He was smiling.
Even after that loss, that bloodbath of a game, he still found something to smile about when he saw me. And though I feel bad that he lost the game and can only imagine how hard he must be taking it, it feels good to know that I could be there for him. That he clearly found some solace, even for a moment, in seeking me out in the crowd.
Because that’s what we do. We’re there for each other.
The thought has me practically running out of the arena. I can’t wait to find my husband.
Hug him.
Remind him that there’s always the next game. And the one after that.
And I’ll be here for all of them.
I round the corner to the crowded concourse, which smells of stale popcorn and spilled beer and body odor, and start fighting my way through the sea of maroon jerseys towards the players’ area.
I shouldn’t have left the comfort of the family box… but on the other hand, I’m very glad that I did. I wanted to make sure that Seb saw me on his way into the tunnel. Knew that I was there for him.
Like I said in my vows—for better, and for worse.
And yes, I’m pretty sure I hiccupped my way through that line and Elvis had to thump me on the back until I could speak again, but that’s neither here nor there.
I’m racing against the crowd, weaving in and out of human traffic, when a very familiar figure appears in my peripheral. Two, in fact.
“Dad?” I blink in surprise, waving at him. “And Mr. Plumlee. Hi.”
I forgot that the VIP tickets Seb gave them for Christmas were for tonight’s game. Pity about the game’s outcome, but those were great seats, at least.
“Hello, Maddie.” My stepdad offers me a thin smile and a little pat on the arm, while Mr. Plumlee gives me a quick grin that doesn’t reach his eyes. I notice with some relief and more indifference that Adam doesn’t seem to be lurking in any dark corners alongside them. “Nice to see you. And it was good to see your… husband out there tonight.”
Is it me, or did his voice tighten on the word husband?
He’s probably just hoarse from yelling during the game. Or more likely, he’s making an allusion to the Cyclones’ unfortunate—and in my entirely hockey uneducated but very biased opinion, totally unfair—loss.
I give them both a placid look. “Did Jax come with you?” I ask mildly. Hopefully.
“He came with a friend. Left already.”
Phew. If Jax brought a friend tonight, it means that Adam must’ve given up his ticket. Which means that my ex didn’t show. Which means that he may very well be an official ex-Cyclones fan now. Ha.
Mischief Managed, as Wathwart would say.
“Oh. Pity.” A beat of slightly strained silence hangs in the air, and then, I wiggle my All-Access Pass in the air like a weirdo. “Well, I better run. I want to catch Seb when he comes out of the locker room.”
“I saw him the other day,” Richard says mildly.
I pause mid-step. “Oh?”
“Sebastian,” he confirms. “He was at our law offices, visiting Roger.” He quiets for a long second. “Roger specializes in immigration for professional athletes.”
Of course Seb’s lawyer would work at Richard’s firm.
It’s almost laughable how predictably annoying that is.
“Oh.” I purse my lips. “Yes. Well, as you know, Seb’s Canadian and we’re getting his green card sorted out. You know, now that he’s a married man and what have you,” I waffle, suddenly wanting to stick my tongue out and run away like a bratty six-year-old.
Unfortunately, Richard’s staring at me with such an intensity that I feel a single movement in the wrong direction might have him turn his nose all the way up at me like I’m an unruly bug traipsing across his lawyer-y desk.
“Oh I know,” my stepdad says. “I stepped in to see Roger after Sebastian’s appointment, and he informed me that you two are headed for your interviews with the immigration officials soon.”
I nod. “Yup. We have an appointment booked.”
Richard smiles thinly again. “He was also able to inform me that there’s a new contract in the works for Sebastian that would mean he’s able to apply for a green card of his own merit. Play hockey here for as long as he desires, without being tied to the conditional green card he’d obtain by filing the spousal application with you, Maddie.”
A strange chill runs through me as my stepdad’s words fall heavy on my chest.
Is this the “other option” that Seb was hinting at last night? Is there another contract that would allow Sebastian to get his own green card, and if so, was he planning on telling me about it?
“It’s especially ideal given that Sebastian’s work visa expired so suddenly last month.” Mr. Plumlee fixes me with a look.
It’s a look I do not like.
Defensive, I put my hands on my hips and glare at the pair of men. “Should Roger have really disclosed all of this? Isn’t there such a thing as client confidentiality?”
They both laugh indulgently, like I’m a petulant child demanding candy. “Sure there is, Maddie,” Richard says. “But there’s also such a thing as basic research in the public record.”
“Oh.” I don’t know what else to say. I wish Seb was here—he always knows what to say.
“I find it…. interesting that you two tied the knot so quickly when Sebastian was having visa trouble,” my stepdad adds. And I know now, for a fact, that I didn’t imagine the emphasis on the word husband before—he just did the exact same thing with the word interesting.
He’s lawyerspeaking me. Accusing me without uttering a single accusatory word.
He’s good at it, too. No wonder he brings in the big bucks keeping white collar criminals out of jail.
Mr. Plumlee is looking at me knowingly. “Interesting, indeed,” he echoes with a smug tone that tells me Adam’s going to be hearing all about this.
Maybe he already has.
But honestly, I really don’t care what he thinks. What any of them think.
And on that, I really don’t want to listen to another word they have to say.
I have a husband to find. A husband who’s done nothing but be loyal and kind to me. Who defends me and supports me, but also helps me stand on my own two feet and face the people who’ve hurt me.
And I realize I don’t need Seb to be here with me right now with all the right things to say. Because he’s already taught me how to stand up for myself. For us. And our marriage.
Which is very, very real to me. And I know it’s real to him, too… whatever the damn paperwork ends up looking like.
I look up sweetly at the man I’ve been calling “Dad” for most of my life. “Actually, Richard, what’s interesting is that you have a totally loveless marriage, and so you assume that everyone else must, too. But guess what? I love Sebastian.”
Saying the word out loud makes me feel shaky. But it’s the damn truth, and I’m here to speak my truth. All of it.
“And Paul.” I turn to my ex’s dad. “What’s also interesting is that your son had a totally loving relationship that he abandoned to chase someone who could further his career. And so you must assume that the next man I fall for would be a self-serving narcissist, too. But Sebastian’s nothing like Adam.” I smile. “Thank the Lord. So, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and Screw You Very Much.”
With that, I skip away into the crowd, feeling two sets of shocked eyes fixed on my back—which bears the name Slater, of course.
Fa la la la la la la la la, indeed.
Later, Seb is shaking with laughter as I recount my run-in with Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
“You absolute badass,” he cackles. “I wish I’d been there to see it.”
“Too bad. You’re just gonna have to imagine it, instead.” I smirk across at him. We’re in his SUV, driving home from the game, and I’m really glad that my story seems to have lifted his spirits. He’s only mentioned losing the game in passing.
“In my mind, it’s all very sexy—you laying down the law like that.” Seb glances at me, his eyes suddenly heated.
“I feel like everything in your mind goes back to sex.”
“What can I say? I’m a red-blooded male with an extremely sexy wife who looks extra sexy right now in my jersey.”
The ridiculous words are laced with both teasing laughter and a certain gravely heat that makes my stomach swoop. My husband, the charmer with the arsenal of spine-tingling flirty comments… and I love every damn second of it.
I don’t think I’ve ever loved anything more.
“Plus, I can always go see security and bribe them to give me the tape,” he adds with a cheeky smile.
I attempt to hit him, but he easily catches my hand and laces his fingers through mine, letting our linked hands rest on his lap as he drives.
We’re silent for a few minutes, the Christmas music on the radio filling the comfortable silence in the vehicle, until I finally say, “You know what, though?”
He glances at me, waiting for me to continue.
But I frown, wondering exactly how to phrase this. The whole green card confrontation with Richard and Paul is still buzzing around my head like a pesky mosquito, despite my best efforts to squash it. I know I need to do the mature thing and communicate. Tell Seb how I’m feeling and ask for clarity—because this is a healthy relationship that means the damn world to me, and I’m not going to do that smoothing-over crap I did with Adam when an issue comes up.
Seb is worth every difficult conversation, even if the outcome isn’t what I want to hear.
“It’s funny… I told my stepdad off, but he was kind of right, in a way,” I start hesitantly. “This thing between us started as something we got into to benefit each other. And it still kinda is, with the green card application and whatnot.”
Seb’s face contorts a little, like the thought is unpleasant to him. “I’m sorry that it started that way. It’s certainly not like that anymore.”
“If there’s another way to do the paperwork, Seb, I’d support you in that. If that was what was best for you,” I reply carefully.
“You’re what’s best for me, Maddie,” he says simply. His hand tightens on mine and he casts me a lingering, sideways look. “I was hesitating before because I didn’t want there to be any negative repercussions for you… but then, I realized that we wouldn’t actually be lying in our interview at all. Because this is the realest relationship I’ve ever been in, and I could talk about how great you are for days to the USCIS.” He grins a little. “They won’t be able to shut me up.”
I smile, too, but I have to be sure. “We got into this for your hockey career. If this isn’t the best way for you to move forward with that, then…”
“I don’t care. You come first. And I wanna do this with you. Prove that I’m in this for you, and for us. We’re a team now, you and me. That comes with both risk and reward… and you’re worth risking everything else for.”
The affirmations are all I need to feel safe. Secure. A balm to my soul, healing every lingering ounce of doubt that my past scarred me with.
“A team,” I echo. “The best team ever.”
“Exactly. And while I don’t love how this all started out, I’m also glad of it, because it brought us together.”
I nod. “Me too. I was always the romantic in the family, always dreaming of this fairytale wedding for love. I grew up in a home where my parents’ marriage might’ve started out with love, but for so many years, has been for pure convenience. And then, I ended up in a relationship with a man who I was with for love, but he eventually left me for a woman who could further his career.” I give a shrug. “It’s ironic that you and I got together for convenience and ended up…”
“With love,” Seb finishes softly.
My head swivels so that I’m staring at him; processing what he’s just said. And as I do this, I read the signposts outside the vehicle, and realize we’re going the wrong way.
“Seb? You missed our turn.”
“No, I didn’t.”
He’s got a mysterious glint in his eyes as he drives in, quite literally, the opposite direction from his apartment. But it isn’t long before he pulls up at…
“The Atlanta Botanical Gardens?” I ask, frowning. The gardens are known for their insanely beautiful after-dark Christmas light display, but it’s 10:30pm, and there’s barely another vehicle in the parking lot.
“I know that Christmas is technically over, but ‘tis still the season… so I thought we could go look at some lights.”
I smile wide, my insides turning to goo again, as they often do around this man. “That’s so sweet, Seb. I love that idea… But isn’t it closed?”
Seb gives me a hint of that cocky smirk of his. “Not to us, it isn’t.”
I gape at him and his expression turns almost bashful. “We’ll just call it one of the perks of being a pro athlete. Opening hours don’t necessarily apply when I want to take my wife on a date.”
“This is insane,” I breathe, looking towards the entrance to the gardens, then back at Seb. His eyes are soft and crinkly and he’s doing that thing again where he’s looking at me like I’m the most precious thing in the world.
“So, is that a yes?” he asks quietly. “Will you go on a date with me, Maddie?”
“Of course it’s a yes!”
His smile broadens and he climbs out of the car, comes around to my side, and opens the door. Offers me his arm. “Right this way, then.”
We breeze past the night-time security guards, and the lone teller left on-site unlocks the gate. I notice Seb slip him a bag that I’m almost certain contains a signed jersey.
How my other half lives…
Stepping through the gate and into the Gardens, it’s like I’ve entered a literal fairytale. The sky above is inky black, but we’re engulfed in the glow of a million twinkling lights.
I clutch my gloved hand on Seb’s arm as we walk. The night is cool, the air calm and still and crisp, and in the background, soft music plays. We walk through a tunnel made entirely of sparkling lights, and over a bridge rimmed with shimmering, silvery ropes, and into a treed area where thousands of lit teardrops hang from each of the branches.
It’s beautiful. And the fact that Seb and I have the entire place to ourselves makes it all the more amazing.
Then, Sebastian stops under the canopy of a sparkling tree and spins me towards him. His handsome face is lit by a million glowing lights as he lowers his lips to meet mine, and I realize that this is, by far, the most romantic thing that has ever happened to me.
And it suddenly doesn’t matter at all, whatsoever, in any iteration of the universe, that our marriage started out as temporary. Because I love this man with all my heart, with my entire being. And I fully believe that he loves me with his, too.
By the time we pull apart, we’re both breathless and flushed.
“Is this date up to the lady’s standards?” Seb asks with a quirked brow.
“Blew all my expectations out of the water,” I say, standing on tiptoe so I can wrap my arms around his neck and hug him close. “I can’t believe you planned all this for after the game.”
“I planned it right after Mal and Chantal crashed our sushi date.” He looks down at me. “I realized I’d never taken my wife on a proper date, and that needed fixing. Immediately.”
His tone is so sincere, so sweet, that my eyes prick with tears.
Seb’s forehead creases and he takes a small step away from me, even as he reaches for my hand. We get to walking again, following a path over a pond, and I can clearly see that Seb’s frowning. I tug his hand slightly so that he comes to a stop next to me. “What’s on your mind?”
He chews his lip for a moment. “It’s just… you’ve always wanted romance and a fairytale wedding, but you didn’t get those things with me. I don’t like that.”
“I don’t care about those things anymore.” I shrug. “I’m with you, which is what matters.”
He pauses for a long moment, his eyes searching mine. “I love you, Madelyn.”
His voice is full of emotion as he stares down at me, and I practically choke, my throat raw. “I love you too, Sebastian.”
And then, under the glowing, ethereal lights of the Botanical Gardens, Sebastian Slater gets down on one knee. His hands are still holding mine, and my chest is so tight, I feel like I can’t breathe.
What is happening right now?
“I love you so much,” he says in a low voice. “And I know that I can’t go back and give you the fairytale beginning, but I can give you the ending you’ve always wanted. We’ve done this whole thing backwards, but one thing’s for sure: you come first. No matter how this started, from here on out, we are in a marriage based on nothing but love.”
My heart flutters wildly as Seb takes a deep breath and meets my eyes. One of his thumbs rubs over the ring already on my left hand.
“I can’t exactly ask you to marry me, but I can ask you to date me. To let me keep getting to know the amazing person you are. I want to send you flirty texts and take you to nice dinners and surprise you with peonies and freesias and calla lilies, just because. I want to laugh with you and cuddle you and care for you and make love to you every night for as long as I live.”
By now, a mixture of tears and laughter are pouring out of me as I look down at the man that I love. My husband.
“Madelyn Louise Grainger Slater… will you make me the happiest man alive and do me the honor of continuing to be my wife?”
“YES!” I practically scream through my tears. “Yes, yes, a million times yes!”
Seb is on his feet in an instant, and he picks me up off the ground and crushes my body to his as he twirls us around.
“She said yes!” he bellows, the sound echoing through the trees in a perfect concoction of pure laughter and happiness. Around us, the lights twinkle their applause.
I’ve never been happier. This is all I want… for us to be together, just like this. And I want us to have the choice to keep choosing each other, every day, just like this.
So I know what I have to do.
I pull slightly back from Seb’s embrace to look at him. “On… one condition.”
