If You Could See Me Now

32

Stage one ended with Ryan in 5th and Maddy was on pins and needles. Lukas had fallen asleep on her after taking a pretty restless nap. There were 3 cautions in stage 2 which had Ryan in 3rd and moving up as well as he could. She was holding Lukas close and trying not to get too excited if Ryan had passed anyone.

The final 4 were Ryan, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch. He was currently behind Kyle Bush and doing whatever he could to get around him but Kyle was pretty good at holding him off. It was gonna take some help to get him out front but no one was around other than Denny Hamlin.

Maddy hated the fact that he was even near him and was almost biting her nails as she watched. She was happy to see Brad Keselowski come up behind Hamlin and manage to get around him. The 5 car ended up spinning and brought the caution out again.

Ryan chose the inside for the restart while Hamlin and Busch both chose the outside while Brad Keselowski was right behind Ryan. It was just the push he needed through the last few laps of the stage.

Brad stayed pretty close to Ryan through the last stage through all 4 cautions and eventually Ryan got a 2-second lead.

With no more cautions, and the white flag waving, Maddy was terrified. Anything could happen in this last lap and she almost held her breath through it. She knew once he got around turn 4 that he had done it.

He won the race and he won the championship.

Maddy got down quickly after the go-ahead from his crew chief and got Lukas handed to her before letting him run across the infield for him.

Ryan was out of his car and had handed the flag off before Lukas got to him and immediately jumped right into his arms. Maddy wasn't far behind and hugged both of them tightly before he kissed her in front of everyone.

Jamie Little came over soon after as he was holding Lukas on his hip and had Maddy wrapped in the other arm.

"Ryan what a season it has been, how are you feeling now after winning this championship?" She asked, putting the microphone in front of him.

"It's been a whirlwind. It feels amazing to finally get here. I wasn't sure at the beginning of the season but we started to get a lot better after Michigan and I think a lot had to do with her being here and having them around to support me. They've been standing by me for months now,"

"Congratulations Ryan," she smiled, heading off as the two of them hugged again with Lukas right in the middle.

They got the car in victory lane shortly after and Lukas was having the time of his life. Most of the drivers came by and Chase and bubba made sure to take the little guy off Maddy and Ryan's hands for a little bit while they celebrated.

He had a ton of interviews to do as the Cup Series Champion. Maddy stayed close but also talked with her friends. Chase and Bailey took Lukas back to their bus around 10 so Maddy could stay and celebrate longer.

It wasn't until 11 that everyone started clearing out and it was just Maddy, Ryan, and the number 12 car.

"I can't believe everything that happened this season," he said as they leaned against the car.

"Pretty good one huh?" She asked, looking over at him. "I can't say it's been a bad one for me,"

"It's got me thinking,"

"About?"

"When you know. You know," he said with a huge grin as he looked over at her.

"How many drinks did you have?" She chuckled.

"A few," he chuckled, "But anyway. We've been together since July. And I know that's not a long time but as I said, when you know. You just know,"

Maddy looked at him, thinking he had one too many drinks before he got down on one knee and pulled a box out of his pocket.

"Oh my god, what are you doing?" She asked, already tearing up. She didn't think she'd ever get married again until Ryan came into her life.

"I have known since that visit to the hospital that you were special. And that feeling only grew when I saw how good of a mother you were and how much Lukas loved you. The more you came around, the more I knew that I was going to marry you. So. Madisyn Halstead, will you marry me?"

"Yes," she beamed, trying to control her tears as he slipped the simple engagement ring on.

As soon as he stood back up, they were kissing, thinking it was just the 2 of them left in the world.

But it wasn't.