Chapter Text
"Mamá Tobin?"
Alyssa met her Mamá's eyes as she brought the eggs in the next morning, and Tobin gave her a warm, encouraging smile.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"I made a decision. I think. Only what if you don't like it?"
Tobin guided her little one to the couch, and sat down, drawing AT into her lap and holding her gently. "Breathe for me, little love. I can see you tensing, calm down please," she said, keeping her voice calm and even.
Alyssa rested her head on Tobin's shoulder, obediently taking deep breaths and letting them out slowly. "I...I want to stay, Mamá Tobin. I know I promised Stanford, but, but..." She sucked her lower lip into her mouth, releasing it when Tobin tapped her lip gently. "I was fifteen when I told them that. I was just a little kid still, mostly."
Tobin kept her thoughts on that to herself. "It was a verbal contract, little love, and you weren't a legal adult yet. They knew that you wouldn't be forced to keep it if you changed your mind. So, you're going to declare for the draft then?"
"Can I?" Alyssa looked up at Tobin. "Then I can stay with you and Mamá Christen, or at least Mamá Christen," she allowed, hugging Tobin a little tighter. "If Angel City can't have you--"
"Then you will have a home with me in Seattle or wherever, too," Tobin promised, firmly but lovingly, "and I promise, I'm not abandoning you, sweetheart. Your Mamá Christen won't let anything bad happen to you."
But, can Angel City afford to keep Christen and Alyssa? Tobin asked herself. She forcefully pushed the thought away.
"Then...then I want to do the draft. So I can stay," Alyssa said, letting Tobin hold her. "I'll be so good, Mamá Tobin, I promise, I'll make you proud and I'll be a good girl, and--"
"Alyssa."
AT looked up at Christen's voice, as her other Mamá entered the living room, sitting beside Tobin. She scrambled into Christen's lap to give her a hug too.
"Alyssa, listen to me, sweetheart," Christen said gently. "You are not soccer. You are not valued on how well you do at school, at soccer, or anything else. You are just yourself. The rest is just extra."
"Mamá Christen?" Alyssa ventured uncertainly.
"We love you for you," Christen repeated. "Soccer is what you do, but only you can define what you are." She cuddled AT close. "Whatever you choose, we will love you, support you, and be proud of you."
"I want to do the draft, Mamá Christen, so I can stay with you," AT said softly.
"Is that the only reason?" Christen asked, looking thoughtful.
Alyssa shrugged. "I don't know? But I think I have a lot more to learn from you, Mamá Tobin, and Sofia, and I couldn't do that if I wasn't here."
"You'll always be welcome here with us, sweetheart, and we're glad you've decided to stay," Christen promised. "But choosing Stanford wouldn't have made us any less proud of you."
AT nodded. "It just didn't feel like the right fit right now. I want to go pro."
"Then that's what you'll do," Christen promised. She took AT back to the computer, and helped her register for the draft. It wasn't a difficult process with Christen's guidance, and then they sat down to the breakfast Sofia had made, together.
After breakfast, AT moved on to doing schoolwork. She felt much more relaxed about it, now that her future was more assured, and she had Tobin and Christen by her side to help her work out the hard problems.
At least, I have Mamá Tobin for now, she added, still a bit worried.
"Mamá Tobin? I'm sorry I ruined Disney yesterday."
"You didn't ruin it, sweetheart," Tobin promised. "It's alright, sometimes you need to be your Mamás' little girl and that's okay."
"If I went away to Stanford, I couldn't be that," AT offered. "But if I stay with the team, I can. Not when we play, I mean."
"Right," Christen agreed, ruffling AT's hair gently. "It can be very relaxing, to give that control up to someone else. And you wouldn't be the only little one on the team, either, so there's plenty of others to understand you."
"Guess that's true," AT agreed, feeling more hopeful. "What's the draft going to be like?"
"Hmm..." Christen mused. "It's something like a college graduation, in that you get called up to the stage, you get to speak a little bit, your future is ahead of you. But it's also a bit...transactional, as you probably noticed."
AT nodded. "They make a lot of trades to get the best spot, or more money, or other players, future spots and things like that," she offered.
"So you have been paying attention," Tobin teased gently, and AT nodded, apprehensive.
"Guess...guess Angel City think I'm the best pick," she offered. "But I couldn't be their best pick unless I declared for the draft."
"And now you have," Tobin said gently. "So no more worrying about it, little love, just settle and we'll see what happens."
Suddenly a horrible thought occurred to Alyssa. "Can...can they change who gets the best pick? What if Angel City has to...what if they give me away?"
Christen pulled AT into her arms. "That's extremely unlikely, sweetheart, but even if someone else does get you, we haven't changed our minds, you will always have a home with us. You have lots of aunties and big sisters all over the NWSL who would help you out, too," she promised. "Don't worry, Alyssa, I promise, everything's going to be okay."
"Okay," AT whispered. She had to believe her Mamás. "I'll try to not worry," she promised, and Christen murmured soft reassurances, petting her hair.
"It's alright sweetheart, you're safe. Let's just keep calm," Christen promised. "No matter what happens, we'll work it out together. We can do hard things, together, as a family."
"Because we're ohana," Alyssa supplied.
Christen and Tobin smiled at each other, and Sofia leaned in to hug Alyssa tight.
"Yes. We're family for always."