Hardball: A Sports Romance (7 page)

Six months later

The fluttering of blue and pink tissue paper stirred Arabella back from the quick nap she had slipped into.  Several presents were stacked high about the living room, but it was the two oak cribs with two large bows that brought an instant smile to her face. Go figure that Chance would run away from cleaning up the mess from the baby shower. It was overwhelming just for her to look at.

    Arabella pushed herself up to rest a hand on the swell of her belly. Four more months, and the twins would be sleeping in those cribs— a surprising present from Chance’s father, Nathan.  He had objected to their relationship, engagement, and even marriage, but the mention of grand-babies seemed to be the thing that won him over.

    Their five bedroom house was quiet, too eerily quiet. It was the middle of summertime, and Chance had nowhere to be for at least another couple months before preseason started again. She massaged her lower back as she walked out onto the back patio deck that overlooked three acres of green grass to find Chance sitting on edge of their small pool with his legs in the water.

    “What are you doing out here?” She asked, using his shoulder as a way to lower herself down to sit next to him. She let out a blissful sigh when the warm water lapped at her already swollen ankles.

    “Just thinking,” Chance said. “I didn’t want to wake you. You literally passed out the second Lindsey pulled out of the driveway.”

    “It’s exhausting being pregnant with twins,” Arabella replied, rubbing at her face with a tired yawn. “The party was just as exhausting. Are you surprised about the cribs?”

    Chance shrugged his shoulders. “I think my dad’s more excited about grand babies than he was about ever having me.”

    They shared a laugh at that. It had been the same type of news when they told Arabella’s parents that they were pregnant with twins. Arabella rested her head on Chance’s bare shoulder to feel the hot sunlight in his tanned skin. They stared across the green lawn to where a bush of wildflowers grew thanks to Arabella accidentally dropping a packet of seeds in the dirt. Bumble bees buzzed from flower to flower while sprinklers clicked lazily in the distance.

    “How are they doing now?” Chance asked. “I hope they let you get some rest.”

    He rested a hand on her stomach. The sunlight glinted off the golden band of his wedding ring, and he received two enthusiastic kicks in return.

    “They let me sleep when you don’t mess with my belly,” she said, rubbing the top of his hand with a smile. “I think they already know the difference between your hands and mine. They kick whenever you sneak a feel in the middle of the night.”

    Fierce pride filled Chance’s eyes at that. He picked up Arabella’s hand, and pressed a tender kiss to the back of it. Genuine happiness sparkled in his eyes as he gazed at her.

    “How did I get so lucky?” Chance asked, softly.

    “I have no idea,” she said, teasingly. “It certainly wasn’t easy loving you some days, but you got it figured out.”

    And it hadn’t been easy. Their relationship was on every tabloid and gossip site. It took all of Arabella’s trust and self-control not to pay attention what others said about them. She learned real quick that there was always a hundred different angles to one story. Most of them were speculation or made up.

    She didn’t regret it though. She didn’t regretting accepting his marriage proposal on live television. Not because it was publicity, but because Chance wanted to prove a point that he could commit himself in light of everything.  Now, they were expecting twins together with another contract tucked away under Chance’s impressive career. Nothing could go wrong now. It felt as though they were invincible for the first time in their lives.

    Arabella twined an arm through his as they sat there with their legs submerged in water, and enjoying the views of the summer sky stretching on before them, endless and beautiful.

Hardball by Alexa Reiss

Published by
Alexa Reiss

www.authoralexareiss.com

© 2016 Alexa Reiss

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.