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After talking to Maurice, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I knew that he would eventually resurface, but I was definitely not expecting to hear from him today. My big boy was knocked out on my chest, while I closed my eyes for a while and just relaxed. By the time I started to doze off, there was a knock at my door. I secured Trey in place as I stood and walked over to the door. I looked out to make sure it was Quinton before opening it up.

“You ready?” he asked me.

“Yeah, let me get my bag.”

“What you need a bag for, Shy?”

“What do people use bags for? I got my baby’s snacks and us some drinks and stuff.”

“Oh, I thought you was about to try to bring some money. I was ready to put you over my knee.”

“Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“I got my boy a shirt so he can match the guys,” Quinton said, taking Trey out of my arms before leading the way to his truck.

“Hey, Trey Trey!” both Theo and Victor sang when Quinton opened the door to put him in his car seat.

“What kinda shirt?” I asked, frowning as I climbed in the front seat.

“You’ll see it. I’ll put it on him when we get there.”

“Boys, are y’all excited for the first game?” I asked them.

“Yes!” they answered in unison.

Quinton glanced at me with a smirk on his face. It was so cute how well our sons had bonded over the past months. Seeing how well they got along and how much my boys liked Quinton made the decision about moving in together a little easier.

When we made it to the baseball field, the boys jumped out of the truck. It wasn’t until then that I noticed they were wearing their uniforms.

“Oh, my goodness. Y’all are so adorable.”

“Not adorable, Mom. We’re handsome.”

“Oh, my bad. You two are handsome. You must have taken your uniform to school?”

“Mr. Quinton kept them at his house after they gave them to us so we could change after school,” Theo revealed.

“I didn’t even think about it. I’m glad Mr. Quinton was on top of it. Stand still and let me take a picture of you,” I said, snapping a picture of Theo.

“Don’t leave my baby boy out,” Quinton instructed, walking around the truck with Trey dressed in a shirt similar to the boys’ uniforms.

I fell over laughing at my chubby boy in his shirt. Theo might not have liked the word, but my baby was adorable.

“Quinton, that is so cute.”

“I didn’t want my boy to be left out.”

“Let me get a picture of just Theo and Victor, then I’ll get one with all of you.”

Theo and Victor threw their arms around each other and did various poses while I snapped a few shots of them. After Quinton and Trey joined, I took a couple more pictures before we were on our way. Twenty minutes later, we sat in the bleachers watching as the game started.

“Let’s go, Theo!” Quinton called, springing to his feet for the third time.

I really didn’t know why he bothered to sit back down in the first place. He had been on his feet the majority of the time since the game had started, and it was the first time one of our sons had been to bat.

I enjoyed myself watching as the teams played their little hearts out. I was amazed at how serious eight- and nine-year-old boys were about playing the game. Since Quinton had been playing catch with the boys, I knew they were pretty good, but I still enjoyed watching them do their thing.

“Theo’s dad called me today. Says he wants to be in his life when he comes home.”