Page 72 of Replay
“Red. Eighty-seven. Red. Set. Hut.” Everyone scatters except my tight end who plows through the line of their defense. With a quick pump of my arm, the ball arcs perfectly to him, and he comes down, clutching the ball, right in the endzone.
“YES!!” My fist raised, I meet my team for the celebration. The clock runs out and we’ve won the game.
I’m in a daze as blue and red confetti falls from the sky. I’m handed a t-shirt that I throw over my shoulder and a baseball hat I put on, turning it backwards. There are tears and celebrating. I shake hands with everyone I meet on the field: players, coaches, and personnel. The entire time my gaze scans the crowd for her.
“Hawke!” she yells at the same time as my two daughters yell, “Daddy!”
Smiling, and blinking back tears, I turn right as Emmarys reaches me, her arms wrapping around my neck. I scoop her closer with my arms, one banding around her back and the other coming gently to her stomach, placing my hand gently on the curve of her belly where our third child is growing strong.
“I’m so happy for you. So proud of you, babe, You were incredible to watch,” she whispers in my ear, just for me. “I love you so much.”
“I love you more,” I say into the curve of her neck, before taking her face in my hands and kissing the shit out of her.
“Ew, Daddy,” my oldest squeals and her younger sister giggles.
Laughing I bend to pick them up, holding them each in an arm. “Ewwww,” I tease her before kissing them both on the cheeks until they're laughing, and Emmarys is smiling, her eyes shining with love and happiness. This is what I always dreamed of. This moment. The win and having my girl. My end game for life.
The End.
