Major League Advice

Two things came out of Round Two. AJ learned that Elise not only enjoyed, but actually seemed to need to have something done he'd never been asked to do before. She absolutely loved having her nipples bitten. Not playfully, but like everything else...hard. Really hard.

The second thing was after they finished, AJ had a new nickname.

"My human jackhammer," she said with a happy smile. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!"

"You're full of surprises, Elise," he told her a couple of minutes later.

Now wondering if she'd revealed too much about herself too fast, she asked, "Was that a turn off for you?"

The concern in her voice was obvious, and before AJ could reply, she sat up and said, "I felt so close to you that I wanted to be completely honest about what I like, but if I misread things and blew it, I'm..."

AJ pulled her close and said, "It doesn't matter to me what you like. All I need to know is how to make you happy, okay?"

"So...you don't think I'm...weird?" she asked, the concern still there.

"Weird? Why would I think that?"

"I don't know. Maybe you like girls who like...sweet and careful."

He turned on his side then looked into her beautiful eyes and said, "I like...you. And as long as you like sex I don't care what kind it is. Lovemaking is just one more way to connect with the person you love and one more way to meet their needs. So soft, hard, sweet or sour, I'm your guy."

Elise smiled then began to tear up again.

"Hey. What's going on?" AJ asked.

"Sorry. I'm...such a girl."

"I'm glad," he said in that 'if you weren't I wouldn't be here' way.

"No. It's just that from the first time we talked, you've done nothing but make me feel special and...and beautiful. And...now this."

"Elise. You are special and beautiful."

"I took such a big risk opening up to you, and you could have really hurt me."

He smiled at the play on words she hadn't got.

"What?" she asked before 'hurt me' hit her.

She pushed him playfully then said, "Okay. Touché. You got me there."

"I believe I got you somewhere else, too," he teased causing her to laugh.

He was now on top of her and looking into her eyes.

"AJ? When you said, a moment ago, about connecting with the person you love, you meant that generically, right?"

Her eyes were moving rapidly between his, and he knew this wasn't the time for more humor.

"Mostly," he said quietly as he brushed her hair away from her very pretty face.

"Mostly?"

"Uh-huh. But a part of it was meant specifically for us. You and me. Together."

Elise smiled again then said very quietly, "I love the sound of that."

"Yeah, it has a very nice ring to it, huh?"

"Yes. Yes, it does," she said as she felt him growing hard again.

"Mmmm. Now I know why some older women like younger men," she said with a bright, happy smile.

AJ laughed then said, trying to sound southern, "Ma'am? I hear tell you got some equipment in need of some jackhammerin'. Is that correct?"

Elise laughed loudly and happily then said in her best Scarlett O'Hara voice, "Why, suh. I do believe you ahh cuh-rect!" just before he entered her hard and fast causing her to gasp with delight.

Elise didn't ask AJ to stay, but she didn't need to as he fell asleep with her in his arms somewhere around two in the morning. He didn't have to be anywhere until after noon, so that wasn't an issue.

Elise woke up first and when she felt his warm body next to hers she smiled and draped her arm over it. Then when she realized how badly she hurt and where the pain was coming from and why, she smiled again knowing she could relish the feeling each time she moved or took a step as long as it lasted. Each step being a sweet reminder of the way this handsome younger man had met every need she'd ever had and then some.

She lay there watching him sleep and for the first time thought to herself, "You're falling in love with him."

She tried telling herself she wasn't, but she was buying it because she knew she was. Job or no job, she was indeed falling in love with this 25-year old baseball player who knew his time on the field was numbered. But after having lost the love of her life; a man who'd made decent money, Elise knew that money most definitely did not buy happiness. And after just these relatively few hours she'd spent with AJ, she knew that being with with him did make her happy and that she wanted more of it.

He felt her arm and woke up and stretched before rolling over to face her.

"Hi," he said.

"Good morning," she told him before kissing him. "You hungry?"

"Always," he replied.

"Did you sleep okay?"

"Oh, yeah," AJ said as he twirled her hair around one of his fingers.

"Me, too," she said sweetly. "Come on, I'll make breakfast for us."

Four pancakes and four scrambled eggs later, AJ was full and sipping a cup of coffee with this beautiful woman he'd made love to—several times—just hours ago.

"I'm not so much to look at early in the morning, am I?" she said before taking a sip of coffee.

"You're even more beautiful with your hair all messy and wearing just my shirt," he told her.

His words were sincere, but it was just a simple line. And yet those words touched Elise more deeply than anything he'd yet said to her.

"You make me feel beautiful," she told him again.

"You are," AJ replied.

He looked down at the empty plate in front of him then said, "And you can cook. Man, you can cook!"

"It's just pancakes and eggs," she replied, loving the compliment.

"Yeah. And last night was just...sex," he said with a warm smile.

"Did you really enjoy it?" she asked, still needing to be reassured.

He slid his chair next to her then said, "I enjoyed breakfast. But I loved being with you."

"Even with all my...proclivities?"

AJ put an arm around her then tried the southern accent again, "Don't go usin' all them ten-dolluh words on me, mah dee-uh. Ah'm just a simple man, you know."

Elise laughed happily, leaned over and kissed him then said, "I love you so much," before she realized what she'd even said.

She recoiled in near horror then said, "AJ. I...I have no idea why I said that. I only meant..."

He pulled her onto his lap then said, "Don't apologize.

More quietly he said, "Unless, of course, you didn't mean it at all."

Elise was looking into his eyes again as she said, "I didn't mean to say it, but I'm pretty sure I may have meant it. It...wasn't supposed to come out. It just sort of...did."

Her eyes were desperately searching for his approval as the same fears she'd had last night welled up in her for revealing too much too fast—unintentionally or not.

"I'm pretty sure I hope you did mean it," AJ told her quietly before putting a hand at the back of her neck and pulling her close to kiss her again.

When the kiss ended, Elise didn't pull away. She just put both arms around him and held him. Neither of them knew how long she sat there, but neither of them cared, as they both wanted that moment to last forever.

The moment when, for the first time, they both knew. Neither of them used that little four-letter word again until the season was over, but both of them knew.

And later that week, Sam and Laura knew, too.

When Sam asked Laura to invite his sister over for dinner the following weekend, she was only slightly surprised when Elise asked if she could bring a 'Plus One'.

"Would that be a handsome young baseball player?" her sister in law asked.

Laura told her husband what his sister had said, and told her her immediately, "She's in love with that kid."

Laura didn't argue the point, and when she watched the way Elise and AJ related to one another at their house, she was pretty sure her husband was correct. There was no overt display of affection in front of them, but Laura saw fingers brushing, little touches here and there, and the most revealing thing was the way they looked at one another. After they left, she told her husband she thought he was right.

Two weeks before the end of the season, Sam got a call from the athletic director at Missouri State University in Springfield, asking if he had any interest in possibly coaching at the college level.

Taken by surprise and completely shocked and trying not to sound too excited, Sam agreed to an interview, but didn't tell Laura, as he didn't want to dash her hopes in the event he got turned down. Things had been going incredibly well for them, and they were working very hard (and very often) on having a baby. So added stress was the last thing she needed.

He was earning $45,000 a year managing the Cardinals, so when the University offered him $55,000 and the opportunity to start the day after the minor league season started, he jumped at the offer.

AJ had also continued looking at the city's job postings, and also set up an interview for one called a 'workforce development specialist'. The listing said the person hired would 'provide workforce development job functions to include the coordination of assigned program activities, which may include career counseling, youth services and case management.'

He had no reason to think he'd get hired, but he couldn't see how at least getting his toes wet via an interview could hurt, so he submitted a resume online and got a call back two days later.

The man in charge of 'workforce development' for the city was a huge Cardinals fan and after seeing the degree in psychology, he told his assistant to set up an interview.

The one and only suit AJ owned was dated but clean, and he'd managed to find a way to sneak out for a couple of hours without Elise getting suspicious. They weren't living together, but they may as well have been, as AJ spent nearly every free moment he had at her place, to include every night he was in town.

Sam had been offered the job, but still hadn't told Laura when the season ended. Coincidentally, she'd just gotten some incredible news of her own that very day. Rather than share it with her husband, she waited for the end-of-season party they always had at their home the next day before the ball players went their separate ways for the off season.

The party raged until a little after midnight when Sam told everyone it was time to start winding down which meant 'go home'.

There were handshakes and hugs and lots of backslapping between players, coaches, and Laura Beckett, as well, before the last player said goodnight. He wouldn't be returning the following year, so he told Sam 'goodbye' and thanked him for everything over the two years he'd been there.

And with that it was suddenly very quiet when Sam suggested they all go inside.

"I'll get the mess cleaned up tomorrow," he assured his wife who assured him that was the last thing she was concerned about.

Elise sat next to AJ on the couch and held hands with him as her brother said, "I uh, I've got an announcement to make."

"Wait. You know?" Laura said, her face showing a look that said she was crestfallen.

"Know? Know what?" Sam said with a shake of his head.

"Wait. You don't know?" Laura said, now even more confused.

"Honey, what are you talking about?" her husband asked even as he sensed what was going on.

"No. You go ahead, sweetheart," she told him.

"No way. Not after that. You go first," Sam said.

Laura moved closer to him then took his hand.

She looked over at AJ and Elise then up at her husband and said, "Well, yesterday, I found out that you're going to be a father."

None of them had ever seen Sam Beckett cry before, but tears filled his eyes as he picked his wife up and spun her around.

"Hey! I'm gonna be a father!" he called out.

Suddenly, he stopped then very gently set Laura down.

"Oh, geez. Honey, are you okay? Did I hurt you? Is the baby okay?" he asked in rapid-fire fashion.

"You idiot!" Laura said playfully. "You're not going to hurt the baby!"

"You sure?" he asked just to be sure.

"She's fine, Sam!" Elise called, as tears streamed down her face, too.

She got up, pulled AJ with her, then went to hug her sister-in-law and then her brother.

"Congratulations to you both!" Elise said as the women hugged and cried.

AJ hugged Laura then went to shake his manager's hand but got pulled in for a bear hug.

"Wow! What's wrong with my brother?" Elise teased as he let her boyfriend go.

"And what's his big announcement?" Laura asked.

"Oh, right!" Sam said. "Well, I do indeed have some big news. Not that big, but pretty big."

He asked everyone to sit down then said, "I uh, I've been offered a new job."

"What?" Laura asked immediately. "Sam. Baseball is your whole life."

He smiled at her then said, "No. You are my whole life."

He looked down at her tummy then said, "And our baby."

More tears followed before the big reveal.

"So it's still baseball, but it's more money. Quite a bit more money. Enough to maybe turn a bedroom into a nursery."

Laura jumped up and hugged him and told him how happy she was for him as did AJ and Elise.

Once things got calm, AJ said, "I uh. I've got one of my own."

Elise's head snapped his way causing AJ to smile.

"Yeah. I had an interview of my own a couple of week's ago."

"You...you did?" Elise asked as AJ just smiled.

"I did. And you are now looking at the city's newest workforce development specialist."

"AJ. Seriously?" Elise said, her excitement growing.

"Seriously. I start next week."

"Oh, my God! AJ! I...I'm so happy for you, and...I'm so proud of you!" Elise said as she threw her arms around him.

His former manager and his now-pregnant wife also congratulated the former player, and just as Sam was about to say, "This calls for a celebration!" AJ said he had one more announcement to make.

He took Elise's hand and sat her down on the couch then smiled at her.

"It's actually more of a question than an announcement," AJ said.

As he began to get down on one knee, Elise's hands began trembling as Laura gasped, standing just a few feet behind him.

"No. AJ. What are you..."

Her hands were covering her mouth and shaking like leaves as he produced a small box then opened it up.

"Elise? I love you more than anything on earth. And if you love me, too, then..."

"OF COURSE I LOVE YOU AND YES I WILL MARRY YOU!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as her feet started banging the floor for joy.

AJ turned around and said to Sam and Laura, "I think that was a 'yes'."

There were tears in both Sam's and Laura's eyes again as AJ turned around and slid the very modest diamond ring onto his new fiancé's hand.

Elise couldn't speak, but she was holding her left hand out while covering her face with her right as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I love you, Elise," AJ said as he bent down to get her to look at him.

Her face was a mess, but never more beautiful as she choked out those same words to the man she loved.

"I...love...you...too!" she said one word at a time.

AJ helped her stand up then held her as she cried tears of joy.

Sam brought Laura over and the four of them stood there hugging and crying and congratulating one another.

The father to be and the former minor=league player started their jobs within a week of each other while Laura and Elise began planning for the upcoming wedding and new arrival. In their 'spare time' they slowing began moving Elise's things from the rental house to the one she and her handsome fiancé were buying with what was left of the money Elise had from Jeff's life insurance serving as the downpayment.

The April wedding was small but elegant with AJ's parents footing most of the bill. Elise's parents were in no condition financially to do so, while his mom and dad were, and they were thrilled to help their only child who would be staying in Springfield, a city they planned to visit often in the future.

Laura gave birth to Ryan Samuel Beckett the following month. Their baby boy was a healthy 8 pounds 2 ounces of screaming Beckett, and his father put a baseball in his tiny hand within an hour of his being handed to him for the first time.

AJ and Elise were there with them, and Elise said, "Is this a good time share some more good news?"

Laura and Sam had been cooing non-stop, but fell silent as they turned to look at the beautiful Mrs. Reddy. Even Ryan stopped crying and that was a first.

"Well, as it turns out, AJ and I will be having a baby ourselves in about seven more months," Elise said with a happy smile on her face.

Sam looked down at Ryan and said, "Did you hear that, buddy? You're gonna have a teammate in a few months!"

"Or maybe a cheerleader," Elise reminded her brother.

"Right!" Sam explained. "The Florida Marlins have the Mermaids now so...yeah!"

"Hey, as long as he—or she—is healthy, I won't care what our baby does," AJ said as he stood there with his arm around his beautiful wife.

"Here, here!" Sam said as he continued to dote on the son he now loved more than anything. Well, except for maybe his beautiful mother.

He stopped doting just long enough to look at everyone and say, "You know what? None of this would be happening if someone hadn't walked into my office one day and offered me some advice."

AJ smiled at him as he pulled his wife close.

"That was some good advice, AJ. Laura was right. That was—major league advice."

There was some happy laughter before he handed his son back to his wife as AJ and Elise gathered around her bed so they could also dote on little Ryan while dreaming of the day in the not-so-distant future when they, too, would have a child of their own.