The Curve Ball - Samantha Lind Page 0,66
those words. I needed that affirmation.”
“I know, baby. But please, please, promise me that if something like this happens again, and I’m sure it will, that you’ll come to me first before you let it get to you or before you believe one single thing the tabloids post about me, you, or us.”
“I promise,” I tell him, and mean it with everything that I am.
“Ddddd!” Evie squawks again, hitting her hand against the highchair. I realize I got caught up in talking to Justin and stopped feeding her, so I give her another bite of the oatmeal.
“You be good, baby girl,” Justin says to her. She looks at the camera again and babbles at him some more. He just soaks up these precious moments, even if they are through the phone. “All right, my two favorite girls, I’ve got to get going. We’ve got a team meeting before a light pre-game workout. I’ll call you once we’re done and on the bus back to the airport. I can’t wait to have you in my arms again tonight,” he tells me, flashing me a devilish grin.
“Only if you’re lucky!”
“Bye, I love you,” he says, laughing at me as the connection ends.
Evie squawks at me once again, telling me how unimpressed she is with my lack of feeding her. “So sorry,” I tell her as I get another spoonful ready for her.
Once she’s finished with breakfast, I take her in for a bath. Now that she’s eating actual food and not just drinking bottles, she’s quite messy after most meals, and it's just easier to wash her down quickly.
With a clean baby, I get her dressed in a cute summer outfit that I pulled from one of the bins that Jillian passed down. It’s got little fruit slices all over it and ruffles on her butt. Ruffles make everything better. “How about some jumperoo time so I can shower?” I ask her as I set her down on the floor of my bedroom with a few toys so that I can go grab it and bring it into my bathroom.
She babbles and laughs the entire time I’m in the shower and getting dressed. I pull on a pair of cutoff shorts, a Lightning tank top that JJ brought home for me not long ago, and my Berk sandals. After brushing my hair out, I pull it up and into a bun on the top of my head. Between the heat and humidity, I hate it being on my neck all day.
“Shall we go to the park, Evie girl?” I ask her as I take her out of the jumper. She kicks her legs in excitement as I place her on my hip. I take her out to the garage, securing her in the stroller before heading out.
“How are you?” Jill asks in lieu of a greeting as I answer her call.
“I’m good, we’re good. It was all just a bunch of nothing. That picture was from last summer sometime, and he wasn’t at the bar last night. Just some trashy reporter was trying to start shit,” I tell her in a quick recap of the morning. “What are you and the girls up to?”
“Just hanging out. They’ve been bugging me to go do something. They want out of the house.”
“Evie and I are on our way to the park if you want to come join us,” I offer.
“You know, we might just do that. Meet you there in ten?”
“Sounds good, see you then,” I tell her before hanging up the call. I set my phone in the cup holder and keep on moving. We arrive at the park a few minutes later, finding it a little busy this morning. I guess we weren’t the only ones with the idea to get in some park time before the storm rolls in later today.
I park the stroller and take Evie out. There’s a baby swing open, and those are her favorite. So, we head over to it while we wait for Jillian and the girls to arrive.
“Hello,” a young woman pushing a baby a little bigger than Evie greets me as I start pushing her. “Your baby is so cute.”
“Oh, thanks! She’s not mine, I’m the nanny,” I tell her.
“Me too!” she tells me, a little excited. “How old is she?”
“Six, almost seven months. How about your little one?” I ask, making polite conversation.
“He just turned eight months old yesterday,” she says, pushing him again. “I’m Brooke, by the way.”
“Riley, and this is Evie,”