Silence lingers for a long while and it acts as a test to see if one of us will move away, to see if one of us stops this and reestablishes some professional boundaries.
Neither of us does.
“Do you really not know about Miller’s mom?” he finally asks.
I shake my head against his bicep, and I feel it flex under my cheek, which would account for the way his fingers are curling into a fist before eventually relaxing.
“Miller’s mom died.”
Oh, shit.
“And I have a feeling that if you didn’t already know that, then you probably don’t know that Miller isn’t biologically mine.”
What?
There’s so much important information coming at me at once, and I can’t seem to organize it quickly enough to give him a thoughtful response.
“Miller’s mom’s name was Claire,” he continues. “Claire and I started dating shortly after I was called up to the majors. Miller was four years old when I first met her, and just after she turned five, her mom died from cancer.”
Any words that might possibly convey how sorry I am stick in my throat. “I... I don’t know what to say.”
“That’s okay. It was a long time ago.”
“You adopted Miller,” I realize.
“I did.”
“Did her mom ask you to do that?”
Emmett exhales behind me. “She did. She was a single mom without any extended family, and she knew that when she passed, Miller wouldn’t have anyone.”
“But she had you.”
“Yeah, she did. And she ended up becoming my entire world. I quit playing that year and settled down in a small town in Colorado to raise her. She was so young at the time and had just lost the only parent she’d ever known, so she needed some stability, you know? I couldn’t travel the way I was.”
I could not be more thankful I’m turned away from him right now as I screw my eyes shut and let my heart ache for this man who I’ve always believed cares just a little too much.
But thank God he does.
“Were you scared?”
“Terrified.” He breathes out a laugh. “I was suddenly raising this kid, but I was still a kid myself. I was twenty-four or twenty-five at the time and just winging the whole fatherhood thing because I had no idea what the hell I was doing. So that’s what I mean when I say Miller and I grew up together. We both were just trying to figure it out.”
It’s no wonder Emmett is all about family. He fought hard for his.
“And Miller,” I begin. “Is she okay? I can’t imagine losing my only parent.”
“She is now. She was so young when Claire passed that she doesn’t remember a whole lot about her, but she carried a lot of guilt for a lot of years. Mostly about me quitting baseball when I did. And that I stayed to coach at our local college instead of taking one of the MLB coaching positions I was offered over the years because I didn’t want to uproot her. But I think meeting Max gave her a whole new perspective on how I felt when I met her.”
“Oh my God,” I exhale in realization.
Miller is Max’s parent in the same way Emmett is hers.
Emmett smiles and I feel the curve of it against the back of my neck. “Kind of a fun little parallel.”
“So, you really are a grandpa. Maybe not biologically, but still.”
He laughs, his entire body rumbling against mine. “You really know how to humble a man, Reese. And yes, I guess technically I am. There’s no blood relation between me, Miller, and Max, but yeah. They’re my family. So whatever title that puts on me, I’m good with it.”
