Chapter 71

AN INTERVIEW WITH KNOX AND WILLOW

KNOX:

You don’t wantto hear about me.

(Knox laughs)

You want to hear about the baby. About Willow. About the whole thing… which I understand.

I wish I had the ability to be a great storyteller and paint the scene.

The truth is… Willow went into labor during a hockey practice.

I was skating at a rookie camp for the SOLA Empire. I was signed by them to one hell of a deal. I get to rotate goalie duties now and the team is kicking some serious ass. But you don’t care about that, which I don’t blame you for.

It’s all about the true star of the show - Brianna.

So Willow went into labor and I ran off the ice and took her right to the hospital.

I never saw anything like it.

Any women out there who have given birth will probably hate what I’m about to say, but it was the easiest birth… at least according to the nurses and the doctor who delivered Brianna.

I think Willow pushed for a total of five minutes, if that.

It was just so fast.

I didn’t even get a second to get my head straight about it actually happening.

Willow and I had so much planned out too. We had hospital bags. We had a special pillow for her. We had a playlist made. You know, just fully prepared for anything.

Before I could stop fully sweating from practice, the doctor hands me a pair of scissors and tells me to cut the cord.

Little Brianna is screaming with her tiny, powerful lungs, on her mother’s chest.

And here’s the thing… something I’ll never forget…

As soon as Willow touched Brianna, she stopped crying.

Willow is going to tell you that was the moment I burst into tears.

That’s not true.

That’s not true at all.

(Knox gives a wink.)

Once things settled for a minute I was able to fire off all the necessary text messages.

My father. Her father. The rest of the guys.

I’ll divert away from Brianna for a second to tell you a story.

I sent texts to Mac, Villi, Gabriel, and Jax.

I also informed my agent, Coach Damon, and a few of the necessary people from the SOLA Empire.

But those four texts to my best friends from PU.

It just hit home so hard for me.

What a difference the span of a year can make.

And you know what they did?

They didn’t just respond.

No.

Behind my back, they had it all worked out already. They made a pact that as soon as Willow went into labor or gave birth or at least when they knew about it… they all came to visit.

I know some of the traveling isn’t all that bad, but still.

We’re all busy.

Chasing down our careers now, you know?

Sometimes we play each other, which is fun.

But this… that moment…

When the four of them showed up to see me. To see Willow. To see my daughter.

Yeah, okay, that moment I did burst into tears.

(Knox looks up and swallows hard)

I’m a happy man.

That’s all there is to say.

I want everyone reading this to know how much I love Willow and how much I love Brianna. I want Brianna to read this when she’s older and know that from the second I felt her little flutter kicks when she was in her mother’s belly, I finally felt like I had a real purpose in life.

(Knox clears his throat)

I want it to be known that I-

(Knox stops talking and turns his head)

(Brianna has started to let out little whines and Knox is no longer interested in talking)

WILLOW:

Okay,I’ll give you the rundown of everything.

Knox’s father enjoys being a grandfather. You wouldn’t expect it from him, but he’s great with Brianna. He shows up in suits, looking all fancy and lawyer-like, but he gets right down on the floor and plays with Brianna. He holds her. Feeds her. Loves her.

He actually has a spare suit in his car just in case he gets messy from Brianna.

It’s heartwarming.

Now for my father, he’s all rugged and tough, but he loves Brianna just the same as Knox’s father.

It gives me a lot of happiness to know my daughter is well protected.

Two grandfathers. The entire hockey team. Plus everyone from PU.

Someday Brianna will understand just how important her existence is to all of us.

I know Knox told you the birthing story, and, yeah, I’m really lucky for that.

Don’t get me wrong, labor hurt like hell. And I cannot imagine anyone who goes through that for hours and days. So much praise to all the moms out there. And those who end up getting C-sections? I don’t know how you do it. Those first few weeks after giving birth are really hard. Even with someone like Knox by my side.

Motherhood is a full-time job in itself.

But…you know, life has to keep being lived.

I manage my father’s construction company from home.

And I actually help out with Knox’s father’s law firm at times.

I don’t know, I like it. I like working with numbers and all that. I like being with Brianna as much as possible.

I’ve been working with some non-profits in the area too.

I think I want to just grow and give back as much as I can to those around me.

I feel like the luckiest person in the world for all that I have, so why not try to pay that forward…

(Willow nods her head and points)

Just look at him. Look at Knox. Look at the way he’s holding our daughter. Look at the way he’s looking at her right now. I wish everyone could be as lucky as me. He’s so attentive to her. He loves her endlessly. And no matter what is going on in life, he always has time for Brianna. And for me.

I don’t know how he does it to be honest.

Here I am in awe of him and he’s the one in awe of me for growing a human in my womb.

I don’t know, maybe we’re just too much in love.

That insane sappy kind of love.

Maybe it’ll blow up in our faces one day or maybe we’ll just be happy for the rest of our lives.

I don’t think there’s a time limit on that kind of thing. Or anything.

Except maybe life itself.

But we don’t know when that timer hits zero.

It’s scary to think about but it’s also a little exciting.

Meaning you just show up and live.

(Willow’s face lights up and she nods again)

Look at Knox again. He’s getting a bottle ready for her.

He does everything. Feeds her. Changes her. Takes care of bath time. Bedtime. Just… everything… I just… I’m just so lucky…”

(Willow stands up, staring at Knox holding Brianna and walks toward them)

(As soon as Willow is close enough, Knox reaches out and hugs Willow)

(Knox holds Brianna with his left arm and uses his left hand to balance the bottle)

(Knox’s right arm is around Willow)

(Knox is hugging his family tight)

(I guess we can end this by saying true love does exist…)