“I’m going to give you guys some privacy,” Reese says from her seat at the table.
“Stay,” Miller and I say at the same time, pulling back from our hug just long enough to watch Reese freeze halfway to standing.
I wait until she swings her legs back under the table, retaking her seat before I go back to hugging my daughter.
“I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“You’re feeling okay?”
She nods against me.
“Are you happy?”
“So happy.”
“Good.” I swallow hard. “That’s all I want for you.”
Her grip around my waist loosens so I pull back, hands on either side of her face. How this is still the same girl I used toplay dress-up with or who hung out in the dugout during my practices, I have no idea.
Kai smacks me on the shoulder, so I move on to him, giving him a hug as well.
“Love you, Monty.”
“Love you too. I’m so excited for you guys.”
The girl I spent the last twenty years focused on raising is now raising her own family. That’s both incredible and terrifying. Miller doesn’t need me in the same way she once did, but that’s the whole fucking point, right? I raised her to be her own person.
“Does Max know yet?” I ask, retaking my seat at the table.
Miller shakes her head. “We’re going to tell him tonight.”
“He’s going to be stoked. I’m so happy for you three.”
Miller leans her head on Kai’s shoulder before he wraps an arm around her and places a kiss on the top of her head. And in that brief moment, I feel like an interloper intruding on a private moment. It’s kind of a big deal the first time you tell your parent that you’re also going to be a parent. And though Miller already is, becoming Max’s mom didn’t come with an announcement.
So yeah, I feel like an intruder, sitting across the table and watching my daughter share this important moment with her person.
But my attention is quickly stolen when, under the table, a hand smooths over my thigh, squeezing just above my knee.
Reese smiles brightly up at me, her blue eyes shining under the summer sun. Clearly, so excited for me and the news I just received.
And that’s when I realize, for the first time in an awfully long time, I got to share an important moment with someone too.
21
Reese
“I had a really nice time today,” I tell Kennedy, standing toward the edge of the open backyard. “Thank you for inviting me and for hosting.”
The sun is beginning to set. The crowd has started to dissipate.
“I’m glad you came. I hope you felt welcomed by everyone.”
“I did. You were right. It was a good opportunity to get to know people outside of work.”
After I ate dinner with Emmett and his family, we separated from one another for the rest of the potluck. But I caught him watching me at one point while I was deep in conversation with some of the medical staff. I caught him looking again when I was laughing at some ridiculous story one of the players was telling me.
