Epilogue Three Years Later

Nolan

"How are you feeling, Caleb?" I asked my starting quarterback.

We were sitting in the locker room before the game waiting out the last few minutes of peace before we walked out into the stadium where Caleb's first Super Bowl as a starting quarterback and my first Super Bowl as the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bobcats awaited us.

"Nervous," Caleb admitted.

The young quarterback had success thus far in his three-year career. Under my guidance, he had two conference championships and was showing the league why he had been the first pick overall in the NFL draft almost four and a half years ago. But every year he had come up short of his first Super Bowl ring.

Not this year. I was determined to get him through the finish line this year.

"That's a good thing," I told him as I wrapped my arm around his back. "It means you care."

"How'd you handle all of the attention that's on a game like this?" Caleb asked me as he stared down at the Bobcats logo on the helmet in his hands. I could see him trying to work through the nerves so he would be able to lead his team when he stepped out on that field. "There are so many people counting on us to win."

"You are the most prepared person in this league for this moment. You must believe that."

Those words were reminiscent of a similar speech given to me by the one person who believed in me the most. I hoped they did the same trick for Caleb.

I gave him one more pat on the back before I vacated the locker room to give him space.

Standing out in the hallway was one of the most beautiful people I had ever seen laying into Derek Allen about how he couldn't skip getting his back and legs stretched out before a game just because it was the Super Bowl. She was in the middle of telling him that he had just turned thirty and he needed to take care of his body better. Derek caught my eye and gave me a look that said, help me.

I just shook my head at him. He was on his own on this one.

"Lottie, you've always been scary—but now that you're building a tiny human inside of you, you've grown exponentially more terrifying," Derek told the love of my life.

"This baby has been hanging on to my rib cage all day, so if you don't want to see any more of my wrath, you will walk your ass back into my training room and let me stretch you out. I am not losing because you have tight hamstrings. The coaches will murder me and then I'll haunt you for the rest of eternity."

Derek threw his hands up in surrender as he followed Lottie back into the training room.

"I'll see you out there," I called after both.

The tunnel slowly started to fill up with Bobcat players and the anticipation became palpable in the air. Caleb was at the head of the pack and was soon joined by Derek after Lottie was satisfied that he was limber enough for the game. On one of the NFL producer's cues, the team ran out of the tunnel and into the stadium that held some of the most die-hard fans in the league.

Judging by the wide smile that spread across Caleb's face as he took it all in, I knew he was made for this moment. A hand slipped around my waist and a body fit perfectly into my side. I glanced down to see Lottie staring up at me.

"You'll do great, Coach." She gave me a tight squeeze before she pulled away.

"I need good luck from the little one." I reached for her again and managed to wrangle her back into my arms. My hands slipped down to her round belly where our baby was taking his time to meet us. I turned her around so her back was pressed into my stomach and reached under the base of her belly before pulling up. Lottie let out a sigh of relief as her head fell back against my chest. I could feel my son kick against my wife's stomach as if he knew I was the one supporting him right now and he wanted to wish me good luck, too.

"I love when you do that," Lottie breathed as she rejoiced in a moment of reprieve.

"Don't forget we get to check off another item on your bucket list if we win," I whispered into her ear. "We get to go to Disney again and I made sure to request Mickey beignets since they were out last time."

Her laugh rumbled out of her and vibrated against my chest. "I'm going to need a wheelchair to get around that place if that happens."

"I'll have one reserved for you."

"Because a Mickey beignet is what matters most for winning this game," Lottie replied sarcastically.

"It matters to you, so it matters to me and it's on your list so it's a non-negotiable," I told her.

Lottie placed her hands over mine and gently helped me lower her belly back down before she turned around to give me a kiss.

Charlotte Thompson was my entire world. She was one of the biggest reasons that my life had turned out the way it had. She'd not only helped me rediscover what it meant to play football and have fun while doing it, but she helped me find my second calling in life.

Her hand slipped into mine once she dropped back down from her tiptoes. She gave me one last squeeze before she slipped away down the sideline to check on her players.

The national anthem and opening ceremonies flew by in a blur and before I knew it, we were neck deep in the middle of the second quarter of the game. It was a close game, with Caleb only leading the Bobcats over the Arizona Roadrunners by a touchdown. Arizona had the ball during the last couple of minutes before halftime and were practically walking the ball down the field. All of us watched from our sideline as the Arizona quarterback sent the ball into the back of the end zone for a touchdown just as the final few seconds clicked off the clock, announcing that it was halftime.

I watched the wind go out of my team's sails as they watched the ball go through the goal posts. The team shuffled into the locker room as if we were down by three scores rather than tied at the half and I found myself struggling to find the right words to try and lift them up.

My eyes found Lottie's because I knew that if all else failed, she would always be the one to have my back when it was against the wall.

Lottie

I could hear the head coach trying to encourage the team but judging by the silence after his speech was done, it hadn't quite hit the mark.

Derek lay on the training table in front of me as I worked on his lower back to try and loosen the muscles that had started to plague him more in recent years.

"If we win, we're all going to Disney, right?" Derek asked me, his voice muffled by the pillow his face was in.

"That's what Nolan says," I told him. "But you all need to kick this thing into overdrive and pull out a win. You guys have been dilly-dallying on offense."

Derek's normally boisterous laugh turned into a coughing fit as he nearly suffocated himself with the pillow.

"Nolan always says you could be an honorary coach on the staff."

"Stop trying to compliment me right now, Derek." I pushed harder into his muscles and felt him tense under me. "You're getting double-teamed right now, but when has that ever stopped you before?"

Derek stayed quiet as he thought about what I had said. I had watched him break out of double coverage all year. Why was tonight suddenly different?

"You're resourceful on the field. You find ways to get open for your quarterback. Be the leader you are and energize the offense. Now I have an offensive coordinator and quarterback to go fire up."

"Lottie?" Derek called after me as I started to head toward the locker room.

"Yes?"

"You're going to be a fantastic mom."

I smiled down at the bump that had grown significantly in the past few weeks. Our baby boy was due in only a few short weeks. Nolan had wanted me to get off my feet sooner before my due date, but there wasn't a chance in this world that I was missing tonight's game.

"Thanks, Derek." I gave him a small smile. "Now go win a fucking game."

I marched across the hallway and gave the coaches trickling out a smile before I slipped by them. I spotted Nolan talking with Caleb in the corner as the two looked over the play call sheet. Neither of them noticed me approaching until I was nearly on top of them.

"How's Derek?" Nolan asked me.

"He's fine, but that's not why I'm here." I pointed a finger at my husband. "You are Nolan fucking Hill. You've won three Super Bowls. You know what it takes to get through this next half. Don't forget it."

I let out a long breath before my gaze swung over to Caleb, who was staring at me with wide eyes. "And you are Caleb fucking Willis. You're a two-time conference champion. You're a front runner for the MVP award this year. Don't forget it."

The two men stared at me with equal looks of shock.

"Now go win this damn game because you know I hate losing."

With that, I turned on my heel and waddled back out of the locker room as fast as a nearly nine-month pregnant woman could.

The last time I had to give that pep talk ran through my mind as I watched the team come back out onto the field after halftime. I smiled as I remembered the woman I was at that time. I'd achieved everything I'd wanted with my career, but I had been dying to experience life. Now here I was three years later with nearly thirty countries under my belt and countless other experiences to remember there was more to life than just climbing a ladder.

Both Caleb and Derek started the second half with newfound excitement and managed to rally the rest of the team behind them. I knew I had done my job when the Bobcats scored on their first possession. All they needed was a bit of encouragement.

And when the confetti fell in the colors of navy and red at the end of the game, all that mattered to me was the look of pure joy on Nolan's face as he watched Caleb and the rest of the team hoist the Super Bowl trophy over their heads.

I mentally crossed an item off my newest bucket list— watch the love of my life achieve greatness doing the thing he loves most. There wasn't an accolade in the world that I would trade this very moment for. Not even when Nolan scooped me up in his arms drenched in sweat and in desperate need of a shower.

We had found each other at a time in our lives when we were both trying to figure out what was next without realizing that we would be each other's answer.

We learned that the best way to love the other was not to change them, but rather to help each other reveal the greatest versions of ourselves. Souls never meet by accident, and it seemed that we were always meant to show the other what it meant to truly live.