This Love is Ours

Chapter 71: Miracles Alone

{Patrick}

I make a turn in the road, and begin driving down an even longer road, that is lined with thick, tall trees on either side.

I hang one arm out the window, and allow the summer breeze to blow onto my face.

It's sunny, and the sky is completely blue. The temperature is hot, and it's a beautiful summer day.

It's Sunday, June 18, about 2:00 in the afternoon.

The guys and I have scheduled a team game of golf, with all of our wives, girlfriends, and children, just for fun.

We're going to be playing nine holes of golf at Pine Tree Ridge, in multiple smaller groups of about five, and then we will all meet back at the clubhouse for dinner.

It's been almost a month since the Blackhawks' game seven Western Conference Final elimination, and I'm not going to lie, it still stings a little bit.

Losing the way we did sucked, but it is what it is. I can't go back and change it now, and it always helps to know that the Canucks didn't go on to win the Stanley Cup, but instead, the Habs did.

The loss hurt a lot, but no matter how much the game of hockey hurts me, no matter the immensity of pain after a loss, I will come back to that damn game time after time. I will come back to it because it's the one real thing I've ever known my entire life.

And I know that next season, the Hawks will be back with an even greater intensity than this year.

Abby sits to my right in the passenger seat, her elbow propped up against the door, and she rests the side of her head in her hand.

She smiles, and her naturally straight, light brown hair blows in the breeze. She's wearing aviator sunglasses, and a pink golf polo shirt, with a white skirt.

She looks beautiful, of course.

She rests one hand on her large baby bump, and a small smile sits on her face.

I turn my attention back to the road, forcing myself to overcome the force of her gravitational beauty.

Within a few minutes, I reach Pine Tree Ridge & Country Club, and turn into the parking lot.

I park the car, and then pull the key out of the ignition.

I look over at Abigail, and she looks back at me, smiling.

"I'm just letting you know that we aren't walking the course... I mean, anybody can walk it if you want to, but we are getting golf cars, and I thought that-" I start, but Abby cuts me off.

"Who says that I couldn't walk the course?" She asks, biting her lip, and smiling.

I close my mouth, and smile over at her.

Abigail is one of the most independent women you will meet in your entire life.

She doesn't belong to anyone; she belongs to herself. She's powerful and strong all on her own; she doesn't depend on a man to prove that.

And that's one of the reasons I love her so much.

She's not anyone's; she's her own, strong, individual who doesn't take bullshit from anyone.

"Goddamn, I love you." I say, biting my lip and shaking my head.

"I love you too, and this love is ours." She smiles, gently.

"This love is ours." I reply, quickly.

She reaches over and kisses me on the cheek quickly, before getting out of the car.