Tokyo, Summer Olympics
"Ty, baby, everyone here is flipping the fuck out,” Matty yells into my cell. I’m about to hang up on him, but Juniper’s race start is delayed for wind so I figure I’ll let him blow off some steam. The Fury made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs again, and I’m missing a whole slew of television appearances and parades and shit, to be here with Juniper.
Matty is talking up a blue streak and eventually I cut him off. “Look, if you think I’m going to miss watching my girl compete in the Olympics you’re crazy. Take it up with my lawyer.” He gasps, inhaling for another tirade, but I hang up on him. Ben will sort it all out. So what if I have to pay a penalty. Being here for Juniper is worth way more than any bonus pay.
My phone rings again, and I see it’s my sister-in-law. “Hey, Alice, what’s up?” I can hear the baby crying in the background and it sounds like she’s pacing and trying to shush him to get him to calm down.
“Tim said it looks like Juniper's race is delayed. Just wondering if you knew how long? It’s past bedtime here, but we all stayed up…”
“It looks like they’re getting everything set up. I think the wind died down.”
I can hear my brother shout in the background. “Did he say it’s soon?”
“Yes, Timber, it’s soon!” I shout so loud that the other husbands and boyfriends all turn around to look at me. “Ok, fam, I gotta go. The Dutch are annoyed that I’m on the phone.” I roll my eyes and slide my phone into my pocket. I'm ready to behave, until the race starts anyway.
I try to sit calmly. Juniper has trained so hard for this moment. Everything at work is so rewarding for her now that she won all sorts of money and regulations for the women hockey players, and I got the Fury to all pose for some solidarity promo shots with their team. It’s been pretty amazing.
But Juniper is so disciplined with her sport, too. For me, the best thing about her training is how it helps me with my own game. I moved out of my grandma’s house soon after Juniper and I went public with our relationship. We got a bigger townhouse together, near where her old one was, so she would still be close enough to the boathouse to row before work.
It’s easy to keep up a good diet and conditioning routine when you’re doing it with the person you love and live with. She even comes to the weight room with me sometimes. Derrick might be sleeping with one of my trainers, but I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, Juniper and I are both fit as hell and peaking at just the right time. We push each other to be better. I need her, and I want to be there for her in every way she needs me.
A hush rolls over the crowd as the race finally gets started. It’s a long course and there’s no way to see the start from here, so they’ve got the race broadcasted on a giant screen. I know this won’t be another New Haven where Juniper wins by like five boat lengths. These women are the best in the world, but they’ve never raced my Junebug. I wish her father could see her now as she sits at the start line, face determined. The camera zooms in on her in her USA gear and my heart swells with pride.
I hear the gun and I hear the crowd around me, but I don’t look away from Juniper on the monitor. The camera stays close with her, because she holds the lead from the very beginning. I can see the French boat creeping up on her, and I start to scream for her to dig deep, even though she is too far away to hear me. And dig she does. Juniper Jones comes into view almost a full length ahead of her next competitors.
When she finally glides across the finish, I can see all the happiness in the world streaming from her face with her tears. My girl just won an Olympic gold medal.
“Yes!” I jump in the air and start trying to give high fives to my European seat mates, who must not celebrate that way because they have no idea what I’m doing.
I start to climb down the bleachers and make my way toward Juniper. I know in my heart I’m going to marry this woman. I’m not going to ask her today, though. This is about her. About her victory, her moment. I’m here to support her.
She finds me up in the crowd and we make our way toward each other. She lays a kiss on me that just about knocks me back, and I know there’s no other place in the world I’d rather be than right here with her.