The Fear Is Paralyzing

Kris watched as Claire walked inside the apartment, followed by Noah. He knew they wouldn’t just come over if it wasn’t important, so he stopped worrying about proposing and listened as they explained why they were there. “Dean’s up to something,” Claire began, and Kris wished Dean had been behind the door so he could knock him out. Even when he wasan’t around, he was still ruining Quinn’s life, and Kris was getting sick of it.

“What do you mean?” Quinn asked her. “What do you know?” she continued as she sat down on the couch. Kris sat down next to her and she immediately reached over and grabbed his hand, linking their fingers together. Kris knew she was nervous, and she had every right to be.

“He’s still trying to weasel his way into the team,” Noah rolled his eyes, suddenly looking over at the table that was still decorated. “Did we interrupt something...?” he trailed off, realizing for the first time that maybe he and Claire should have called before they came over.

Claire suddenly noticed the same thing, and her eyes went wide. “Oh God, we did, didn’t we? I’m sorry!” she said, grabbing Noah by the arm and starting to walk over to the door.

Kris thought about letting them go so he and Quinn could continue with their evening and he could propose to Quinn after all, but he thought better of it, knowing Quinn would be concerned about the details of why they had come all the way over there. “No, it’s fine, sit down,” Kris said, motioning for them to sit down in the seats across from them. “What’s going on with Dean?” he asked.

“One of my buddies from law school called me and said Dean had contacted his firm to go over some papers to find out a legal way to get in with the team. It doesn’t look like he can get in, the papers we drew up with you and Mario are all legit. But, he’s still trying to find a loophole in there,” Noah explained.

Quinn shut her eyes and leaned her head back against the couch. “Why can’t he just let this go?” she whined. “Why can’t he just get out of my life and stay out?”

Noah chuckled as he said, “Because he’s a part of your family and Corinne and Dad still have family dinners, and unfortunately, he comes to them.” Quinn gave him a glare, not amused by his joke, and Noah turned more serious. “Sorry, Quinn, you’re not going to get away from him very easily. But, I did want to tell you what I knew. And, Andrew told me he’d keep me in the loop with anything they find out with the papers, but like I said, they’re pretty solid. I really don’t think they’re going to find something.”

“But if they do?” Quinn asked.

“Then we deal with it, and we take him to court,” Noah stated.

Kris looked over at Noah. “You’d go against your brother in court?” he wondered aloud.

“If he tries to hurt Quinn, you bet I will,” Noah said sincerely, and Kris was happy that Quinn had him in her life. “And, I know you’d do anything for her, too,” he added with a smile to Kris.

Kris nodded his head, and Quinn leaned her head over onto his shoulder. “Thank you, Noah. It means a lot to me that you’d do that for me. I can’t really tell you how much this all means to me,” she told him.

“Of course,” Noah smiled. “But, I think it’s time me and Claire left,” he said, looking up at his wife, who was nodding her head at him. It was clear that Kris and Quinn had been in the middle of something when the two of them showed up, and it was time to let them get back to whatever it was they had been doing. “Call me tomorrow, and we can talk some more, okay?”

“Thanks,” Quinn smiled up at him. “Thanks, Claire,” she added as her brother and sister-in-law made their way to the door.

Kris kissed Quinn’s temple as he stood up off the couch, following Noah and Claire to the door, while Quinn stayed where she was, trying to process everything Noah had just told her. Kris stepped out into the hallway with the other two, lowering his voice so Quinn couldn’t hear them. “How likely is it that Dean could get anything?” he asked, wanting Noah to cut to the chase.

“Very very unlikely,” Noah assured him. “I wrote up the papers for Quinn and Mario. I made sure Dean couldn’t sneak his way in. But, in the very unlikely shot that Dean worms his way in, like I already told you, I’ll go to bat for Quinn,” he spoke solemnly. Kris couldn’t help but feel confident in Noah.

“Thank you,” Kris told him.

“We know you love her, Kris,” Claire spoke up. “We do, too,” she added with a smile. “And, sorry to interrupt your evening, I hope we didn’t spoil anything too big,” she said, and Kris wondered if somehow she knew that he was going to propose tonight. Something in her eyes said she knew, but Kris had no idea how that could be possible. “Now go back in there and finish up your evening!”

“Thank you,” he repeated, smiling at the both of them. “Have a good night,” he added before heading back inside to Quinn.

Quinn sat up on the couch, looking at Kris as he sat back down next to her. “What were you guys talking about out there?” she asked him curiously.

Kris didn’t want to bring up Dean again so he thought quickly as he responded. “Claire’s pregnancy,” he responded.

Quinn smiled at the mention of her new niece or nephew. “She’s coming right along, isn’t she?” she asked excitedly. “They’re great parents.”

Kris nodded in agreement. He had seen them with Riley and he knew that the two of them were meant to be parents. “You’ll be a good mom, too,” he told Quinn. It was the first time they had really talked about being parents, but Kris had known all along that Quinn wanted to be a mother one day, and he really wanted her to be the mother to his children. He could envision her with their kids in the yard, playing in the sun. Or the two of them going to their kids’ hockey games, because Kris would make sure they played hockey.

“Thanks, Kris,” she said sincerely. “You’re going to be a good dad, too,” she added, looking up into his eyes.

Kris was ready to propose to her right then. The timing was perfect, but before he could get down on one knee, Quinn had moved so she was on top of him, pushing her lips against his. Kris reacted instinctively as he put his hands around her, pulling her closer to his chest as he intensified the kiss.

Quinn moved so she was sitting up on his groin as she began unbuttoning his shirt, leaning down and kissing his chest as it was revealed. She moved her bottom against his groin, causing him to groan. She suddenly moved to the left just a little bit, and she stopped, feeling something pressed against her.

She stopped unbuttoning his shirt, leaving it half undone as she reached down and felt what was poking her. Kris’s heart suddenly stopped as he remembered he had the ring in his pocket and he knew it was about to be found by Quinn. “What is this?” she asked, prying inside his pocket and pulling the small box out. She looked between him and the box, not having figured out what it was yet, still sitting on top of Kris.

Kris watched as she opened it up and her eyes went wide. She pulled her eyes away from the diamond so she could look Kris in the eyes, unable to vocalize what she was thinking, but the look on her face spoke for her.

Kris put his hands on Quinn’s waist as he looked up at her. He hadn’t exactly planned what he was going to say to her, but at the moment, everything had gone out of his mind, including every word of English he knew. So, he started speaking from his heart in his native language. “Quinn, je t’aime tellement. J’ai depuis le moment où je vous ai vu, en arrière quand vous ne saviez rien au hockey. Nous avons tellement grandi ensemble, et je ne peux pas imaginer ne pas vous avoir dans ma vie. Je veux passer le reste de ma vie avec vous. Veux-tu m’épouser?”

Looking up at her, he knew that she didn’t understand what he had just said. Not only had he just said it all in French, but he had said it so fast, he knew there was no way Quinn had picked up on any of it. He tried to get his mind set back into English so he could try to translate it all for her, but before he could, Quinn started smiling. She nodded her head as she said, “Yes.”

Kris sat up as he grabbed the back of Quinn’s head and kissed her so deeply, running his fingers through her hair, never wanting to let her go. After several minutes, he finally pulled apart from her, allowing them both a chance to catch their breath. Quinn looked at him while saying, “Please tell me somewhere in everything you just said that you asked me to marry you?”

Kris laughed as he nodded his head, grabbing the ring box out of her hand and picking up the ring from inside. “Yes,” he said, English finally coming back to him. “I want you to be my wife,” he told her, grabbing her hand and sliding the ring on her finger.

“Good, because otherwise this would be awkward,” she giggled. She leaned down and kissed him on the lips. “I want to be your wife,” she smiled at him.

Kris didn’t waste any time in getting up off the couch with Quinn in his arms, carrying her back to the bedroom to celebrate.