Shared Custody

After a slow, tender start, she'd finally managed to work up the nerve to tell Logan what she wanted and yet she felt very uncomfortable even saying the words out loud.

His verbal response was both sweet and tender, reassuring her he not only understood, but thought it was the most simple request he'd ever had. What followed was anything but tender and Whitney had never felt more excited or alive in her life.

She came three times as Logan quite literally ravished her, taking her roughly and in a way she'd fantasized about many times, but never been brave enough to ask for. She'd stifled her screams several times as he had his way with her which was really her having her way with him.

As they lay in one another's arms, her insecurities crept out again.

"So...did that scare you off?" she asked quietly

"That? That was pretty tame," he told her honestly.

"Oh, my gosh! You're kidding me?" she said. She raised her head then said, "Here I am thinking I'm getting all wild and crazy and it's no big deal to you."

"Oh, it was big deal. Trust me."

"But it wasn't new so...."

"New?" he said turning to face her. "I don't need 'new'." He touched her face and said, "I just need...you. All I want is to know what makes you happy. Just ask me and I'll do it. But it isn't the way we make love, it's making love with you," he told her tenderly.

"You're full of surprises," she said sweetly. "And all of them are very pleasant. I've gone from being almost afraid to feeling like I'm...."

"Like you're what?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, nothing. I'd really scare you off if I told you."

"If you really, really, really...like me, then please know I like you that much, too," he said with a smile.

"I guess I am a little afraid I'll scare you away. I mean, I thought I'd never be happy again. I thought I'd never find anyone who made me feel like...this...again. And now I'm afraid of holding on too tight and watching it slip away."

"You can't hold on too tight," he assured her. "And nothing is going to let me slip away because I feel the same way about you. Whitney, I was at an all-time low the day we met. My marriage was over, my career was ending, and I'd lost the only other thing I felt like living for. And then I saw him. And then Jodie. And finally her beautiful mother. And...and...I'm falling in love with her."

Logan saw her eyes tear up while he was speaking and by the time she finished tears were falling down her pretty face.

"That's what I wanted to tell you," she said barely able to talk. "I'm...I'm falling in love with you too, Logan."

"You know, hearing Jodie tell me I have her blessing warmed my stony old heart like nothing else I've ever been told. It made me believe that maybe, just maybe, we might actually be a family someday."

Whitney rested her head on his large, muscular chest and said, "I'd like that very much."

"Me, too," Logan said as he kissed the top of her head.

"You know what else I'd like very much?" she said raising back up and playfully looking into his eyes.

"Another roll in the hay?" he guessed not needing to guess.

"Wow. You're a regular psychic!" she teased.

Logan rolled her over roughly causing her to yelp then cover her mouth as she began to laugh.

"I am so happy!" she told him as she spread her legs wide to receive him again. When he entered all at once she winced from the pain then sighed with happiness.

"Oh...God," she moaned.

She squeezed his large, thick cock as hard as she could then moaned, "That makes me very happy, too!"

Logan got up around 5am and Whitney asked if he wanted her to make him a cup of coffee.

"No, you go ahead and sleep another hour. I'll get something on the way home," he said as he pulled on his pants.

"Okay," she said trying not to let her disappointment show.

She sat up to kiss him goodbye then said, "But I wouldn't mind if if you stayed for breakfast next time."

"Do you think that would be a good idea?" he asked knowing that's what he wanted, too.

"Well, we do have Jodie's blessing, right?" she said sweetly as she put her arms around him from behind.

"True. Okay, sure. I'd like that," he told her. "A lot."

"Me, too," she said.

Logan turned around and took her pretty face in his hands and said, "I really do love you, Whitney. I didn't know if you felt the same way, but...."

"I do," she said cutting him off. "I feel the very same way, Logan. I love you, too."

"So...I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye," she said not wanting to turn loose of his hand.

She heard his car start up then back out of the driveway and a sea of emotion swept over her causing her to cry out of a sense of happiness she thought she'd never feel again. And yet here she was feeling it and feeling as deeply as she ever had.

"I'm in love again," she said quietly out loud. "I'm really in love."

She heard her phone buzz and reached for it. It was a text from Logan.

"I'm not a religious man, but I'm thanking God right now for leading me to you. Or leading you to me or...." There was a smiley face and three red hearts after it.

"I'll say a prayer of thanks for both us," she texted back. "I haven't been to church since I was 12, but I'm very thankful, too. I'm sorry Rusty ran away from you, and yet if he hadn't...." She added several sad faces with tears then several hearts of her own.

She set the phone on the nightstand and knew there was no going back to sleep. She threw off the covers and went downstairs and made a pot of coffee. A few moments later, she realized it was 5:30 in the morning and she couldn't stop smiling. Being in love really was, as they say, a many splendored thing!

When Logan was in town, he and Whitney spent every minute she wasn't working together. He still hadn't stayed until Jodie woke up, but he was a becoming a regular fixture in their home, and Jodie enjoyed having him there almost as much as her mother. Going to his place was fine, but spending any kind of 'quality time' together was nearly impossible. Then again, the season would be over a few more days and both of them had decided to let Jodie know they were more than friends, even though they both suspected she might have already surmised that on her own.

After a lengthy discussion with Whitney, Logan decided to stop wrangling with Bridgett. If she'd sign the divorce papers, she could have everything she was asking for. In return, she'd agreed to an expedited divorce and within 60 days, they would no longer be husband and wife.

Logan didn't mention it, but Whitney's willingness to 'give up' over two million dollars of what might possibly be her money told him she wasn't interested in his bank account. Then again, she had no real idea how much money had and quite honestly didn't care. She certainly didn't know that after everything was said and done, he'd still have a little north of a million dollars, a pittance of what he'd earned over his many years in major league baseball. That didn't matter to him in the least as he'd found something he valued far more than money. He'd found love and happiness and the peace of mind money could never buy.

In fact, to demonstrate how much he loved her, he had a very special evening planned for the last game of the season which was a home game in Seattle. Because he was still legally married, it had to be run all the way up to the owner, a man who was grateful for all that Logan Benson had done for the team over the years. Because of that, he'd agreed to his request.

"I really like Logan, but do we have to go to another boring baseball game, Mom?" Jodie asked.

"Just one more, honey, and then Logan is done with baseball."

"Can I bring my video games this time?"

Whitney laughed as she wished she could play video games, too. Knowing Logan wasn't going to play made sitting through another baseball game worse than watching paint dry. But there wasn't anything she wouldn't do for this man she already loved so dearly. It made no difference how long she'd known him or how much older he was than her. After all, what was a decade between friends, anyway? Especially friends who were now passionate lovers.

It was what Mariners' fans called 'a two-blanket' game because it was so cold in the stadium one blanket wasn't enough to stay warm. Whitney and Jodie were wrapped up tight in a kind of double sleeping bag as the latter sat there and played her video games in the darkness of her toasty-warm 'shell' while the only part of Whitney that was visible was her face.

"Is it almost over?" Jodie asked when the 7th-inning stretch came.

"No, not yet," her mom said knowing how long two more innings could take.

"How about some hot chocolate?" she offered just as she stopped talking and perked up when something caught her attention.

The PA announcer was calling out her name and when she realized it, it scared her half to death.

"What is going on?" Jodie said poking her head out of the sleeping bag.

"Hometown favorite, Logan Benson, is playing in his last game as a Mariner and a professional baseball player tonight."

Logan was standing on the pitcher's mound and waving at Whitney to join him.

"What is he doing?" she said as the announcer again called her name.

"Logan is requesting Ms. Whitney Gallagher join him on the mound for a special announcement."

"What's going on, Mom?" Jodie said finally looking up. "Hey! There's Logan and he's waving at you."

"Oh, my goodness!" she said as her face appeared on the stadium's monitor.

"Mom! That's you!" Jodie said pointing to the screen then saw herself. She couldn't help but wave even as her mother thought she would die of embarrassment.

A chant of "Whit-ney, Whit-ney!" began and she forced herself to stand up.

"I guess I'll be right back, honey," she told her daughter who was now watching with rapt attention.

Another player helped her over the fence, offered her his arm, and walked her onto the field. He stopped at the mound, smiled, and said, "Good luck!" before jogging back to the dugout.

Logan produced a microphone and turned it on then said, "Testing. One, two, three."

Loud applause told him it was working.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I can't thank you all enough for the support you've shown me over the last twelve years. I've never played for any team but the Mariners and Seattle is now my home. Today is in fact my last-ever game and I would remiss if I didn't thank you."

There was a loud burst of applause and calls of, "We love you, Logan!"

"But as much as baseball has meant to me, I've found something...." He reached for Whitney and put her arm around her.

"Actually, I've found someone who means even more. In fact, I've found two people who mean more to me than baseball or anything else for that matter. Jodie? Can you please stand up?" he called out.

Jodie was both thrilled and scared to death when she saw her face on the big screen. She stood up, smiled, then kind of sheepishly waved back.

"Thank you, honey!" he called out.

"That girl and her beautiful mother, Whitney Gallagher, are the loves of my life. We only recently met and it happened because my dog, Rusty, ran away. These two beautiful young ladies found him and took him in and cared for him me until we just happened to run into one another some time later at the same park where I lost him."

He looked down at Whitney and smiled as he held her with one arm.

"Meeting them; meeting Whitney, was the happiest day of my life. I must say I was going through a bit of a hard time and meeting her turned everything around almost immediately. Anyway folks, I won't take any more of your time other than to say I am deeply in love with her and...."

He handed her the mic and fished something out of his back pocket. He took the mic again then got down on one knee and said, "I can't imagine not having her in my life every single day from now on so...."

He managed to open the small box without dropping the mic then said, "Whitney Gallagher? I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?"

The entire stadium exploded in loud cheers and shouts of, "Say, yes! Say, yes!"

Whitney was no longer cold. She was warmed from the inside out and flooded with more emotion than she could ever recall. Her hands were covering her mouth and her head was nodding, but no words came out.

"I'm taking that as a 'yes', folks," Logan said as he set the mic down and placed the huge diamond ring on her left hand.

"Yes!" she finally said only to him. "Yes, I will marry you, you crazy, wonderful man!"

Jodie smiled as she saw her mom kiss the man they both loved and hollered out, "Yes!" knowing her prayers had been answered.

People all around her congratulated her and, like her mother, Jodie couldn't remember a happier moment in her life.

Logan waved to the crowd which cheered loudly as he and Whitney walked off the mound hand in hand. He took her all the way back to her seat and knelt by Jodie.

"So is this okay?" Logan asked her.

"Get real!" Jodie said as she threw her arms around his neck. "I've been asking God for you to be my daddy for two whole weeks now! I knew this stuff took time, but...sheesh!"

The people nearest to her heard that and the women all said, "Ahhh!" as they watched them hug.

"I'll see you both after the game then," he said to both of them.

"Yes, you will," Whitney told him. "And Logan? I want to spend every day of my life with you, too."

Those same fans clapped and whistled and wished them all luck as he went back onto the field and took his place on the bench.

The Mariners eked out a one-run victory in the bottom on the ninth on a game-winning, season-ending solo home run. And with that, Logan Benson's career came quietly to an end.

However, a new and even happier chapter began as he and his new fiancee and her daughter...their daughter...started their lives together that very evening.

Over the next three months, Bridgett decided to sell the house right around the same time the divorce became final. Unexpectedly, she offered some of the profits to her ex-husband which he used to pay off the existing mortgage on Whitney's house and do some rather extensive, much-needed remodeling.

He kept only the Jeep and bought a brand new Volvo for his girls knowing it was both safe and practical.

They were married between Thanksgiving and Christmas with their closest friends and family members in attendance. Whitney's mother served as her Maid of Honor and Jodie as the only bridesmaid.

The Rusty Angel was the ring bearer. Both rings were attached to his collar and when Logan called out, "Come!" Rusty, who was being watched by one of Logan's best friends from the team, walked up to him, sat, and 'handed' him the rings. The service was simple and quick but neither of them needed or wanted anything extravagant. Being together was all that mattered.

The following spring, Logan was hired as the baseball coach for a smaller, private university in the Seattle area and although his salary was nowhere near anything he'd earned in the major leagues, it was enough to let his beautiful wife quit work and stay home.

That was a good thing because Whitney was pregnant and would be giving birth to a beautiful baby boy by the end of summer. Jodie's sadness had long since faded and she was thrilled to learn she would soon be a big sister.

Lastly, Logan's attorney friend settled with the insurance company. Rather than go to court and risk losing, the company agreed to pay half the policy value of $500,000.

Life took on a slower pace for the Benson family which realized that had it not been for Rusty's having run off that day they would have never found the kind of happiness they now enjoyed.

Shared custody had been a very good idea. Full custody and creating a family had been a great one.