"This one's for Mara!" Tom Brady said as he thrust the shiny silver trophy into the air one more time. Tom locked eyes with Mara, who was standing in front of the podium. She mouthed "thank you" to him and he smirked politely back. Julian broke the news to him and Rob as they walked up to the stage sitting at midfield.
He handed the trophy off to Julian. #11 moved to the center of the large stage. The mic moved to his mouth but words failed to come out as he stared at the trophy in awe. Julian fumbled with his words- trying to force himself to say something. He finally looked at the large crowd and his eyes landed on his wife, standing directly in front of him. "We've been preparing for this since July. We put in the hours, on and off the field. We built bonds with our teammates, who ended up becoming family. And we risked precious time with our loved ones to make it to this moment. The wise Bill Belichick told me just last week that life is God, family, football in that order. Without God and family, we wouldn't be here today. Thank you to my family and especially my wife for everything you've done," Julian paused his speech to reach for Mara's hand in front of him. Mara gladly grabbed it and smiled up at him as her eyes turned glassy again. "Boston and Mara this ones for you," Julian finished. The trophy flew back into the air. "I love you," he mouthed to the blonde bombshell on the ground.
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"I love you too," she yelled to him. Julian handed the trophy to Rob Gronkowski. As Rob began his speech Julian disappeared from view. Mara looked around at all of the players celebrating. Raven and Danny were hugging and laughing next to her.
A pair of sweaty but muscular arms wrapped around her tiny waist. Mara whipped around and smiled brightly when she realized who it was. "Hey you," she stroked his cheek, which was mostly covered in his growing beard. The beard had overtaken his face and showed hardly any skin. "When are you going to shave this thing off?" Mara asked.
"If it will make you happy I'll go shave it off right now," Julian smiled. "I'll do anything to keep you happy."
"All I need to keep me happy is you. Everything that you are is everything I will ever need," she assured him. "Even with this scraggly beard," she smirked playfully at him. He smiled sideways at her and kissed her cheek.
"I'm going to go get changed out of this jersey. Are you going to the after party?"
"Yes. I'll meet you there," Mara shouted over the crowd. Her face was inches from Julian's but they could barely hear each other. Julian began to disappear in the crowd but this time Mara at least knew he was coming back.
• • •
The after party was just as loud if not louder than the stadium. There were a bunch of different bands and singers there who came after watching the exhilarating football game.
After a bunch of rap and hip hop music, the lights in the hotel lounge dimmed and the music slowed down. Mara was sitting at a table on the edge of the dance floor while Julian talked about the game from afar with his teammates.
Sensing the mood change in the lounge Julian quickly excused himself from his conversation with his teammates and found his wife. "May I have this dance, mi amor?" Julian held his hand out for Mara to grab.
"Of course," Mara smiled as her hand landed gently in Julian's. They found their rightful spot in the middle of the dance floor, directly under the disco ball. They were surrounded by other couples holding on to one another tightly. No one held on as tightly as Julian and Mara. Mara's arms were secured around Julian's neck and his hands found their spot on the small of her back. She rested her head on his shoulder and he took in the smell of her strawberry shampoo. Their bodies were completely touching and fit together perfectly. The couple swayed around the dance floor silently. They didn't need words to understand how much they missed each other, how much they meant to each other. Their love was understood by just looking into each other's eyes. All of the noise and people seemed to disappear when they were together.
She removed her eyes from his shiny blue ones and looked around again. Everything was dark and could barely be seen, but she could see little figures bobbing around the lounge, ducking in and out of tables and behind people. This time instead of just couples everywhere she saw kids running around. They were celebrating and yelling, dancing and singing, happy for their dads. Mara couldn't hide the smile on her face.
Julian noticed and wanted to be a part of her happiness. "What are you thinking about?" The wide receiver tightened his grip around his wife's body.
"I want one of them," she said nodding her head towards two little kids wearing Patriots jerseys.
"You want one of Mayo's kids? I don't think he'd like that and he's a lot bigger than me. He could easily take me down if I tried taking one of them," Julian stammered.
"No, Julian. I don't want one of Mayo's kids. I want a baby. I want us to be a family," Mara explained.
"Then I'll get you one of them," Julian smiled. He quickly picked up his wife off of the dance floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck again as she was carried off the dance floor bridal style.
They never looked back. Only forward. That was the way their life was going. They put behind them the two weeks of pain and heartache and looked to the future. The future that would hopefully bring them kids and more nights like tonight. Because if anyone deserved true happiness it was
Julian and Mara Edelman
• • • That's it guys! This story is finished but don't forget to follow me in case I decide to do a sequel. I have a new story coming soon starring Tim Tebow, Tom Brady, and Eric Decker. So be on the lookout for that! Thanks for all of the love throughout this book! ❤️💖❤️💖❤️
