“Thank you, Will. I could have never done this without you,” I said, exchanging bro hugs.
Will was jumping up and down in excitement and said, “Damn right, you couldn’t,” and together along with our team and the Seahawks Organization, we celebrated into the wee hours of the morning.
I literally carried Will on my back as Meg followed closely behind, and I dropped him down to the bed.
“Thanks, Patton. After his brothers left, along with the rest of our huge tribe, I was about to leave him where he passed out, knowing there was no way I could get him back here by myself,” she said.
We both laughed at the sight of one of the greatest quarterbacks whom I called my friend. He was toasted, but shit, he deserved the celebration. I wasn’t the only one that got tossed around out there today. He got sacked a few times, and on the last hit, the trainers charged the field to check him out before deciding whether to keep him in the game. There would be no way he would ever leave the field willingly, so in true Will Montgomery fashion, he persevered and played on.
As he slept peacefully, Meg walked me out. “So what happens next for you, Patton?”
“You don’t know?” I asked Meg.
“It’s been a crazy two weeks, and my husband has been busy. I guess it’s up to you to catch me up.”
“I’m going to find Taylor and ask—no —beg for forgiveness, even though she had already given it to me. I just feel I still need to repent for our past. I want to marry her, Meg, and finally make us a family like I always dreamed of having with her. I need Taylor in my life, and I just can’t spend one more day without her.”
“Well, it’s about time. Go get your girl. I hope everything you are hoping for works out, because I know she loves you and has never stopped missing you.”
I gave Meg a parting hug, and then I returned to my hotel room to pack my bag and get a few hours of sleep before my flight back to New York.
Becca called me with congratulations as she told me she was glued to the television all day watching me play. I asked about her mom, and she said they talked earlier in the day and said she sounded sad and withdrawn but kept up appearances for her daughter’s sake. I assured Becca that it’s going to be okay and that I would take care of her mother. I knew she believed me and wished me well.
I took my seat in First Class as the cabin doors closed, with many wishing me congratulations. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, dreaming of the reunion that was long overdue.
I’m on my way, baby.
Chapter 7
You are my heart
Present
I had to remind myself why I was doing this, since any other time I would have hated to land in JFK. This airport was beyond crazy, and although I had an escort, it was like traveling through Times Square on New Year’s Eve times two.
Once I reached my car, I told the driver to do everything possible to get me to Manhattan as I rattled off her address. Yeah, I knew it was wishful thinking due to the time of the day, but I didn’t care what he had to do. Just get me to my woman, and I’ll handle the rest.
The excruciating commute worked my last nerve, but then we arrived only to be blocked by a moving van. A worried feeling washed over me as I told the driver to wait while I got out to speak to one of the movers. He didn’t know anything that could help me. He had a work order to pick up the already packed boxes and bring them to a storage unit per the renter’s request. I had to slip him a hundred to get the information, but it was worth it. I called Becca next. She said she tried to call me, but my phone was on silent. I didn’t see her messages until right now.
“Shit! When did she leave?” I asked her.
“About an hour ago. You probably walked right past her at the airport. I’m sorry, Patton. I couldn’t stop her. She was really upset after the game and said it was just too hard to be reminded of you and how she needed to begin her new life sooner rather than later. I wanted to tell her to wait—to wait for you—but nothing I said mattered.”
I let out a calming breath, knowing it would be impossible to get back to the airport and somehow stop Taylor’s flight, but then an idea came to me. I told Becca not to give up hope and that I would call her back.
I rushed back to my waiting car and told the driver to get me back to the airport. He looked at me as if I was nuts but then shrugged, reminding me that it’s my dime and it’s going to cost me.
It doesn’t matter. I’ll pay anything to get to Taylor and will call in a favor that was promised a long time ago. When you travel as much as I do, you make friends along the way, especially ones that you help out with surprise football tickets for their kid's birthday. I knew Mike Patz well back when he worked at SeaTac, and he said that if I ever needed anything to just call him. Today was that day, and lucky for me, he now worked at JFK. Let’s just hope he’s on duty. I scrolled through my long list of contacts as my car was at a slow crawl through the city traffic. I found his number and called him, with Mike picking up right away.
“Do my ears deceive me? Or is this the great Patton James, MVP Player of Super Bowl 52?”
“Yes, and yes. Yeah, I’m doing great, but that’s not why I’m calling. Listen, I need a favor, a pretty big one, and I’m hoping you are at the airport today.”
“I am. What do you need?”
“I need you to confirm if a passenger named Taylor Ashby is on Flight 3450 to Paris, France.”
“I won’t tell you how many rules I’m breaking doing this for you. I could lose my job or worse,” he sighed and then said, “I don’t want to think about the latter. Okay, give me a few minutes, and I’ll call you back.”
The wait was torture, but Mike came through with the information I needed. “She’s on the flight, but it hasn’t taken off yet.”
“Has the flight been delayed?”
“Yeah, they just updated the signs that boarding will begin in about ten minutes or so. A member of the flight crew was delayed from another flight, and they couldn’t leave without her.”
“Mike, I’m here in the city and making my way towards the airport. Please, do whatever you have to do to stop that flight from taking off.”
“I’ll try my best, Pat, but it’s a long shot at best.”
“I don’t care, Mike. Anything you have to do until I get there.”
“You got it, player.”
“Isn’t there a shortcut you can take to get us there faster?” I asked the driver, feeling beyond frustrated.
I traveled all this way, and now I’m going to miss her. It’s one thing getting to New York, but France is something different. I’ll be running on fumes by the time I get there, and I’ll miss the celebration parade back in Seattle. I promised that I wouldn’t miss it, but could I be forgiven if I missed it on account of love?
I handed the driver a wad of cash and made my way through the busy airport as if I was running toward another touchdown. A representative met me at Air France and couldn’t stop congratulating me. I thanked him for more than the praise and for helping me to the gate where Mike was waiting for me. By the time I got there, the doors were closed.
“Did I miss it?” I asked, trying to catch my breath.
“Ten more seconds, and you would have. The attendants are about to secure the doors, so you better run,” he said, and I took off with lightning speed as I called out for the ground crew to stop.
“Sir? Is there a problem?” he asked, then realized who I was, and literally forgot what he was doing before I rushed the door. “You’re Patton James! Wow, my boys love you. Can I get your autograph?”
“Man, I’ll give you that and so much more if you give me five minutes to talk to one of the passengers on this flight.”
Just then, more of the crew stepped out, and two men also recognized me. I told them how it was basically life or death that I get on this flight to speak to my girlfriend, telling them I was here to convince her to stay and marry me. Yeah, I didn’t tell that to Taylor yet, but eight members of the Air France crew kne
w first.
The women were practically swooning with my declaration of love, but the only person who mattered was Taylor. I gave my apologies to the captain, and after overhearing what I told the crew, he said I had three minutes to convince her, or it was wheels-up and I’d have to take the next eight hours to get her to change her mind. I loved her, and there was no scenario where I walked off this plane without her by my side.
I let out a breath and then walked through the First Class area of the plane to see Taylor staring out the window with red puffy eyes and tissues in her hand. The flight attendant handed me a pack of tissues with a sympathetic look on her face. I guess this was not the first woman they’ve seen crying on a plane. I passed the tissues to Taylor, as she appreciatively accepted them.
“Thank you,” she said as she looked up with her eyes connecting with mine. “Patton,” she whispered and then said, “What? How?” struggling to find her words.
I knelt down before her and held her small hands in mine. I knew all the passengers had their phones on me, recording this very interaction with Taylor, but this was my last chance.
“I’m here for you, Taylor, and if I have to fly all the way to France to convince you how much I love and need you in my life, then that’s what I’ll do,” I said and then lifted her hands to my lips so I could kiss them and breathe in her intoxicating scent that always made my head dizzy.
I told her, “I knew three years ago, and without a sliver of a doubt, I know now. I was raised to believe that if you work hard enough, dreams will come true and you will get everything you want. Well, for a long time that dream was football, and I was content with it, but then I met you, and somehow you found your way into my heart and stayed. My mistake was not fighting hard enough to keep you there. I dropped the ball when it came to us, and you will never know how sorry I am for doing that to you. You believed you weren’t as important as football, and I did nothing to make you feel different. I’m sorry, Taylor. If you could honestly say that you don’t love me anymore, then I’ll walk off this plane and never bother you again.”
When she didn’t say anything, my heart constricted in my chest, and I slowly got up, not sure what to do next. Then her hand grazed mine, and she said, “I can’t say those words, because I don’t lie very well, and if I did, you’d see right through me.”
Tears were falling down her cheeks as I pulled her into me and crushed my mouth down to hers in a kiss that I felt pass through my entire body. Applause vibrated throughout the entire cabin as I couldn’t stop kissing my woman. When I pulled away to catch my breath, my hands held her face, and I asked her to say the words.
She didn’t disappoint and closed her eyes before training them back on mine. “I love you, Patton James! I never stopped.”
I never moved so fast, as I pulled Taylor out of her seat and right into my arms.
“I love you too, so much. Will you come with me now, so we could begin the rest of our lives as husband and wife?”
A woman called out from behind us, making us both laugh: “You call that a proposal? Come on, football star. You can do better than that!”
Still holding Taylor in my arms, I agreed. I said, “Taylor Ashby, love of my life and the one and only person who will always have my heart that beats solely for you, I just want you to tell me…tell me you’re all in with me, baby. Stay with me. Be with me. Spend forever with me by becoming my wife. You are mine, and I’m yours until I take my last breath. I love you.”
She nestled close to my neck to fight back the giggles I knew were about to erupt. She never liked the spotlight on her and to be embarrassed, but this right here was something else, and she knew the difference.
I turned back to the woman and asked, “Better?”
She shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I didn’t hear a yes from the lady.”
I turned back to Taylor and asked, “Well, will you marry me? Are you all in with me?”
“Yes, I will marry you, Patton James! And for the record, I never left.”
Epilogue
The moment I heard her answer, I didn’t hear anything else. I carried Taylor off the plane and right into our future, vowing to always remind her that she was my heart.
Needless to say, life with Taylor following my marriage proposal on the plane, surrounded by over two hundred passengers and the flight crew, was anything but quiet. Our reunion went viral, with quoted words and our picture on the front page of practically every city in the United States.
After calling Becca to confirm we were back together and soon to be married, we hid in our bubble in my hotel suite for the next twenty-four hours until we once again found ourselves on a flight back to Seattle for the victory parade.
We celebrated with my team and the city of Seattle as every team member took their turn holding up the trophy as thousands of fans cheered us on. It was an amazing day celebrating our victory, as I knew a press conference was scheduled the following week to announce my retirement from the NFL. I made so many promises to Taylor on the day we reunited, but the most important one was assuring her that getting a second chance with her was the best gift I could ever receive. Saying goodbye to the game I loved was easier than I realized, and maybe because it was on my terms. As much as I would miss it, I needed Taylor Ashby more and promised to be the best husband I could be, and from that day on the plane, I’ve kept my word.
We relocated to New York after I made the decision to sell my penthouse apartment in Seattle. We agreed on a fresh start and also wanted to be closer to Becca, who was in her second year at school. The news of our engagement and reunion traveled fast, even all the way to France. Taylor wasn’t sad giving up her job, because she was in high demand. She easily landed one in New York. The only reason why she applied to a position in Europe was because of me. At the time, Taylor believed getting far enough away from me would ease the pain of missing me so much.
Football was never too far from our lives, with me now working at ESPN as a commentator. I even went a few rounds with Brett, minus the punches I always wanted to deliver when I was playing. Some days it was so surreal knowing I finally had the life I always wanted and got to spend it with Taylor.
She said the same thing to me once. She never believed she would ever truly share her life with me, and then I told her to stop dreaming about it because we were real and would always be together. She was my world, and I made my peace that we were enough.
One year later
We never really talked about having children outside of Becca, and I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it until one night back in Seattle when we spent some time with Will and Meg, along with their baby daughter, Erin. I held Erin in my arms and breathed in her baby scent of lavender soap. She was a beautiful child, and Taylor was over the moon as she played with her and kissed raspberries on her little tummy.
Taylor’s smile was infectious as we talked about the great night we just had with our friends and their daughter. I agreed, and life continued in the beautiful state of bliss we’d been having since the day of our airplane reunion.
It was weeks later when I received another gift, the very one that was the game-changer of our lives. After dinner, we snuggled up in front of the fireplace and caught up on each other’s day.
Taylor always indulged me when I talked about football, and she said something that took me by surprise. “I have no doubt that you will have an opportunity to coach football one day.”
“Well, you were always my biggest fan. Thank you,” I said and leaned forward to kiss my wife. “So since you know all things Patton James, oh wise one, when do you predict I will be a football coach?”
“Hmm,” she said as she tapped her chin. She then replied, “In about six years, when it’s time to coach our baby’s team.”
I mindlessly smiled and agreed as I took another sip from my wine glass. Then the fireworks went off in my brain, and I realized what Taylor was telling me. “You’re pregnant? Really?”
“We never discussed it
in great detail, but there was always a chance since we never really practiced birth control. So here I am, pregnant.”
“Are you okay? I mean, I don’t want to sound insensitive, but it’s been a long time since you’ve been pregnant. You’re older. I’m older.”
She laughed because it was such a guy thing to say, but she wasn’t mad. She was amazing. She assured me in the best way she could manage that all was well with the pregnancy and soon we would be welcoming a baby of our own into the family.
“I am perfectly healthy and so is our baby. Patton, I see the look of concern on your face, and I understand why you would be nervous. I’m forty-years-old and pregnant with my second child after 19 years since my first one. But the doctor says that I’m healthy and the baby is doing well.”
I was so happy at the prospect of becoming a father and couldn’t wait until he or she was born. We made love in front of the fireplace as I kissed and caressed every part of Taylor’s body. I couldn’t stop telling my wife how much I loved her and thanked her for giving me yet another gift I would always cherish. She was the more that my heart had always wanted.
Six years later
“I caught it, Daddy. Did you see me?” my son called out as his namesake uncle, Will, tossed him the soft football to him. William Taylor James was the greatest achievement of my life. I never believed I would be a husband, let alone a father, but it’s what Taylor had given me since the day she said yes and gave us another chance.
I couldn’t ask for anything more, because I had everything I would ever need with Taylor, Becca, and our son. A picture says a thousand words, but when I looked at us, sometimes words failed me as I tried to articulate just how much I loved what I had with them. I never believed I would be here, and I’d never been happier. The day I received that letter from Becca changed my life.
All In With Me: A With Me In Seattle Universe Novella Page 8
