Page 92 of The One I Want
“And who is this little one?”
“I’m Magnolia. I’m six. My daddy scored and the Fury won! Wooo!!!!!”
I laugh, realizing my child is for sure about to go viral. “Yes, this is my youngest. I’m just so glad she’s here, as are the rest of my kids and family.”
I signal behind me where Betsy has Emerson and Hank. “They are the reason I played all this time. They are the reason I’m choosing to end my career. They are the reason for everything.”
“Congrats again, Wes.”
I nod to the reporter as the camera turns away from me. As soon as they do, the three of them come rushing over to me, finding any part of me they can find to hug.
“Dad!” Hank yells. “That was so awesome. And you did the dance!”
“Yeah I did, buddy,” I say as I lean down to kiss the top of his head before looking over at Emerson. “How’d I do?”
She shrugs, trying to play the role of cool pre-teen. “Eight out of ten.”
“I’ll take it.”
She gives me another hug, as does each of the kids before they realize they can play in the confetti. Before I know it, they are running off, finding some of the other kids they know and begin making confetti angels on the field.
I look over to Betsy, who has her phone up, taking photos of everything she can. “Get it all?”
She nods as she puts it down. “I just videoed everything. I’ll take screenshots later. Best of both worlds.”
I reach for her hand and bring her in, laying a kiss on her that I know we’ll both remember for hours after the game.
“Congrats, champ,” she says, smiling up at me like she’s never been prouder of anyone in her life. “How are you going to celebrate?”
“I have a few ideas.” I lean in for another kiss, only this time I pick her up, swinging her around.
Have I ever been this happy? I’m sure in pockets of time, yes. But here? Now? With my family here, my kids in their glory, I just won a title, and the woman I love in my arms? It doesn’t get better than this.
“Hey,” I say as I put her down. “Remember the other night when we were saying all the things we loved about each other?”
“Wes!” she looks around, scared as if someone might overhear.
“Get your head out of the gutter,” I say. “No, what I was about to say was that I realized that I forgot to tell you one.”
“Are you sure my head shouldn’t be in the gutter?”
I cup her face, making sure she’s looking nowhere but at me. “What I should have said, what I wanted to say, is that I love you, Betsy Sullivan. I love every damn thing about you. You brought me back to life. You found the sunshine in the rain. And there is no one I want to go into this next chapter of my life with other than you.”
“Oh Wes…” she says through tears as she grabs my face to kiss me. “I love you. I’ve never said those words before, and that’s how I know I love you. Because I’m not scared of them. You said I was your sunshine? Well you’re my anchor. You’ve helped give me purpose. You’ve showed me love. You’ve supported me and believed in me more than anyone else ever has. Wes Taylor, I love the hell out of you.”
I pick her back up, kissing her in between laughter and tears.
I always said to myself that I wanted my last moments of football to be memorable. That I wanted to look back and know that no matter when it ended, I gave it my all. That I left no regrets on the field.
And I didn’t. Not one damn regret.
Chapter34
Betsy
“Do you have the presents wrapped?”
I look over to the pile near the window where I stacked Emerson’s birthday gifts earlier. I told Wes it was too much. He told me to hush.
