Ed came out of his chair and was on his feet. “No. Really?”

“Your wedding was a lucky night.”

“You’re kidding. Really?”

Christian stood and met his brother. “Really. So I need to get over there with rings and gifts and get this all solidified. I want her to marry me before the baby gets here. This is how it should have always been.”

“Go. Take tomorrow too. But then, damnit, you’d better not miss another day.”

“I’ll do my best.”

He made his stops around town. The baseball was in his house, in the room he’d made a shrine to his successes. It was all worthless now. Nothing could compare to what was about to come. A trophy was plastic. A wife and a family—that was forever.

The ring was small and the stone was pink. The man assured him that they could resize it if it didn’t fit Ali. He’d thought buying a ring for Tori—twice—was hard. This had been harder.

His final stop before heading home to his family, was to buy a baby outfit that looked like a baseball uniform. On the back he had printed KELLER 15 to match the jerseys he’d once worn.

Now it was time to make amends and become a family.

It was nearly four-thirty when he pulled up in front of the house, but the minivan wasn’t parked in the driveway. That was even better. He would go inside and be waiting.

When he walked into the kitchen the flowers were still on the table where he’d arranged them with the sparkling cider and the glasses. Still there was the ring he’d planned to give her. But there was a new addition to the items.

Christian moistened his lips as he sat down in the chair. Next to the ring was a small framed picture. The frame said OUR BABY and inside was a sonogram picture of just a little bubble—his bubble.

He could feel tears well in his eyes. That made it all very real.

The front door opened and Christian’s heart rate kicked up. It was time. She was there and she wasn’t going to kick him out—not ever again.

When he looked up Sonia was walking toward him. Her eyes were dark and her cheeks flushed.

“I thought I’d find you here. Your brother said you’d taken the day off.”

His heart raced faster now, but now with a pain that he couldn’t quite explain.

“You went to my office?”

She nodded as she looked at the table. “I have the kids at home with Craig.” She moved closer to him and he now could see that her eyes were red and moist. “Tori’s at the hospital.”

His uncomfortable heart rate became nearly so painful that he had to put his hand on his chest to ease the discomfort.

“Is she okay? Is everything okay?”

Sonia shook her head. “She’ll be fine. They are just keeping an eye on her. But, Chris, she lost the baby.”

He’d never in his life burst into tears, but at that moment he did. The pain of her words was so incredibly sharp, that he felt like he might die in that chair. He felt as he did when he couldn’t get to Dave to save his life in the crash. Christian Keller was helpless.

Sonia moved to him and he pulled her into his arms.

“I can give you a ride.”

“I can get there,” he said into her hair as she held him tight.

“Your uncle left the clinic and went up to the hospital to be with her. He’s there now.”

Of course he was. There was always a Keller man ready to help someone who needed them. He’d been the only one not to take that path the first time.

“I’m going to go to her,” he said pulling away.

“She loves you. She’s very distraught about the baby and not telling you.”

He wiped his eyes. “None of this matters. She’s what matters and she is what always mattered.” He picked up the picture on the table. “There will be other babies.”

She gazed up at him and smiled. “What are you going to do?”

“Be there like I should have always been.”

He kissed Sonia on the cheek, picked up the ring, and headed out the door to the hospital to help Tori mourn what was lost and prepare to move on.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Curtis Keller was waiting just outside the elevator when Christian stepped off. He was in blue scrubs and had at least a day’s worth of beard growth.

“Is she okay? Tell me she’s okay.”

Curtis moved to him and placed his hands on his nephew’s shoulders. “Tori will be fine. Miscarriages at this stage aren’t uncommon. She can go home in a little while. We’re just getting her some fluids, because she’s very dehydrated and some pain meds.”

Christian nodded. “What? How?”

His uncle dropped his hands. “She began to have bleeding and pain. When that happened, she had Sonia bring her into the clinic. It happens, Chris. You have to understand that, it just happens. She didn’t do anything wrong. There just was a reason that this baby didn’t make it full term. It doesn’t mean it’ll affect her having more babies.”

Christian nodded again. “I just want to see her.”

“C’mon.”

He walked him down the hall to a room where the door was open just slightly. He could hear her sobbing and that pained him.

“She’s going to be okay,” his uncle said, resting his hand on his shoulder again. “Just let her know you’re here.”

“Forever.”

His uncle gave him a smile and walked away leaving him to be with her and heal her emotionally after having caused her so much grief.

Reaching for the door had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. Walking away from things like this had always been easier and too often the road he’d taken.

Her back was turned to him when he walked in and shut the door, but she didn’t turn to look.

“Tori.” His voice was unsteady as he called to her.

She rolled toward him. Her eyes were swollen from all the tears she’d cried and her cheeks were wet. An IV line was taped to her wrist.

“You can go. You don’t have to be here,” she said on a sob.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’m not pregnant anymore. You don’t have any responsibilities to me.”

Christian swallowed hard. He could argue with her, but he wasn’t going to. This was the moment he needed to know what it was to be a man and accept life in all of its ugliest forms.