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“Do you reo, but Mom and Jack ith me I had spoken to possibly four teams that wanted me and had no idea where I’d end up I ept up in the press; all the sports talk interviews, the azine articles, my picture was on a billboard in Times Square I was paraded around the city with the rest of the number-one class People shouted and screamed at us like ere celebrities It was surreal
“The ed e and shook the commissioner’s hand with my new team jersey over my arm, my mind flashed to two people, Dad and Ari Not Mom, not you, not any of my coaches, or teamht We celebrated with the best chane we could order I partied around the city before catching a flight to my new home and team the next day”
“Oh my God” Cara’s voice cracks
“Yeah, now let me tell you another story about that same day A brokenhearted twenty-one year old Arianna sits on the sofa in front of the television Shethe footage surrounding the draft She’s roughly seventeen weeks pregnant, put college on hold, and has moved home Her life is in shaoes to protect her baby
“So she watches me all day strut around New York City with a s fore to start ain at the same time She watched the man she loved so much achieve his drea her the world
“So she’s surrounded by Luke, Sophie, and her grandh her best friends shirt and sobs shake her body For the first ti her storand and they were concerned she was having a late e She refused any sedative in the aht she killed our baby Thank God, she was okay, but she was put on bed rest for a while and also given a mild anti-depressant The doctor wanted her to see a psychiatrist, but she declined She vowed to everyone in her life she would get better and be the best mother to our child She later told Luke, she knehen my name was announced, our lives and dreams had been a fairytale she would never see co theirlfriend was because of the idea of an open relationship”
“That is devastating”
“You think that’s bad? Let et better She read books about parenting and healthy pregnancies She did everything in the world to keephi and killing her too But even though she was taking care of herself, she shut down eranded her to find me to let me know, but besides the draft, Ari’s last irl into my room when she showed up at my apartment to tell me about the baby So when my son was born, he had only one parent listed on his birth certificate, and it isn’ta mother only”
I finishto suck in the o easy on , but Cara cries quietly When she starts to hiccup, I can’t take anymore
“Go back to your hotel, Cara I’ll drop Mom off after brunch”
“Where does this leave us?”
“Right now, there is no us I’ll let you know if I’m ready to talk”
I leave her outside on the porch and lockup the house I turn off the small lamp and watch Cara walk around the house in the darkness The engine of mom’s car starts in the driveway and I listen as she pulls away
Jack’s watching TV in the small den, he looks at me and sits up when I walk in “I heard your conversation”