Told you I'd let them go

August 2020

I was out at a pregnant ladies happy place. Target. I was in what people called a nesting mode. I wanted to get Theo's room ready even though I was only five months along. I just wanted to be able to come home and go up to his room and look and go, okay that's done and I can't wait to bring my baby home. And it took me and Tyler a little while, but we did finally decide on the name Theo for baby Segs. I thought it would have been nice to call him Tyler Jr or TJ...but Ty wasn't having it. So he tossed out Theo one day and that was that.

Tyler was next to me pushing the cart while I grabbed things and began tossing them into the cart.

"Are you even looking at what you're getting?" he asked me with a laugh.

I giggled and nodded my head, "Of course I am! We need all these things!"

"Oh really?" he asked laughing still, "Who needs those cat treats? Cash, Marshall, Gerry or Theo?"

I looked over and into the cart and yep, there was cat treats. I scoffed and pulled them out, "That was you," I accused, walking back to put them away.

"Lies!" he said, pointing at me.

I laughed and walked back to him, "Whatever!"

"Pregnancy brain," he said with a chuckle as I pushed his shoulder.

We continued walking over to the baby area and I began looking through all of the clothes, "Oh my God, Ty!" I called in the direction I knew he was in, "Come here!" I said as I held onto an outfit.

Tyler was there within seconds, "What?" he asked me.

"Look!" I said holding up a sailor type outfit, "How cute will he look wearing this back up at the cottage on the boat? Oh my God, we need this!" I exclaimed looking at the outfit in my hands.

I was grinning and looked back to Tyler who had a sweet smile on his face as he watched me, "What?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I just love you," he said simply with his smile growing.

I smiled back at him, "And I love you!"

He leaned down to kiss me, and it was still as wonderful as all of his kisses.

"I'm gonna see if they have my hockey tape. We won't have to make another stop if they do," he said when he pulled away from me.

I nodded, "Okay, baby, I'll be here," I told him.

He laughed, "I figured. I'll be right back," he said before turning and leaving me with the cart.

I smiled at his retreating back. We were back in Dallas after another long summer since the boys won the cup again. We had went on a bit of a baby moon since Theo was going to be born during the season, we didn't know if we'd have a chance to take some time just the two of us before he arrived. So we decided to head over to Paris and Italy for a couple weeks, then we went back to Dallas for a little while to see my family, before heading up to Canada to see Tyler's family and that's where we took the Cup when it was Ty's turn with it. My family came up during that time, and to spend some time up at the cottage before Ty did his BioSteel Camp.

I continued grinning as I scoured through the baby clothes picking out so many different things. Then I heard him.

"Rae?" he asked.

I felt my eyes go wide and I turned to look to my right where I saw Markus standing there. The only thing different about him was his hair; he had a Jamie type flow going on.

"Markus! Oh my God, hi, how are you?" I asked walking over to him and wrapping him in a small hug.

"I'm good," he said pulling away from me, "and you?"

I smiled and moved my hair behind my ears, "Yeah, I'm good!"

He grinned and looked around the baby section and spotted my cart before his eyes met mine again, "I guess congratulations are in order?"

I laughed and nodded, "Yeah, I'm five months along now," I said unconsciously putting a hand over my tiny bump.

"That's awesome, Rae. You're gonna be an amazing mama," he said kindly.

"Thank-you," I breathed, "So how about you? Any kids?"

He chuckled and shook my head, "Nah, none for me right now."

I shrugged, "That's okay!" I said smiling, "What else have you been up to?" I asked.

He shrugged nonchalant, "Been busy, I guess. Pops retired and I've taken over the business."

"That's awesome, congratulations!" I smiled.

"Thanks," he said with a nod and self conscious smile, "I've been with a girl for a year now."

I smiled, "Markus, that's awesome, I'm so happy to hear!"

He looked down and bit his lip before looking back up to me, he pointed at me and smiled, "I never really got to thank-you," he said as his voice cracked.

My brow furrowed, "Thank me?" I asked.

He put his hand down and smiled, "Yeah," he said through a strangled voice, "you huh...yeah I mean, you kicked my ass basically. Back when you broke up with me...I went and started talking to someone trying to figure some shit out. It took a while, talking to them and going to a few anger management classes...but yeah, I'm a lot better now."

I got teary eyed and smiled at him, "Markus...I can't tell you how happy that makes me."

"I think you basically saved my life, Raeanne Townson," he said smiling at me, "Or is it Raeanne Seguin now?" he asked with a hint of a laugh.

I smiled and looked down, "Yeah...yeah, it's been Raeanne Seguin just over a year now."

There was nothing but happiness written on his face, and that filled me with so much joy.

"Her name is Rose," he said, reaching into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, he showed me his lock screen, a photo of him and a beautiful girl with light brown hair and green eyes, "And she tells me how lucky she is with me every day," he said, pulling the phone back to him and looking down at the photo with a small smile.

"I knew you'd find someone and she'd be lucky after you took care of yourself," I told him.

He put his phone back in his pocket, and smiled sadly at me, "I'm so sorry, Rae," he told me, "I was in a bad place back then...and I'm sorry I was never the guy you deserved. I'm sorry I couldn't do everything for you. I'm just so sorry about everything," he said, getting emotional, "I did love you back then...so much. But you did the right thing when you left. And I know you know you did. You saved both of us, Rae."

And then a pregnant lady was sobbing in the middle of the baby stuff, with her ex-boyfriend giving her a hug and telling her it was okay, and trying to comfort me.

"Rae?" I head Tyler ask.

Markus let go of me and I turned to look at Tyler with tears streaming down my face as he carried rolls and rolls of hockey tape and dumped them into the cart before grabbing me and pulling me into him gently.

"Are you okay, baby?" he whispered.

I nodded, "I'm fine, I'm sorry," I said pulling away and trying to compose myself, before looking back over at Markus.

"Hey, man," Markus said to Tyler.

Tyler looked away from me quickly and up to Markus nodding once, "Hey," he said quickly then looking to me before his eyes went wide and I realized he just recognized him.

"Be nice," I whispered so only Tyler could hear me.

We both faced Markus as I began wiping my face to rid myself of the tears.

"Sorry, man, didn't recognize you," Tyler said, reaching out and offering his hand for Markus to shake, "it's been a few years."

Markus smiled and nodded, shaking Tyler's hand, "Yeah, it's been a while. Congratulations on the wedding and the baby, man," he said, then they let go of each other’s hands.

Tyler smiled and looked down at me, "Thanks, I'm definitely a lucky guy."

"I believe it," Markus told him before nodding a couple times, "well, it was really awesome to see you guys, but I gotta get going. Good luck with everything!"

"Yeah, you too," Tyler told him.

I smiled and went over to him and hugged him for just a few seconds before letting go.

"I'm proud of you," I told him, taking a step back to Tyler.

He smiled sadly at me, "Thanks Rae. I'll see you guys around," he said before turning and walking away from us.

I sighed and looked over to Tyler, seeing that he was already looking over at me, "What happened?" he asked me.

I shrugged, "Nothing, honestly. He spotted me and then we started talking. I was kind of crying because he...Ty he told me I saved him basically. I was just...happy to hear that he's doing good."

Tyler smiled softly at me, "Always the emotional one," he told me jokingly.

I tilted my head and stuck my tongue out at him, "Always the funny guy."

He laughed and shook his head before taking the couple steps over to me, he gently placed one hand on my baby bump and the other hand on my waist, "You saved both of you," he told me softly, "it wasn't a healthy relationship and you know that. And you leaving did save the both of you guys. And it sure as hell saved me," he said smiling at me as, again, I felt the tears slide down my face, "you were so strong back then and you've only gotten stronger since then, I'm so proud of you."

I leaned up to kiss him quickly before moving back and smiling at him, just as the baby kicked I giggled and looked down to my bump, "Did you feel it?" I asked Ty, since his hand was still there.

"Yeah!" he said giddily, "I love this little guy," he said, rubbing his hand over my bump.

I smiled and placed my hand over his, "And Theo loves his daddy."

He smiled at me, "Come on," he said, "let’s grab some more stuff for baby Segs."

I laughed and nodded, following behind him as he walked back to the cart.

"Ty?" I asked.

He looked down to me and nodded, "Rae?"

I smiled, "I think you got something wrong."

He furrowed his brows, "What do you mean?"

"You saved me," I said simply.

He looked at me with such a loving expression and wrapped an arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head.

Notes

2 MORE LEFT!

And I had to give Markus some sort of like...finish to him. i needed to give him some sort of finality.

Let me know what y'all think!!