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I’m starting to think maybe I don’t want to broadcast. Maybe instead of working with the game, I want to travel with my wife and attend games as a spectator rather than as an analyst.
Or maybe she’ll encourage me to keep coaching until the kids are out of the house, and maybe that’s what I’ll want to do.
There’s a future for me out there, and I don’t know if it’s in coaching or if it’s somewhere else. I’m tied to the Aces for three years—provided they want me here that long, of course, but after that, it’s anybody’s guess as to whether I’ll stick around.
But whatever I decide, I know it’ll be with Jolene by my side supporting me and helping me arrive at the decisions that are best for me and our family.
All in all, that feels pretty damn good.
CHAPTER 27: JOLENE
“We didn’t have much time to plan, but surprise!” my mom says when I walk into her house. “It’s your Baby Bachelorette Bash!”
“Surprise!”
I smile as I glance around my mother’s family room and see a group of people I love yelling the word out to me. My mother is here, of course, along with Missy. Sam, Ellie, Jack’s wife Kate, Debbie from the Gridiron, and Lincoln’s assistant, Megan.
It’s not a huge surprise considering I’m getting married tomorrow and this was their only chance to throw me a party, but they scrambled and got it together quickly. It’s a small group, but it’s a group of people who mean the most to me—all people who will be at the wedding tomorrow.
We took advantage of the bye week. Players are resting, and while Lincoln still has responsibilities and work to do this week, he has a little more freedom in how to use his time. We’ve used the week to plan, and we’ll be getting married on a Wednesday afternoon. Just like we joked about, Jack will be our officiant, and we’re going to be getting married in the media room.
We set a date for a big party in May to celebrate. The season will be over, and the baby will be over a month old, and it just felt right since May was when we reconnected in Ohio.
We play silly games that are some combination of baby shower and bachelorette games, and we laugh—a lot—and it’s beyond wonderful to see my mom and Lincoln’s mom in the same room together again, laughing and having a great time at an event they planned together.
It makes me feel like we actually did bridge these two families back together…barring his father, anyway, but he seems to have made his peace with that.
Jonah and Cade are at Devin’s place for the night, and Sam stays the night with me here at my parents’ house since Lincoln is staying at our house and we decided to spend the night apart for tradition’s sake.
And when I wake in the morning, it’s my wedding day.
It’s not the big celebrity gathering one would imagine for the coach, but with a tight timeframe, we’re doing this our way.
Sam is my maid of honor. Lincoln asked Jonah to be his best man.
My heart practically burst when he told me he wanted to do that, and Jonah was beyond honored to even be asked.
It’s really all working out.
And so I shouldn’t be surprised when we run into a hitch on the actual day.
We’ve told nobody outside of our small circle, yet paparazzi stand around outside the Complex as my mom parks her car in the parking lot. I’m not dressed yet, and my make-up artist and hair stylist are meeting me here to help me get ready.
And wouldn’t you know it? Leading the pack of the offensive photographers is none other than Ryan Rivera.
“Guess my invitation got lost in the mail,” he says to me as I step out of the car and grab the garment bag from my backseat.
I scoff at his words. “I didn’t send you one.”
“And yet…here I am anyway.”
“Is this what you’re doing now, Ryan? Working with the paparazzi?” I pull a face and shake my head. “How the mighty have fallen.”
My mom is standing behind me shooting him dirty looks.
“It’s actually quite a bit more lucrative than working at the station ever was, to be honest.” He shrugs. “If you know what you’re looking for, anyway.”
“Yeah, but there’s also the whole morality issue. You got any problems sleeping at night knowing you’re invading someone’s privacy?”
