Free Strike Out by Cheryl Douglas

deserve to know the truth? How can you sleep at night knowing you’re keeping your son from his father, especially now when it’s so painfully obvious he needs one? Why do you think he reached out to Zach? He’s missing Nathan so damn much.”
    Rennie sank down in a chair, tears falling down her cheeks as she bowed her head to pray for understanding and forgiveness. She prayed that her baby wouldn’t stop loving her when he found out what she’d done.
    Marian sighed and stroked her daughter’s back gently. “I don’t know why you did what you did all those years ago, honey. All I know is that it isn’t right. No matter what Zach did, it couldn’t have been bad enough for you to decide he didn’t deserve to be a father to his son.”
    “He didn’t want Tyler. He said so himself,” she said, sobbing. “I was just trying to protect my baby. I didn’t want him to grow up trying to earn his father’s love or feeling as though his dad resented him. I had to think about what was best for Tyler.”
    Marian ran her daughter’s long blond ponytail through her hand. “You told Zach you were pregnant, and he said he didn’t want the baby? That doesn’t sound like him.”
    “No, I overheard a conversation he and Kevin had.” Rennie reached for a paper napkin in a ceramic holder on the table. “It was the night before the wedding.”
    “I see.” Marian claimed the chair next to her daughter. “That’s why you ran away.”
    “I didn’t think I had a choice. I was angry with Zach at first. Maybe a part of me left because I wanted to hurt him.” She brushed away her tears with the napkin and toyed with the edges to avoid looking at her mother. “Eventually, I had to let go of the anger because I saw so much of him in our son. I knew I couldn’t love our son as much as I did and hate his father.”
    “Yet you didn’t tell Zach, not even after Nathan died. Why?”
    She knew Zach would ask that question, so she decided to practice her response on her mother. Maybe if she could make her mother believe that her heart had been in the right place, she could make Zach believe it too. “Tyler was such a happy baby. He was so well-adjusted, and he and Nathan developed this wonderful bond.” Rennie knew she couldn’t share that part with Zach. “Zach wasn’t ready for a family, so I thought I was doing what was best for everyone by raising Tyler with Nathan. My husband got the child he’d always wanted, I had the love and support I needed, my son had a father who adored him, and Zach was free to live his life without raising a child he didn’t want.”
    “Oh, honey,” Marian said, reaching for her daughter’s hand. “I can understand why you did what you did, but you had to know the truth would come out eventually. Especially when you came home. Richland Hills is a small town. It was only a matter of time before Zach’s parents ran into Tyler somewhere and put the pieces together.”
    “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole story before.” Rennie felt a little better after coming clean with her mother.
    “It’s not me you should be apologizing to,” Marian said, patting her hand. “Zach and his parents have missed out on the first ten years of that little boy’s life. I can’t imagine how they’re going to feel.”
    “Neither can I,” Rennie whispered. “Neither can I.”
     
    ***
     
    Zach managed to get all of his teammates to sign a jersey and ball for Tyler before he left the stadium. He knew that’s exactly what a baseball fan his age would want, but he was still nervous when he walked into the Baldwins’ large backyard. He’d spent half his life there, but everything was different. He felt like an outsider intruding on Rennie’s family’s party.
    Chuck spotted him right away and made his way toward him with a cold beer. “Hey, your parents said you were stopping by.” He pressed the bottle into Zach’s hand. “Too bad you guys weren’t able to score a win today. You pitched a