Ever The Same

Week 37 - One More Night

It's hard to be another place
When I need you here with me
One more night and then I'm home
Sleepless nights out on the road
And all these days have come and gone, still pass us by
One more night and then I'm home
——One More Night, Slightly Stoopid

Week Thirty-Seven
Your baby is as big as a canary melon

April 24, 2022

Two days off, on the road, were damn near the last thing Grayson wanted.  He hated being away from home right now. 

His mood was also affected by the fact that they'd lost the night before.  And he hadn't really played all that well. Maybe because he was sleeping with his phone in his hand these days, terrified that he'd miss a call from home. He was having a hard time concentrating on basketball.

But he needed to find a way. Not only did he owe that to his team, his pregnant wife was pissed at him.

Cait had gone to the doctor on Friday and been told that there were no signs that labor was imminent. She was not at all dilated. The babies' heart rates were steady and they weren't in any distress. The ultrasound picture even showed Cameron sucking his thumb. She'd texted him the pictures and he couldn't believe how sweet it was.

They looked like regular babies at this point. Like they should be wrapped in blankets. He could see their features. And he wanted to hold them. But he also wanted them to wait until he could be there to make their big appearances.

It wasn't as though he wasn't busy. Practice, meetings, film, all of those would occupy his time. His teammates were keeping a close eye on him. So were his coaches. And that was starting to grate on him too.

He felt like everyone was waiting for him to lose it. To melt down. To go off. Everyone except his wife, who was telling him to man up and do his job, not to worry about her. And that everything was going to be fine so there was no reason for him to be on the ragged damn edge.

That had actually made him smile a little bit. As usual, Cait knew what he needed to hear. And that he needed to pull his head out of his ass and play basketball was apparently what he needed to hear. Because he'd played a lot better in practice today.

He glanced at his phone, wanted to call her. But when he'd texted her, she'd said she was on the phone for work and would call him when she was finished. He'd frowned at that, since it was a Sunday. But she'd reminded him that Jon was leaving for LA that night. And had confirmed that there was no movement on the childbirth front. Before he could send her another text and ask how long she would be, there was a knock on the door of his hotel room.

He opened it to see Brandon Henderson, the Grizzlies player relations manager. "Got a second, G?" Brandon asked.

Grayson shrugged and opened the door. "Unless my phone rings," he said.

Brandon smiled at that. "Any indication that you're gonna need to bolt out of here?" he asked.

"None," Grayson sighed. "Although if I don't play better than I did last night, Coach might ship me back to Memphis anyhow."

"Hey, everyone had an off night, G," Brandon smiled at him. "You definitely weren't the only one. But I wanted to talk to you about something."