See Chapter One for disclaimers.

EPILOGUE

Two weeks later, Cody was hobbling around the house on crutches. She was still getting used to taking small steps, and had learned early bumping her left knee hurt like hell. Jeff made a point to walk on her left side when he saw her, so she wouldn't accidentally hit anything.

It was a Saturday, and the tall woman was frantically searching for her sunglasses. Jeffrey had a game in an hour, Jennie would be there any minute to pick her up, but she couldn't go without her sunglasses!

A knock on the door startled her, and she called, "Come in!", grateful to see the blonde she loved walk in.

"Ready to go?" Jennie asked, with a smile.

Cody turned wide blue eyes to the woman. "Have you seen my sunglasses, sweetheart?" she pleaded.

Smirking lovingly at the tall woman on crutches, Jennie walked up to face her. Standing on her tiptoes, she dropped the said sunglasses from the head they rested atop, placing a gentle kiss on Cody's lips at the same time.

The tall woman grinned, kissing Jennie's forehead. "Thanks," she said, chagrined.

Jennie shook her head, teasingly. "What on earth would you do without me?" she asked, grinning.

Blue eyes turned serious. "I don't know," she confessed. "I have no idea how I survived the last year without you by my side, love. I'm -"

Cody was cut off as the blonde put two fingers over her lips. "Cody, honey, we've been over this a million times in the last two weeks since you've been home. You saw you're sorry, I forgive you, we hug, we kiss, we make up," she smiled. "Please, let's not discuss this anymore. At least, not right now. If there's something else you want to talk about, we'll sit down tonight and talk; but for now, we have a baseball game to watch, okay?"

With a sigh, Cody nodded, and pulled the woman to her in a tight hug. "I do love you, Jen. So much," she whispered.

"I know, honey. I love you, too," echoed Jennie, before leading the tall woman out the door. "Jeffrey will be disappointed if we don't see him play. He's so excited that the coach has let him be up to bat first."

Cody grinned. "I'm glad I get to see his game from the stands," she stated, and Jennie raised an eyebrow at her. The woman blushed at her slip. "I watched him play a few times from the street. I knew you were there, so I never got too close, but I had to see him play," she admitted.

"I'm sorry I shut you out of his life," muttered Jennie, and Cody reached over and squeezed her hand.

"I thought we weren't gonna talk about this right now," she pointed out, lightly. "But, I do think we need to have a long talk later. I've done a lot of the talking lately, and I think it's time for me to listen."

Jennie agreed, and helped Cody from the car when they arrived at the park. Sitting on the front row of the bleachers, since she had trouble climbing stairs, Jennie sat beside her, and smiled as they watched Jeffrey practice with his team, the Little Warriors. Jeffrey had been chosen to help pick the name, and everyone agreed that was a good title.

Cody was tickled pink.

The small boy played extremely well, drawing from the things Cody had taught him, as well as what he had seen Cody and her former teammates do. As the tall woman watched, she couldn't help but relate to the small blonde how things could be done better, or what the coach could do to improve. Jennie noticed the intense look in the blue eyes she loved, and took note of it.

Jeffrey stepped up to the plate first, as the coach had promised, and missed the ball the first two pitches. On the final pitch, he connected hard, and sent the ball flying down center field, making it safely to second base. The next boy up struck out, but the one after that sent him home.

The game went by quickly, and before Cody knew it, it was almost over. Catching the final pitch, which was a grounder, Jeffrey threw it as hard as he could, and the runner was pronounced out at first. He'd won the game for his team!

After his friends had congratulated him, he ran over to his mother and Cody, and laughed happily when the tall woman lifted him onto her shoulders.

"Way to go, little man!" she praised. "That was a great catch."

"Thanks, Cody," he smiled. "Mom, the coach is gonna have a party at his house tonight for all the kids on the team. Can I go?"

"Sure, Jeff," she said, giving him a big hug. "You did a good job out there, Big Guy. Do you want to come home first, or stay with the team?"

"Is it okay if I stay?" he asked, glancing from his mother to Cody. When his mom nodded, he grinned, and gave both women a hug. "Okay! I'll see you tomorrow! Coach says he'll drop me off," he said, and scampered away to join his friends in the water fight they'd started.

"What do you say we go home?" offered Jennie, and Cody nodded, wishing she could take her hand as they walked, but having to maneuver her crutches instead. Once home, the tall woman joined Jennie on the couch, and adjusted her position until it was comfortable for her leg.

"You wanted to talk?" prompted Jennie.

Cody smiled, and took the two small hands in her own. "So did you," she reminded, softly. "Why don't you go first?"

"Okay," said the blonde, and took a deep breath. "When you first showed up again, out of nowhere, I was angry. I still loved you, and I knew deep down I did, but I didn't want to admit it to myself," she sighed. "I thought maybe if you just left, I wouldn't have to think about what had been said in the past.

"When Jeffrey seemed to be close to you again, I was upset that he could just forgive you so easily. I knew I wouldn't be able to, because of how I felt," she said, and was going to continue, when Cody said, softly:

"I hurt you."

"Yes," nodded the blonde, "you did. But when you tried to explain, I didn't listen; I was sure it was a lie. I couldn't understand how you could say the things you did, and still love me like you claimed," she said. "I never really heard what you said, Cody. You were telling me everything, giving your heart to me, and I just crushed it. I'm sorry," she said, tears in her green eyes, and Cody pulled her closer to her, holding her for a moment.

"You have nothing to apologize for, sweetheart," she murmured.

"But, I've always thought I was a forgiving person," the blonde protested.

Cody smiled. "You are," she said. "Jen, you are the nicest person I know, and I love you with all my heart. But I hurt you horribly, and I broke your heart. I took something very precious that you had given me, and basically threw it away. I still don't exactly understand how you could have forgiven that, but it really doesn't matter why. I'm just glad to have you in my arms again," she confessed, quietly.

"I'm glad to be here," Jennie agreed, snuggling closer into the warm embrace. "Cody, what were you doing out there tonight; critiquing the game?"

"Yeah," laughed the tall woman, "I guess I was. It's just a habit for me to watch the baseball games closely, and see what could have been better."

"But, honey, it's only a Little League game," Jennie pointed out, gently. Cody frowned, wondering what the blonde was getting at. "Cody, baseball is your life. Maybe you should reconsider the offer to manage the Warriors."

"Sweetheart, being manager means I have to go to every game, home and away," said Cody, quietly. "I don't want to be away from you like that again. Not after I just got you back."

Jennie agreed. "I know, Cody, I don't want you to be gone for that long, either," she said. "But, I also know how much you love the game, and how good you are at setting up the plays - why do you think Joe had you write all those plays for him? You're great at the game, Cody," she stated. "Promise me you'll talk to Matt on Monday, and ask him if the position is still available."

Cody nodded. "Okay, Jen," she sighed. "I'll ask him on Monday. Jen?" Green eyes turned to her. "Thank you for offering me the chance, honey."

Jennie just smiled, and wrapped her arms around the woman, hoping she'd made the right choice.

Monday came quickly, and Jennie was glad she owned the daycare - she handled new charges herself, and didn't have to worry about any parents running into Mac anymore. It relieved her of a lot of the stress she'd been under before.

She was fixing dinner, and Jeffrey was drawing in his room, when the front door opened, and Cody came in, wearing a black baseball cap.

"What 's this?" asked Jennie, motioning to the cap, which had the letters "LW" on it, for Little Warriors.

"Coach Lewis says I can be assistant manager and help to coach the kids when I don't have an away game," she smiled, and Jennie was silent for only a moment, before realizing what that meant - Cody was manager of the Warriors!

"Congratulations, honey!" she exclaimed, giving the woman a strong hug. The tall woman still walked with crutches occasionally, but was beginning to experiment with using a cane. "I'm sure you'll do great."

"Thank you for letting me live my dream, Jennie," said Cody, whispering into the woman's ear, as she held her close. The blonde knew she'd miss the woman she loved when she had to leave, but also knew baseball was what Cody needed. And if she couldn't play, she could coach.

"Where are you going?" asked Jennie, when the tall star began making her way down the hall towards Jeffrey's room.

Cody grinned, and replied, "I'm going to check on my future MVP."