school to pick the baby up. That’s right—they’ve also declared their grandchild will not be attending daycare so long as they’re alive.
My relationship with my mom has blossomed beyond belief. I no longer feel judged by her now that I know that all along her motivation was about my happiness and not capitulation to her agenda. We shop for the baby together, often taking Margie so that she feels part of everything. We’ve decorated the nursery together, a soft blush/pink with a white bunny border—all that talk about Margie having a girl was right on the money—and we talk, a lot.
Finley’s and my friendship has grown nicely. She’s offered free professional pictures of the baby every six months until she’s five. She also asked me to help her find a boyfriend. She’s come torealize that life in Elk Lake is not full of eligible men. I have some ideas.
My phone rings, jarring me out of my thoughts. Picking it up, I hear my mom shout, “It’s time! It’s time! We’re having a baby!”
Chills shoot through me like bolts of lightning. “Breathe, Mom. It’s going to be okay. I already have Margie’s bag in my trunk. I’ll be right over to pick her up and take her to the hospital.”
“Hurry!” she says. “Your dad looks just like he did before you were born. I think he might faint.”
“I’m coming, Mom. Why don’t you call Margie and Jordan’s parents and let them know what’s happening.”
“Okay, I can do that.” She hangs up without saying anything else.
