“…you keep me comin’ back for more. Baby you’re all that I want, when you’re lying here in my arms. I’m finding it hard to believe we’re in heaven…”


Marie stood in the doorway of the bathroom with her arms folded across her chest. Sofia was already sleeping for the night, and Marco was bent over the sink, shaving away his beard. Without it, he looked like a little boy.

“I don’t like it,” she pouted. Truthfully she was mostly bitter about the start of the season. Starting tomorrow, the team would head off for the first game. And this year’s schedule was especially hard. The longest home stand was four games, which would only occur once this season. But that was mixed in with extended road trips.

“Sof doesn’t like my beard. She cries every time I kiss her,”

“Do you really have to leave tomorrow?”

Marco looked at her through the mirror and smiled as he patted his now clean-shaven face dry. “I need to go in order to support the extravagant lifestyle you lead,”

“Screw the lifestyle. I just want you,”

He turned and cupped his hands around her cheeks, “I know it’s not going to be easy, and there’s nothing I want more than to have you and Sof with me at every game in every city. But that’s just not practical,”

She reached up and put her hands around his wrists, holding them tightly. “I know,” she pouted and looked down at his chest, wanting nothing more than to fall into it. “But I’m nervous this year,”

Marco giggled and squished her cheeks together, “why? Last year should’ve been more nerve-wracking for you.”

“We didn’t have Sof last year, and I’m afraid you might look elsewhere… You know for something new, fresh.”

“You mean someone new and fresh.” He chuckled again and shook her gently, “why would I go looking for someone else when I’ve got the most gorgeous woman at home?”

She nudged his hands off of her cheeks and backed off, folding back the blankets on the bed. “I’m serious, Marco. What if you fool around with someone else and realize I’m not worth it,”

“Don’t you trust me?” He asked, reaching into the dresser to pull out a pair of boxer briefs.

“Of course I do. It’s the other girls I don’t trust,”

“Well what can I do to change that for you?” He sounded genuine, and even helped in folding back the sheets.

“Propose,”

Marco choked out a laugh, and Marie shot him a serious glance. She wasn’t kidding. What reason did he have for not proposing? He slid into bed, sitting up against the headboard, and brushed his hand through his hair.

“C’mon baby…”

“Why not?” She questioned getting more and more perturbed. “We’re basically married without the title,”

“Then why rush it?” He pointed out, trying to reach for her. It was a futile attempt to diffuse the situation.

“The only thing that changes is a ring on my finger and you call me your wife instead of your girlfriend. What’s the problem?”

“I don’t want to rush being a husband. I’m not ready,”

“Not ready to only sleep with one person for the rest of your life?”

Even though he could tell she was getting pretty angry, he still couldn’t hold back his little laughs. He reached forward and managed to take hold of her hand, tugging it so she was forced to fall onto the bed, “I don’t want to sleep with anyone else, Marie. Marriage is a big step for me and it’s not something I take lightly. I don’t think we’re going to break up or anything, I just want to make sure we’re both completely ready for it. You may not think so, but I feel like it’s like drawing a line in the sand.”

“A couple months ago, you asked me to elope. I just don’t see the harm in putting a ring on my finger. It’s not like we’d have to get married right away; just have it there as security. It would make me feel a hell of a lot better.” She pouted and pulled her hand away, adjusting her pillow before laying her head down on it.

“Well I don’t have a ring to give you,”

Marie sniffled and pressed her head into the pillow. She was trying to hide these feelings, but Marco curled up behind her. He tucked his arm over her hips and held on, tucking his head against the back of her neck. She loved him so much, so letting this ruin them wasn’t really an option. But at this point, she really did want him to just seal the deal. It would simplify so many things in their life.

Eventually the sound of Sofia’s soft breaths through the baby monitor lulled Marie to sleep. Only that night she had a dream that she walked in on Marco with another girl. Needless to say, her sleep was disturbed. So when Marco rolled out of bed the next morning, it didn’t take much to stir her. She awoke just enough to glance at the clock. Six AM. Marie shut her eyes again, listening for what she knew was coming.

“Buongiorno principessa,” she heard Marco through the monitor as he greeted Sofia. “Come hai dormito?” How’d you sleep? “Buona? Hai pianto solo due volte.” Good? You only cried twice. “Papà sta per mancherai. Ti mancherò?” Daddy’s going to miss you. Will you miss me? “Si o no? Sì,”

Marie pulled the blanket up over her head. Marco would take care of Sofia’s needs for now. He’d get ready, and once he left the house, Marie would get up and start her morning. Usually, she’d get up with him, but today, she could barely stand the thought of having another confrontation.

It must’ve been sometime later, because Marie was being awoken yet again, this time by the feeling of Marco’s lips against her forehead. She stretched out and blinked awake, groggily looking at him as he crouched at the side of the bed.

“I have to get going,” he whispered, stroking his hand in her hair.

She moaned and reached out, wrapping her hands around his neck to pull him into a hug. After a slow embrace, she turned her head so their lips could connect.

“I’ll call you later, okay? I love you,”

“Love you too,” Marie leaned in again to peck his lips once more. She watched him go before shutting her eyes again.

It’s not like this road trip was very long or anything. It was only one game, and he’d be back by tomorrow morning. But after that came a one game home stand followed by an extended trip. Wanting a ring and a proposition for marriage didn’t come about because of this tiny separation. It was because of the constant moving around Marco would have to do throughout the season. She just wanted a certain level of security that all the wives had. And to be honest, she felt like all the other wives, but didn’t have the title or the diamond ring.

Only a couple minutes after Marco shut the door, Sofia was crying again. Usually after Marco went through her morning routine, he was able to stick around for awhile to allow Marie to get some extra sleep. But now because of the season, that wouldn’t be as likely.

She glanced at the clock again, noting it was just after eight. Late enough. Sofia would keep crying now until she was out of her crib. Marie pushed herself out of bed and grabbed one of her old BU sweatshirts. The condo was a little chilly, so Marie checked the thermostat before going into the nursery to retrieve Sof. She was all swaddled up, eyes and cheeks puffy from crying.

“Oh honey, don’t tell me you already miss daddy.” Marie held Sofia tightly, rocking and bouncing her at an even pace to try and calm her nerves. “We’re never gonna get through this season if you miss him five minutes after he’s gone,”

Trying her best, with little success to calm Sofia down, Marie walked to the kitchen. The first thing she noticed was a little blue box on the counter. Readjusting Sofia in one arm, Marie looked down at the box and the note in front of it.

It’s no diamond engagement ring, but maybe it’ll hold you over until I’m ready. I promise one day I’ll make all this waiting worth it.

She smiled to herself and popped open the blue box with one hand. Inside, she ogled at the sapphire ring. Her fingers ran over the tiny diamonds that encircled the larger blue stone. She could hardly believe her eyes, mostly because this differed so greatly from what she’d been told last night. He didn’t have a ring to give her…

Marie slid the ring onto her left ring finger, admiring the way her hand looked with it on. All she wanted to do was call Marco, but that wasn’t a possibility right now. He was either practicing or already on a flight down to St. Louis.

Meanwhile, Sofia was still a mess in her arms. She was writhing around, shrieking out high-pitched screams. And for the life of her, Marie couldn’t figure out why she’d become so fussy lately. Over the past few days, she’d gotten progressively more angsty.

---

Hours later, Sofia was still wailing. There was no relief in anything. She had been fed, changed, and coddled, and nothing was working. When Marie heard a knock at the door, she was hesitant to open it. It’d likely be a neighbor telling her to shut her kid up. But the knocking got louder and more persistent, so she figured in order to get the person to leave, she’d need to endure the confrontation.

“Jesus Marie,” the first words spoken after she opened the door. “You can hear her from outside. If you don’t quiet her, someone will call child services on you.” Her father forced his way into the condo, briefcase in hand, and looked around, “no Marco?”

“You shouldn’t be here, you know Marco…”

“I just came to see my granddaughter,” he dropped his briefcase by the couch and lifted Sofia out of Marie’s arms. “And good thing too because she seems a little uncomfortable,”

“I must insist you leave,” she reached out to take back her daughter.

“Did Marco propose?” Bill nodded down at the ring on Marie’s finger. In the same instant, she pulled her hand back. “How long’s she been crying like this for?”

Marie folded her arms across her chest as her dad sat down with Sofia in his lap. He became preoccupied by reaching into his bag. “A couple days. She gets feisty whenever Marco leaves, but I can’t get her to stop crying. She eats and everything, but the crying is incessant.”

Bill glanced at Marie before returning his complete attention to Sofia. She had stopped wailing now; her cries reduce to whimpers and a quivering lip. “She could be colicky. That’s usually caused by gas, but an irregular heartbeat could do it too… With her medical history…”

“Just check it out.”

He hooked his stethoscope around his neck and laid Sofia down so her body lay in the center of his lap. Nimbly, his fingers undid each of the buttons down the front of her onesie. “Damn, I did a pretty good job,” he admired the scar down the center of her chest, which had since faded a little bit. As Marie went to say something, Bill put the stethoscope’s earpieces into his ears, and held the bell against Sofia’s chest. He listened for a moment, and then finally pulled the earpieces out. “Heart sounds fine. You might try letting her soak in warm water… Worked like a charm for you when you were colicky.”

“Why are you here?” Marie asked again, this time succeeding in taking Sofia back in her arms.

“I told you, to see her.”

“You’d risk getting beat up by Marco, just to see Sof?”

“It’s not everyday I get to check up on a patient. She’s special Marie; you can’t tell me you don’t know that. Getting the chance to see a life because I helped save it is a rewarding experience. And I only hope you have the chance of experiencing it one day. I don’t want anything from you, I’m not here to punish or convince you of anything.”

“You’ve done enough of that to last me a lifetime. I hate you for that. I will always hate you for that. You put me through hell and made me believe I wasn’t worth anything. I will never forgive you. But I will allow you to spend today with Sofia, under my supervision, and by tonight, I want you out of my home, and I never want to see you in Minnesota uninvited, ever again.”

“I understand.”

She was surprised how easily he agreed to those terms, but also doubted if he’d actually stick by them. And now the only reason she was going to listen to his suggestion was because of how much discomfort Sofia was in. Anything to get her to stop crying was fine at this point.

Marie lifted the baby bathtub into the sink and filled it up with water while she supported Sof with her hip. At this stage, Sof was pretty good at supporting her own head up, and she took advantage of this skill in order to stare at Bill as he stood beside Marie.

“How’d her two month appointment go?”

Marie laid Sof back in the tub, letting most of her body submerge in the warm water. “Fine. The work you did on her heart is holding up,”

“Did she get her vaccinations?”

“Yes, dad…” She knew her dad’s stance on that entire issue. Almost immediately, Sofia’s cries got softer. “Will you watch her? I want to call Marco,”

Bill looked more than eager to be Sofia’s temporary guardian. As Marie backed away, he took her spot and offered his index fingers to Sof so she could hang onto them.

Marie backed out of the kitchen and retrieved her phone from the nightstand beside the bed. Although she would’ve liked to talk to Marco in private, she also wanted to keep an eye on her dad. So with the phone in hand, Marie dialed the number and sat down at the kitchen table.

On the third ring, Marco picked up. “Hey babe,”

“Hey how was the flight?”

“Pretty short. Did you get the present I left for you?”

She looked down at her hand and felt herself blush, “I did, Mr. I don’t have a ring to give you.”

As Marco laughed on the other end of the line, Marie looked up to find her dad glancing back at her. Once they made eye contact, he returned his focus to Sofia.

“I thought about what you said, so I woke up extra early, and Sof and I went to visit a jeweler. You know I’m five million percent in this, right?”

“I know, hun. Which is why I’m about to tell you something and you’re not going to get angry because you love me so much, okay?” He could’ve easily answered, or grunted, or anything. But he didn’t. And Marie knew that no matter how much he loved her, he wasn’t going to take this well. “My dad dropped by,”

“Why?”

“To see Sof?”

“What’d you say?”

“Well here’s the thing,” she licked her lips and stared at her dad’s back. She could hear him talking to Sofia in a high-pitched voice. “He’s still here, but we made a deal. He can visit with her today, but after today he’s not allowed to just show up in Minnesota and check up on us.”

“I don’t like it,” he hissed.

“I know, but Sof and I are gonna be heading to the shop in a little bit, so we’ll be around a bunch of people. It’ll be fine.”

Marco sighed loudly, “please be safe. If anything happens to you or Sof…”

“I know,” she interrupted. “It’ll be okay,”

“I’ll be home late tonight, but I don’t want him there when I get in.”

“He won’t be,”

“Okay. Call if you need anything, seriously. I’ll have a trainer check my phone or whatever, just keep in touch please.”

With just a bit more reassurance, Marie was able to hang up the phone. Marco was reasonably worried about her, but something felt a little different with her dad. Maybe it was just the fact that there was a grandchild in the mix now. And with visits being infrequent, he was probably just trying to be on his best behavior.

“The shop?” Bill asked. Now he didn’t even bother looking back at Marie.

“Yeah. I got a shop,” she stood up and walked to the sink. Sofia was now completely quiet in her little tub. Apparently the warm water had helped.

“What kind,”

“Bakery… Café, sort of deal. It’s called Scandy’s.”

Bill nodded and began to drain the water from the sink. “How long have you had it?”

“Maybe a month,”

“And it’s doing well?”

Marie picked up Sofia and swaddled her up in a warm, fuzzy towel. “Yeah. I’m pleased with it. It doesn’t hurt that the guys from the team frequent it… Brings about a little extra free publicity.”

“Are you still in school?”

“Online classes. It might take a little longer with everything, but I’m paying my way. One thing I can’t fault you for is teaching me how to work hard. Working hard got me out of New York and Boston,”

It was one last dig at her father. She didn’t want him to get the impression that things were starting to get chummy between them. He still wasn’t welcome back after today. The surprise visits would have to stop.

Notes

"Heaven" by Bryan Adams.

I hope y'all really like this story, because I know I'm enjoying writing it! :)