AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Our parents were happy for us, and mom made an excellent recovery. Time will only tell if the tumor ever comes back, but she is one of the lucky ones. When she said they caught it early, they weren’t kidding.
Things with my dad have only gotten better and better, we catch up all the time now. The fact that my parents both now talk to each other, and can be in the same room, is amazing. It makes me happy we can get together now and things aren’t awkward.
We take nothing for granted anymore. It was a close call for my mom, but she gets better and better every day and she couldn’t be happier that me and Emmerson came back together. Things went a little crazy after the cup, and a lot more endorsements came rolling in. In the off season, I’ve been busy doing some advertising jobs, as well as sneaking Emmerson away on holiday. We loved our first trip overseas, and I’m sure there will be many more to come. We live in the penthouse for now, but someday we might move to the suburbs, who knows. I hope to retire one day in the warmth. We’ve talked about Florida, and we’ve agreed to at least spend half of the time in Seattle, and the other half in the sun when my NHL days are over. Though, I’m not stopping any time soon.
We skate around the deserted rink for as long as we can withstand the cold. And it’s so much like old times that I feel the buzz of energy through my body.
I just love it here. Nothing could top this… I don’t think so, anyway.
Maybe Em pregnant with my kid, which is something I’m really hoping for in the next couple of years.
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” I say, suddenly stopping in the middle of the ice.
“Oh yeah, about what?”
“Not the Jack Daniels bottle I hurled in the lake six months ago,” I muse at my ridiculous one night of half-drunken stupor.
She laughs, shaking her head. “I’m sure it's at the bottom somewhere.”
I pull off a glove and feel around inside my jacket pocket for something I placed in there earlier. I wonder if she’s noticed I’m a little on edge.
“What are you doing?” she muses, skating around in a circle. The cool of the air has sent a gorgeous pink flush across her cheeks as she looks up towards the sky. When she looks back to me, I’m holding a little box in my hand.
It’s like it happens in slow motion, as I hitch up my pant leg, carefully bending down onto my knee, as I try not to mess it up by slipping on the ice and falling on my face.
She gazes down in complete and utter shock. Sure, we have talked about this one day… But I haven’t laid out any hints at all about when I was going to pop the question.
“I figured why wait,” I say, looking up at her gorgeous eyes, the ones I saw my future in so long ago, and I’ve never truly let go of it.
I feel like a teenager again as I watch her, realizing what this means if she says yes.
Forever.
“Emmerson Jane Daley, will you do me the absolute honor of marrying me?”
She shrieks, tears springing to her eyes in about half a second as her hands fly up to her face once realization sets in.
“Taylor!” she cries.
I keep smiling up at her, waiting for her answer… “So… will you be my wife?” I laugh, hoping I’m not making a complete dick of myself. “Don’t take too long, it’s freezing down here.”
She drops down to her knees, not seeming to care it’s wet and cold and we’ll probably freeze to death. She throws my arms around me and kisses me hard. “YES!” she breathes, breaking away from the kiss. “Of course I’ll marry you, Taylor, Taylor James.”
I laugh, thinking about the first day we met, and we used the same introduction with each other. “I love you Emmerson, Emmerson Daley.”
“I love you too, now and forever.”
I pull off her glove and place a beautifully cut princess diamond on her hand. It’s huge, and sparkles in the night like one of the stars up above us watching down.
We’re both euphoric as we get up off the ice and she holds me close like she never wants to let go, and neither do I.
“Wait, I have to look at it one more time.” She pulls her hand away to admire the ring. I’m so happy to see her beaming. “It’s so beautiful, Taylor.”
“Well, your friends had a hand in it.”
“Such sneaks.” She shakes her head.
“And your Dad gave me his approval.”
