Hail Mary (27 page)

~ * ~ * ~

Now that he was here, standing in front of her, all of his rehearsed words deserted him, leaving his stomach barren except for his nerves which were threatening to overtake his brain, right along with his mouth.

“What happened to your leg?” Mary asked, relieving him of the responsibility for the conversation that he’d explicitly come here to have. Thank god, she was talking. If he could keep her talking, then maybe he could finally get around to the reason they were both standing in the middle of the Governor Hotel.

“I, ah, had a bad fall during a game and ended up with a fracture.”

“How long is the cast on for?” she asked, frowning at the way in which the cast dominated his leg.

“Probably another two weeks. It depends on my progress.” She looked tired, as though she had been sleeping as well as he had. Michael cleared his throat, then tried his opening again. “So, I came here because I knew you would be here,” he repeated, still not knowing where to start, only knowing how and where he wanted this to end.

“I come every year with Calleigh. Her mother is one of the original founding members of Operation Rudolph. I come as support.”

Michael smiled. “I know. I actually called Calleigh.” Michael continued, his voice slightly trembling. “I fucked up, Mary. That night. With you. What I said at the time, about marriage, kids, and me, I believed. I can’t tell you that I’ve changed, because I haven’t. And I’ll never lie to you. I’m a terrible prospect for any woman who wants those things, like you. I didn’t think I wanted those things. But after I was injured, I had some time to think about things, things like my future and my life.” He waited for some type of reaction. He needed some indication she wanted this as much as he did before he would complete the statement he had come there to make.

~ * ~ * ~

“And?” she asked, her green eyes softening and glowing as she listened to him. She remained quiet, hoping and praying the rapid calisthenics happening in her stomach wouldn’t make her say or do something she normally wouldn’t. Like, throw herself at him. Tell him how much she’d missed him. How often he’d stalked her thoughts since that Saturday night that now seemed so long ago.

Mary tilted her head to the side, not wanting to be excited, flushed with his nearness, happy he was here. Afraid to hope. Petrified his presence didn’t indicate anything she was looking for. Equally scared it represented everything she’d ever dreamed about.

“And I decided that I want you. Forever. You know all the shitty things about me, about my past and about my family and Tracey, and if you’re still willing to risk it, I am too. I’m a big chance, but that’s never stopped you from taking a risk before.”

Now her heart was lodged somewhere up around the vicinity of her throat.

“What exactly are you saying, Michael?”

“I’m saying if you’ll have me, I want it. I want it all and I want it with you. Marriage, kids, the whole shebang. I can’t promise you I know anything about marriage or family. But I love you and I know no one could love you more. And you won’t need to worry about money. I’ve saved a lot of what I’ve earned since I started playing ball. So, I can take care of you and any kids we have financially.” Michael’s heart was in his eyes.

Mary took it and grabbed on it with all of her might.

“If this is a proposal, the answer is yes,” she whispered, moving up to him, throwing her arms around his waist and leaning in for a deep kiss.

“Yes.” Michael wrapped his arms around his woman and settled in for a long, thorough kiss.

~ * ~ * ~

Lying in his bed that evening, twilight shone through the windows, bathing the room in a soft light, perfect for their soft feelings. They lay on their sides, heads each on their own respective pillows, their hands holding one another over the sheet that covered Mary to her chest and dipped at his naval. He could be content to stare at her for the rest of his life, Michael thought. He’d have to settle for looking into her eyes every morning for the rest of his life.

“So, does this mean I’m forgiven?” he asked, stroking her arm, never breaking eye contact.

She laughed. God, he loved the sound of her laugh. Throaty and slightly husky, it never failed to please him. Hopefully, he’d make her laugh every day for the rest of their lives. He’d never had the opportunity to develop any sense of humor, but he thought Mary might be able to help him out with that. She was the one and only woman he could banter with, in bed and out of it, and he loved it.

“If the last fifty minutes didn’t shout ‘you’re forgiven’, I’m not sure there’s any hope for you,” she teased, while their feet played footsie under the covers.

“I just want to be clear. I wouldn’t want there to be any perceived lack of communication in our relationship,” he said, pulling her middle into contact with his, enjoying the friction of the sheets. After reconciling, they hadn’t bothered with trying to locate Calleigh and David, but instead hopped in the town car that waited for Michael while he’d been inside the hotel and told the driver to step on it, all the way to his condo. They’d gone from zero to naked in about five seconds flat.

Maybe less.

He’d told her to leave on her heels, a request Mary happily complied with.

“I missed you, Michael. I missed you a lot,” she solemnly declared.

In response, he brushed a quick kiss across her lips. “I missed you too.”

“Although, this has set a pretty high bar for make-up sex, you know.”

He smiled. “I should hope so. If this is how every fight ends, it’s worth it.”

“You should have called me when you were injured.”

“And say what? Hi, Mary, I know we’re no longer dating, but I kind of got hurt today during the game. Can you pick me up? Come on. Lame. I might be a jerk, but even I’m not that much of a prick.”

“I wanted to call you, but I just didn’t know what to say,” Mary confessed.

He continued to stroke her back. Touching her now seemed as natural as breathing. “You wouldn’t have had to say anything. Honestly, the shape I was in, I would have just been so fucking happy to hear your voice on the other end, that I would have done all the talking.”

“Ha! You doing all the talking. That’s not exactly a realistic scenario, Michael,” she stated, reminding him that women needed words. Mary, in particular, needed to hear the words he’d always thought himself wholly incapable of uttering. Maybe that’s what true love did--it acted as a trajectory into the darkest recesses of your soul, opened it wide, and let all of the past hurts and disappointments remind you that being loved for yourself was a gift beyond comprehension or recognition. Empowering you to be everything you needed to be for your mate. In this case, that meant verbalizing his feelings.

Holding her hand, rubbing the finger where he intended to put his ring, he looked into her eyes. “I love you, Mary. I never thought it would happen, but I do. I know I don’t deserve you, but I’m planning on spending the rest of my life making you happy.”

“I love you too. And you don’t need to do anything more than be who you are. That’s all I want. We’re together now and that’s all that matters. Stop it with this deserving crap,” she admonished, her eyes grave. “Everyone deserves to be loved, especially you.”

Michael rolled her over, intent on being together and loving her forever.

This was his woman.

This was
right
.

Epilogue

Six months later

The beginning of June dawned pure and bright, the sun shining through pristine, cloudless skies. The April showers had kept their promise and brought May flowers in every hue anyone could possibly conceive of--purple, fuschia, red, orange, yellow, blue, amethyst--dotted the city’s gardens. Mary had contributed vibrant tulips in shades of purple and yellow to Michael’s modest back yard around his porch. After planting them Easter weekend, she’d remarked to Michael that they reminded her of the Easter eggs she’d dyed as a kid. He’d laughed and told her they looked great. She was fairly certain that if she hadn’t mentioned them, he wouldn’t have noticed, although he did take a distinctive interest in pretty much everything she did, in the condo, at work, or with her friends.

“So, we’re about five weeks out from training camp,” he stated.

Mary turned around and smiled at Michael as he joined her on the porch.

“How do you feel about that?” she asked.

Showing he hadn’t lost all ability at deflection, he said, “You should make some plans while I’m gone.”

“What makes you think I haven’t?” she countered, tipping her head, surveying him, and finding him as devastatingly attractive as she did all those years ago. More so, in many ways, her feelings only strengthened by time, time which had solidified their bond. Michael was her best friend, who knew everything about her and still wanted to know more. Every day, they talked about everything and nothing, sharing the daily aggravations along with the joys. At night, they revealed details about their respective pasts, as well as expectations and desires for their future. They were completely in sync in terms of their shared goals, but were negotiating other details, such as the timing and number of babies.

Michael didn’t think he could handle more than two. Mary dreamt of filling a house with at least five daughters who would undoubtedly wrap him around their little fingers while using him as a human jungle gym/transportation provider. The fact that he was committed to children signaled how far he’d come. He’d cautioned her that his career demands during pre-season training through playoffs guaranteed he would be absent from home a lot. Ever the consummate planner, Mary viewed the upcoming season to serve as a guidepost for her to get her feet under her and determine exactly how their marriage would work while during season and the best time to give birth.

Of course, making their future kids was sure to be a helluva lot of fun. Their attraction flared as hot and as strong as ever. It didn’t hurt that Michael was in prime physical shape. Never a slacker for workouts, he’d maintained his daily workouts during the off season once his cast was removed, but beginning in mid-April, had started completing his own two-a-days readying for training camp. The Tide’s training camp was held every year in Eastern Oregon, five hours away. After the first two weeks, families were allowed to visit the players for one weekend.

Mary booked her ticket the same day Michael first mentioned the dates.

“So what are you doing then?” Michael asked as he picked up her hand and held it in his.

“Other than pining away for you,” she teased, “Calleigh and I are heading up to Seattle for a Mariners game and some shopping, and I’ve made dinner plans with Jen and Sarah.”

Michael’s concern was nothing new, but every time he demonstrated it, she melted a little more inside. The irony was that he, Mr. Anti-Social with few friends, was worried about how
she
was going to fill her days in his absence. Michael still wasn’t exactly verbally affectionate, but he showed her how much he loved her every day. By March, after spending every single night together, they jointly decided it made the most sense for Mary to move in with him in his condo. Since then, she’d made it her own and a haven for both of them. The living room, once so neutral and void of any feeling, had been transformed into a comfortable, beautiful space that housed pictures of the two of them, Mary’s beloved books, magazines, and Yahtzee, their favorite game they played after dinner. For some couples, it was Scrabble. For Michael and Mary, it was Yahtzee.

They’d talked about marriage and Michael made it clear that he intended to marry her, but needed to ask her parents’ permission first. She was fairly certain that would be forthcoming during her parents’ visit in August. She couldn’t wait for her parents to meet him and vice versa. Her parents’ approval was guaranteed once they witnessed how he treated her. And how much she, in turn, adored him.

Michael had slowly begun coming out of his self-imposed shell. While still quiet in groups, he made a concerted effort to interact with her friends and let them know, without words, that Mary was the most important person in his life. When her girlfriends came over for game night, he talked to each and every one, sincerely attempting to learn about the other people in her life who were important. In addition to her friends, they’d entertained more and more of Michael’s teammates, mainly defenders, but some of the offensive players had found their way to their house more often than not. She’d heard from Murray that Michael was fast earning a reputation as a card shark after winning team poker games five times in a row. When she asked him about it, he chuckled and remarked that he’d been watching his teammates for years--and he knew exactly what their facial expressions meant.

Rubbing his hand with hers, Mary tried again. “So, what’s on your mind about camp?”

He cast his eyes down and to the right before locking with hers. “I feel like a pussy, but I don’t want to leave you.”

“You’ll only be there two weeks before I come out. And we’ll talk and text every night. It’ll be over before you know it and you’ll be in pre-season, at home almost every night,” she reassured him.

“It’s so strange. Before, I’ve always looked forward to camp, but now I just wish camp was here so I’d be home with you every night. Like I said, I feel like a chick,” he sheepishly confessed.

“If it makes you feel any better, Max and I will miss you as well. And Max isn’t a chick,” she teased, eliciting a smile from him. Michael’s smiles still didn’t beam very often, but they were given with increasing regularity, which is all she could ask. Sitting with him on that June afternoon, Mary had everything she had ever wanted. A wonderful guy who couldn’t do enough for her or keeps his hands to himself.

“Well, since Max’s nuts were chopped off years ago, I’m not sure he’s that far removed from a female, Mary,” he responded. Mary knew that he loved Max as much as she did. Max had commandeered the foot of their bed every night, a development Michael tolerated with a loving shake of his head. She knew full well he snuck Max extra treats for no other reason than he enjoyed lavishing loving attention on him. Max, in turn, worshipped him, waking up with him every morning, accompanying him on his morning runs, which kept the extra pounds generated by Michael’s daily treats at bay.