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Chapter 35
Brady
Even after all of the confetti, the interviews, and the countless congratulations, riding up the elevator with Izzie’s hand in mine and a sleepy Liam by my side is the best feeling in the world.
I look over at Liam and his friend—they can barely keep their eyes open. I don’t blame them. It’s after two in the morning.
Any chance I got to be near Izzie and Liam with all the celebrating going on, Liam would tell me how happy he was, and what a good time he was having. That made all of the celebrating even sweeter. To know that Liam, my son, was having a good time.
The elevator dings onto our floor. We all exit, some of us slower than others.
“Why don’t I take the boys to our room,” Alex says, stifling a yawn.
“You don’t mind?” Izzie asks.
“Please, like it’s going to be a lot of work putting them to bed,” Alex says. “See you two in the morning,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows.
“And congrats, Champ,” she says with a fake punch to my arm. “You did great out there.”
“Thanks, Alex,” I say, “for everything.”
I see Izzie silently mouththank youto Alex as we leave her with the boys in front of her and Izzie’s room.
I squeeze Izzie’s hand as we walk down the hall to my suite.
I swipe the key card and push the door open, letting Izzie go in first. As I flick the light switch on, I think about how much my life has changed in the short time that she and Liam have been in it.
Gone are the days of drunken debauchery, of celebrating all night long with no thought of the consequences I would face the next day.
The change is definitely for the better.
And that’s exactly what I intend to show Izzie tonight.
By the gasp I hear escape Izzie’s perfectly cute mouth, I can tell that the hotel staff fulfilled all of my requests.
Moving to stand beside Izzie, I look at the table set for two with champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries in front of the large windows that look out over the Manhattan skyline.
This used to be my city. I loved the energy you would feel just walking the streets. There was always something going on, some party, some event, to fill my nights.
Now, I wouldn’t trade anything for what I have in San Antonio. All the nightlife has been replaced with something far more real—a life.
A life I’ve built there, full of laughter and love. A life with Izzie and Liam.
I go over to the table, open the champagne that’s been chilling, and pour it into two glasses. I hand a flute to Izzie and prepare to bare my soul to her.
“Izzie,” I begin, “as great as this night was, being able to share it with you and Liam made it even better.”
“I’m so happy you wanted to share it with us,” she says.
I guide her over to the couch, and as we sit, I say, “Of course I wanted to share this night with you. Izzie, I want to share every night and every day with you.”
I reach into my pocket for the ring box.
“I meant what I said on the field tonight,” I say as I open the box to reveal a three-stone ring. One stone for each member of our family—Izzie, Liam, and I. “I just didn’t have a place to store this ring on my uniform.”
Izzie laughs through her tears. She can’t keep her eyes off the ring, which I take to mean that I did a good job picking it out. Or, Alex did a good job picking it out for me.
“I just can’t believe this is really happening,” Izzie says.
