Sweet Anna.
His reward was the most beautiful girl in the world smiling down at him. She wasn't crying. She didn't look scared.
She looked brave.
For him.
She was brave enough to declare her feelings for him in front of the entire stadium and the millions of people watching the game on TV.
He'd taken her love for granted once. He wouldn't ever do it again.
"I love you, Cole."
The words he hadn't heard her say since Saturday morning, words he'd been so desperate for, were like a shot of morphine, instantly taking away the pain.
"Ma'am, we need you to move away."
But instead of leaving him, she moved closer. She leaned down, the tips of her hair brushing against his face, her breath sweet on his earlobe.
"And I trust you."
Cole had been hit enough times over the years to know when to try to get up on his own and when to let the medics carry him off the field. But he hadn't had Anna at his side any of those times.
He hadn't had her trust, her love, to make him strong.
And now, there was something he needed to do, a reason he needed to get up that had nothing to do with playing football.
Pain came screaming back as he rolled to his side. Arms, hands tried to get him to lie flat, but when he growled at them to leave him the f**k alone, they backed off.
Only Anna remained, her hands giving him the strength he needed to roll to his knees.
Stars blinked in his vision and nausea roiled in his stomach as he pulled himself upright, still on his knees. Anna was right there with him, breathing with him. Apart from his grandmother, he'd never had anyone to lean on.
Until Anna.
She was the strong one, the woman who would be strong enough to give birth to their children, the woman who would be strong enough to forgive him for acting stupid sometimes, the woman who was strong enough to face down an entire stadium of people who probably thought she was crazy for still loving him.
And he would learn from her strength every single day.
She stood in front of him, both of his hands held firmly, lovingly, in hers, and he knew she'd wait patiently for as long as it took him to get to his feet.
But that wasn't where he was trying to go. Instead, he shifted again so that one of his knees was still on the ground, but his other foot was holding the rest of his weight.
Her eyes went wide as she realized what he was about to do. And then the woman who had been a ray of light for him from the first moment he'd met her threw her head back and laughed.
"Only you would stage something like this, Cole," she said when she looked back at him, even though they both knew he hadn't staged anything until now.
He knew what she was doing, knew that she was giving him back his strength, cell by cell, starting with his heart.
He looked up, saw the screens all around the stadium were holding tight on him and Anna, the crowd of medics and trainers and coaches moving away from them. Eighty thousand people held their collective breath.
"I love you, Anna." Each word cost him sweat as pain blistered through his ribs. "I've loved you from the first second I saw you. My sweet girl with the halo."
One tear fell down her cheek, and then another on the opposite side.
"Will you make me the happiest man alive, sweetheart, and marry me all over again? For real this time."
He knew no one could hear them, although he suspected there was quite a bit of lip-reading going on. Just like everyone else, he held his breath waiting for her answer.
He didn't deserve a yes, but damn it, he wanted it anyway. And if--when--it came, he was going to grab hold of Anna's love and never, ever make the mistake of letting it go again.
Only, her lips didn't move into a yes. "No." She shook her head. "I won't marry you all over again."
He didn't know how he stayed upright, how he managed to remain conscious. But then she dropped to her knees in front of him.
"Our marriage was always real. Right from the start, right from that first kiss, I knew I loved you. And that I would spend the rest of my life with you."
She kissed him and eighty thousand people finally went wild.
But none as wild as the bad boy who never in a million years thought a good girl would be his downfall...and his entire salvation.
* * *
Three months later It was one hell of a party, the kind an Outlaw threw when he wanted to share his joy with the world.
Sitting beside his grandmother, who was firmly in remission as of the previous month, Cole watched Anna dancing with her sisters, pride etched into every line on his face.
"Anna's going to be a wonderful mother."
Cole shot a surprised glance at his grandmother. He and Anna had found out she was pregnant several weeks ago, but they'd wanted to keep something for themselves this time. His wife wasn't quite showing yet, apart from the fact that her beautiful br**sts had filled out a bit more, but they were planning to tell everyone the amazing news later today.
"And you're going to be a wonderful father, honey." Tears sprang into Eugenia's eyes as she gripped his hand. "Thank you for making my wish come true."
And when his wife turned and smiled her sweet smile at him from among the dancing, happy crowd, Cole simply squeezed his grandmother's hand in response.
Her wish wasn't the only one that had been granted.
~ THE END ~