Jack won't ever forget game 10. Game 10 is just after Bitty's been up for a day and a half. The apartment still smells like him, and the refrigerator is loaded with neat little paper packages of PB&J sandwiches. Out of each package peeks the yellow hello of a Post-It note, and each note promises a new ray of sunshine for Jack to bask in before his game. He picks one at random and heads off to work.As always, he sits at a table removed from the others and carefully unwraps his sandwich. He expects a sunny greeting from the note as he pulls it out -- something simple but heartfelt, a "do your best!" or "thinking about you!". And that's what he gets, but this time instead of making him smile he blushes and presses the note to his chest before hiding it back in his bag.The note says, simply and without further adornment, "I love you."It's not the first time Bitty's said it, or even the fifth or tenth time. Jack knows it. He's said it back. But somehow, in this format, it's special. Jack's heart pounds, and he casts his eyes skyward and thanks Whatever's Up There for this moment. He goes on to score twice against the Islanders. They put that game away nicely, 6-2. Jack returns home wiped, but exhilarated. He starts, as per his habit, to pull out the Post-It and place it on the refrigerator. The Post-Its for the first nine games are carefully arranged, in chronological order. Three neat rows of three Post-Its each, and this will start the fourth row. Jack puts it in place.And then he shakes his head and smiles. He repositions it, centered, above the top row of Post-Its. Like a little crown."I love you," Bitty tells him from that position of honor."You, too," Jack says, presses two fingers to his lips, and touches it gently.He does it before the next game, too. And the game after that.
