"C'mon Lacey. Let's go get Marie."
***
Marie sat in her dressing room, a frown on her face. She felt numb, even here, where she felt the most at home. Try as she might, she couldn't keep her mind off of the events of the last week. She sighed and combed through her hair. "I wonder what he's doing … " She whispered to herself, looking down at her hands.
Is he thinking of me? Was it all for nothing? Maybe it really was just a job. She sighed, resting her head on her arms. Maybe love really doesn't matter.
"Showtime in fifteen minutes!" The stage manager called.
Marie sighed again and got up. As she did, she was suddenly spun around. A pair of familiar brown eyes looked into hers. Her eyes grew big as she looked at Adam, her heart rampaging. Abruptly, she yanked herself away.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded.
"I came back." He was breathless, and his eyes sparkled in a way she'd never seen. "You were right. I love you, I was just too afraid to admit it. I didn't think I was ready for the commitment, but now I know I can't live without you." He looked into her eyes, taking a step forward, trying to close the distance between them.
"I heard what you said. That you love me. You can't lie and tell me you haven't missed me too. So please, come back to our family." He pleaded with her, his dark eyes sincere.
Marie hesitated for a moment. She wasn't sure if she could trust him again, but as she looked down at Lacey, the girl suddenly lunged forward, hugging her tightly. "Please come home! I miss you! We both miss you!" She pressed her face into the woman's legs, waiting for an answer. Marie's lips turned into a smile.
"Only on a few conditions" Marie demanded, and taking Adam by surprise.
"What conditions, Marie?" asked Adam.
"You will wake up on time every morning to have breakfast with Lacey and me. Do you agree?"
" Yes, I love that condition!" Lacey joined in as she giggled and looked at Marie.
" Are you serious? Okay, Okay! God" gasped Adam. He hated to wake up early.
"Alright one more. Every evening you're going to take Lucey and I for ice cream in the park" said Marie pointing at Adam.
"Yes!!!" screamed Lucey with a wide smile that went ear to ear.
"Are you serious? Ice cream every day? That's not even good for you?" Adam responded candidly.
" Yes or no, Adam?"
"Okay, Okay it's a yes! If that keeps both my girls happy" said Adam as he pulled Marie towards him in a tight embrace.
Marie couldn't stop herself as she leaned forward, her lips coming into contact with Adam's, letting her emotions fly. Everything seemed to finally fit into place.
" I love you Marie. I love you so much," said Adam looking right into Marie's beautiful eyes and feeling each one of those words from his heart.
Lacey looked up at them. "Does that mean you're going to live with us again?" Lacey asked, hopeful.
"Yes. Now and forever."
THE END
BONUS STORY 2 ON NEXT PAGE
2. Quarterback's Convenient Bride
The ball spun around in the air, twisting and turning. The crowds chanted. Bodies bruised against each other in a crunching struggle for ascendancy. Pinpoints of light flickered throughout the stadium as journalists and fans alike photographed the drama in all its bone crunching, sweat dripping glory.
While the noise of the opposing players shouting, and the crowds screaming was deafening, Claudio felt a calmness inside. In his mind, as he stood on that field, the world melted away. All that mattered was winning the game, and nothing could stop him in his pursuit of that.
He leaped up into the air towards the ball. To Claudio it played out in slow motion, but to the rest of the world it was fast, kinetic, and done in the blink of an eye. With a deft touch, he caught the ball in mid-air, with three opponents around him.
As he landed on the ground, the change began. For most receivers this would have been a dead end. No way to outrun, or outmaneuver that many players to make a touchdown; but Claudio wasn't any ordinary player, nor was he any ordinary man.
Flashes of his life entered his mind as his feet touched the ground. He saw the city streets he was born to in his home city of Rio De Janeiro. He remembered watching his father come home each day with the weight of the world on his shoulders, doing any job, no matter how menial, to put food on the table for his family. Claudio saw in his mind the day he came home to tell his father that he'd won a scholarship to an American college. How proud his father had seemed, how he'd reveled in his son's successes. All the pain, all the training, all the years of living in the shadows, now at this moment, with the game finely balanced, he had a chance to make a name for himself and win the division for his team.
As he pushed off with his right foot, holding onto the ball tightly, it began. He felt it deep within his calves and thighs. The tendons and muscles grew within moments, expanding out to create thicker legs underneath his football pants. Though they were hidden, Claudio could feel them as the hairs grew out through the skin, coating his legs in a blanket of black ape-like hairs.
This process was not painful, but exhilarating. The change had occurred, and it was now time for Claudio to show his true nature.
He surged forward at a speed no normal human could muster. His explosive power took his opponents by surprise as they attempted to grab hold of him and stop his momentum. With a subtle feint, he moved out of the way of one large, hulking player who dived towards Claudio; but Claudio was just too fast, his athletic ability matched only by his intellectual prowess - he was just as quick in his mind as he was on the field.
The large figure crashed to the ground as Claudio left him in a sea of dust, grass and soil. The last two players who could have possibly stopped him were running as fast as they could; but no one could keep up with him. Even a world champion runner would have struggled to match Claudio's speed.
Everything was floating in slow motion, and the outside world, that place of cars and planes and financial worries melted away further into the recesses of Claudio's mind. This was when he was most free, like an uncaged bird, soaring above and finally unleashed on the world.
Claudio saw the goal line come into view. No one was near him now, and as he neared his goal, he thought of his father again, and of how proud he would be of his son. That was all Claudio wanted in the world. He'd always been given love, but to make his family proud and lift them out of poverty in doing so, that was the dream to which he aspired.
A wave of noise filtered through the air, as Claudio let the outside world back into his awareness. Just for a moment. He wanted to savor this moment, as he knew that it would change his life forever.
The anticipation was palpable. Each feverish stride pounded on the ground as his heart answered in kind. As he crossed the goal line, he slammed the ball onto the ground and looked up, not to the sky, but to where his father was sitting in the stadium.
Thousands cheered Claudio's name. The final whistle sounded, and the place went wild. His teammates ran to his side and lifted him up on their shoulders. But none of that mattered. There was only one person's applause that he sought.
As Claudio was carried away through a rain of confetti and to the sound of music, he never took his eyes off of the stand where his family sat. Finally he saw them, his father clapping and on his feet, his grey hair ruffled by a breeze. It was a sight Claudio would never forget, one he would turn to when times were rough.
And so Claudio was happy. Yet dark clouds were brewing ahead, and soon those scenes of joy would be lost in an uncertain cloud of pain, loss, and love.
***
Two years had passed almost as quickly as Claudio could run. In that time the New York Giants had snapped him up. They'd been floundering for the previous few years, but Claudio had taken the league by storm, winning them the NFC and a Super Bowl in the process, almost single handedly.
His face was known throughout the USA. Posters adorned walls, books were being written about his rags to riches story, and legions of fans followed his exploits as he was now generally accepted as the world's greatest competing sports person. It was a great time for Claudio and his family. He had been able to lift his family out of a slum and buy them a fantastic house in a more prosperous area of Rio De Janeiro, even a villa on the outskirts of New York. He had been able to help his brother, Cristiano, not only by buying him and his wife a house also, but having him work as an advisor on his training team.
More than all of that, however, was the pride his father had in his son's exploits. Wherever he went he wore his son's team colors it brought him even more joy than it did Claudio.