Page 153 of Running
Suddenly, a happy thought hits me. “So wait, I think this means you could wear my jersey to a game, right?”
“Maybe…” she says in a teasing tone.
Oh shit, I hope she does, but I don’t want to press in the moment.
When we’re about five minutes away from home, my phone rings. It’s the team physician’s number.
“Hey, Doc,” I say as I pick up.
“How are you, Johnson? I’m happy to say that I’m calling with good news.”
“Oh yeah?” Please let this be what I think it is.
“The tests we ran yesterday, everything looks good. You’re cleared to start playing.”
“Fuck, yes.” Grace looks over and I whisper to her, “I’m fully cleared.”
She grins widely. “That’s amazing, honey.”
I turn back to the phone. “Sorry for the cursing, Doc. I’m pumped.”
“No worries, nothing I haven’t heard before.” The humor is plain in his voice. “I’ll pass it along to the coaching team too.”
I know I might have to wait a week to play during a game, so they can ease me back in. But I’m pumped to get back onto the practice field tomorrow.
Doc hangs up after giving me more instructions for when I’m at the facility tomorrow.
“We’re almost home,” Grace says. “I can’t wait for you to update your mom on all of this.”
Once we’re at the house, my mom is predictably overjoyed at all our news.
“I’m so glad you and Landon made up, in particular,” she says, her hands clasped together. “That was hard, for everyone.” She glances at Grace briefly.
“November’s about gratitude, right?” I say. “Lots to be grateful for this month.”
Mom had been making lunch for Lainie and the kids, so we add two settings to the table and join them.
The kids are in great form, Emma telling stories of their new preschool and Leo babbling like crazy in response. It took a while to convince my sister to let them attend preschool three days a week, but the extra time is giving Lainie space to get her life organized. The kids both seem to be thriving there.
With Mark and her on the same page about her keeping full custody, Lainie’s begun looking for a new job, even though I told her she could wait as long as she wanted.
“I like to work, Johnny. I need that adult time,” she explained.
The important thing is that she’s lookinghere, and we can stay together as a family.
Eventually, Emma’s storytelling dies off and we dig into the food, until Lainie breaks the silence again.
“Grace, I had an idea.” Her voice has a conspiratorial tone.
“Oooh, yes?”
“Let’s start a book club! A romance book club like I had in Alabama. It’ll be a great way to meet more people around here.”
“I love it. What genres would we pick from? There’s so many. Small town, romantasy, workplace…”
As they figure out their plan of attack, I sit back and take it all in.
My family. Together and whole.
