There's Things That Aren't Worth Giving Up

Natalia sat there, her mouth hanging wide open, staring at Marty. She was trying to figure out if she had just heard him correctly or not. “You were traded to Minnesota?” she asked slowly, as if still trying to wrap her mind around the whole idea. Marty nodded his head in response to her question, and Natalia continued to stare, wide-eyed. “But, I don’t understand,” she told him.

“They thought they would be better off without me,” Marty replied.

“But, that’s stupid,” Natalia told him. “You were the best player on the team last year. How can they just get rid of you?” she cried, getting angrier by the minute as the news was starting to set in with her.

“Nat, calm down,” Marty told her, and she took a deep breath, turning to look at Adéla and Erik, both who looked as shocked as Natalia felt.

“I’m sorry,” Natalia apologized, pushing her chair back from the table. “I need to call my dad,” she told them, standing up and walking out of the kitchen. She went to her purse, grabbing her cell phone out of it and dialing her father’s number.

“Natalia,” John said cheerfully when he answered the phone, and Natalia couldn’t understand how he could be in such good spirits right now. He was the president of the Blackhawks, so he had to have known about the trade.

“Dad, Marty was traded?” she said, it coming out more as a question than a statement, as if she needed his confirmation to make it true.

“Yes, he was,” John told her.

“But, why, Dad?” Natalia questioned. “You know he was good for the team!” she exclaimed. “What good could possibly come from trading him to Minnesota of all places?”

“Natalia, I have no say in the matter, you know that,” John told her. “None of this was up to me. But, you never know, this could be good for everyone involved, the Blackhawks, Marty, you,” he added.

“How could this be good for me?” Natalia asked, confused by her father’s statement.

“Never mind,” John told her dismissively, and Natalia couldn’t help but feel as if there was more that John wanted to say but was holding back.

“Dad, what did you mean?” Natalia asked again.

“Don’t worry about it,” John told her. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got another call, but I’ll talk to you soon,” he said, not even waiting for her to say goodbye before he hung up the phone. Natalia sat down in the chair that was closest to her, looking down at the floor, trying to collect her thoughts.

Moments later she saw a figure stop in front of her, and she slowly lifted her head to see Marty standing there. She gave him a small smile, which he returned. “You know,” he began. “You’re taking this worse than I am,” he said with a small laugh.

“I just can’t believe that you’re leaving Chicago,” Natalia said, her voice coming out barely above a whisper. “It’s just hard to believe.”

“I know,” he said, taking her hand and helping her stand up before wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. “We’ll get through this, though. I mean, there was always that chance that I was going to be traded, and now that time has come.”

“I just wish it didn’t have to be now,” Natalia told him.

“Natalia, I love you, and that’s not going to change. You know that, right?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said, nodding her head.

***

Later that night, Marty had taken Natalia out to dinner, celebrating their last night in Prague. They had decided that it would be best to leave the following day to go back to Chicago for a couple of days before Marty headed off to Minnesota to meet with the media there.

While waiting for their food to arrive, Marty looked over at Natalia, who was staring out the window that she was sitting next to. “I’m sorry we have to cut this trip short,” Marty told her.

“It’s not your fault,” she said, slowly turning her head away from the window and towards Marty. “I am going to miss it here, though. And to think, I was nervous about coming here in the first place,” she told him with a smile on her face.

“Yeah, you thought my parents were going to hate you,” Marty remembered with a laugh. “And, I’m pretty sure they love you more than they love me.”

Natalia laughed at his statement, but wasn’t able to disagree. Natalia shrugged her shoulders at him, causing Marty to laugh even harder.

Natalia started to stand up after they had finished their food, but Marty put his hand on her arm to stop her. She looked at him curiously but sat back down anyways. “Natalia, I love you,” Marty began.

“I love you, too,” Natalia said with a nervous laugh, wondering why he was telling her this. All she could think was that he was about to break up with her.

“Natalia, these last seven months have been amazing,” he told her. “I never could have dreamed that I would find someone that I love as much as I love you,” he said, pausing to take a breath, leaving Natalia feeling even more nervous that bad news was coming afterwards. “And, I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” he continued, reaching in his pocket and grabbing the small jewelry box that sat inside. “Vezmeš si mĕ?” he finished in Czech, converting back to his native language from being so nervous.

“Yes,” Natalia said, a wide smile spreading across her face. “Of course I’ll marry you,” she told him as he placed the beautiful ring on her finger. She proceeded to wrap her arms around his neck, kissing him sweetly. They pulled apart when they heard applause coming from the tables around them who had just witnessed the proposal.

“Mikuji tĕ,” Marty whispered in her ear.

“I love you, too,” she told him.

A half an hour later, Marty and Natalia were making their way back inside Marty’s parents’ house, their hands intertwined. Natalia looked over at Marty, asking, “Do your parents know?”

“They know that I’ve been planning on proposing, but they don’t know that I went through with it tonight,” he told her as he watched her lift her hand to look at the engagement ring. “Do you like it?” he asked her.

Natalia looked up at him, trying to figure out what he was talking about. “The ring?” she asked, and Marty nodded his head. “I love it,” she assured him. “It’s perfect. Now, let’s go break the news to your parents,” she told him, opening the front door.

“Máma? Táta?” Marty called out, and Erik yelled back that they were in the kitchen.

“How was your evening?” Erik asked when Natalia and Marty walked in the room. He and Adéla were finishing off their dinner, and Natalia and Marty sat down in the empty chairs.

“Very eventful,” Natalia said with a small smile, causing both Erik and Adéla to look up at her with curiosity.

“What do you mean?” Adéla asked.

Natalia looked up at Marty, wanting him to be the one to tell his parents the good news. “I proposed,” Marty said simply, and Natalia held up her left hand to show off her ring for emphasis.

“I am so happy for you,” Adéla said, getting out of her chair and engulfing both Natalia and Marty in a hug.

“Welcome to the family, Natalia,” Erik told her with a smile on his face.

“Thank you,” Natalia said, returning the smile, as Marty wrapped his arm around her. And, for those few moments, Natalia forgot all about Marty getting traded to Minnesota.