Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 654(@250wpm)___ 545(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 654(@250wpm)___ 545(@300wpm)
I didn’t argue, just said what needed to be said and left them to argue the points amongst themselves, which seems to be what they do best. Did I mention the kid’s name had already been chosen, and neither its mom nor dad had any say in the matter, apparently?
I guess Lisa saw my eye starting to twitch because she claimed she was tired and who would doubt her after the amount of food she ate? They left but not willingly, and I could see how hard it was for them to go while leaving her behind though they were only going a few streets over to the hotel.
“Babe, what the hell just happened here?”
“I told you. Now you’d better come up with something before me, and the child disappears until he or she is ready for college.”
“Not to worry, baby, you’re both coming with me.” I put my hand on her tummy the way I’d been doing for the past few days while the idea of fatherhood grew on me.
She picked up a carrot stick from the carnage of her last meal and chewed on it while gazing off into space. “Let’s stick to your plan no matter what. They’re going to come at you from all angles with a million different ideas just to get their way. Do not back down, do not show hesitation, stick to your guns. If you give in on any point, you’ll have to deal with me because I’m not spending the next six months with those people. I finally got away….”
She continued ranting about everything under the sun while I listened to her grievances and agreed with her when needed. “Right, wedding first, then you come on the road with me. You’ll take online classes for now; then, once the baby’s born, we’ll see how things go.”
With her major online classes won’t cut it for too long, but one year won’t hurt. That would be time enough to have the baby and a few months to be home with him or her. The season lasts five months from beginning to end, and I leave in a few weeks, but I plan to live here with her for the next four years at least until she gets her degree, then I have no doubt we’d be moving closer to her family, or I’ll have no peace.
I didn’t tell her that because you’re not supposed to stress pregnant women, but I’m pretty sure deep down inside she knows that that’s what our future looks like. And after what I just witnessed, I have no doubt they have no plans on letting this kid out of their sight once he or she is born.
“How does it feel to exceed all expectations, Baxter?”
I was sweating and out of breath but feeling so elated that neither mattered. The reporter was right, I’d exceeded everyone’s expectations, including my own, but funny enough, I was more excited about my wife and the twins that were in the box watching me play.
Well, she was; they were probably sleeping since that’s what two-month-old babies do. Her family had flown in for the final game of the season to watch their son-in-law play, and there was no other option but to win in front of that bunch, but now I wanted out of here.
I wanted to go home with my wife and kids, sleep in my own bed, which was not in the apartment near campus but the house we’d been gifted in her family’s neighborhood. Compromise is the way I live these days. I’ve learned how to choose my battles wisely, and in all honesty, we always come out on top, Lisa and I.
My kids are literally set financially for life whether I play the game or not. The little shits have more money than I’ll ever make, and they can’t even talk yet. Lisa no longer fights them on the whole protection thing; in fact, she now embraces it since she’s more paranoid about something happening to the twins than anyone else.
She and the women in her family are baby crazy, and they’ve dragged my poor mother into their mess. Mom and dad have been holding out, but I’m pretty sure one of the men will soon talk them into moving close to where we are.
My dad’s pride has been holding out, though; no way he’d live in a house someone else bought. I’m waiting to see what trick they’re going to come up with to get him to agree. Then again, mom might be the one to do him in since she has baby rabies-like the rest of them.
I didn’t hear half of what the reporter had said because I was busy searching for her. She wasn’t in the box that I could see, just her family and mine; my mom held one twin, probably Simone, while her mom held my son, Devon.