Page 130 of Fumble Into the End Zone

She shook her head no, but extended her arms for a hug. “I’m proud of you. Do you hear me?” she said to me with my face cradled in her hands.

Before we left, she kissed Harley and rubbed Mia’s stomach.

The closer we inched to the stadium, my excitement had elevated. I struggled to park, thinking about celebrating with my brother, Bryce. I seized Mia’s hand and kissed it as we sat in the car.

“Thank you, baby, couldn’t have made it through the season without you. I can’t wait to see you walk down the aisle to me,” I said.

She smiled back and gave me a shy shoulder shrug. As I unbuckled my seat belt, an eerie feeling nudged at me, but I pushed it away. Dr. Choice and I have been working on my celebration trauma, he called it. We held a brief call this morning and he encouraged me to celebrate with the team. He wanted me to hang out with some of the players, but he was pushing it. I reminded him they were my coworkers.

After I helped Mia and Harley out of my Bentley, with Harley between us, we walked toward the parade buses. My teammates and their families were standing, and Ed spotted me with Mia.

“Shit,” I whispered underneath my breath.

Mia gave me the side-eye and then followed my line of vision.

“What’s up, champ?” Ed said as he extended his hand.

He stood next to whom I assumed was his wife but you never know with football players. She was petite with a cropped haircut and a caramel skin tone.

“This is my wife, Whitney,” he said.

I extended my hand in her direction and shook it. A long pause stood between us until Mia nudged me in my rib cage.

“Ed, this is my fiancée, Mia, and our daughter, Harley,” I said.

“Fiancée? When did you get engaged, Marcus?” he questioned.

I examined his face with no intention of answering.

“Hi, Ed. We kept the engagement a secret. I wanted the focus to be on the game. After our house is complete, I would love to invite the team and their families over,” Mia said.

“The team wants to get to know Marcus. I have a daughter about Harley’s age. We should schedule a playdate,” Ed said.

Mia smiled and Harley peered up at me with furrowed brows. Nothing Mia said was happening if I could help it. As Ed walked off, I wanted to push him down for meddling.

“Marcus, stop it,” Mia said between gritted teeth, and Harley giggled.

Mia tried moving closer to the crowd and I stopped her, nudging her to stay next to me. Waiting for Bryce, Stedman and I locked eyes as he stood next to his wife. Allison pulled him in our direction and I shuffled Harley closer to Mia. My action pulled a concerned face from my wifey.

“Hello, I’m Allison.”

Stedman’s wife extended her hand toward Mia as I glared at him, trying to read his body language.

“I’m Mia and this is our daughter, Harley,” she said.

My eyes traveled up and down Stedman’s large useless stature.

“Fellas, relax. We are here to make peace. Right, Sted?” Allison said.

She tapped her husband’s chest, and he relaxed his shoulders, peering down at her. Mia tugged on my jacket and widened her eyes.

“The guys got off on the wrong foot this season. But they will learn to play nice. Right, Sted?” Allison said.

“Yes, they will,” Mia answered for me.

She gave me a tight lip, with aplay niceface, and I deflated my chest, giving into her demands.

“I don’t know. I don’t think they care for each other,” Harley stated the obvious, and the women cackled.

---