Blood, Sweat and Tears Part 67
"I certainly hope that this is to your liking, Mr. Yuy," the young woman behind the counter smiled as she handed over a small box covered in black velvet. "The concept you gave us when you called last week is very different from anything that our crafts team has ever created, but it turned out quite lovely."
Opening the lid to the box for an inspection, Heero smiled, "It's perfect." Quickly closing the lid, he extended a hand for a firm shake to seal the deal. As the jeweler placed the box in a gift box, the quarterback gazed to the front entrance anxiously. Hiding the box in one of the many store bags at his feet, the quarterback quickly gathered up the handles and turned to head back out to the mall.
Nervously biting her lip, the older woman spoke up, "If I may be so bold, Mr. Yuy. I just know that Mr. Maxwell will love it and your secret is safe with me." Almost blushing, she shrugged. "I just wanted you to know that I wish you both the best."
The team captain blinked in surprise and turned back to face her. Smiling kindly, he nodded with a sincere, "Thank you. Merry Christmas." A wide grin spreading on her face, the jeweler returned the sentiment just before her client quickly headed out.
Much to his relief, Heero did not run into any familiar faces when he stepped back into the busy wing of the mall that he and his lover had been shopping in. A quick glance to his watch showed that he was due to meet Duo in the cafeteria in a few minutes. On his way there, the quarterback couldn't help the wide smile on his face.
* * * * * *
When they met in the cafeteria, the couple went over the gift list that they had split up between them for the kids. Dressed in their heavy sweaters and baseball caps, the pair was virtually unrecognizable amongst the crowded area. As always, Duo had his infamous braid tucked away and the brim of his cap low to shield his violet eyes. Satisfied that they had taken care of everything, they settled down to eat. Halfway through the meal, Duo kept watching his partner and just smiled.
Chuckling, Heero asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
The question only served to make the quarterback's smile grow. "Oohh, nothing to be worried about. I was just thinking how nice it is to have someone to do my Christmas shopping with." Almost embarrassed, he focusing back on his salad, moving some lettuce around with his fork as he shrugged, "It's a nice change."
Not caring what anyone around might think if they witnessed his next move, Heero reached across the table to gently lift his lover's face from underneath his chin. "It's a nice thing for me, too," he said quietly with a small smile. Duo beamed as the finger under his chin fell away.
Apparently, the little gesture was enough to draw enough attention for a few people sitting around them to take a close look at them. One young woman's eyes widened with a sharp gasp. Pointing to the couple, she shouted, "It's Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell!" All around, everyone stopped what they were doing turned to the frozen football players.
Those sitting quickly rose from their chairs and those on their feet quickly approached as the crowd cheered and yelled excitedly. Snickering, the running back shook his head and muttered to his partner, "I better call the house and let the family know we're going to be a little later than planned." As he spoke, his hand was already moving for the pen that he always carried on hand in the back pocket of his jeans. Heero was doing the same as he smirked in amusement.
* * * * * *
That evening...
Flora, Tai and Marcus slipped into the den with confused faces after they had been summoned. Closing the door behind them, Heero turned to them and asked, "Did your dad see you coming here at all?"
Shaking their heads, the teenagers sat together on one of the couches available. With a deep sigh, the team captain's tense shoulders eased. "Good," he muttered while running a hand through his bangs. "We should probably still keep our voices down just in case he might be close enough to hear."
A deep frown of worry on his face, Tai inquired, "What's going on, Heero?"
His right hand reaching into his jean pocket for a key there, the quarterback headed for the ornate oak desk just beside the couch. "Normally the tradition is that anyone intent on proposing needs to ask their significant other's family for permission before doing so," Heero grinned.
Eyes wide, Flora gasped and sputtered breathlessly, "P-propose?"
Smiling, Heero removed the velvet box that he had locked away to hold it out to the shocked trio. Marcus was the first to reach it and opened the lid. At either side of him, Tai and Flora leaned close to gaze on the ring inside.
The white gold band consisted of two interweaving 'ropes'. One of those lines was highlighted with diamonds and sapphires while the other bore diamonds and amethysts. Flora sniffled as tears filled her eyes as she and her brothers looked up in surprise to the quarterback.
"I am requesting your blessing of my asking your father to become my life partner," Heero said quietly. Clearing his throat, he added, "And with that, I am hoping that you'll accept me as a second parent."
Instantly, the teenagers launched themselves at him to embrace him tightly. Pulling back, Tai nodded excitedly, "You have our permission!" Marcus and Flora nodded their own heads in agreement. Wrapping his arms around the lot, Heero chuckled deeply.
* * * * * *
Wanting to keep fresh in preparation for the upcoming playoffs, the Wolverines requested a practice the day before Christmas Eve. What with the holiday right around the bend, many of them would be away on family vacations for several days. Better to get as much time in as possible.
Everyone was feeling the pressure during the workout. Unlike any other practice before, there was actual tension amongst the players when they went through their skirmishes. In the back of their minds, they kept the realization that while they may study what their competition was made up of, nothing was for certain when it came down to a single game where the winner would move on and the loser would be sent home.
What they did have as an advantage was that anything could happen. Even to that day, there were a lot of people doubting them. It would be what would keep them motivated on and off the field to prove the doubters wrong.
Making it to the playoffs was a wonderful thing. But a team did not make it to the playoffs without the big dance in mind. It was no different for the Pittsburgh team.
Shoulders rigid in authority as he watched from the sideline, Zechs blew the whistle hanging around his next to call the end of practice. "Good work, everyone,'" he called when he had the players' attention on him. Smirking, he added, "A bit tense at times, but not too bad."
All around, there was nervous laughter while heads nodding. "Well, hit the showers and enjoy your break for the next three days," the head coach grinned warmly. "Try and get your nerves out of your system before we meet again on Friday. This may be your first trip to the playoffs, but that doesn't mean that we won't be able to move on so long as we keep ourselves together. We did something right to make it this far, after all."
Relief washed over the team at his words. Knowing the truth behind what he was saying, those that had the more difficult time with handling the pressure committed those statements to memory. Slowly, the athletes began heading back down the tunnel leading to the warm locker room.
Once there, Duo sat at the bench before his locker and watched as his teammates stripped down to towels around their waists before laughing and heading off for the showers. Heero bend at the waist to kiss his partner's braided head. "See you in a few minutes," he winked as he always would before walking off with the others.
Lowering his head, the running back rubbed his long-sleeved arms. After such a long time if secluding himself from something as simple as a shower, he was growing tired of the whole thing.
His entire life had been shared with the world and his teammates accepted him without any hesitation. They offered support and friendship even in the light of what some people might have considered 'flaws' about him. 'And what kind of show am I making to the others if I can't even trust them enough to take a shower with them?' he thought to himself.
Taking a deep breath once he resolved himself, Duo rose from the bench and began to shed his grass-smudged clothes. Not paying any mind to the angry scars on his body lest he lose his nerve at the last minute, he grabbed a fresh towel from his bag and wrapped it around his thin waist.
Mentally forcing himself to order one foot in front of the other, he made his way down the long hallway once he had his shower items in hand. Nearing the showers as steam poured out, he could hear the conversations and laughter going on inside. With one last deep breath, the running back strode inside without allowing himself a moment to pause.
The teammates at each cluster of stalls he passed fell silent as the young men watched Duo with wide eyes. At the last cluster, Wufei and Trowa turned to see the reason for the sudden quiet. When they spotted their braided friend, they froze with wide eyes. Heero was the last to wipe the soap from his eyes to see his lover nearing.
Stunned, the quarterback's cobalt widened. Without halting for a moment, Duo stepped into the last open stall beside his lover. Making quick work of removing the tie from his long hair, he loosened the strands and turned the spray on.
Just as the silence was becoming uncomfortable, Wufei smirked and looked back to the rest of the team. "I hope to hell that the Hawks win their wild card game this weekend so that we take them on," he called. "I want to see just how red Coach Browning's face can actually get."
Quickly catching on to his friend's hint, Trowa chuckled, "I think the shade would be something between Popped Blood Vessel Red and Lava Eruption Red." Laughter filled the air once again and everyone fell back into their light-hearted banter back and forth as they went about their own business.
Brushing his wet bangs back from his face, Duo flashed his comrades a wide grin of appreciation. The center and received nodded their heads before paying more mind to their own showers. All the while, Heero had a proud smile on his face. When his lover met his gaze, he winked and reached for his bottle of shampoo as to not make a big deal over the running back's big step in trust.
Duo sighed quietly in relief and gazed around the room. There were no longer any lingering gazes as the other players went on like there was nothing out of the ordinary around them. A small smirk tugged his lips at that.
Now he really felt like a part of the team. And it was a nice change.
* * * * * *
It was a snowy Christmas Eve night when Duo's kids hung their stockings over the fireplace in the living room. Once that was out of the way, they moved to the grand tree that Heero and Duo finished stringing with multi-colored lights. Boxes of ornaments were opened and sorted through as the little ones worked together in decorating the branches.
Lady Une arrived with a tray filled with hot chocolate and homemade cookies for the youngsters and eggnog for the adults. Joining the guardians sitting at the couches, she sighed and watched the kids as they started to sting the silver tinsel up and around the tree first. "It's so nice to have Christmas here again," she smiled wistfully. At either side of her, Quatre, Solo and Hilde grinned widely at the sentiment.
On the opposite couch, Heero and Duo were curled up together. Resting his cheek against his teammate's braided head, the quarterback mused quietly, "I wish that my parents were here to see this."
"They are," Duo whispered before bringing his lover's hand up to his lips to kiss the back of it. His own free hand was lightly rubbing his cross pendant between his fingers. "Just like I know Sister Helen is." His heart warming at the notion, Heero's lips curled up and he snuggled closer to the running back.
Marcus, Tai and Flora took turns having their younger siblings on their shoulders to the taller branches could be reached. When they were finished with their part of the decorating, only the gold star remained for the top. Taking up the ornament, the oldest of the lot walked over to the football players.
"We decided that you should put the star on, Heero," Marcus announced. Holding the decoration out, he explained, "We wouldn't have a Christmas here if it wasn't for you." The other children stood behind the boy with nodding heads.
Smiling warmly to his kids, Duo winked and pulled away from his stunned partner. Cobalt eyes wide, Heero slowly reached out to carefully take up the shimmering ornament.
The last person to ever set the star at the top of the tree was his father. Biting his lip, the team captain looked to the children and gave them a quiet, "Thank you."
Ever the emotional one, Hilde wiped her eyes as her husband snickered at her quietly. Lady Une was a bit misty-eyed, herself, while Quatre looked on to his nieces and nephews in pride of their thoughtfulness.
Slowly rising to his feet, Heero moved to the ladder aside the tree. Climbing to the top, he gingerly placed the star onto the top bough. Easily finding a spare connection to plug the ornament in, the bulb within glowed and spun. Dozens of tiny pin-thin holes in the center gave a tinkling effect as the rays poring through danced on the ceiling and walls all around.
Gasping, the awe-struck kids breathed as one, "Wooooow." When he reached the floor, Heero smiled up to the glowing star for a moment. Duo walked up to wrap his arms around his partner from behind.
After a long moment to take the serene scene in, the running back turned to his kids and winked, "All right, everyone. Off to bed. I don't want to hear anyone sneaking around for while we get things set up down here." Giggling, his children hugged and kissed him goodnight before doing the same with Heero, Quatre, Solo, Hilde and Lady Une. Mary followed her playmates upstairs to settle down for the evening, herself.
Once the little ones were off and out of sight, the sextet worked together in getting the wrapped gifts out of their hiding places to place them under and around the tree. Sighing as he worked, Duo commented, "One of the nice things about having kids that already know Santa doesn't exist is that I don't ever have to disappoint them by telling them, myself." He shuddered, "I don't think that I would ever be able to do that to them."
Finished with his presents, Quatre sat at the couch before the large bay windows with a cup of eggnog. "I can't see you having to break a little heart like that either," he smiled. Peering out to the window, he watched the snow continue to fall and stated, "This will be their first white Christmas in some time."
"And it will be the first year that they'll actually be able to go outside and enjoy it," Hilde added with a grin as she put the finishing touches on her ribbon work. Lowering her voice just in case there may have been ears listening, she said, "I can't wait for them to open the sleds that Solo and I got them."
Solo lowered the last, little sled tied with a bow in Hope's corner. "I don't think it's the gifts that they'll be the most thankful for, anyway," he shrugged. "They're good kids who know that they've been given a huge break by being taken in. The most important thing to them will be that they'll have a family to spend the holiday with."
Nodding her head, Lady Une replied, "I agree. I've never met such a grounded group of children." She focused on the running back and smiled, "My compliments to their father for raising them to be that way."
His braided head lowering a bit, the father-to-be blushed, "Thank you."
Everything was sorted into sections for each child. Lady Une placed little signs that she made up with each youngster's name before their pile. Much to Duo's relief, all of the sections were pretty even with the number of gifts. There were no favorites when it came to his kids. And he made sure that whatever he did for them made that perfectly clear.
Just enjoying each other's company for a bit longer, the pack of friends sat around the living room for some light-hearted conversation. As the night grew later and later, the group became smaller and smaller as a few went off to bed. Only Heero, Duo and Quatre remained when the braided athlete rose and bounced on his feet. "I'm too excited to sleep!" he grinned widely.
Gesturing with his head to the large pile of letters and cards sitting at the table, his agent smirked, "Well, you could always go through your fan mail over there for something to do. That would keep you busy until dawn."
His smile widening, Duo nodded, "That's actually not a bad idea." Heero snickered and shook his head as he watched his partner all but run to the table to begin sorting out the envelopes for letters and those colored ones for holiday cards.
"So will you be meeting up with Trowa tomorrow, then?" Heero asked his blonde friend across from him.
Quatre nodded, "He'll be picking me up after breakfast tomorrow to meet with his family. Obviously, my family and I do not honor Christmas the same way as any of you. But, I am always in support of family and friends getting together to celebrate something."
The quarterback smiled and nodded at that. He hoped that in the morning Duo and his family would have a lot more to celebrate than just the holiday when he proposed.
From the table as he continued to sort out the mail, the running back suddenly froze with wide eyes. In his tightly clutched and shaking hand was a plain, white envelope. Sitting up with a concerned expression, Heero asked, "What is it, Duo?"
Swallowing roughly, his partner answered roughly, "The letter to me was sent from Kyle Newbright." With their own eyes widening and their frames freezing in place, Heero and Quatre let those words sink in.
There was no need to go into who Kyle Newbright was. Everyone associated with the professional football league knew.
He was the owner of the Green Bay Gladiators.
TBC...
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