My Love, Now You're a Cub Fan (standard:romance, 1450 words)
Author: TJC	Added: Apr 01 2006	Views/Reads: 3490/2164	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A young bride finds herself sharing her husband....with the Chicago Cubs.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

When Theo got home she watched the tape with him and relived all the
excitement of the emotional victory with her husband.  He'd stayed away 
from the sports reports so he had no idea of the game's outcome.  It 
was a special moment for both of them.  The next day, a Sunday 
afternoon, she went with Theo to Wrigley Field for the first time to 
see the Cubs and watched them beat the Cardinals 5-0.   After that, 
Margarita considered herself a Cub fan and lived and died every day 
with the team as they surged to the division title over the course of a 
wonderful summer.  Her job as a bank teller was soon getting in the way 
of her new-found love. As they had with so many others, the Cubs had 
taken over her life.  Her husband, however, kept telling her she wasn't 
a true Cub fan yet.  It became a joke between them, but his wife knew 
she was a Cub fan.  She watched every game she could.  Even more than 
the players, she fell in love with the broadcaster, Harry Caray, and 
how he'd sing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” during the 7th inning 
stretch.  Margarita found herself whistling the tune constantly. 

No matter her efforts, though, Theo refused to acknowledge her as a true
Cub fan.  Even after the team clinched the division title with a 4-1 
win in Pittsburgh, a game to which they drove for hours to attend in 
person, he still said she wasn't quite there.  She didn't understand, 
but she didn't care.  She loved the Cubs and was in love with Theo.   
They made love all that night in a hotel room while watching every 
sports report they could find.  The Cubs were NL East champs, in the 
post season for the first time since 1945, and poised to take on the 
San Diego Padres in the playoffs. 

“They haven't won the World Series since 1908 and haven't even been
there since 1945,”  Theo cautioned that night.  “It would be so great 
to get to the Series. God, I would love it so much.” 

“We played the Padres great all season, we'll kill them.”  Margarita had
no doubt in her mind.  She couldn't understand Theo's lack of 
confidence. 

“They'll make it, baby,” she told her husband.  “I just know it.” 

The playoffs started out well, with the Cubs securing two victories at
Wrigley, including a 13-0 blowout in the first game.  When the team 
arrived in San Diego, they had to win one game to clinch a spot in the 
World Series.  When they lost the third game 7-1, Margarita still felt 
certain the pennant was in the bag.  Despite the game four loss, in 
which Steve Garvey hit a home run in the 9th to beat them, she was sure 
that Game 5 would be theirs, especially with their star pitcher, Rick 
Sutcliffe, on the mound.  Theo, meanwhile, seemed glum.  Even after the 
Cubs took an early 3-0 lead in the final game, there seemed to be an 
air of impending doom to her husband.  Suddenly, the Padres scored two 
runs in the 6th inning and followed that with four more in the 7th.  In 
the blink of an eye the Cubs had lost the final game 6-3 and the series 
three games to two. 

Margarita couldn't believe it. They'd been one game, one win, from their
World Series dream.  When the game ended and she watched the Padres 
celebrate on the screen and found herself crying. The wonderful summer 
of her Chicago Cubs had been three games too long. She tried to tell 
herself that it was just a game,  but the words somehow rang hollow.  
Theo's loving arm came around her and she laid her head on his 
shoulder. 

“I'm so sad over this,” she cried.  “I wanted them to make it for you. 
You've loved them so much longer.” 

“I know,” Theo said softly into her hair with a sad, tender laugh.  His
wife looked up at him in confused amazement through her tears.  Theo 
was laughing after the Cubs had lost the pennant?   She thought perhaps 
he had lost his mind over the team's implosion. 

“Theo?”  she queried, worried.  “Are you alright?  What's wrong?” 

“Nothing, really.  Just...”  Theo kissed her tears gently as she hugged
him tight.  “Margarita, my love, now you're a Cub fan.”  He kissed her 
tears again.   “It's all about suffering.” 

TC


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