Full Strength

Epilogue-Logan🏒

Twelve Years Later

        Skating up to Graham, I already had cried more in the last twenty minutes than I had in my entire life. So many people who were so important to me had hugged me and said their congratulations. And these were only my current teammates; I knew that tomorrow, I'd have more teammates and coaches to face. 

          Graham hugged me so fiercely that I thought he would start crying too. But all he said was, "You were the best teammate I ever had. And I'm going to miss skating with you more than anything in the world."

          "I'm going to miss you too," I said thickly. "I couldn't have asked for a better captain. Especially for so long." Graham and I had miraculously stayed on the same team together for almost thirteen years. There had a been a two month stint where we'd been apart due to a trade, but aside from that no coach wanted to have us separately.

           He tapped my helmet with his glove before letting me go. I met Ryan, who was grinning as he handed me the trophy. Before I could skate off, he tapped my helmet too, congratulating me. My grin was a mile wide as I took off down the edge of the ice, lifting the trophy above my head. The roar of the crowd was thundering, with the tapping of sticks mixed it. That came from both my teammates and the opposing team, which made me feel like I really was on top of the world.

        Going around the back of the next, I saw Lillian and Eve banging on the glass. Lilli had Carter balanced on her hip, who looked delighted when I skated up to him. He held his arms out and for a moment, I felt terrible that I couldn't hold him right then. But I blew him a kiss and waved, then blew an additional kiss for Lilli.

        Skating back, I handed the trophy off to Graham, who took his own victory lap. The rest of the night was a blur of interviews, hugs, handshakes, and a lot of tearful goodbyes. My skates came off and I couldn't help but feel the ache in my legs; another reminder that I'd made the right choice for this to be my last year.

         It must've been well after midnight by the time I came out of the locker room. Almost immediately I met Lillian and Carter, both of whom looked exhausted. The first thing I did was scoop up Carter and cover his tiny face in a million kisses. He squealed, laughing so hard that for a moment, I was worried he'd spit up. He was really good at that.

         "Can't believe he's still awake," I laughed, finally ending the torment of kisses.

         "I forced him into a nap earlier," Lillian admitted, hugging me around the waist. I used my free arm to hug her back, while my other arm held Carter to my chest. He was only six months old, meaning I could hold him pretty easily.

         I kissed Lillian's forehead. "I'm really glad you both could come."

         "We wouldn't have missed it for the world," she murmured, hugging me a little harder. "Congratulations, Logan."

         "Thanks. Are we ready to go home?" I asked, shifting Carter.

         Lillian nodded. "You have to be exhausted, after that kind of game."

         "My joints do appear to be screaming," I agreed. I'd taken my fair share of hits for the night. 

         The three of us walked out to the parking lot, with Lillian holding my hand and Carter snuggled up against my coat. I buckled him in before getting in the front seat. Lillian drove, which was good because I was exhausted. 

         "I can put him to bed. You go jump in the shower," she said when we got home. 

         "No, no, I can help," I said softly, hanging up my coat and following her to Carter's room. Carter's beautiful, perfect room, which was painted blue with dinosaur stickers on the wall. He had an entire playset that was designed like a miniature train, a huge set of blocks, a crib that would eventually be replaced with a racecar bed, and anything else a little kid could dream of.