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Bianca shifted uncomfortably in her seat in the back of the SUV. Her brother slowed to a stop at a red light just outside of Charlotte as they made their way to Bank of America Stadium for her run through. She grimaced at the pain in her lower back and tried her best to ignore it. Shifting again, Bianca pressed her fevered forehead against the cool window and closed her eyes.

“Are you okay?” Holly whispered. She didn’t want to attract Shirley or Hunter’s attention.

Bianca nodded her head. “I’m just not feeling well.”

After another twenty minutes or so, Hunter was pulling the SUV into the players’ parking lot of the stadium. Bianca stepped out into the bitter air and looked around. The sky was overcast and gray and the air was bitingly cold. She’d heard on the news that they might even see some snow flurries before the weekend was over.

“Well, there you are,” Matt Davis called across the parking lot.

“Hey Matty,” she greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.

Matt put his hand on her cheek as concern filled his eyes. “What’s going on with you, kid? Are you okay?”

Bianca forced a bright smile and nodded. “I’m fine. A little tired I guess, but that’s all.”

“Okay,” he said not really buying her answer. “Well, let’s get inside so you can get this over with and get out of the cold. Oh and I hear some of the team wants to meet you.”

Bianca laughed as Matt nudged her lightly in the side and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “You keep forgetting that you can’t live vicariously through me anymore. See?” she flashed her wedding band and smirked, “I’m a married woman!”

“Hey, I just need you to get me in! I’m not asking you to do anything other than that,” he winked and smacked her playfully on the backside.

“Yeah, yeah. Sure…”

***

“Okay, so which one can I take home?” Holly let her head fall on Bianca’s shoulder as she sighed contentedly.

“Holly, they’re not puppies. You can’t just take one home with you,” Hunter said from behind the two women. “If I said something like that about a beautiful woman, I’d get slugged.”

“Yeah, well, this is different.”

“Oh, okay. Now I see your point,” he said sarcastically and rolled his eyes before walking away.

“Why didn’t you just go talk to them? I mean, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t bite you.”

“Cause I can never tell which ones are married since not one of them wears a wedding band during practice!”

Bianca laughed but stopped suddenly when a wave of nausea washed over her. Standing up quickly she looked around. “Matty, I need a bathroom now!”

Matt jumped to his feet and helped Bianca find the nearest restroom just in time; she barely made it into the stall before she began to vomit. When she was sure she was okay, she stood slowly and walked over to the sink. She took a deep breath and bent down to splash cold water on her face before looking back in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed and she could see beads of perspiration just below her hairline on her forehead. She braced herself on the sink for just a few moments before straightening herself up and turning to face Matt.

“Whoa… you’re not pregnant are you?” he asked jokingly.

Bianca pointed her finger at him and cleared her throat. “Not one word to anybody or you are a dead man.”

Matt’s face paled and he began to stutter. “Y-you really are pr-pregnant?”

“Just please keep it to yourself for now. Only three people know about it and my Mom and brother are not a part of that equation just yet. So, please, for the love of God, don’t let it slip. It would kill Mama if she knew I didn’t tell her right away, but there are things going on that I need to get figured out first,” she let out a tired sigh. She saw Matt open his mouth to question her and held up a hand, “Don’t ask what it is because I can’t say. Just trust me and keep my secret for a little while, okay? Please.”

Matt let out a breath and nodded as he looked at the floor as he made an X over his heart. “Cross my heart.”



Brian wandered into the kitchen to find his mother and Nicole seated at the table immersed in conversation. He leaned against the door and watched as they both laughed at something that was just said. Jackie took Nicole’s hand in her own, squeezing it gently.

“You really are quite the storyteller, Nicole,” she stood up and started toward the refrigerator. She spotted her son and smiled broadly. “Well, looks like we have company to spoil our girl time.”

“No, I’m not gonna spoil it. I just heard a couple of rowdy women in here and had to come check it out,” Brian winked. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we all go out for dinner tonight?”

“We could do that, but I was just gonna cook something simple honey.”

“No, come on it will be fun. We can go out and have a nice dinner as a family and just enjoy ourselves without you having to cook all day. You can make the reservation if you want that way we’ll go somewhere you like, Mom.”

“Well,” she thought for a moment, “Okay, that does sound tempting.”

“It’s settled then,” Brian grinned and started back out of the room. “Oh, and be sure to call Harry and Tracy and invite them.”

“I will,” Jackie laughed at her youngest son. “He’s a mess, isn’t he?”

“Yes ma’am. He really is,” Nicole laughed with Jackie.

***

Brian wrapped his arm around Nicole’s waist as they entered the quaint little Italian restaurant his mother picked out. He looked around as they waited and smiled to himself when he felt Nicole lean her head on his shoulder; they seemed to fit together perfectly. He nodded a greeting to the hostess when she arrived to seat them. “Littrell party of—”

“Eight,” Jackie Littrell interrupted as she and Harold appeared behind them.

“Eight?” Brian questioned and turned to face his parents. “I thought there would only be six of us.”

Jackie smiled apologetically, “I’m sorry, honey, I thought I told you.”

Simply shrugging his shoulders, Brian turned and followed the hostess as she seated them in the private dining area. Before too long, Harry and Tracy had joined them and Brian was growing restless. Why would she make a reservation for eight? he kept asking himself. It was only a few minutes later when he had his answer.

“Annette… Julie! I’m so glad you two could make it,” Jackie jumped up and greeted the two women.

Brian watched as Julie smiled awkwardly and tucked a strand of her short blonde hair behind her ear. He turned to look at Nicole and found her staring down at the table while she absently traced circles on the tablecloth. Leaning over he placed a kiss on her cheek and whispered, “Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” she whispered back. “I’m just trying to figure out why your mother suddenly hates me.”

“Baby, she doesn’t hate you,” Brian said as he took her hand. “She has just known Julie for a very long time and she thought she was being nice.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she met his eyes and smiled.

***

Brian leaned back in his chair feeling happily full after his meal. Everyone seemed to be engrossed in conversation and he just watched as they continued to chat. Slipping his arm around Nicole’s shoulders he placed his hand in his pocket suddenly feeling nervous. Should I do this now? He nodded to himself to answer the question and cleared his throat. Picking up his glass, he gently tapped it to get everyone’s attention. When he was satisfied that their attention was focused on him, Brian stood.

“I just want to say how happy I am to be able to spend time like this with my family. It’s always nice to come back home,” he smiled at his parents.

“Well, we love it when you come home,” Jackie smiled back.

“This evening is special to me and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than with the people I love most in this world,” he took a shaky breath and turned to Nicole who was smiling up at him. Reaching out he took her hand and lifted it to his lips. “Nikki, you know how much I love you.”

Nicole looked away as she blushed and smiled. “I love you too, Bri.”

Brian cleared his throat nervously and slowly lowered himself to one knee in front of Nicole causing his mother to gasp audibly. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the black velvet box and opened it to reveal an astonishing princess cut diamond set in a thin platinum band. “Baby, will you marry me?”

“Oh God Brian, are you serious?” she lifted a shaking hand to her mouth and stared at the ring as tears filled her eyes.

“Yes,” he nodded and pulled the ring from the box ready to slip it onto her finger. “Marry me.”

Unable to find any words, Nicole only nodded and let him slide the ring onto her slender finger. Before she knew what was happening, Brian was on his feet and had pulled her into a tight embrace as his family gathered around them. Caught up in the joyous celebration, no one noticed as Julie slipped out of the restaurant, wiping away the tears that had filled her own eyes.



Kevin jumped up from his seat when the phone began to ring, afraid that Chris would wake up. He had just gotten the toddler down for a nap after struggling with him for quite some time. Chris had been grumpy and asking for his Mom all day, but Kevin had somehow managed to lull him to sleep. Now all that was about to be shot to hell if he didn’t get to the phone.

“Hello?” Kevin placed the phone to his ear and began to pray that his son was still asleep.

“Is this Kevin?” an unfamiliar female voice asked uncertainly.

“Yes, who is this?”

“Alice Wellman, Tara’s mother,” she answered quietly. “She asked me to give you a call.”

“Is everything okay?” Kevin questioned.

“Things are okay,” her answer sounded somewhat vague. “She was wondering if you could possibly come visit her because some things have come up and she can’t travel back to Florida. She wants to see Christopher.”

Kevin was taken by surprise at the request. He wasn’t sure exactly how to answer right away, but what could he say? He couldn’t very well tell her “no” and if she couldn’t travel back to Florida to see him, what else was there to do? He was too young to be put on a plane by himself, and Kevin wouldn’t do that anyway. “Uh, well, okay. I’m not busy, so I could bring Chris down to see her since she can’t get away. I don’t mind.”

Alice sounded relieved. “Thank you, Kevin.”

“No problem Mrs. Wellman. I’ll try and get a flight out today.”

“Tara will be happy to hear that.”

Kevin ended the call feeling confused, but decided to shrug the feeling off. He would need to call his travel agent to see if he could get a flight out this afternoon. Hopefully, Chris would be in a better mood than before.