“I’m… gonna need some time. To process.”
“Oh-kay.”
“You should go.”
“Will you be okay getting home?”
He nodded as an answer but still, it felt weird leaving him in the middle of the park. But that was what he wanted. I stood up to leave but couldn’t without saying one more thing.
“When you didn’t come back I figured you were done with me for good. I kept thinking that if you loved me you would have been there. I was young and stupid, I didn’t realize that you were hurting too.” A tear slid free and trailed down my cheek but I couldn’t stop, he had to know this. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, Callum.”
“You still could’ve told me. One phone call.”
He was understandably upset and angry, but his face held the look of disappointment more than anything else. His knuckles began changing color as his grip tightened on the bench.
“I couldn’t risk that you might have rejected them. Me? I would’ve recovered. In fact, I did. But them? That would have broken me.”
Under protest, another tear slipped free. I took a deep breath before I walked away from Callum. I didn’t make it all the way to the car before I completely broke down.
My mind would not shut off. It had been days since…
I still couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe Melody had kept it from me, and I really couldn’t believe I had two small children. Twin daughters running around without my knowing about them, without them knowing who I am.
Part of me hated Mel for doing this. That day in the park, I’d been furious. But the more time that passed, the more I had to think things over. It was still a shitty thing for her to do, but I think I could understand why she did it.
But now what?
I didn’t know where this left us, where that left me. Would she even allow me to have visitation? Hell, they hadn’t even known who I was, would she tell them?
Before I knew what I was doing I pulled my phone from my pocket, my thumb hovered over Melody’s name. No. I wasn’t ready.
I scrolled up and clicked. Mack answered after only a few rings, “Hey man. What’s up?”
“You free?”
“I got some time.”
“Meet you at the batting cages in twenty.” I hung up before exiting my apartment and making my way downstairs to my car.
When Cheryl and I had separated, I picked up this place because it was close to the stadium, had an excellent underground garage, and was available immediately. The top-notch building security had also been a high selling point for me.
I didn’t love it, it was just a place to hang out.
The longer I lived here the more I realized, despite all its good points, I hated living in a complex. The loud neighbors, the stairs, and the no pet policy had me thinking lately that it might’ve been time for me to look for a new place.
I made the drive out to the batting cages. It was a ways away but it was close to where I’d grown up. I supposed you could say it was nostalgia that had me still going there, it reminded me of a time when the game was simpler.
Mack leaned against his car as he waited for me. I pulled up next to him and hopped out.
“I called Tony to tell him we were coming.”
Heading inside, we said a quick ‘hi’ to Tony and grabbed our bats. It wasn’t a fancy place but it was what I needed.
We took turns stepping up to bat. Mack must have known that something was off because it was one of the rare occasions when he kept his mouth shut. We heckled each other, joked about Daniel’s plea to get traded, and talked about the upcoming season.
I was looking forward to it. Partly because I still loved the game but also partly because I had decided that it would be my last. It had taken some time for me to get to this decision but it was time for me to move on.
“Okay, quit hogging the thing.” I laughed as he nudged me out of the way. I happily retreated behind the fence as he took a stance.
