January 1980, Minneapolis

Rizzo and I had gathered in his dorm room for our weekly episode of Dallas. OC was hanging out with us claiming: 'there was nothing better going on.' Funny there hadn't been much going on on Friday nights when Dallas was on TV

"You know what I don't understand?" I asked Rizzo who I was snuggled against on the couch. "JR took Lucy away from her mother and forced her to grow up at Southfork, but now he wants to get rid of her. If he had left Lucy with her mother, he wouldn't be having a problem."

"Has JR ever done anything that hasn't hurt someone?" Rizzo asked.

I sat back to watch this week's episode but found my mind wandering. We were halfway through January and Herb was yet to cut the last player. Every day I feared having to say goodbye to my friend…or worse my boyfriend. Rizzo didn't talk about the final cut at all. And OC had privately conveyed to me that he felt Rizzo would be the last player cut.

"Chevon, earth to Chevon!" Rizzo was calling.

"Oh, what I am sorry. I was lost in thought." I said.

"Are you okay? You have been distracted all evening." Rizzo said.

"I was just thinking about a few things. What did u need?" I asked.

"Coxie is making a beer run, do you want anything?" Rizzo asked.

"Just a few beers are fine." I said and snuggled closer to Rizzo.

I looked up and saw Cox standing in the doorway. I never even heard him knock or come in. I never knew that the last few weeks before the Olympics would be so nerve-racking.

"We might not get to play the Soviets at the Olympics." I told Rizzo.

"I thought we had a 'no hockey in pillow talk' rule." Rizzo said.

I crawled up his body so I could face him. "Yeah, and I am sorry. It's just that Patti called me right before I came over here; she was crying."

"Is everything okay?" Rizzo asked looking concerned.

"Well you know that President Carter is calling for a boycott of the Moscow games next summer as a sanction for them invading Afghanistan." I said and Rizzo nodded. "Now the Kremlin is threatening not to come here for our games."

"And this upset Patti?" Rizzo asked.

"Herb did. He is upset that he might not get the chance to play the Soviets. He is obsessed practically with beating them." I told him. "Well Patti tried to comfort him, telling him that even if he didn't play the Soviets, he'd still have a career with the Gophers after the Olympics. And Herb actually said to her that she didn't understand what he wanted. She was really hurt."

Rizzo pulled me tight against him. His bare skin felt warm against mine. "I can't believe he would say something like that to his wife. I would never hurt you that way."

"I know you wouldn't, that is why I love you." I told him and kissed him.

"You know, these past seven months with you have been great. I just expected to come to Minneapolis and train for the Olympics. I never expected to find someone so special." He said.

"You know that day of try-outs we had in Colorado, Herb told me 'not to get in a bad way with any of the boys.'" I said with a snicker.

"You're not pregnant are you?" Rizzo said almost alarmed.

"NO, nothing like that." I said "I just remember that when he told me that, I told him 'that it would take more than a hockey stick and jersey to get into my pants'."

"Boy did it ever! I was thinking I would never get laid!" Rizzo said sarcastically. I playfully punched his arm. "But you were well worth the wait."

"Thank you." I said and settled with my head on his shoulder.

"Chev, have you thought about what would happen if you accidentally got pregnant?" Rizzo asked.

"Not really. I mean I waited so long to find someone to fall in love with before I even had sex. I never really put much thought into getting pregnant." I said. "Why is this coming up now?"

"Well the other night, I dreamed you were pregnant. And since then I have thought about it." Rizzo said. "I just want you to know that if you should get pregnant, everything would be okay…don't panic. "

"I don't know how I'd react." I said honestly.

"Well, I would marry you." Rizzo said and I rose up to look at him. "I would. And I would make sure that you and the baby was always taken care of."

"Yet another reason that I love you so much." I said and kissed him.