The Curve Ball - Samantha Lind Page 0,4
on a team T-shirt and some basketball shorts.
“I was going to head into practice if you don’t mind staying here by yourself?” I ask Riley as I walk into the living room where she’s on the couch. She looks a little tired this morning. I overheard her telling Jillian that Evelyn was up every three hours last night, hungry. That stopped me in my tracks. How often does a baby need to eat? How am I ever going to do this without someone’s help? Fuck, I might need to call my mom to come to stay with me for a while.
“We’re good here. I think little miss will enjoy some time in the swing while I grab a quick shower,” Riley replies.
“Do you need help moving anything?” I ask, looking around again at everything Jillian brought over. I wasn’t lying when I told Derek earlier that it looks like the baby department from Target exploded in my living room. Between the giant boxes from the swing, stroller, and pack-n-play, to the piles of clothes, diapers, wipes, bottles, and formula, this baby has taken over my house in the span of a few hours.
“I’m good. Do you have a room that you want me to set up as a nursery? I can move all of this into it and get it out of the living room.” She asks, pointing to the assembled pack-n-play and swing.
“Umm…” I stammer. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I guess we can make the room next to the one that you slept in last night the nursery. Did Jillian get everything that I’ll need for a nursery?”
“She didn’t get a crib or changing table, but the pack-n-play will work for both for now. Once you get everything figured out with the paternity and custody, you can go buy furniture.”
“Okay. If you think of anything else I might need in the meantime, here’s my credit card, you can go pick it up or order it online and have it delivered,” I tell her, pulling one of my cards from my wallet and handing it over. I don’t take Riley for someone that would run out and run a balance up with random shit, so I feel comfortable handing over my card and giving her free rein with it.
“Thanks,” she says, a small smile pulling at the edges of her lips. My eyes lock on those lips, and I have to shake my head to stop the thoughts from forming of them wrapped around my cock. “Hey, do you think you could give me a ride over to Derek’s before you leave? My car is at his house.”
“Sure, I’m ready when you are.”
“Let me just go grab the diaper bag and make sure it is packed, and then we can head out. Do you think you can put Evelyn in the car seat?” she asks.
“Ummm…” I hesitate, “I guess I can try. You might have to show me how the buckle works.”
“That I can do. Give it a few days, and you’ll be a pro at it,” she says, flashing me a full-fledged smile.
I warily pick Evelyn up, making sure to support her neck like both Jillian and Riley showed me. I place her in the car seat and pull the straps over her shoulders. That’s where I stop. The buckle is weird, and I have no fucking clue how to use it. I take the time to look at Evelyn. I take in her little button nose, her wispy, baby-soft dark blond hair. I don’t miss the fact that it’s the same color as my own. I don’t think that she doesn’t look like me, but I also don’t think she does. But what do I know, I’ve never paid that close attention to what babies look like or who they resemble. I’ve only really been around a few teammates’ kids, Derek’s specifically.
“Did you get it figured out?” Riley asks, pulling my attention back to the present.
“Nope,” I tell her, shaking my head side to side.
“It is not that hard,” she says as she pushes me out of the way. She grabs both parts of the buckle and crosses them over each other. “All you have to do is just cross these two over each other, line them up with this and secure them into the bottom part.” We hear the buckle click as she shows me how to do it. “And to unbuckle, you just press this button and pull up on these, and they’ll come