# CHAPTER 7: I You Are My Heart – The Race to Forever
Hello everyone, it's me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review CHAPTER 7 of "All In With Me," and oh my goodness, what a chapter this is. It is the kind of chapter that makes your heart pound, your eyes water, and your soul cheer all at once. It is a race against time, a confession at thirty thousand feet, and a beautiful look at what happens after the grand gesture. So grab a tissue, hold on tight, because Patton James is about to go all in like never before.
We begin with Patton landing at JFK, an airport he normally hates with a passion. It is chaotic, crowded, and overwhelming, like Times Square on New Year's Eve multiplied by two. But none of that matters. He has one reason for being there: Taylor. He gets into a car and tells the driver to do everything possible to get him to Manhattan. The traffic is brutal, the commute is excruciating, and his last nerve is already frayed. Then, when he finally arrives, he is blocked by a moving van. A worried feeling washes over him. He gets out, speaks to one of the movers, and learns the boxes are already packed and being taken to a storage unit. Patton slips the man a hundred dollars just to get information, and it is worth every penny.
He calls Becca, and the news hits him like a sack. Taylor is gone. She left about an hour ago. Becca tried to call, but Patton's phone was on silent, and he only sees the messages now. Taylor was really upset after the game. She said it was too hard to be reminded of him, and she needed to begin her new life sooner rather than later. Becca tried to stop her, but nothing she said mattered. Patton takes a calming breath, though inside he is anything but calm. He knows getting back to the airport in time to stop Taylor's flight seems impossible. Then an idea strikes. He tells Becca not to give up hope and that he will call her back.
He rushes to the car and tells the driver to get him back to the airport. The driver looks at him like he has lost his mind, but shrugs and reminds him it is his dime and it will cost him. Patton does not care. He will pay anything to get to Taylor. He calls in a favor promised long ago. When you travel as much as he does, you make friends along the way, especially when you help someone score surprise football tickets for their kid's birthday. Mike Patz is one of those friends. He used to work at Sea Tac, now he works at JFK, and he once told Patton that if he ever needed anything, just call. Today is that day.
Mike picks up, shocked to hear from the great Patton James, MVP of Super Bowl 52. Patton cuts through the pleasantries and asks for a big favor. He needs Mike to confirm whether a passenger named Taylor Ashby is on Flight 3450 to Paris, France. Mike sighs, knowing how many rules he is breaking, but agrees. The wait is torture. Then Mike comes through: Taylor is on the flight, but it has not taken off yet. The flight has been delayed because a crew member from another flight was late. Boarding will begin in about ten minutes. Patton begs Mike to do whatever he has to do to stop that flight from taking off. Mike says he will try, but it is a long shot. Patton does not care. Anything. Just until he gets there.
He asks the driver if there is a shortcut, feeling beyond frustrated. He traveled all this way, and now he might miss her. France is different. He will be running on fumes, and he will miss the celebration parade back in Seattle. He promised he would not miss it, but could he be forgiven if he missed it on account of love? He hands the driver a wad of cash and races through the busy airport as if he is running toward another touchdown. A representative meets him at Air France, congratulating him, and helps him to the gate where Mike is waiting. By the time he gets there, the doors are closed.
"Did I miss it?" Patton asks, breathless. Ten more seconds and he would have. The attendants are about to secure the doors. Patton takes off with lightning speed, calling out for the ground crew to stop. The man asks if there is a problem, then recognizes Patton James and literally forgets what he was doing. He asks for an autograph. Patton promises him that and so much more if he gives him five minutes to talk to one of the passengers. More crew members step out, and two men also recognize him. Patton tells them it is basically life or death. He needs to speak to his girlfriend, to convince her to stay and marry him. Eight members of the Air France crew hear the proposal before Taylor does. The women practically swoon, but the only person who matters is Taylor. The captain, after overhearing, gives Patton three minutes. Three minutes to convince her, or it is wheels up and Patton will have to take the next eight hours to change her mind. He loves her. There is no scenario where he walks off this plane without her by his side.
He walks through First Class and sees Taylor staring out the window, red puffy eyes, tissues in her hand. A flight attendant hands him a pack of tissues with a sympathetic look, as if this is not the first crying woman she has seen on a plane. Patton passes the tissues to Taylor, and she accepts them with a quiet thank you. Then her eyes connect with his. "Patton," she whispers. "What? How?" She struggles to find words. He kneels before her and holds her small hands in his. He knows passengers are recording, phones out, capturing everything, but this is his last chance.
He tells her he is here for her. If he has to fly all the way to France to convince her how much he loves and needs her, then that is what he will do. He lifts her hands to his lips, kisses them, breathes in her intoxicating scent. He tells her he knew three years ago, and now he knows without a sliver of doubt. He was raised to believe hard work makes dreams come true. For a long time, that dream was football, and he was content. Then he met her. Somehow she found her way into his heart and stayed. His mistake was not fighting hard enough to keep her there. He dropped the ball when it came to them. He is sorry. He tells her that if she can honestly say she does not love him anymore, he will walk off the plane and never bother her again.
She says nothing. His heart constricts. He slowly gets up, not sure what to do next. Then her hand grazes his, and she says she cannot say those words because she does not lie very well, and if she did, he would see right through her. Tears fall down her cheeks. He pulls her into him and kisses her like the kiss passes through his entire body. Applause vibrates throughout the cabin. He pulls away to catch his breath, holds her face, and asks her to say the words. She closes her eyes, then trains them back on his. "I love you, Patton James! I never stopped."
He never moved so fast. He pulls Taylor out of her seat and into his arms. He tells her he loves her too, so much, and asks if she will come with him now so they can begin the rest of their lives as husband and wife. A woman calls out from behind them, making them both laugh: "You call that a proposal? Come on, football star. You can do better than that!" Still holding Taylor, Patton agrees. He gives her the grand proposal. "Taylor Ashby, love of my life and the one and only person who will always have my heart that beats solely for you, I just want you to tell me... tell me you're all in with me, baby. Stay with me. Be with me. Spend forever with me by becoming my wife. You are mine, and I'm yours until I take my last breath. I love you." She nestles close to his neck, fighting giggles. The woman shrugs and says she did not hear a yes from the lady. Patton turns back to Taylor and asks, "Well, will you marry me? Are you all in with me?" And Taylor answers, "Yes, I will marry you, Patton James! And for the record, I never left."
The moment he hears her answer, he does not hear anything else. He carries Taylor off the plane and right into their future, vowing to always remind her that she is his heart. Life after the proposal is anything but quiet. Their reunion goes viral. Quoted words and their picture end up on the front page of practically every city in the United States. After calling Becca to confirm they are back together and soon to be married, they hide in their bubble in Patton's hotel suite for twenty-four hours until they find themselves on a flight back to Seattle for the victory parade. They celebrate with the team and the city. Every teammate takes a turn holding up the trophy as thousands of fans cheer. It is an amazing day, and Patton knows a press conference is scheduled the following week to announce his retirement from the NFL. He made many promises to Taylor on the day they reunited, but the most important one was assuring her that getting a second chance with her was the best gift he could ever receive. Saying goodbye to football is easier than he realized, maybe because it is on his terms. He will miss it, but he needs Taylor Ashby more. He promises to be the best husband he can be, and from that day on the plane, he keeps his word.
They relocate to New York after Patton sells his Seattle penthouse. They want a fresh start and to be closer to Becca, who is in her second year at school. The news of their engagement and reunion travels fast, even to France. Taylor is not sad giving up her job because she is in high demand. She easily lands one in New York. The only reason she applied to a position in Europe was because of Patton. At the time, she believed getting far enough away would ease the pain of missing him. Football is never far from their lives. Patton now works at ESPN as a commentator. He even goes a few rounds with Brett, minus the punches he always wanted to deliver when he was playing. Some days it is surreal knowing he finally has the life he always wanted and gets to spend it with Taylor. She once told him she never believed she would truly share her life with him. He told her to stop dreaming about it because they are real and would always be together. She is his world, and he makes his peace that they are enough.
One year later, they never really talked about having children outside of Becca. Patton is not sure how he would feel about it until one night back in Seattle when they spend time with Will and Meg and their baby daughter, Erin. Patton holds Erin in his arms and breathes in her baby scent of lavender soap. She is beautiful, and Taylor is over the moon as she plays with her and kisses raspberries on her little tummy. Taylor's smile is infectious. Life continues in a beautiful state of bliss. Weeks later, Patton receives another gift, the very one that is the game-changer of their lives. After dinner, they snuggle in front of the fireplace and catch up on each other's day. Taylor always indulges him when he talks about football, and then she says something that takes him by surprise. She has no doubt he will have an opportunity to coach football one day. He thanks her, calls her his biggest fan, and kisses her. Then he asks when she predicts he will be a football coach. She taps her chin and replies, "In about six years, when it's time to coach our baby's team."
Patton mindlessly smiles and agrees, taking another sip of wine. Then fireworks go off in his brain. He realizes what she is telling him. "You're pregnant? Really?" She says they never discussed it in great detail, but there was always a chance since they never really practiced birth control. So here she is, pregnant. He worries because she is older, he is older, and it has been a long time since she was pregnant. She laughs because it is such a guy thing to say, but she is not mad. She assures him all is well. She is perfectly healthy, and so is their baby. She is forty years old and pregnant with her second child after nineteen years since her first, but the doctor says she is healthy and the baby is doing well. Patton is so happy at the prospect of becoming a father. They make love in front of the fireplace as he kisses and caresses every part of Taylor's body. He cannot stop telling his wife how much he loves her and thanking her for giving him yet another gift he will always cherish. She is the more that his heart had always wanted.
Six years later, Patton's son calls out, "I caught it, Daddy. Did you see me?" His namesake uncle, Will, tossed him the soft football. William Taylor James is the greatest achievement of Patton's life. He never believed he would be a husband, let alone a father, but it is what Taylor gave him since the day she said yes and gave them another chance. He could not ask for anything more. He has everything he would ever need with Taylor, Becca, and their son. Will tells him his boy has a great arm. They watch William, Erin, and Zoey run around the huge backyard. Patton says he gets so happy at the sight of his son running down the field trying to get a touchdown, his heart feels like it will burst wide open. Will knows the feeling well. Patton thanks Will for what he did for him. When Will first married Meg, Patton watched how happy he was and how she made him better just by loving him. At the time, Patton could not allow his mind to go to places that were not attainable to him. His mother was an angel, but his father was a dick, and he thought he may have inherited those genes and would have been a shitty husband just like him. Will tells him he was not ready. Some get there quicker than others, but that does not mean he does not deserve the same happiness. Patton says sometimes he needs to hear the words to make it real.
Taylor calls them in for lunch. Will scoops up his daughters and twirls them until they are dizzy and giggling. Patton watches in awe that this is his life, and it is a great one. His son calls, "Come on, Daddy," and Patton snaps out of his fog and scoops his little boy into his arms. William squeals with giggles. Inside, Patton places their son down and walks over to kiss his wife. He whispers hey as he kisses her neck. She blushes and kisses him back, asking if he is okay. He says he is great. It is a perfect day, and one of many spent with his family. Becca arrives, and Taylor rushes to hug her. Becca apologizes, saying the life of a grad student, but Patton tells her she is right on time and kisses her forehead. As they gather around the family dinner table, Patton takes a moment to absorb all the smiling faces and sweet laughter that fill their home daily. He cannot stop smiling. He has an amazing life, and he probably would not be here today if it were not for their daughter, Becca, intervening on both their behalf by sending that letter to him.
After Taylor and Patton reunited and married, he wanted to do something special for Becca. He could only think of the one thing she always wanted: a father. A real father who would always love and protect her. He was all in not only with Taylor but with Becca too. They were a family forever. Although she was of age, he still took the necessary measures to adopt her officially. On the day she changed her name and accepted his as her own, his heart felt so much love that he did not believe life could be any more perfect. A long time ago, all he had was football, the one dream he worked so hard to achieve, the one thing he believed he could not live without, until the day he witnessed an angel standing at a bus stop, getting soaked in the rain. Today, he is blessed with an amazing family who love him back with all their hearts. He may no longer have football, but his life is complete because it begins and ends with his amazing wife, son, and daughter, the three who he went all-in for and who now live and breathe in every part of his heart.
Reader's Impressions & Star Rating: This chapter is a perfect emotional touchdown. It delivers the grand gesture we have been waiting for, but it does not stop at the kiss and the yes. It shows us the life that follows: the parade, the retirement, the move, the baby, the son, the adoption, the family dinners. Patton's race through JFK and his desperate plea on the plane are cinematic, but the quieter moments are what truly make this chapter shine. Taylor saying she never left, Patton adopting Becca, William calling him Daddy, and the final reflection about the angel at the bus stop all land with so much warmth. It is romantic, satisfying, and deeply heartfelt. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5.0 / 5 Stars
Next Chapter Prediction: Though this chapter feels like a beautiful finale, if the story continues, I predict a bonus epilogue or next chapter will focus on the next generation. We may see Patton coaching William's youth football team, just as Taylor predicted. Becca might graduate and find her own love story, while Taylor and Patton face the joys and chaos of raising a family in New York. There could also be a return to Seattle for a special reunion with the team, or a moment where William discovers his father's legacy on the field. Whatever comes next, it will likely center on family, second chances, and the many ways love keeps growing long after the final yes.
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