Play Along(130)

I don’t know if we’d be having this wedding without that one. It gave us the opportunity to see the other for who they really are, and we haven’t been able to take our eyes off each other since.

Kai smiles to himself through the reflection in the mirror as he smooths the fabric of my jacket over my shoulders. “Who would’ve thought, huh? We were just a couple of kids trying to get by on our own and look at us now. Who would’ve thought we’d be as blessed as we are?”

“Crazy to think we spent all those years just the two of us, and now look how many Rhodeses there are.”

“Well, there could be seven Rhodeses if you and Ken ever decided to give Max and Emmy a cousin.”

I burst a laugh. “I swear, you and Miller have tried to slip that into every fucking conversation we’ve had since Emmy was born.”

“And I have no plans on stopping.”

The truth is, Kennedy and I haven’t thought too much about having our own. We love being Aunt and Uncle to my brother’s kids, but we’re also having a blast just the two of us, working together, traveling together.

One day, when I retire from professional baseball, maybe we will or maybe we won’t. Life is real fucking good either way.

There’s a knock on the door of the bedroom we’re getting ready in.

“It’s us,” Miller calls out from the other side.

“Come in.”

The door is only open a crack before my nephew comes barreling in wearing his best suit.

“There’s the birthday boy!” I hoist him into my arms, holding him at eye level. “How old are you today? I can’t seem to remember.”

He very carefully holds four fingers up.

“What? There’s no way. I thought you were still a little baby.”

“No. I’m four.” He giggles, pointing over my shoulder. “Emmy is a baby.”

I turn to find my sleeping niece in Miller’s arms, the little girl with her mom’s green eyes and her parents’ shared dark hair. Named after Miller’s dad and our mom, Emmy Mae Rhodes was born shortly after my brother retired, and any doubt or hesitation I had about him leaving the game for good was dispelled the moment I saw how centered he was at home with the three of them.

It’s been a full season without playing next to him, the second starting just next week, but the combination of having Kennedy with me and knowing Kai’s favorite job is away from the field has made the transition easier.

But that’s not to say that he hasn’t missed being around the sport. We were hardly past spring training last year before Monty hired Kai as one of his pitching coaches. He’s not there every practice or game, by any means, but he’s still around and it’s been a fucking blast.

“Thanks for sharing your big day with me and Auntie Ken, Bug,” I say to my nephew. “We’re going to have a big birthday cake tonight, huh?”

“Auntie Ken looks pretty.”

“Did you get to see her?”

His blue eyes go big, his smile just as massive as he nods his head.

“Lucky guy. I can’t wait to see her. Tell me everything. How is she wearing her hair? What does her dress look like?”

“Hey!” Miller cuts in. “Don’t try to use my son to get information. You’ll see her soon enough.”

“I don’t want to wait any longer. This is torture.”

“Jesus, Isaiah,” Kai laughs. “It’s only been a few hours since you’ve seen her.”

“You don’t get to say anything,” I argue back. “You were far worse on your wedding day.”

“It was different. Miller was pregnant. I needed to check in on her before the ceremony.”

Miller bursts a laugh. “I was perfectly fine, and you knew it.”

Kai smiles to himself before leaning over to kiss her, following that with a press of his lips to his daughter’s head. “My girls.” He turns to me and his son, taking Max from me. “And my guys. You’ve got a big job today, Max. You ready?”

He nods enthusiastically. “I’m gonna carry Auntie Ken’s ring.”

“Heck yeah, you are,” I encourage. “Do you know whose ring that was before Kennedy’s?”

His smile goes wide. “Grandma Mae.”

The room goes silent. We’ve been teaching Max about our mom for a couple of years now, so it’s not shocking to hear him say her name, but today, on the day she passed, on the day he was born, on the day I get to marry the love of my life, it feels important to say her name out loud.

“Yeah,” I exhale. “She would’ve loved to be here.”

Kai puts a hand on my shoulder. “She is here.”

My brother and I look at each other for a moment, silently saying all the things.

“Well,” Miller pipes up. “I’d offer you a wedding day shot, but we all know how that turned out last time.”

The room shifts to laughter, Miller’s specialty.

“Thanks for that, Mills.”

“Come here,” she says, opening her free arm for a hug, and I wrap mine around her and Emmy.

“Is she doing okay?” I quietly ask.

“She’s doing great. Excited to see you.”

“Thanks for being such a good friend to her.”