Daan
I have woken up in Beth's arms and Taytum on top of me. It is a bit before we actually have to get up, so I let them sleep a little more and just enjoy the moment.
I watch Taytum's chest rise and fall so peacefully. Furthermore, I study the freckles that are scattered across her face.
"Good morning. How did you sleep?" Beth asked when she woke up.
"Perfect" I state. "And you?"
"Same" she replies.
We lay in the same position for many minutes, neither of us wanting to move. "Are you excited for our game?" She asks, breaking the silence. "Mmm, I am. I'm kinda nervous though."
"Hey! You will do great, just as always." She says reassuringly. We eventually got out of bed and made sure that we didn't wake up Taytum. We both got ready for our game.
Breakfast is pretty quiet as we are both focused on the upcoming game against Manchester City. Soon enough it is time to wake up Taytum.
"Good morning baby girl." I said when I walked into our room. She woke up slowly. "Good morning, did you sleep well sweetie?"
She looked at me tired and shook her head. "I-I don't f-feel good."
"Do you feel like you have to puke?" She shook her head again. "My head and tummy hurts".
"Okay. The only thing I can do is to give you a paracetamol, because we have a match, and we can't stay home. That means you have to come with us, like always.
She came slowly out of our bed. "Let's go to your room and get dressed, okay?" I asked.
She shook her head, while putting her hand in the air.
"Up, up." She said, with puppy eyes.
...
When we arrived we got on the bus. Beth and I sit together, with Taytum on my lap, sleeping and wrapped in a blanket.
We were a bit early, so we were the first ones in the bus.
When the rest of the team arrived, we made a small talk for a few minutes, but then most of the girls put headphones in doing their pregame hype up routine.
Soon enough we arrived at the stadium, there are already many fans here.
We got out of the bus, I was carrying Taytum, since she was still sleeping.
We make it into the locker room and everyone changes into their practice gear. I woke up Taytum, so she could change too.
She always wants to wear the same things we wear, so I changed her quick in a mini Arsenal training suit. I bring Taytum to the dugout, where she always sits with the substitutes.
We have a quick warm-up before again returning to the locker room. Soon enough we are in our kits.
Joe comes in and gives us a quick speech. It's almost time to go out into the tunnel and line up.
The stadium is almost completely full of people dressed in red and blue.
The whistle blows and we are off. It is pretty uneventful for the first few minutes. Both sides have had about equal possession time.
Soon Leah sent me a beautiful ball. I drop it down right in front of me. I look forward but see both of our forwards are covered. Not only that, but I see Viv start to make a run past her defender.
I sent her a quick pass. She puts one touch on it and then sends it toward the goal. Unfortunately, our efforts are in vain as the goalkeeper makes a beautiful save and stops our ball from finding the net.
The rest of the half is pretty uneventful. Manchester City has some good shots, but Lydia saves them all.
At about the 37th minute we won a corner. Katie goes to take it. We are all lined up in the box waiting for her to cross in. She raises her arm before striking the ball with force.
It soars into the box and Viv is able to get her head on it. I watch as it slips past the keeper's fingers and into the goal. A deafening cheer came from our supporters.
We all run and join Viv and Katie in a big group hug. We go into the half at 1-0. As we enter the locker room we are all still excited about our goal that was just scored.
Joe however knocks us down a peg. He tells us that yes the goal was good but that we should be up by more. He tells us a few more things about strategy and soon enough we are back out on the field.
The second half starts and Manchester City have a new fire under them. They play well and in the 56th minute, they score off of a corner. This gets us to realize we need to step it up.
From that point on, everything gets a little more scrappy. There are more fouls but also more shots on goal for both sides.
Soon I find myself with the ball. I'm running up the side and see that Lisa is open. I send a beautiful cross to her, and she is able to tap it in.
I run and jump into her open arms. The rest of the team joins us in celebration. We hug quickly before returning to play.
A few more minutes pass, and we have a nice shot on goal from Jordan, but the keeper is able to punch it out. We have done a good job in the last few minutes to keep the ball away from Manchester City.
Lia sends me a pass and I take off trying to advance play a little. I'm not too far from the box when I see that Lisa is open again, and I prepare to send the ball in.
Suddenly someone makes full contact with me and I hit the ground with some force.
I can hear the ref blow their whistle for a foul though, so that's good. I take a second to catch my breath before opening my eyes. When I do, I saw a very concerned looking Lia. "Shit, Daan are you ok. That was a rough hit"
"Yup I'm good." I sit up, and she pulls me up from the ground. Most of the team is looking my way to see if I'm good. At this point, Beth walked over to me. "Hey, you good?"
"Ya, I'm fine Beth. Just knocked the wind out of me a little. I'm good." She doesn't look convinced, but we need to get set up for the free-kick.
We and I both join the line of people as Katie gets ready to take the kick. She steps back and then runs towards the ball.
She strikes it with enough power to fly over the wall Manchester City was forming. The ball curves right at the end and slips past the keeper.
We all run over in celebration. We are now up 3-2. We return our attention to the game again and the rest of the half is uneventful. The final whistle blows and we win!
...
We had put Taytum to bed a few hours ago, but I heard the familiar sound of our daughters pattering feet against the stairway carpet.
Looking up in confusion, I turned slightly in Beth's arms to look towards the hallway, then saw the little silhouette moving along the steps, realizing that it was in fact our daughter.
"Taytum?" Beth questioned, also looking to our tiny daughter. "Mommy..." She whimpered from the bottom of the stairway, rubbing her tired eyes.
I quickly got up from the couch and rushed to Taytum in worry. Scooping her up into my arms, I could feel that she had a really high temperature and was shaking.
"Babe...she's really warm." I panicked, moving back to the couch and setting Taytum on your lap.
Beth also looked in concern now and placed her cool hand against our daughters head.
"Mommy it hurts..." the little girl cried, moving to snuggle against my sweater.
"Where does it hurt Taytum?" She looked up weakly and lifted her hand to her head, pointing to it. Leaning down, I pressed a tender kiss to the burning skin on her forehead, then snuggled her closer again.
"Oh baby..." I said with a sad tone, hating to see our daughter so ill.
Beth stood from the sofa and went to get medicine from the kitchen, and jogged back a few minutes later. She knelt down in front of the sofa and poured the bright yellow liquid onto the spoon.
"That's yucky!" Taytum whined, shaking her head and holding her mouth closed, refusing to take the medicine.
"Baby, I know it's yucky, but it will make you better..." Beth reassured her, as I adjusted our squirming daughter on my knee.
"It will take two seconds baby girl..." I cooed, stroking her hair. Eventually, the toddler opened her mouth slowly so that Beth could quickly give her the "yucky" medicine.
Beth and I chuckled slightly at Taytum's scrunched up face and disgusted expression.
"See! Two seconds!" I said enthusiastically, trying to make her feel better, as Beth removed the bottle and jogged back to the kitchen.
I smiled lovingly as Taytum giggled at my high voice, but then she yawned and rubbed her eyes once more. Noticing that she was tired, I made myself more comfortable on the couch and laid Taytum on my front.
Taytum closed her little eyes and rested her head against my chest and grasped the material of my sweater in between her fingers.
I looked down to her and rested my hands against her back, lulling her into sleep.
"I think she has a fever." Beth said as she walked back in the room and sat next to us, before kissing the top of your daughters head.
"I hate seeing her sick..." I said, a bit sad.
"Me too darling, I'll ring our doctor tomorrow if it's getting worse..." Beth mumbled before wrapping her arms around my shoulders and pulling me into her embrace.
She rocked me and Taytum in her arms, as I ran my fingers soothingly through your little girls hair.
After a while I put Taytum back to bed and came back to the couch. I lay down next to Beth and then shuffled into the couch.
Once I was comfy, I reached for Beth's free arm and entwined our fingers together.
"I want to talk about something..."
Thanks for reading this! I really appreciate it. If you liked it let me know in the comments and vote.
If you have any ideas let me know in the comments or in dm.
Xx