You certainly addressed the pickle prompt. We have pickleball and a passion for pickles. We almost have a child named pickles. The story is funny and touching. The husband's sympathy for his wife is unusual, and admirable. There is a problem in one of the paragraphs where you keep repeating this line:
So I meant with her organization and her coach, of course, and we both agreed that she could be on parental leave, or even better, she could turn in a lot of work to get to the peak of her career.
Something went wrong in the final edit it seems.
The story is entertaining and well told. Thank you for sharing it with us, @jazclassic.