Forty
It was so quiet, but my ears were still ringing after the celebration. Fenway Park had never been louder than when Emmett Thorne caught a fly ball in centerfield for the last out in the ninth inning. The party didn’t stop for hours, but now, as Adam and I lay in our bed at almost three o’clock in the morning, the world was still and I loved it. I loved it being just him and me on the greatest night of his life.
“You’re crazy, Adam, you know that?” I said softly, holding up my hand so I could look at the engagement ring. It felt heavy on my finger and the diamond sparkled in the moonlight.
“Why am I crazy? Because I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you?” he said with a quiet laugh.
“No. Because you asked me to marry you in the middle of the World Series.”
“It technically wasn’t in the middle. The game was practically over,” he said and I sat up to see an adorable smirk on his face.
“You know what I mean,” I said with a smile before brushing my lips lightly over his. “How’d you pull it off anyway? I can’t believe they let you do it during the game.”
“Well,” he said, grinning again and kissing me once more before pulling back, “I had initially decided to do it during the post-game celebration, but then with the lead the way it was, I asked my manager if I kept the lead till the eighth, would he let me propose during the game.”
“And he didn’t have a problem with it?”
“Not at all. Did you see me tonight? I was amazing. That man would’ve done anything I asked.” A cocky grin spread on his face and I laughed again.
“You know how I feel about publicity though.”
“And for once I didn’t care. I won’t hide you, Caroline. After all the crap they’ve given us, I want everyone to know how I feel about you. That I’m going to spend the rest of my life with the most incredible woman in the world.”
“You do realize what a long time that is.”
“I know exactly how long that is,” he grinned.
“And you think you’re ready for it? The whole husband and wife thing? For richer or poorer? Sickness and health? Good times and bad?”
“I’ve been ready since the day I laid eyes on you again last year.”
I started laughing and he pulled me to him, kissing me deeply.
“This is a big step though. There’s no turning back,” I said with a smile, expecting him to smile too, but he didn’t. He was looking at me seriously now. He reached up, gently brushing his fingertips over my cheek.
“I think I do,” I answered softly.
“I don’t think you do, so I guess I’ll just have to spend every day for the rest of forever showing you what you mean to me,” he said in a low, serious voice. “You changed my life and I’ll always be grateful to you for that.”
“I love you, Adam. So much,” I whispered and he pulled me to him, kissing me again, only this time it was long and slow, causing all kinds of feelings to wash over me and leaving me breathless when he finally pulled away.
“I was thinking,” he began softly, “that we could get married in January.”
I felt my eyes grow wide.
“That’s only two months away. How can we plan a wedding in two months?” I asked him.
“Anything’s possible. I just don’t want to wait to marry you and that’s what we’ll have to do if we wait till after next season. I don’t report for Spring Training until the end of February. It would give us some time to be married without baseball. I can’t wait a year to be your husband, Caroline.”
“And I can’t wait a year to be your wife,” I answered, knowing planning a wedding in two months was crazy, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to be Mrs. DeLain.
“Then we’ll do it then? A wedding in two months?”
“Yes. Two months gives us plenty of time,” I said and we both laughed.
“I can’t wait until that day. You’re going to be the most beautiful bride,” he said, reaching up and gently playing with my hair.
“I still can’t believe we’re here, Adam. After everything,” I whispered.
“It was worth it though. Everything was worth it because you’re here with me right now and for some crazy reason you’ve agreed to spend the rest of your life with me. I’ll make you happy, Caroline. You have my word.”
His voice was strong, but when I looked into his eyes, I swear I saw tears in them. Without a doubt, I knew Adam would make me happy. I leaned in, kissing him softly and allowing my lips to linger for a few moments before I settled in beside him, resting my head on his chest and listening to the quiet sound of his beating heart.
“I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something,” he said softly.
“What about?” I asked, running my fingertips over the smooth muscles of his chest.
“You’ve given up a lot for me, Caroline. I know you have.”
“It’s not hard to sacrifice when you love somebody,” I said quietly.
“I know that, baby, but you have given up so much and I don’t want you to think it goes unnoticed,” he said and then paused for a second before continuing. “I can’t pretend to tell you what our life is going to be like together, especially while I’m still playing ball. I can promise you that it’ll crazy sometimes though. You’ve already seen that, but…I’ve been thinking that we should get our own place in Silver Falls. Build a little house near the farm that we can go to to get away from all the madness and to spend time with our families. A place where we can take our kids during the off-season and give them the chance to experience a place like that, to give them a little taste of what we had growing up. And someday,” he continued, his voice lowering before going on, “when this insane life of baseball is behind us, we can go back for good. We can go home.”
I didn’t know what to say as my head continued to rest on his chest. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes though and I took a breath, trying to keep them contained as I thought about a life with our future children and a life together in Silver Falls. I sat up again, looking at him once more and I could see how much this meant to him too.
“You want to go back to Silver Falls someday?” I asked quietly and he nodded.
“I do,” he answered and our eyes locked for a few intense moments. “Is that what you want?”
“I’d go anywhere with you, Adam DeLain, but a life with you in Silver Falls,” I said, stopping for a moment to try and find my words, “I don’t think anything could make me happier.”
“We’ll do it then. Someday,” he said softly and in that moment, I saw our future together. We didn’t know where life would take us on the journey, but we knew where we would end up. We would be together and we would be happy.
I smiled at him, looking into the same blue eyes I had known since I was a little girl and for a moment I saw the boy from all those years ago. Never in a million years would I have guessed my brother’s pain in the butt friend would become the man I would spend the rest of my life with. Life is funny though. It’s always full of surprises. You think one thing and life throws you a curveball instead. Sometimes it’s a swing and a miss and other times, it’s a grand slam out of the park, like me and Adam. I never expected Adam to come back into my life when he returned to Silver Falls. I never thought he would end up meaning so much to me, but as I looked at him now, I was grateful for the unexpected surprises in life. The ones you don’t see coming and the ones you don’t quite understand because they can turn out to be the greatest blessings in your life. And as I pulled him to me, kissing him softly, I knew Adam and I were proof of that.
THE END