“It…uh…it was a wake-up call. I really had to open my eyes and face my actions, and it made me realize I wanted more out of my life.”
“More being…?”
“A family.” And as if right on cue, Lucy comes walking in. She’s supposed to sit in the chair next to me but climbs up onto my lap and nestles into my neck.
“She’s a shy one?” Paul asks through laughter.
“Not really,” I tell him and everyone who is going to watch. “She doesn’t understand the fan part of my life, and if people have seen me out with her, they know that I won’t sign autographs or take pictures. My time with her is very important to me, and Lucy gets a little jealous.”
“That’s ’cause you’re my daddy,” she whispers into my ear. I can’t help the ear-to-ear grin that spreads across my face. Lucy’s smile matches mine.
“It seems that you have some news to share?” Paul hedges.
“Do you want to tell everyone?” I ask Lucy.
She nods and looks at Paul. “Travis is my really real daddy now.”
Paul looks at me questioningly, and I know he’s waiting for me.
“I guess the cat’s out of the bag now,” I say, adjusting us both in the chair. “Anyone who reads the papers or watches the news knows that there was an incident at her school not too long ago, which prompted legal action by Saylor and me. Yesterday afternoon, we attended a hearing in family court where I heard one of the best sentences in my life.”
“Which was?”
“You have a daughter.” I can barely say the words without getting choked up. Aside from Saylor saying, “I do,” or hearing, “the Boston Renegades have just won the World Series,” those words said by the judge are my favorite.
“That’s amazing,” Paul says.
“It is.” I look at Lucy and can’t believe how lucky I am. Her father signed off on my request immediately, making the process move quickly through the courts. I thought we would have to wait months, if not a year or longer, considering the rape accusation, but Irvin presented a strong case for me, and Lucy’s desire to have me as her father helped tremendously.
“Did you ever see yourself as a family man?”
I shake my head. “Not until I met Saylor and she showed me what it was like to have an unconditional love that loved you no matter who you are or what it is that you do with your life.”
“If you decide to report for spring training, will your family go with you?”
Saylor sits down near me, far enough away that she’s out of camera, but I can still see her. I look over at her and wink. “Yes, they will. We have discussed the possibility and decided that we’d all go together.”
“What do you want people to take away from this interview, Travis?”
“That I’m innocent and have been wrongly accused of a crime that I didn’t commit. That no matter what you may think goes on in my private life, my family and my team come first and I would never do anything to jeopardize that. Baseball has been my life, and I’ve adopted Boston as my hometown. I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Is that your way of saying you’ll be at spring training?” Paul leans forward, hopeful that I’ll give him the answer. Hell, I won’t know what I’m doing until I wake up that day.
“We’ll see. I will definitely be in Florida,
because we’re going to Disney World—”
“With the babies,” Lucy says, sitting up for the first time.
“The babies?”
She nods. “Babies Cal and Janie. They’re sooo cute,” she says.
“Lucy is talking about Cooper Bailey’s twins,” I add for clarity.
“And what about Travis—do you want him to play baseball?” Paul asks Lucy.
Lucy looks at me from over her shoulder and nods. “Yes.”