“Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these sunken eyes and learn to see. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free…”


Marie curled her fingers around Marco’s as they walked the streets of downtown St. Paul. After Marco’s practice in the morning, they’d spent the rest of the day, meandering through the business district, looking at all the small shops they passed. It had been a few days since the Bill Thatcher debacle and already things were starting to get easier.

The day after, Marco’s mom had returned to Montreal and when Marie got back to the condo, the place looked like it had taken a beating. A lamp was broken in the den, pictures had been thrown and consequently shattered, and Marco looked like he’d gone a few rounds with a rabid wolf. Like Sandra predicted, Bill did come back that night, and he came back to make a point. Only he hadn’t expected Marco to be there, so when Marco opened up the front door, Bill took a swing, and Marco swung back. The only difference was that Bill didn’t make contact, but Marco did. Now on the streets of St. Paul, they were both pretty confident that Bill wouldn’t be back anytime soon.

“I want you to come on this trip with me so we can be together on Valentine’s Day,” Marco glanced into one of the boutiques, just gazing at the products in the window.

Marie pursed her lips and lifted her arm up, tucking herself under Marco’s arm, “I have a lot of school work so I was just planning on finishing that up.”

“Come on… It’s our first Valentine’s Day together. I just want to make love to my beautiful girlfriend.” He winked at her and leaned in to kiss the side of her head as they walked.

She pressed her hands against the side of his body and pushed away from him, giggling, “someone’s gonna hear you.”

“I don’t care,” he smiled and rushed back towards her, tugging on her wrist to get her back in his arms. When he had her, he ducked back into an alleyway between shops.

Marco pinned her up against the brick wall, nudging his knee in between her legs to spread them apart. Marie complied and looked up at him as he grabbed at her breasts. She whimpered out and leaned up to kiss his lips hungrily, searching for anyway to get physical contact with him. He lowered a hand between her legs and pressed his fingertips against her jeans.

Marie brought a hand down to his, holding his wrist still.

“C’mon let’s fuck,” he bowed his head against hers and smiled, kissing her cheeks.

She smirked, “I’m the mother of your child, not some drunken sorority girl. I deserve better than a back alley fuck.” She bit his lip, “so you can take your mistress here, but you’re fucking me in the bedroom, understood?”

Marco nodded obediently and stepped away from her. Marie smiled and walked out of the alley and back onto the sidewalk, clutching onto his hand. She smiled up at him, knowing she had him wrapped around her finger. They walked past people, who all stared at them like they were crazy for being all wrapped up in each other’s arms.

“I found something I think you’ll like,” Marco murmured, leaning in to kiss her temple.

She looked up at him as he led her to the building on the street corner. They turned towards it and Marie looked through the window at the empty space. “There’s nothing here,”

“Not yet at least,” he looked at the building, clearly seeing something more in the place than she did. While she just saw a for lease sign, he obviously saw something more visionary. “St. Paul can get pretty busy. Plus everyone likes to support local business. Don’t you see it as that café of yours?”

“Don’t tell me you leased this,”

“Of course not. That’s entirely your decision. This isn’t my business. But I stumbled across this the other day… it’s the perfect size for a bakery, café combo. And it’s close to the rink so you could get a ton of business here.”

“I really appreciate you looking for this; it would be perfect.” She looked up at him and set her head on his bicep, looking at the empty building. “But I’m pregnant, and still in school, and by the time I’d be ready to lease this, it’ll be gone.” She offered him a knowing smile, “do not lease this for me for my birthday, for Easter, for Valentine’s Day, nothing. Things will work out if they’re meant to,”

“Are you sure you don’t want this for Valentine’s Day?”

“Positive,”

---

Valentine’s Day. In the past, Marie had spent every single one with a different boy. When she was sixteen it was one boy, at seventeen it was another. Even last Valentine’s Day was spent with a boy whom she didn’t really remember.

So this Valentine’s Day, although Marco had a game and then would be on a flight to Vancouver, Marie knew she had to make it special. For once the day would be celebrated with a man she actually loved. The logistics were the first hurdle she had to navigate. Because the team was on the road, that meant a hotel. But that also meant that Marco would be assigned to room with a teammate, so she couldn’t surprise him there. That also meant in the name of making her visit a surprise, Marie had to lay down a good amount of cash to get a separate room.

The second hurdle was getting in touch with someone on the team to coordinate everything with Marco. But that person also had to be really good at keeping secrets. Eventually Marie settled on talking with Ryan Suter, although she was hesitant to talk to a married man about her potential sexual escapades. He ended up taking it well and agreed to make sure Marco ended up in the right room.

Marie knew that the chances of Marco being tired and sore after the game and flight was a solid bet, and she grew nervous about making all these plans without making sure he’d be down for it. Either way, she began phase one of the night a few minutes before she heard the hotel room door opening. If things had gone as planned, Ryan told Marco this was the room he’d be sharing with a teammate.

When she heard a slight chuckle, she knew Marco had noticed the arrow made out of rose petals on the carpeted floor. Just a second later, Marie was smiling up at her boyfriend as he stood across from her in the bathroom, staring at her as she lounged in the bathtub. Around her, candles dimly illuminated her and the bottle of champagne beside her.

Marco tilted his head to the side and smiled, pleasantly surprised that she had taken the time and energy to plan such an extravagant treat. He walked to the bathtub and kneeled beside it, placing one hand behind Marie’s head as he leaned in to kiss her sweetly.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, gorgeous,” Marco murmured as he pulled on his tie, loosening it from around his neck. As he unbuttoned his dress shirt, he looked around at the candles she’d set out, “aromatherapy?”

She giggled and shook her head, watching as he stood up to undo his belt and slip off his slacks. As he stood naked in front of her, Marie admired his physique before she slid forward in the tub. Marco stepped in behind her, sinking into the bubbles and pulled her back into his body.

Marie rested her head against his chest and handed him the champagne, “do the honors?”

Marco held the bottle in front of her and set his thumbs on the cork, biting on his lip until it popped off. Marie shrieked as the cork went flying, and she giggled as the champagne bubbled out of the bottle. Marco brought it to his lips, sucking it into his mouth to keep it from spilling over into the bath, and Marie quickly held out a glass for him to pour the bubbly into.

“To our relationship and having the best time of our lives. I love you so much Marco, and I feel so blessed to have you in my life,” she held up her empty champagne glass.

“Cheers, my darling.” He clinked his glass against hers gently and set it beside the tub. Only then did he wrap his arms around Marie’s waist, setting the side of his head down on top of hers.

She could feel his hands exploring the small bump she now had as their child grew, and she relaxed into his arms. Marie was beginning to hate the way she looked. Each week, she was realizing that another article of clothing didn’t fit, and each week she saw the body of a twenty-year-old girl disappearing.

“Remember when I said being pregnant did wonders for my sex drive?” When Marco nodded against her head, she continued, “well I lied. My sex drive is shot,”

“Then I guess we won’t be having any tonight,” Marco lifted his head and picked up his champagne glass to take a sip.

“But it’s Valentine’s Day,”

“Let’s just say we celebrated the night I got you pregnant. We were a few months early,”

“But you’re missing out on all these moments because of me,” Marie protested. These crazy hormones were taking her on a wild roller coaster of emotions. “Valentine’s Day sex, potential birthday sex on your upcoming birthday…”

He began giggling and Marie turned around in his lap so she could look up at him. Marco got distracted, staring at her breasts, and only returned his attention to her eyes when she set her hands on his chest. She looked totally serious despite Marco struggling to keep it together.

“You really think I’m mad because I can’t have sex with you tonight or potentially on my birthday?” He ducked his head to the side to look at Marie as she turned her head away from him. “Baby, I’m not. I just wanna be with you, spending time with you…”

“You’re lying because you’re trying to be a gentleman,” she protested again, pouting her lips.

Marco giggled again and wrapped his arms around her head, cradling it against his chest, “Marie you’re pregnant. I know you’re not going to want to have sex every night. I know your hormones have you feeling seven different things at once.” He finished off his first glass of champagne, and then poured himself more.

“You promise you won’t resent me for this,” she tried to suppress a smile, being mostly unsuccessful. He nodded and cupped her face in his hands as he leaned in to kiss her slowly.

Awkwardly, he lifted her up at the same time he stood in the tub. After stepping out and grabbing a towel, Marco carried Marie back into the hotel room. He laid the towel out on the bed and then set her down on top of it so she didn’t soak the sheets.

“I love you,” he murmured, straddling her naked body. He brought his lips to her skin, kissing along every inch until he reached her lips again.

“I love you too,” she whispered, turning into his body. It felt safe to be with him, and when she tucked her head into the base of Marco’s neck, he enveloped his arms around her completely, keeping her close. She moaned against his skin, in a state of complete peacefulness.

Notes

"Blackbird" by The Beatles.

Subscribe, comment, & vote! Thank you all for reading! xx