There's Things That Aren't Worth Giving Up

Natalia and Marty hadn’t talked about what had occurred at her father’s house since they had left his place. Though Marty still thought that Natalia shouldn’t cut off all ties with her father, Natalia refused to talk to John again, and there was nothing Marty could do about that. She was happy that they were now on their way to Minnesota, far away from John.

After they had gotten home from John’s house, Marty had dropped another bomb on her, though. They had been sitting on the couch watching television, when he suddenly looked over at. “Natalia, I did something after you left Minnesota, and I’m not sure how you’re going to feel about it,” he said slowly.

Natalia turned to look at him, shutting the television off and giving him her full attention. Numerous things ran through her mind, none of them good. Had he cheated on her? Had he gotten into a fight with someone? Had he gotten arrested? None of them made sense, but as she stared at him, waiting on him to tell her what he had done, those thoughts kept running through her mind. “What did you do?” she finally asked when he hadn’t told her.

“I signed an extension to play with the Wild for four more years,” he stated, and Natalia’s eyes went wide. “And, I can see that you’re not exactly happy about it. I know I should have talked it over with you first. But, Nat, they want me there. They were talking about the future, and they want me with them. They have faith in me, and I just couldn’t say no. I’m sorry,” he apologized when Natalia remained shocked on the couch.

“Don’t apologize,” Natalia told him. “And, no, you shouldn’t have talked to me. This is your job, Marty. Your life,” she began.

“You’re my life,” he interrupted.

“I’m happy,” Natalia told him, smiling at him. “Honestly. If you’re happy, then I’m happy. So, they already had you for two years from the Blackhawks trade, and now you signed for another four more years?” she asked rhetorically, trying to think everything out. “So, we’re going to be there at least for six years.”

“I hope you like Minnesota,” he joked. “Because there’s a no trade clause in the contract,” he added with a small smile.

“As long as you’re there, I’ll like it,” she said, returning the smile.

Now, a week later, they sat in the car in Minnesota after getting off the plane from Chicago. “I have another surprise for you,” Marty spoke up, quickly glancing over at Natalia before looking back at the road in front of him as he turned the corner.

“What?” Natalia asked suspiciously.

“You’ll see,” Marty said with a smile.

“No, tell me!” Natalia exclaimed as Marty pulled into a driveway. “Where are we?” she asked, looking at the house in front of her. “I thought we were going to the hotel first.”

“Just trust me,” he told her, shutting off the car, and stepping outside. Natalia followed his lead, and he took her by the hand and led her to the front door of the house, taking a key out of his pocket and opening it up.

“Why do you have a key to this place?” she asked him, as they both stepped inside the house. As soon as she saw the inside of the house, her jaw dropped. The house was one of the most beautiful places she had ever stepped into.

“Do you like it?” Marty asked, looking over at her and the shocked expression on her face as she took in the entire house.

“I love it, but who’s is it?” she asked, looking around but not seeing any type of pictures or anything else that could help her identify the owner of the house.

“Ours,” Marty stated.

Natalia slowly turned her head to look at her fiancé. “What?” she whispered.

“I bought the house,” Marty told her. “We needed a place to live for the next six years, right?” he asked. “So, I saw the house, and I bought it,” he said, turning around to look at her. He saw a few tears trickling down her face, and his eyes widened. “Nat, what’s wrong?” he questioned. “Do you hate it? Wish that you would have picked out your own house? What?” he asked, wondering what had caused her to cry.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I love it. I really do,” she assured him. “I’m happy. I just can’t believe you’d actually buy us a house. A perfect house,” she added. “I love you,” she said, reaching over and pulling him down for a kiss.

“I love you, too,” he said.

***

“He what?” Olivia questioned into the phone. Jonathan looked over at her curiously, not even knowing who she was talking to.

“He bought us a house,” Natalia repeated.

“So, let me get this straight. I’m getting married in two weeks, and Jon and I aren’t even living together. But, Marty just bought you a house?” Olivia asked sarcastically, glancing over a Jonathan to see his reaction to her statement. “How fair is that?” she joked.

“Liv, if you could see this place, you would fall in love with it. Seriously, it’s the most perfect house I’ve ever seen. It’s got three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and it’s just perfect,” Natalia gushed, and Olivia could tell that her friend was excited.

“I still can’t believe Marty bought a house for you two!” Olivia told her. “I mean, I know he’s going to be there another couple of years, but to go ahead and buy a house, that’s a big step,” she thought out loud.

“Six,” Natalia interrupted.

“What?” Olivia asked, not having any idea what Natalia was talking about.

“Six years,” she clarified. “We’re going to be here for a minimum of six years. Marty signed an extension for four years with a no trade clause. So, we’ll be here at least another six years. That’s why he decided to go ahead and get the house. This is our new home.”

“Oh my God,” Olivia said slowly, and Jonathan looked over at her, wondering what was going on. “Six years?” she questioned. “You’re going to be gone for six years?”

“Probably longer,” Natalia told her. “I mean, think about it, Liv. The Blackhawks didn’t want Marty. It’s very unlikely that he’s ever going to go back to the team. It’s a possibility, but it’s unlikely. You had to have known that we weren’t going to stay in Chicago.”

“I know,” Olivia told her. “It’s just weird. I mean, Marty’s been here for so long, and so have you. You two have become part of our family, and now you’re going to be in Minnesota for at least six years. It’s just a lot to handle,” she admitted.

“Liv, it’s not like you’re never going to see me. You’re going to come out here when you guys play us, and I’ll come to Chicago when we go out there. We’re going to stay in touch,” she promised.

“I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to see you in less than two weeks. Remember, you have a wedding, or did you forget about the love of your life?” Natalia joked.

Olivia looked over at Jonathan. “I could never forget about him,” she said with a small smile.

“Listen, Liv, I’ve got to go. I need to call Summer and tell her the good news.”

“You haven’t told Summer yet?” Olivia asked. “You know she’s not going to be happy when you tell her. It’s likely she’ll hop a plane to Minnesota and drag you and Marty back here,” she said with a laugh.

“The sad part is that’s true,” Natalia laughed along. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye,” Olivia hung up the phone, realization suddenly hitting her that Natalia and Marty really were moving away from Chicago, and they weren’t coming back.