Chapter 29
Willow
The Rangers made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. We are all here tonight for game, Maddie and Asher, Ms. Noble, Henry and Sally, his girlfriend, Ellie and Syd, Patty and Callie, her baby girl; Eden, Amelia, Skylar and Crew, Rebel and her two kids. Even Jacob came out for the event. We were just lucky the last game is here in New York, and we didn’t have to travel. All of us are sitting behind the plexiglass, taking up a long row.
Patty is on one side of me, and Maddie is on the other. Ellie is next to her while the older kids are sitting together at the beginning of the row.
“I’m so freaking nervous,” Maddie says, biting her nails.
Her mom leans forward from a few seats away, “That’s a terrible habit. Don’t start now.” She’s talking about the nail-biting, and she seems cool as a cucumber.
“Kaleb really wants this win,” she explains, and her leg begins to bounce.
“They’re going to kick ass,” Rebel declares and then she looks over at her son, Liam, I’m thinking to make sure he didn’t hear her say the word ass.
“Brett wants this badly too. He only plans on playing a few more years,” I share, feeling nerves swirling in my stomach. Brett was home last night but he had trouble falling asleep. He was thinking hard about the game, even after we had sex he still wasn’t settled.
We stand for the anthems since it is the Montreal Mohawks that made the finals. The puck drops. Wolfe, the team captain , is up for face-off. Liam and Evan are the wingers. Brett’s defensive line is also up. Connor is the goaltender. The buzzing energy in the arena is felt around us as Wolfe shoots the puck to the other side of the ice. The guys take off skating their asses off. A guy from the other team steals the puck from Evan and swoops around the back of the net where he is met with Liam, who steals the puck away and shoots straight into the bottom corner of the net.
It’s only a minute into the game and everyone is pumped. We all stand and cheer. The kids do to and it’s completely adorable because they made signs.
“Callie is getting antsy already. She doesn’t like to be on the arms for too long,” Patty says as we sit back down.
“Neither does Maylee. She doesn’t even want to crawl anymore. She uses the furniture to stand and then walks along holding on.”
“We’re going to have to start baby proofing everything,” Patty says.
I agree and we go back to watching the game.
The other team has the puck close to our net. Brett moves in and blocks one of the other team’s players and the guy shoots the puck to his buddy. The game moves fast and one of the players from the other team shoots to the net, but Connor blocks the shot. He’s been doing amazing this season. Ellie keeps boasting about his crazy stats.
She stands and begins to shout, “You go baby.” Syd stands beside her and begins to shout too.
“Love you, Daddy.” The guys can’t hear obviously, but Connor looks their way and even with all that gear on him, you can see a ghost of a smile in his eyes.
The first period goes whirring by. Both sides shoot on each other, but the shots get blocked by the goalies. During intermission we all run for a bathroom break and I ask Jacob to hold Maylee.
When we return its exactly time for puck drop. This time the coach has Evan on face-off. Evan shoots the puck across the ice and we all sit and watch intently as the guys move crazy fast.
A guy swipes his stick between Liam’s legs, and he falls. Skylar winces and stands with her palms coming together in front of her mouth. When Liam stands right away, she takes a breath. Hockey is a contact sport, and it’s scary to think about one of the guys getting hurt. They all suffer minor injuries during the season, but it’s scary to think of something more serious happening.
The player from the other team gets two minutes in the penalty box and Liam seems to be doing okay as the game starts up again. Brett moves in on a guy and blocks a pass. Then he shoots the puck across the ice to the other team’s net, where Matt sweeps in and takes the puck around the net. He’s met with a guy trying to steal the puck when Brett sweeps in to help him. Brett manages to get the puck and he’s so close to the net, I wonder if he is going to take the shot himself. A player from the other team moves in and tries to steal the puck away as Brett slaps the puck and it shoots under the goalie. It still isn’t clear if it’s a goal because the goalie has his knees locked and he’s kneeling on the ice. When he stands it is evident the shot wasn’t blocked and the crowd goes crazy.
“He’s one hell of a cocky bastard,” Jacob says, leaning forward and looking at me with a grin.
“True, but Brett is amazing, and he told me at home he’s going to try and score a goal for me.” I bat my lashes.
Brett lifts his stick over his head as the guys quickly hug each other. Then he is pointing to me. I know what he means. That shot was for me.
The score is two to zero as we enter the third period. The guys are doing well but anything can change at any time. The fourth line is starting and we are all on the edge of our seats. If we can prevent the other team from scoring in the next twenty minutes, the guys will be Stanley Cup champions. For some it won’t be a first but it is still such a crazy accomplishment. When I think about Brett’s stories of how hard he worked to make it this far, I realize the man is truly relentless. When he wants something, he doesn’t give up, and I am so grateful he didn’t give up on me and my insecurities.
One of the guys is checked into the boards and the ref doesn’t call a penalty. Another player is tripped, and one of our guys ends up in the penalty box. With one player down, the other team scores on us.
“Shit. I really hope this isn’t going to go south,” Patty says. Her husband is a player and her dad is the head coach of the team, so she is very invested right now. “My stomach is turning.”
“Mine is too,” I admit.
“Don’t get down now, ladies. The guys can still win this,” Rebel says full of enthusiasm.
Maylee grows frustrated in my arms so I stand and use her hand to pat the plexiglass, hoping it will be a distraction to her.
The guys are switched out, the game is moving fast. A player from Montreal gets close to our net. Connor is moving fast, bracing for the shot. When the guy gets the puck in the top corner and the puck goes in, the crowd begins to boo.
“Shit,” I hiss. The game is now tied.
“This fucking sucks,” Skylar says.
Crew looks at her with wide eyes and says, “Mom” with a berating tone.
Skylar winces. “This is very bad, honey. What do you want me to say?”
“Tell your mom she is going to have to put money in all our swear jars if she swears again,” Syd says to him.
We look at each other and begin to laugh.
“I always tell Evan he’s going to have to stop cussing. I don’t want fuck to be Callie’s first word,” Patty whispers to me so the older kids don’t hear. Maddie hears it too and she gives us a knowing look.
“I’m the one who had to stop cussing when Asher was a little boy. Brett never stopped though, and Asher loves every minute of his swearing,” Maddie says.
“Now I know what we have to look forward to,” I joke, looking at my baby, who is now on my lap as I hold her up in a standing position.
The game ends up going into overtime. After intermission we are back in our seats. Maylee is crying and fidgety, so I nurse her.
“Good on you that you’re still breastfeeding,” Patty says.
“I don’t know how good it is. I’m her soother. I’m going to need to stop soon, she’s bitten me twice and it hurts like a bitch,” I complain.
“The first feel of teeth in Callie’s mouth and I was like no more, baby girl.” Patty laughs.
“I need them to win already,” I groan. My adrenaline rush from earlier has worn off and I am feeling tired. I wanted to leave Maylee at home with a babysitter, but Brett wanted her to be here if he ends up winning and it made sense. Now we have twenty minutes of high stress to get through.
Liam scores a goal and we all stand and cheer.
When the buzzer goes off and the Rangers are this year’s champions, another adrenaline rush wakes me up. The guys all huddle together as they hug each other. Wolfe is lifted in the air and begins to body surf between them. Everyone in the arena is going crazy.
Two men walk the Cup onto the ice where a black carpet has been rolled out. A guy is talking about the Rangers and their accomplishments. Then Wolfe is invited to hoist the Stanley Cup above his head, since he is team captain, and fireworks erupt as he skates around the ice with the Cup over his head. Wolfe passes it off to Brett and he skates around the ice and tears fall down my cheeks. All of us are crying. Brett comes up to the plexiglass and I place my hand over Maylee’s on the plexiglass as I mutter, “I love you” to him. Brett skates away, kissing the Cup. The Cup gets passed around between the players and the coaches. Some of the players get interviewed and suddenly Brett is coming toward us. He walks off the ice in his skates.
What the hell is he doing?
He begins to take the few steps toward us and people take out their phones and begin to record him.
“What on earth is he doing?” Ms. Noble asks. Will shrugs beside her.
Brett comes up to our row and he extends his hand to me, so I get up and begin to walk toward him.
“Give Maylee to my mom,” he says.
“Brett, you’re going to get in trouble. Go back on the ice,” I urge. Still, I pass Maylee over to Ms. Noble, who smiles with open arms. Brett shakes his head.
“Come here, Honey,” he says and, damn, I have really come to like it when he calls me Honey. I feel like I’m his and I matter to him.
I walk up to him. “Congratulations, baby.” I kiss him, holding my palms on his sweaty cheeks.
He breaks the kiss. “We don’t have much time.”
“Time for what?” I ask. I turn to look because Brett is motioning something to Jacob, who passes him something.
Then Brett gets down on one knee. “Honey, you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and making love to you,” he says, and I blush because this is so public. “When I told you I loved you for the first time it wasn’t planned and not the way I wanted to say it. But tonight, this is the best night of my life and it’s not because I won the Cup. It’s because I want to make you my wife.” He pauses and opens the box Jacob gave him. Inside is a round diamond ring that glistens on a platinum band.
“Willow, will you be my forever?” he asks.
I’m in full-out tears now as I nod my head profusely. “Yes, yes, yes.”
Brett stands and places the ring on my finger and he kisses me like he means it. Like I am his world. Applause breaks out around us.
He breaks the kiss. “How did I do, Honey?”
“You did great,” I laugh through tears.
“Gotta go,” he says, and he takes off for the ice.
My friends all hug me. Brett’s mom says, “You were already part of the family so I’ll just say congratulations.” We hug and Will congratulates me, followed by all our friends.
After the game I head home, while Brett stays out all night celebrating with the guys. He messages me about ten times saying we still have to celebrate our engagement. Truth is, I am happy to head home because I am exhausted and Maylee really needs her crib.
When I get home, I have the biggest smile on my face. I can’t believe he asked me in front of all those people, but then I should believe it because Brett clearly likes to have an audience.
After getting Maylee into bed, I head to the shower and then I slip on a nightie and crawl into bed. Brett’s scent is all around me and I fall into a deep slumber bursting with happiness.