“Come on, Josh! You have to swing the bat with all your might. You can do it!” Daniel yelled at the nine-year-old boy up for bat.
Daniel was 27 years old and the little league baseball team coach at his former elementary school. Growing up, he had no idea that working with kids would so be fantastic, but this job stumbled upon his lap, and it was better than being in a classroom all the time. He went to college and got a degree in Education, but after a couple of years teaching English to uncaring teenagers, he quit.
A buddy offered him the job, knowing that Daniel had played ball for many years, and it was like fate. Everything aligned perfectly, and he loved it. He had been doing it for some time now and couldn’t imagine anything else in the world. But it wasn’t easy. It took a lot of patience, and you constantly had to remind kids that they could do it.
Like at that moment with little Josh. He was shy and a bookworm, but his parents forced him into the team, and Daniel could see that he had talent, but he was a bit afraid of getting hit. Hopefully, Josh will get better soon and start enjoying it.
Finally, Josh hit the ball, and it went farther than the rest of the team imagined, so the boy ran excitedly to first base and jumped around in delight. “Good job, Josh! That’s right!” Daniel yelled at the field, clapping and smiling at the boy.
“Coach Givens?” Mrs. Finkle called his attention, standing next to a boy Daniel had never met. “This is Robert Marshall, a new student. He was transferred at the beginning of the week and wanted to try out for the team.”
“Awesome! Nice to meet you, Robert. Let’s get through these sets first, and we’ll see what you can do. But don’t worry, we’re sure you’ll make the team easily,” Daniel said with a smile, and Robert returned his grin.
The boy sat down with some of the other kids while Mrs. Finkle went back to her office. But Daniel frowned for a second too long at Robert at the dugout. The kid looked familiar for some reason, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. He shrugged and continued practice.
Robert was a natural at baseball, and he made the team quickly. He was also social, and the other boys laughed at almost everything he said. Finally, the parents started arriving, and Daniel saw his new student running towards a woman with a kind smile. She bent down, hugged him, and stood up again.
Finally, it clicked. Daniel remembered why he thought the kid was familiar. He looked precisely like Emily, his former girlfriend. “But he can’t be, right?” he said aloud to himself. But the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a possibility.
Ten years ago, he got his girlfriend Emily pregnant. Naturally, neither of them was ready to be parents at 17 years old. Both their parents told them that abortion was out of the question. Therefore, Emily went through with the pregnancy and died giving birth to their son.
Her parents were distraught and refused to have anything to do with their grandchild. Daniel’s parents urged him to give him up for adoption when things got too difficult for him. But he was conflicted. Emily had died for this kid, and he loved him. How could he give him up? However, he had no money, and his parents insisted.
It seemed like he had no choice, so Daniel obeyed his parents and gave the baby up. But he thought about him all the time, feeling guilty. Maybe, that’s why he loved coaching the little league team. They were in the same age group.
However, Robert might not be his son. He had to get those thoughts out of his head, or he would drive himself insane. A minor resemblance was not enough to make him suspect it. Granted, the baby had been blonde with green/blue eyes and looked nothing like Daniel. He was all Emily. Robert had more masculine features and bright green eyes.
But after a month of practice every week, Daniel couldn’t stay quiet. The boy acted so much like he did in school and was just as good at baseball. The resemblance to Emily and even him was becoming more apparent, and he had to ask his mother at least.
“Mrs. Marshall, can I talk to you for a second?” Daniel approached Robert’s mother who was sitting on the bleachers while the kids went to the showers after practice.
“Oh, Coach Givens. Call me Nina. I’m not married,” the woman replied, standing up and giving him her full attention.
“My mistake. Listen, this might sound crazy and completely out of the blue, but is Robert your biological son?” Daniel wondered, feeling a little braver about his question now that he knew Nina was not married.
“Wow, hmmm. No one has ever asked me that question before. Robert and I look very alike, but no. He’s not biologically mine. He’s adopted. He already knows. Why would you ask, though?” Nina answered, frowning at Daniel’s question. But she didn’t seem offended.
“It’s just… well, I gave a child up for adoption when I was 17, and I’ve had this feeling it might be Robert,” Daniel revealed, looking down as if ashamed of himself. But Nina surprised him.
“Sit down. Tell me more. What happened?” she insisted.
Daniel unloaded everything about his child’s birth and what happened after Emily died, but he also told her he had regretted that decision for ten years. “I mean, I know I gave him up, but I loved him. I swear. If Robert turns out to be him, I’ll be so glad that he turned out so well. I guess I need to know for sure,” he finished.
“Ok, well. I’m sorry for your loss. The adoption agency never said much about his birth parents, so you could be right about him. If we get a DNA test, what will happen?” Nina asked seriously.
“Nothing! I swear. I wouldn’t dare intrude on your life. I just want that peace that he is loved and has a family,” Daniel added, trying to make Nina understand why he needed to know.
“Fair enough. Let’s do it,” she agreed and grinned tentatively.
The results confirmed that Robert was Daniel’s kid, but he fulfilled his promise not to interfere with their life. However, Nina invited him and his baseball buddies to Robert’s birthday that year. Afterward, she said they should tell the kid the truth and see if he wanted a relationship with Daniel.
“Nina, are you sure?” Daniel asked her.
“It’s my son’s decision. I must tell him the truth. If he wants a relationship with you, it’s up to him. But I want to warn you. You have to be all-in. I can’t let him be hurt,” Nina cautioned.
“Of course! I promise!”
Nina told her son the truth, and it took a while, but finally, he opened up to Daniel. He already trusted him as a coach, so the transition to a father figure was easy. But as he spent more time with his son, Daniel also started falling for Nina, and soon enough, their relationship turned romantic.
Robert was ecstatic when Nina and Daniel told him they were getting married. He finally had a dad like most of his friends, and now he was getting a complete family.