The Square Up (F*** On The Court)

Epilogue

Kade

Two Years Later

“Breathe, baby. In through your nose, out through your mouth. You’ve got this.”

My voice is rock solid, but inside, my heart is pounding out of my chest. A rush of everything I’ve ever felt for this woman amplifies by a million as she grips my hand like she’s about to break it. If it helps her, she can crush my damn bones.

I’ve heard stories over the years about what women go through in childbirth, but seeing it first-hand—I have a whole new respect for the entire female race. A man could never go through what I’m watching right now.

Not only has she grown our child in her body for nine months, but she’s been working like the devil for over twelve hours to bring our baby into the world.

Abby groans, her body tensing as another contraction hits.

“Breathe, bright eyes,” I whisper, leaning close to brush a kiss against her forehead, slick with sweat. “You’re doing incredible.”

She glares at me, half-laughing, half-panting. “If you say ‘breathe’ one more time, I’m going to—”

“What are you going to do, baby? Leave?” I grin. “You’re in the game now, sweetheart. There’s no getting out of it now.”

Her grip tightens on my hand again, and I wince. Damn, she’s strong.

Two years ago, I thought there was no way my life could possibly get any better. Marrying Abby was the best decision I ever made. But today? Today’s about to top all of that.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” she groans, squeezing her eyes shut as another contraction takes over.

I chuckle. “You were the one who wanted to have a basketball team full of kids, baby. I’m just helping your wish come true.”

“Thanks, Mr. Jiminy Cricket.” She swats at me weakly. Even through the pain, there’s a sparkle in her eyes. My wife is a warrior.

“You should’ve talked me out of it,” she groans.

“What? Talk you out of giving me a team of mini-mes and yous, Mrs. Nash? Not on your life.” She doesn’t mean that. She’s just as excited as I am. In fact, we’ve both been dancing around like a couple of fools since the moment we found out we were expecting. And because we’ve both been blessed with our lives, we can dedicate ourselves full-time to our family. We retired from our respective careers excited to tackle the most important job of our lives—raising our children.

The doctor walks into the roomand snaps on a pair of gloves. “Alright, Abby. Are you ready to do this?”

“No.” She growls as another contraction washes over her.

“You’ve got this, baby.” I rub circles on her back. “It’s almost over.”

“I think all you’re gonna have to do is one more big push.” The doctor winks.

I look down at her, and my heart nearly bursts out of my chest. How did I get so lucky? “You hear that, baby? One more push, and we get to meet our little one.”

Abby sits forward and grasps my hand. “Let’s do this.” Determination flares in her eyes. I nod, dropping my forehead to hers as she digs deep and pushes through the last contraction.

Suddenly, the room fills with the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard—our baby's cry.

“It’s a boy!” The doctor holds our baby up.

My pulse races as I watch the nurse swaddle our son in a blanket and set the tiny, squirming bundle into Abby’s arms. Our baby. Our son. His cry echoes in the room, strong and perfect, and my heart practically stops.

The doctor claps me on the back, but I barely register it. All I can see is this tiny little human we created, Abby’s eyes wide with wonder as she stares down at him, and I feel… complete. More complete than I ever knew I could be.

“Your son is a healthy nine pounds,” the doctor declares. “Congratulations.”

Tears sting my eyes as I stare in awe at our son…my boy. I’ve never felt this much emotion at once. This feeling is so profound it takes my breath away.

“I told you we were having a boy.” She giggles.

“You did.” I nod. “I thought for sure it was a girl. But she’ll be next.”

“Next?” Her nose scrunches. “I don’t think I can do this again.”

“Baby, we’ll talk about that later. What are we naming our boy?”

“He’s so beautiful,” she coos.

“He’s perfect,” I murmur, my hand covering hers as we both hold our son for the first time. “Just like his mom.”

“I like Alexander.” She beams at me. “Alexander Kade Nash.”

“You want to name him after me?” Tears fill my eyes again.

“I do.”

“Then that’s what we’ll name him.” I press a kiss on my son’s cheek. “Hello, Alex. Welcome to the world.”

His mouth curves up, and my heart melts.

“He likes it.” Abby giggles.

I sit beside Abby’s bed, watching her smother Alex with love. I have a family. My heart is so full it feels like it’s going to explode.

I think about how, before Abby, all I could focus on was my career. Basketball was my life, my everything. I never thought there could be something bigger, something that would matter more. But as I watch Abby cradle our son in her arms, I realize this —this moment right here—is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life. This is the life I didn’t know I was searching for until she came along.

“I love you, Abby,” I say, kissing her temple.

She looks up at me, her eyes shining with tears, and I know—this is it. This is the life I’ve always wanted.

“We did it,” she whispers, her lips curving into a tired but happy smile.

“Yeah, we did.” I kiss her again, then look down at our son. “And this is just our beginning, baby. Just the beginning.”

Thank you for reading this novella.