Before It's Too Late

“You going to the wedding Hank?” Chris Osgood asked his teammate after practice.

“No. I have a lot of stuff to do,” Henrik answered.

“You two are so stubborn,” Chris said as he dropped a piece of paper on the table in front of Henrik. “You guys need to get over yourselves and talk. Now, before it’s too late,” he continued, walking out the door.

Henrik picked up the piece of paper. Two lives, two hearts, joined together in friendship, united forever in love. It is with joy that we, Emily Grace Osgood and Mark Edward Spencer invite you to share in a celebration of love as we exchange our marriage vows Saturday, the twenty fifth of April two thousand nine, at four o'clock in the afternoon at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, 9844 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Michigan. He groaned and lightly hit his head on the table.

Henrik was torn. How could she move on so quickly? They had been dating since he first came to Detroit. He was in love with her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but for some reason making such a huge commitment scared the hell out of him. It was his reluctance to commit that drove a wedge between them, and eventually caused them to split.

He grabbed his stuff and walked out of Joe Louis Arena to his car, still thinking about Emily. Their first date. Their first kiss. Their first fight. The first time they told each other “I love you.” He loved that she was an old-fashioned type of girl. While most girls threw themselves at him because he was a famous hockey player, she had promised her parents that she would wait for marriage. She didn’t care how famous he was, she wasn’t going to sleep with him just to say that she hooked up with Henrik Zetterberg.

The thought of some other man that she had known only a mere five months touching her made him cringe. He sighed, trying to push the thought from his mind as he turned his car off and got out. Looking around, he realized that instead of driving to his apartment, he had absentmindedly driven to the church. Cursing himself, he went to get back in his car to head home before anyone saw him, but he wasn’t quick enough.

“Hank!” Jonathan Ericsson called.

“Hey Johnny,” Henrik greeted, walking over to his fellow Swede.

“You know, you can still do something about it,” Jonathan advised.

“No, I can’t. She’s happy,” Henrik replied glumly. “I don’t even know why or how I got here.”

“Do you really think that she’s happy? Have you seen her at all these past five months? She looks miserable. She’s just settling, you know. This isn’t what she wants.”

“Well, I can’t give her what she wants.”

“Hank, you’re the only one that can. She wants you, not this bloke who just happened to be the first guy to see her crying and comfort her after you two broke up. Why are you so scared?”

“I don’t want to hurt her.”

“How could you possibly hurt her more than you already have?” Jonathan questioned.

They walked into the church and picked a seat in the middle. Henrik looked around, noticing that neither Emily nor Mark had much family here. In fact, the only family present was Chris and their parents, along with his wife and kids. Everyone else were the rest of the Red Wings, except for two very pissed off looking girls on Mark’s side.

Henrik felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw that he had a new message. From: Ozzie. Message: It’s not too late. Nobody would be mad if you did anything. He looked up to meet Chris’ gaze. Chris just nodded and turned around as the music started up. Henrik turned around to fin Emily staring at him, a surprised look on her face. ‘God she looks beautiful in that dress,’ he thought. He watched as her dad walked her down the aisle. Something seemed off with her though. She wasn’t radiating happiness like usual, and her shoulders were a bit hunched. He could tell that the smile she had plastered on her face was fake.

Henrik sat there fidgeting in his seat. He could feel tears threaten to pour. That should be him up there with her. He was losing her, the best thing that ever happened to him, all because he was chicken-shit. Sure, Babcock put him up against players like Chara and Weber all the time, and he could handle them no problem. But marriage? It irked him that he didn’t have the balls to ask her to marry him. He had actually had a ring for her for months, but for some reason he couldn’t ask her. Now he was too late.

“…speak now or forever hold your peace,” he heard the priest say as Ericsson elbowed him in his side, bringing him out of his trance. The next thing he knew, he was standing on his feet. “I object,” he said.

“Oh thank god,” Emily’s mom said as everyone turned to look at him with smirks on their faces.

“I object too!” one of the girls on Mark’s side agreed.

Henrik ran up to Emily, who was now kneeling on the altar, crying. “Emily,” he said, gently grabbing her chin and lifting her face up to look into his. “I love you. I made a mistake letting you go.”

“Then why did you?” she asked as he wiped her tears.

“I was scared. I didn’t want to hurt you or let you down,” he answered, reaching into his coat pocket to pull out the ring he had bought what seemed like forever ago. “Emily,” he started, getting down on one knee. “I know I let you down when I walked out. But please, if you could find it in your heart to forgive me, and give me another chance,” he continued as she gasped. “I love you. Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” Emily said, grinning from ear to ear as his teammates clapped and cheered.

“Um, excuse me,” the priest started. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but, does this mean you will no longer be needing me?”

“Actually,” Henrik said, turning to Emily. “Everyone’s already here so…”

Emily nodded as her smile grew even wider.

“Well then, let’s continue, shall we?” the priest said. “Repeat after me…”

“I, Henrik Zetterberg, take you Emily Osgood, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward until death do us part.”

“I, Emily Osgood, take you Henrik Zetterberg, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward until death do us part.”

“By virtue of the authority vested in me by the State of Michigan, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. You may kiss the bride.”