Love & Football

Chapter 28

:: Emma’s POV ::

I laid down on the bed in attempts to get a little rest while Noah was at school and JJ was busy training. There are two seasons in this house, football season and training for football season; when you’re engaged to JJ Watt, there is no off season.

Engaged. I still couldn’t believe it but I really loved the way it sounded, I could definitely get used to it. However, I was already being pulled in so many directions when it came to wedding planning. Naturally, as any bride-to-be can relate, you’re pulled in every direction you can imagine by your family and friends, and it’s exhausting. It’s like you want to please everyone but at the end of the day, it’s about you and your fiancé, not them; if you don’t make it a point to remember that, you’ll drive yourself insane.

Although I have it quite different than most bride-to-be’s. Once again, I’m engaged to JJ Watt. As if my family and friends breathing down my neck isn’t bad enough, I have nearly every wedding venue and wedding planner in the state of Texas begging to do my wedding. Yeah, it’s flattering and I’m honored, but at the same time, it’s still so much pressure. As a little girl I always dreamed of planning my perfect wedding, I wasn’t sure I wanted a wedding planner, in my opinion it was only one more person telling me what to do. I didn’t need the added stress. JJ saw it differently, he saw it as a person to help alleviate my stress; for that reason we found ourselves butting heads on the issue.

The toughest part of it all was we still hadn’t announced to anyone that we were pregnant; Tonya is the only person that knows. After we visited the doctor to officially verify that we were indeed having a baby, we decided that we didn’t want to share our news until we knew we were out of the danger zone. It’s still so early on and anything could happen, and heaven forbid anything does, the last thing I want to do is have to go through it publically.

So, we decided to focus on the news of our engagement and the media was loving it, especially the local media outlets. We received a lot of love and support from people around the league, and from the fans… however, I did have to deal with the occasional rude girls who seemed to think they were far better matches for JJ than myself. I will admit, at first their mean words got to me, but then I realized something…. At the end of the day, I get to come home to the greatest man in the world; if I were them, I would envy the girl in my shoes too.

:: JJ’s POV ::

I walked in the door after practice and the house was unusually quiet. If I hadn’t seen the Tahoe in the driveway I would’ve assumed Emma was at the boutique, but she wasn’t. I walked through the kitchen and headed towards the laundry room to rid myself of my gym bag before continuing my search for Emma.

After a thorough search of the downstairs, I headed upstairs; making my way down the hall I was met by one empty room after another. When I reached the closed door of our bedroom, I knew she had to be on the other side and I carefully opened it.

Emma was sound asleep in our bed, the covers wrapped around her petite body as she held my pillow against her. She often admitted she sometimes relied on my lingering scent to help her fall asleep, I tease her about it but in all honesty, it warms my heart to know I can bring her such comfort. It makes me feel like I'm doing my job right, well my job of taking care of her, anyway. My eyes landed on the diamond ring that resided on her finger and it gave me a sense of pride and accomplishment, as if I had won the lotto. I was proud of myself for landing a girl as amazing as she is, I knew I couldn’t ever risk the chance of losing her, at this point I was almost certain that I wouldn’t be able to function without her. She had become such an important, actually… the most important, person in my life. Without her, I think I’d lose myself.

Her long brown hair flowed across her pillow, her pouty pink lips slightly parted and looking rather inviting. I never got tired of kissing her, of feeling the way her lips felt against mine. Her hand rested beneath her head and I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. I love the way her freckles dance across her cheeks and over her nose when they aren't being concealed under a light layer of make up; I know she hates them but to me it's one more thing that makes her so special.

Between pregnancy and the announcement of our engagement causing people to pull her in every direction, then taking care of Noah and me, she's been exhausted. I can only imagine what she's going through and my urge to protect her has been growing even more. She's always taking care of us; I just want to make sure we're taking care of her.

I leaned over the bed and placed my lips on her forehead kissing her softly. She just looked so beautiful and I swore I never thought I could be more attracted to her than when I first laid eyes on her, but I am… every day. Ever since I found out she was expecting, I swear she glows. They always say women have this pregnancy glow and I never understood it, until now.

I couldn't resist my urge to kiss her and very carefully pressed my lips against hers giving her a swift, gentle kiss. As I started to pull back her hand came up my side and grasped a fist full of my t-shirt.

"Lay with me." Her quiet voice broke the silence as her eyes slowly opened and locked with mine, "I want you to hold me."

She held the covers up inviting me in and I tossed my hat on the nightstand before joining her. Whatever I had to get done could wait, I couldn’t resist the invitation. I pulled her against my body and enveloped her in my arms and she nuzzled tightly against me.

“How you feelin?” I kissed her forehead as my fingers ran through her hair.

“Sleepy.” She answered, moving her head back just enough to look up at me, “How was your work out?”

“Good.” I yawned as I felt her lips press against my jaw, “Anymore calls from vendors?”

“I got one this morning...” She responded, “We have to decide what we’re going to do.”

“Well, like I said before it’s better for us to get married during the off season.” I shared, “Whether it’s this off season or next. That’s up to you babe. You tell me where to be and I’ll be there.”

“That’s it?” She questioned, “That’s all you have to say about it?”

I looked down at her and was met with a less than impressed expression. I was confused; didn’t girls want the reigns when it came to planning a wedding? I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to do and I was almost certain that anything I suggested would more than likely be shot down.

“Don’t give me that look.” I laughed, “What do you want me to do baby? If there’s something you need me to do, or want me to do… just tell me and I’ll do it or at least try. But I don’t know anything about colors and flowers and stuff, I can sample the food and the cake… that’s about all I’m good for.”

A playful smirk crossed her lips as she shook her head. It’s true though, what the hell do I know about flowers and colors? I’m a man, my expertise lies in the food. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Isn’t that what they say? I’m pretty sure that’s what they say. Regardless, it’s true in this case.

“And I can help you relax when you’re stressed…” I attacked her neck with soft kisses and playful bites as she squirmed and giggled in my arms. She made flirting with her so easy; I always got the best reactions.

“Stop.” She begged as she fought for her breath through her laughter.

Once her laughing slowed I allowed myself to get lost in her eyes, she also made that so easy. My hand rested on her cheek as my thumb caressed the soft skin gently scattered with pale freckles.

“All I know is the only wedding I care about is the one that makes you my wife.” My thumb grazed over her lips before I kissed her, “And all I know is, I don’t care if we get married in the middle of McDonalds in our pajamas, all I care about is being there with you.”

I know it may have sounded corny, but it was the truth. The wedding itself was more of a party to celebrate with our family and friends, and I was okay with that. In my opinion all that mattered was being married to the only girl I’ve ever really loved at the end of the day. As long as I could call her my wife, then everything else was perfect.