I collapse on top of her, doing my best not to crush her with the weight of my body. My breaths come in shallow pants as I try my best to suck in air. It takes a few moments before I’m breathing normally again and am finally able to roll so I’m no longer on top of her.
“Welcome home,” she says to me, a smile filling her face.
“If that’s the welcome I get, maybe I don’t mind road trips anymore,” I tease her.
The remainder of the week is pretty uneventful. Thomas finished up his last few treatments and went to see his doctor today. They ran a bunch of blood tests and will await the results of those, as well as the results of another CT scan he’ll have next week to see if the radiation killed off the cancerous areas inside his body.
Madison and I have fallen into an easy routine. I get up with her in the mornings and make the two of us breakfast. She leaves for work while I clean up and head to the practice facility in the late morning for my workout before practice time. As long as it isn’t a game day, I usually beat her home and make us dinner that we enjoy out on the patio, now that it is officially spring, and the weather is nicer. We usually end the night wrapped up in each other, the sex always exciting and just what the two of us need to end our busy days.
Two weeks have passed, and today is the day that Thomas has his follow up appointment with the oncologist. Madison has been nervous, and hardly slept all night. At least, this time I was home to comfort her throughout the night. Thankfully, his appointment is first thing, so she doesn’t have to stress all day long. Thomas has been feeling great, so he just told her last night that he’d meet us at the doctor’s office.
“Are you ready?” I ask her, as I walk into the kitchen to pull out a travel mug for a cup of coffee.
“As ready as I’m going to get,” she tells me, trying to keep her tears in check.
I pull her into my arms, wrapping mine around her tightly. “Everything’s going to be okay,” I say against her ear.
“And if it isn’t?” she asks.
“Then we figure out what’s next. I’m sure if the results show something is still lingering, the doctor already has a plan. We just have to trust them.”
“I know, that’s just easier said than done sometimes,” she admits.
“I know, sweetheart. Now, let’s go, so we aren’t late.”
We load up in my truck and drive the twenty minutes to the doctor’s office. Thomas is already waiting in the waiting room when we arrive, a smile across his face. I can tell he’s slightly nervous, and I can’t blame the man. He is here to find out if he’s cancer-free, after all.
“Morning,” I greet him as we take a seat next to him.
“Mornin’,” he replies, as Madison leans in to kiss him on the cheek. “How’d you sleep last night, baby girl?”
“Ah, so-so,” she tells him honestly.
“Have faith, Mads. I kicked this cancer’s ass, I can feel it.” He squeezes her hand.
The nurse calls his name and they both stand. Thomas turns to me before taking a step. “Aren’t you coming?”
“I didn’t want to intrude.”
“Nonsense. Let’s go,” he says as he walks toward the nurse. I stand and follow. No sense in not listening to him.
The nurse shows us to the doctor’s office and lets us know the doctor will be with us shortly. We take a seat in a sitting area off to the side of her desk, as there are only two chairs on the visitor’s side of her desk.
The door opens a few moments later and a woman in a doctor’s coat walks in.
“Thomas, good to see you. Madison, you, as well. Hi, I’m Dr. Raymond,” she says, offering her hand to me to shake.
“Richard Murphy,” I say, shaking her hand.
“Nice to meet you. You look familiar, do I know you from somewhere?”
“Not that I’m aware of, ma’am. Maybe you’ve seen my face on one of the billboards in town, advertising the Eagles franchise.”
“Ah! That’s it! I know nothing of hockey, so you’ll have to excuse me, but now that you mention the billboards, that’s exactly it. I pass by one every day on my way to the office,” she says, grabbing a tablet from her desk and tapping on it before taking a seat across from us.
“First off, how are you feeling after the treatments, Thomas?”
“Great. My energy levels are returning. I’m not having any issues with eating or drinking, and I have a normal appetite. I only had the two days of feeling like I was going to be sick there toward the end of my treatment, that I had already talked to you about.”
“That’s great to hear,” she says, documenting what he’s told her. “Your bloodwork looks awesome. No signs of any cancer are detected! And your CT scan came back normal, as well. We did it! As of today, you are currently cancer-free!”
“Fantastic!” Thomas says, as Madison buries her face into my neck and starts bawling.
“I told you, baby girl. I was going to kick this cancer’s ass, and I did,” Thomas continues, pulling Madison from my arms into his own. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, baby girl.” He places a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you, Dr. Raymond,” Thomas says, reaching his hand out to the doctor. She takes it, a smile on her face.
“Anytime. I’m so glad your cancer was caught early, and that we were able to successfully treat it. Going forward, we’ll have labs drawn every three months for the first year. As long as they stay normal, we’ll move to every six months from year one until year five. If, at five years, you’re still cancer-free, we can move to yearly bloodwork at your normal annual physicals, unless something changes, and you start having any symptoms, then we’d check right away.”
“That I can do,” he tells her.
“If none of you have any further questions, I’ll let you get out of here and go celebrate your good news.”
“Thank you so much, Dr. Raymond. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost my dad after already losing my mom to cancer,” Madison says to her before we stand to leave the room.
Dr. Raymond pulls Madison into a hug after she stands. “I’m sorry about the loss of your mom, but I can tell you, I would have done anything in my power to not allow your dad to die from this. As I told him, I’m just glad it was detected early and we were able to treat it so quickly.”
We left the doctor’s office, all of us hyped on the good news that the visit brought. Each step we take, I can see the stress melt from Madison and the happiness replace it as it fills her.
The bubbly, happy-go-lucky woman who’s been my best friend for the past eight years, that slipped into this fight-or-flight, do whatever it takes to survive mode when her dad dropped the news that he was sick almost two months ago is now returning, and that’s the woman I fell in love with all those years ago.
That’s the woman I want to grow old with, have kids with, a future with.
As long as she’s by my side, not just as my best friend but my partner, I know this life will be everything I could have wished for. Whether that means I retire at the end of this season or have another five left in me, none of it will matter unless she’s right there next to me, supporting me through it all.
This is what it means to be all in, to have that one person who means more to you than life itself. She’s my end game, and she’s worth playing for keeps.
Epilogue
Madison
Six months later
The past six months have been crazy. The Eagles pulled off another Stanley Cup win in early June, beating the Penguins in six games to claim the cup. Seeing the elation on Richard’s face as he hoisted the cup was everything. Seeing them do it on home ice was even better, as the fans cheered for what felt like hours after the final horn sounded. I cried like a baby, my dad on one side of me, surrounded by the rest of the WAGs. The group of women who have truly become my best friends this past year.
This summer was busy. Daddy’s cancer is still in remission, and I took a couple weeks off and traveled to Canada with Richard, where I got to meet all of his extended
family. I’d met his parents when they visited before, but never really spent much time with any of them, as I always stayed away, letting them have his time when they’d visit before we were a couple. I fell in love with his mom, who took me under her wing right away. We now have a relationship that would rival most mother-daughter relationships. His parents have been in town this past week for the home opener for the new season.
Richard decided not to hang up his skates at the end of last season. He signed an extension with the Eagles for two more seasons, for now, and I think he’s very happy with that plan. He took the time this summer to really rehab and rest his body. He worked with some trainers and spent a good amount of time with the team’s doctors to really get to the root of some of the parts of his body that were giving him the most problems last season, that had him considering retirement.
Tonight is the home opener. The banners from the win last season will be dropped, and the returning players will be presented with their rings. With all the excitement, it’s nice to have his family here with us, along with my dad.
Our parents all decided to sit down in the lower section rather than come into the WAGs suite with me and the rest of the girls. Richard got them excellent seats at center ice, so they’ll have a great time, I’m sure. Thankfully, our parents get along great, all bonding over hockey and, of course, the two of us.
“Hey, how are you doing?” Becca asks as I enter the suite, baby Michael bouncing on her hip.
“I’m great, how are you?”
“Ready for a drink. This little man didn’t think he needed to nap today.” She laughs, holding Michael up in the air as if he’s an airplane. This causes him to erupt in baby giggles that are the cutest thing, and infectious.
“Give me that baby and go get yourself something,” I tell her, nodding toward the bar that’s at the back of the suite.
She hands Michael to me and I bring him close so that I can bury my nose in his neck, kissing him and blowing a raspberry on his skin, pulling more giggles out of him. He’s grown so much over the summer and is just starting to get into that fun baby stage.
I walk over to the window wall and look down at the guys skating around, warming up.
“Do you see your daddy down there?” I ask him, pointing at all the guys.
A new season always brings a new vibe and environment. We lose players due to retirement, or trades, and their spots are filled with trades or new guys that make the cut during training camp. The guy that I think we’ll all miss the most right now is Matt Soaps. He finally hung up the skates at the end of last season. Thankfully, they are not moving anywhere, as his kids are all teenagers and they are settled here in Indy. This is home to them, so him and Bridget decided to stay. Because of the ceremonial presentations, Matt will be here tonight, so we convinced Bridget to come sit with us tonight in the suite.
I continue watching the guys warm up as more and more of the ladies and family members trickle into the room. Everyone greets each other, as some go back home during the offseason, and introductions are made around the room for the newbies to the team family.
“Hey, you finally made it,” I say to Kinley, as she puts her purse down on the seat next to mine.
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it here tonight,” she says, rubbing her baby bump under her jersey. “This baby is not being kind to me today, and this all-the-time sickness is for the birds. I was really hopeful that I was over the puking all the time part of pregnancy when I got into the second trimester.”
I smile at her, knowing that she’s been miserable with the hyperemesis gravidarum, but also know that she’s ecstatic that they finally are pregnant again, and this time, there are no issues with bleeding or miscarriages.
“Sorry you’ve had such a rough day. Anything I can do to help?”
“No. Well, maybe hold the trash can if I start puking again,” she deadpans. “But really, I should be okay. I took my nausea medicine this afternoon and finally started to feel better. If I still felt like I did earlier today, I would be in bed watching the game from home. Brian was on my case, warning me not to come if I didn’t feel up to it. But I wanted to see everyone and not miss out on the excitement of the first game, and all the special things surrounding last season’s win.”
“Well, I’m glad you were feeling well enough to make it, then.”
“Let me hold that baby!” a familiar voice says from behind me, as I turn to see Bridget holding her hands out to Michael. I hand him over, knowing my baby snuggle time is over, at least for a while.
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Bittersweet. My husband was in kind of a funk today, not needing to go through his normal game day routine.”
“Did he ever decide on possibly taking that commentator job?”
“He flies out next week to go do the test runs in their New York studio.”
“I bet he does great!” I tell her.
“I sure hope so. Otherwise, he’s going to drive me nuts,” she says on a laugh.
Our attention is pulled to the ice as the music starts, indicating the pre-game festivities are about to begin. I watch as the banners are all revealed, the rings are presented, and then collected from the players who have to play tonight. Then the normal happenings before every game, like the anthem and a ceremonial puck drop, occur and it’s finally time for the game to start. The energy in this arena is almost at the same level it was when the guys won the cup in the spring.
Richard
Making the decision not to retire actually ended up being an easy one. After winning the cup again, and after many discussions with Madison, the coaching staff, and the doctors, I decided that I was willing to give it a go and keep playing. At least for a couple more seasons, barring any major injuries.
After hitting the ice again tonight for the season opener, I’m glad I made that decision. This feels right. All the work I put in this summer to condition my body, even more than I’d already done over the years. The time I spent with the medical staff pinpointing the pain I was experiencing and focusing on ways to improve or completely eradicate it, was the focus of my summer training. And after the way I felt on the ice tonight, it all paid off. I feel like I’m a young guy again, not a seasoned veteran with only a few more years left in his tank.
Tonight is special for another reason. After the game tonight, I’ll be pulling out a different ring; this one to give to Madison. I’ve been contemplating for weeks how and when I’d be proposing to her, but with my family in town, I figured no better time. Thomas and Scott are the only ones who know that I plan on doing so. I asked for Thomas’ blessing a few weeks ago and had to ask Scott where he went to get Becca’s ring designed. Thomas gave me Judy’s ring, stating he’d been keeping it for just this moment and he knows how much it would mean to her to have her mother’s ring as her own. I accepted it, knowing that I can’t not use it. I still went to the jeweler Scott used and had them design a custom wedding band to accent Judy’s ring that will now become Madison’s engagement ring.
After the game, we have plans to go out with my parents, Thomas, Scott and Becca, Brian and Kinley, and Matt and Bridget. I think the girls also invited Laura, so I’m sure Mark will sneak along with us to celebrate our success from last season and hopefully a win tonight. At some point during that late dinner, I plan to drop to one knee and propose, in front of our small group of family and friends.
We sneak out the win against Vegas for our home opener after Brian got a lucky bounce that ended with the puck in the back of the net, with only ten seconds left in the game.
After talking to the media for what felt like forever, then hitting the showers, we’re finally able to leave the locker room and the stadium. I head straight for the suite to collect Madison, and to find the rest of our family so that we can get out of here.
“Hey,” I say, walking up behind Madison and wrapping my arms around her hips. I pull her against my chest and place a kiss on her cheek.
“Hey, good
game tonight.” She turns in my arms to hug me. “Where is it? I want to see it!” she tells me excitedly, reaching for my pockets.
I pull away. “Whoa, see what, babe?” I say, trying to stop her from reaching in my pocket and pulling out the ring box.
“Your championship ring, what else would I want to see right here?” she asks, raising an eyebrow, letting me know she thinks my mind is in the gutter. Now that I’m thinking that, my mind is, and my dick is swelling in my trousers with every passing second.
I pull out the correct ring box, and hand it over to her. She gasps as she opens it and looks at the championship ring I was awarded with tonight.
“It’s so big and pretty. I can’t believe you have multiples of these now,” she comments.
“Yep, and each one feels just as great as the last one,” I state. I’ve won the cup three times, all with the Eagles organization. “Ready to get out of here? I’m starving.”
“Yep, let’s go,” she tells me, leaning in for a kiss. I pull her in close, kissing her as the world around us disappears and it’s only the two of us.
A throat being cleared next to us pulls us back into the moment and the room full of people.
“Get a room,” Brian calls out, giving us a hard time.
“Like you don’t kiss Kinley like that in front of everyone every chance you get,” I call back at him. He just shrugs his shoulders like he’s saying, “And your point is?” as he wraps his arms around his own wife and pulls her in for a kiss of their own.
We all head out, meeting up at the restaurant I made reservations at earlier in the week, when I finalized my plans and made sure everyone important to the two of us would be present.
Playing for Keeps (Indianapolis Eagles #3) Page 17