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Matt Saracen moved away from Dillon after his grandma died. There wasn't anything keeping him there, not any more. He got a good job offer down in San Angelo, working for a small internet publisher, writing for their up-and-coming sports website. He used his connections in the NFL to get some good interviews, and if anyone noticed that most of his interviews were with former Longhorns, they didn't seem to mind.
He sometimes wondered what might have happened if he hadn't blown his knee his junior year. Would he have joined Tim Riggins in the NFL? Would he have settled for the CFL like Smash? He'd never know, and maybe it was better this way. He finished up at UT in another couple years, and he had the time and energy to really study, even though he had to pick up another job once he was no longer on an academic scholarship.
Once he had the time to think about it, to actually outline and plan a paper instead of making it up the night before it was due out of caffeine and adrenaline, he found he really liked writing. By his last year he was producing a weekly column for the student paper, which led to interviews with a lot of news outlets and one internet publisher. He still wasn't sure he actually deserved the job at Gannasole Press, but he smiled when he went to work, whether it was from home or from the office, so he was trying not to question it.
He met Claudia Kelly there. She was the reviewer--of books, games, music, movies, and whatever else she felt like reviewing that week. She needed someone new to go to restaurants with her, she told him, and he gladly accompanied her down to San Antonio, up to Austin, and everywhere in between. By the second restaurant, it was clear to both of them that there was more going on than their shared impressions of the food. They were engaged within three months.
Matt invited Julie Taylor to the wedding. He invited her parents, too, and her little sister, even though he didn't really know Gracie very well. Mrs. Taylor sent him a Christmas card every year, and there was always a personal note from her, with a line or two added at the bottom from Coach.
He and Julie had kept in touch through facebook, emails, and occasional text messages, with phone calls once in a blue moon. She'd call him to say she'd read his latest interview, or he'd call her to see if she remembered what book a certain quote was from that he wanted to use. They'd talk for two minutes, just long enough to say hello, or they'd start chatting about this or that aspect of their lives and be on the phone for an hour.
All of the Taylors had come to the funeral, and he invited every one of them to this more happy occasion. He was glad Claudia was okay with it, because it would feel like something was missing if Coach and his family weren't there--he'd spent more time with them than his own father while he was in high school, after all.
A lot of the same faces he'd seen at the funeral, he saw at the wedding--Landry and Tyra, Jason Street, even Riggins and Smash showed up, since the wedding was planned for before summer training started. Carlotta sent her regrets, but that was probably for the best. Jules brought her boyfriend, who seemed to be treating her well, and Coach and Mrs. Taylor gave him big hugs when they saw him.
The wedding went off without a hitch, despite all Mrs. Kelly's worries, which had been getting to both Matt and Claudia in the week leading up to the ceremony. Claudia looked stunning in her gown, which cost more than Matt made in three months, and Matt was glad he'd spent the extra money on the designer tuxedo Claudia had picked out for him. "My mom will notice," she'd told him. By which she meant, "My family already thinks I'm crazy for marrying a small-town Texas boy, so do this one thing for me, along with a few others, to keep the peace."
Matt was all in favor of keeping the peace, especially given how much Claudia's parents were spending on this wedding. There were a few things he'd insisted on, though. Claudia carried yellow roses down the aisle, they had a band down from Austin for the reception, and there were a lot of slow Texas drawls to balance out the back east staccato of the bride's family.
He wasn't sure how the easterners would deal with the Texans. There were a few tense moments here and there, but by the time the waiters brought out dinner, people were conversing pleasantly at their carefully integrated tables. And by the time he and Claudia were getting ready to leave, Mrs. Taylor was dancing with Claudia's father while Coach was busy charming her older brother.
It took a while to make it out of the reception hall, as everyone there kept wanting to talk to him and Claudia. Julie surprised him by hugging Claudia like a long-lost sister, and Coach, who had given up on ever getting Matt to call him Eric, kissed Claudia's cheek and wished them all the best. Mrs. Taylor, Claudia told him later, pulled her aside and gave her some great advice, as well as letting her know how very lucky she was. Claudia also told Matt she knew that already, but it still made Matt feel great.
Three years later, Matt and Claudia named their first born son Eric Matthew Saracen. Coach sent the baby a Panther onesie.
END