Please Love Me

Chapter 16 - Maxon

I rap lightly on Madison's door and in runs Race, our golden retriever pup.

"Fluffy!" Madison smiles her first smile in days as Race jumps onto the bed and begins licking at her face.

"Slow down bud."

Madison laughs as Race circles around her playfully and I walk over to calm him down. I know he's excited I mean, I was too after not seeing her for so long. It was obvious the little guy was missing her just as much as I was.

I walk over to both of them—my little family—and sit on the bed.

Madison's gorgeous eyes meet mine and my heart sinks at seeing that she had been crying. I went down to grab Race only for a few minutes but knowing that I spent that long away from her...

After yesterday afternoon and washing ourselves Madison and I laid in bed crying until she finally fell asleep. We haven't talked about what happened and honestly I don't want to bring it up. It's clear she's hurting over the loss of our child, add my injury and now this...I don't want to overdo it.

"Luke's gone?" She asks and I nod, "Went to visit his mama."

She bites down on her lip, and I reach out to cup her chin. "Vanessa told you then," she surmises and I nod. "Told Luke then he told me. More because I forced him to but it destroyed me Madison. I had never felt so lost and hopeless. Defeated as I did then."

I run a hand though my hair at the recollection of events. "I tried to ditch the game and fly out to see you. I did. I tried but..." I sigh out in frustration at the memory. "It was the Super Bowl and Coach wouldn't let me leave."

She shakes her head and runs her hands through Race who is now resting his head on Madison's lap. "That wasn't your fault. It's the biggest game of the year so..."

"Fuck that! I should've been there for you. Do you have any idea just how much I love you Madison? I had a ticket booked for when I was finished with the game but then...well, you see what happened." I try moving my shoulder but it only responds slightly.

"I see Maxon. I was...wrong. Blinded."

"You were hurting baby, and I was in my own mess."

She doesn't meet my eyes as she stares down at Race. I want to ask about our baby and how she lost it. Was it simply nature? Was I not meant to be a dad?

My heart drops at that depressing thought.

"It seems like a freaking story line." Madison shakes her head, "I go on a trip back home, find out I'm pregnant with an NFL player's baby, I come home ecstatic to give him the news only for him to break up with me that same day. Turns out he knew I had lost our baby but couldn't fly back home because of the Super Bowl and when he wanted to come home he got in an accident." She shakes her head, "What a story."

I reach out to hold her hand and she peeks up at me. "But it's our story. Haven't you ever heard that when love is true it's always tested? Well, I think this is all the confirmation you need Mi Amor. I love you and I have never stopped."

Her bottom lip trembles then she reaches over to drop a soft kiss onto my lips, she pulls back as her eyes linger on my lips, "As cliché as that sounds, it's true. God, Maxon. I don't even know where we go from here."

I drop a kiss onto her soft hand. "We heal. And I'm talking beyond the physical wounds." I lightly land my hand over her heart. "In here, we heal."

"And how do we do that?"

I shrug, "No one really knows. But," I look at Race then at the woman of my dreams, "lets start by being grateful for our blessings. That life brought us back together."