The Rookie and Me: Second Chances (COMPLETE)

Acting Suspicious

Summer came so fast, before we knew it, training camp was starting. I don't know how Tyler does it. He always gets up early and works out, but with training camp starting he has been waking up every morning to go to practice, comes home and eats lunch, then goes back to the stadium to practice again. Training camp usually lasts around two weeks, then the preseason games begin. He is allowed to participate in the preseason games, but once the season begins, so does his 4 week suspension. He still has to travel with the team during his suspension, but he is not allowed to play until week 5.

He has been so tired these past two weeks, I've been trying to make everything as easy as possible at home for him. I've made every meal, I have kept up with the house, I've done all of the grocery shopping, taken care of the dogs, etc. He's been really appreciative, but by the time he gets home at the end of the day, he showers, eats dinner, and passes out almost immediately. He's been trying to help me out as much as possible, keeping things as light as he can around the house, but there's only so much he can do when he's not able to be home as often. He gives me daily back rubs though, so I am so far loving this pregnancy.

I look over at the clock on the stove. 5:23 p.m. He should be getting home anytime now. While Cameron plays with his toys in the living room, I start getting everything together for dinner. As I'm washing the vegetables, Tyler walks inside.

"Hey, baby." He says as he comes over and kisses my lips. He places his hand on my growing belly and rubs it, just like always.

"Hey, rookie. How was practice?" I ask as I start chopping the veggies.

He takes his shoes off and sets them by the garage door. "It was exhausting. The last one is always the roughest. I'm going to go take a shower."

Without giving me a chance to respond, he heads upstairs to our bedroom. As soon as I hear our bedroom door close, I pull my phone out and call Whitney.

She answers on the third ring, "Hey baby mama, what's up?"

I shout across the room to Cameron, "Hey bug, mommy is going to talk to Whitney on the phone for a minute, okay? I'm just going to be in here." I point to the garage and step outside.

"Sorry, I didn't want him hearing this conversation." I say to Whitney.

"That doesn't sound good. What's wrong?" She asks in a worried tone.

I sigh, "I think something is wrong. Tyler has been so distant from me lately. I don't know what went wrong, but he's definitely not been himself."

"Well, he has been training pretty hard these past two weeks, Ali. I'm sure that's all it is. Just getting back into the groove of football season." She assures me.

I shake my head, "No, no. It's been longer than two weeks. He's been different for like, over a month now. I don't know what I did, but it has not been the same around here for a while now."

She pauses for a moment, "What has been different?"

I scramble my brain, "Well, like, he's been gone a lot. He's been coming and going all hours of the day, and never invites me to come along. Every time he's on his laptop and I come into the room, he immediately puts it away before I can see anything. And the same thing goes for his phone. He has been getting a lot of phone calls lately and never takes the call in front of me unless it's his mom. I never thought I would say this, but I think he's cheating on me?"

Whitney hums, "Ali, I'm sure nothing is going on. He's not the cheating type. Especially with you being 4 months pregnant. He loves you way too much to hurt you like that."

I stay silent for a minute,"Then why would he be acting so suspicious? I've been cheated on enough times by Joe to know the signs. And my body doesn't look the same as it did a few months ago. Maybe my belly freaks him out and he found someone smaller to satisfy his needs."