Baby Surprises 7 Book Box Set
Page 122
The family piled into their SUV and set off toward the stadium. Luckily, the Bowl was a home game, which meant it wouldn’t interrupt baby Isaac’s routine too much—no plane flights or anything like that. When they arrived, Heidi and Bradley shared a quick kiss goodbye, and he rubbed their child’s head for good luck before walking off to the locker rooms.
The next time she saw him, he was emerging onto the field, to a crowd who chanted his name.
She leaned in towards Isaac and whispered, “They’re cheering for Daddy.”
The baby gurgled; had he understood? Heidi hoped so. By the time he was old enough to understand the gravity of the game, Bradley would probably have retired.
She straightened Isaac’s baby Eels jersey, a miniature copy of the same one she wore; the paparazzi had started flashing lights in their direction.
Those flashes, which once would’ve scared her, were now welcomed. After all, the more pictures of her family taken, the better. She would scrapbook them one day.
The game started, and Heidi’s heart began pounding simultaneously. She’d never watched any sport so close to the field of play, let alone one where her boyfriend was the leading man. Nerve-wracking would be an understatement.
But on the field, Bradley wasn’t experiencing those same nerves. No, he was in the damn zone. It was like Heidi and Isaac were his talisman, protecting him from distraction. He executed every play to the letter, and at halftime, inspired the team with a fierce pep talk which made his coach proud.
Bradley, already a legend by this point, was reminding the general public that not only had he been this good, he would stay this good. He scored two touchdowns, and was the major assist on another. They made every kick they were granted. Their colors, blue and gold, waved madly in the stands, like a wave at sunset.
By the fourth quarter, Bradley had led the team to a guaranteed win. Sportscasters had been predicting a wipeout since the matching was announced a few weeks back, but this—this was a massacre.
There were only seconds left on the clock, and the opponents had been thrashed, to the point where one or two were throwing a fit on the field, demanding they just admit defeat already, rather than suffer any more humiliation. Bradley knew the Eels didn’t need another point, but he wanted to get it for them, anyway.
The team gathered round, and he whispered the plan. There were a few raised eyebrows, but ultimately, all acquiesced quickly—their confidence in him was total. Why shouldn’t it be? He’d already given them the game of a lifetime. Now they just needed to close it out with one more final kick in their opponents’ asses.
And that’s how Bradley helped his team score six more points, a cherry on top of their Super Bowl cake, in the closing moments of the game. The clock began, ten seconds left on its digital face, and his teammate snapped him a massive pass, which he caught. Bradley began running and running, starting at the 40th and not slowing down until he hit the other team’s end zone.
He’d done it: Bradley Fox had led his team to a Super Bowl win, and not only that, but he’d scored the winning touchdown. The crowd went wild with screams of delight that seemed to shake the very ground he stood on.
Heidi joined them in screaming with joy, and hugged their son close to her chest. They had done it; the Eels had won. Her boyfriend—and the team that she represented—had won. The next year was going to be awesome, surely filled with sponsorships, trips to exotic countries, you name it. The world opened up wide when you’d just won the Super Bowl.
What couldn’t she and Bradley do together, as a team? Nothing, that’s what.
Bradley was swarmed by a flock of journalists, anxious to query him about the win.
“How’d ya do it again, Fox? What’s the big secret?” one shouted over the din.
Bradley, the trophy in his hand, used the large, golden cup to part the sea of reporters, and called out, “Heidi! Come here!”
Somehow, even over the cacophony, she heard him, and she trotted out with the baby onto center field. The reporters, in a rare show of decency, were careful not to jostle Isaac. At last, she reached Bradley, and leaned in close.
“I love you,” she said in a voice too low for the media to catch. She’d needed to congratulate him privately for just a moment, to make something that could be theirs alone.
“I love you, too,” he replied, then pulled back and turned to face the reporters.
“These,” he said, indicating Heidi and Isaac, “are my lucky charms. They’re the ones who clinched our victory, not me.”
He nuzzled the top of Isaac’s head, and the cameras flashed again and again.
Suddenly, Bradley was looking deep into Heidi’s eyes, and sliding to one knee. A wall of silence seemed to coalesce around them, so that she was able to hear him and him alone.
“Heidi,” he began, “I can’t live without you. I don’t want us to be apart ever again. I think I knew that from the moment I met you, though it took me a while to realize that.”
She laughed, knowing that was too true.
He continued, “You and Isaac are the most important people in my life. Winning a Super Bowl is cool and all, but the family we’ve created puts this whole game to shame. Together, the three of us, we’re pure magic.”
At that, he reached into the pocket of the jacket his coach had flung round his shoulders (the whole team knew about his big plan), and pulled out a tiny black velvet box.
Heidi gasped. Logically, she’d understood what the “one knee” had meant, but seeing that tiny box in those huge hands suddenly made it all real. Unable to help herself, she began to cry tears of pure happiness and joyous surprise.
“Are you okay?” he asked with concern.
“Shut up and keep going!” she replied giddily.
He chuckled boisterously, and popped open the lid of the box, revealing a ring big enough to be a Crown Jewel. Heidi’s eyes went wide.
“Oh my God—”
“Do you like it?”
“Are you crazy? I fucking love it,” she cried, then covered her mouth, embarrassed to have sworn in front of so many cameras, but not really caring, either. To the reporters, she said, “Sorry, sorry! I meant, I totally love it.”
Bradley, who had howled with laughter at her PR misstep, held her in his gaze, squeezed Isaac’s dangling foot, and at last asked, “Heidi, will you marry me?”
“Yes, Bradley. Nothing in this lifetime could make me happier.”
He rose from his knee and wrapped her and Isaac in a huge embrace. Overhead, the stadium’s mega-screen captured the proposal, to the delight of millions of fans, who hooted and hollered for the newly engaged couple.
The embrace seemed to go on forever and ever, until at last they pulled away, and waved thanks to the screaming hordes. Hand in hand, they walked to the exit, up a few flights of stairs, and into a waiting helicopter.
Safely in the copter, Bradley took Isaac from Heidi’s arms and lifted the baby high in the air.
“Do you know,” he said, addressing their child, “that your mother agreed to marry me just now? Do you get what a big deal that is, little man? It’s pretty cool.”
Heidi guffawed at his ever-present silliness.
He turned to her and added, “Sorry it took me so long. I was waiting for the theatrics of the Super Bowl. Thought you might like that.”
“I did, you big drama queen. I loved it,” she said and leaned in, kissing him full on the mouth. “And I love you.”
The flight took them the scenic way, flying over the choppy oceans, swooping around skyscrapers, and soaring over sandy beaches, until finally, they landed on the edge of their property, on a huge grassy expanse that waved frenetically under the power of the chopper.
They disembarked, thanking the pilot, and made their way inside. Home at last.
The first order of business was putting Isaac to bed. He’d had a crazy day, and missed nap time, meaning the little one was tired out. Heidi and Bradley together took him to the nursery, and tucked him into be
d. Bradley sang him a Hawaiian lullaby, something his mother had taught him when he was young, and that he hoped Isaac would pass down to his own children.
Heidi flicked the nursery light switch off, and they exited, carefully shutting the door, making sure not to disturb their already sound-asleep baby. Once they were out of earshot, she turned to Bradley with a huge smile.
“Well,” she asked coyly, “what shall we do now?”
“Celebrate,” Bradley replied, and tugging her close, planted a kiss on her mouth. The kiss deepened, until he was holding the small of her back and dipping her low to the ground. “And love each other for the rest of our lives.”
The End
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MORE SERIES BY LAYLA VALENTINE:
SAN BRAVADO BILLIONAIRES’ CLUB
Second Chance Twins
Nanny For Hire
The Baby Bargain
Accidental Triplets
Take My V-Card
Bought by the Boss
Four Secret Babies
My Brother’s Best Friend
Not Marriage Material
ONCE A SEAL, ALWAYS A SEAL
His Baby Secret
Hot Pursuit
SEXT ME
Secret Daddy Surprise
My Protector
In Deep
BABIES FOR THE BILLIONAIRE
Triplets For The Billionaire
Quadruplets For The Billionaire
Baby, ASAP
MORE SERIES BY LAYLA VALENTINE:
SAN BRAVADO BILLIONAIRES’ CLUB
Second Chance Twins
Nanny For Hire
The Baby Bargain
Accidental Triplets
Take My V-Card
Bought by the Boss
Four Secret Babies
My Brother’s Best Friend
Not Marriage Material
ONCE A SEAL, ALWAYS A SEAL
His Baby Secret
Hot Pursuit
SEXT ME
Secret Daddy Surprise
My Protector
In Deep
BABIES FOR THE BILLIONAIRE
Triplets For The Billionaire
Quadruplets For The Billionaire
Baby, ASAP