CHASING GOLD: The Olympics

Chapter 26

Alex woke up to Tobin's arms wrapped around her. She smiled brightly but carefully peeled her arms off of her. Alex got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Once she came out of the bathroom, she grabbed a piece of paper from a drawer and a marker. She wrote: "Good morning my love. I am going to Syd's place to hang with the girls. I will see you in a few hours! :) I love you." and left the note on the nightstand. She went into the walk-in closet and got dressed in joggers, a t-shirt, and Nike's and draped her hair over one shoulder. She took one more glance at Tobin, still very much asleep, and headed out of their room and downstairs. she grabbed her purse and keys, and headed to the garage and towards Syd's house.

She pulled into Syd's driveway, noticing several cars already there. Syd had told her the night before to just walk right in when she arrived. She walked in the front door. "I'm here!" Alex yelled. She set her purse and keys down and took her shoes off. She heard footsteps running down the steps. Two kids appeared from the steps. "Cassius! Roux!" Alex hugged the two and heard more footsteps coming down the steps.

"Al!" Syd said as she appeared from the steps. Alex opened her arms. The two hugged and Alex saw Kelley, Ali, and Allie come down the stairs.

"Ladies!" Alex said smiling and hugging each of her best friends.

"Hey bride of the day!" Allie said. They chatted for a few minutes before heading to the kitchen.

"So when do we head over to the venue?" Kelley asked. Alex took a sip of her mimosa.

"Mm. What time is it now?" Alex said looking at the clock. "10:30? Um. I think around noon? Everything starts around...5:00. I think Tobs is getting there around 12:30 to get ready. I said I'd be there before her." Alex explained.

"Ok. So what are we going to do from now until we need to leave for the venue?" Krieger asked.

"I'm good with whatever. If you have anything planned, I'm down. If the plan is to just chill, I'm down." Alex said. The four women stared at her. "What?" They all looked at each other before looking back at Alex.

"You're just...you're very calm right now. Is everything ok?" Syd asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Better than fine. I mean, I'm super nervous and have gone over and over in my head what my vows are and I still don't really like them and I'm worried that she's going to decide at the altar to not want to marry me and I'm pregnant and I want to make sure Andy is ok with all of this and I-"

'Wait what did you just say?" Kelley interrupted. They all stared at Alex again.

"What did I say?" Alex asked confused.

"Did you just say that you're pregnant?" Krieger asked. Alex's face grew hot.

"Shit. I didn't mean to say that..." Alex said quietly. "Fuck. Now she's going to be mad that I said that to you guys without her." Alex felt herself starting to cry.

"Hey, hey, hey. Alex." Allie said, chuckling lightly. "She's not going to hate you." Allie hugged her best friend.

"Al. She loves you. She's loved you since the moment she saw you." Kelley said. They all nodded in agreement. Alex nodded and wiped her tears and smiled.

"Well. Congratulations!" Syd celebrated quietly. She threw her hands up. Alex smiled brightly.

They all chatted and hung around for the rest of the time until about 11:40. They got into Alex's car and headed toward the venue. They arrived and got their things all set up for Alex's makeup. Alex saw her dress hanging up and touched it gently. She smiled.

"It's beautiful." Kelley said from behind her. Alex turned toward her and nodded.

"It really is." Alex said.

"Hey, Harry is going to be here in 10 minutes. Do you want to check around the venue before we start getting you ready?" Allie said coming into the room.

"Yeah. Let's be quick though." Alex said. They headed out to check out the venue. They found Garrett. "Garrett. These are my friends. This is Allie, Ali, but we call her Krieger, Syd, and Kelley the squirrel." Alex said, introducing her friends. They shook hands with Garrett and he took them quickly around the venue.

With one minute until Tobin would arrive, the five women got into the room where Alex was getting ready. Tobin would be getting ready in a room on the opposite side of the venue so Alex didn't need to worry about anything. She didn't care if Tobin saw her before walking down the aisle but she wanted Tobin to see her in her dress for the first time when she walked down the aisle.

Alex sat down in front of the mirror and Kelley, Syd, Allie and Ali started to get Alex's makeup ready.

*****

SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER...
Tobin got out of bed and read the note Alex left on the nightstand. She smiled. She got out of her bed and got dressed after taking a shower. She heard Andy in the kitchen. Tobin headed down the stairs. "Hey, kid." Tobin said. Andy looked up at her mom.

"Hey, mom. How're you feeling?" Andy asked smiling. Tobin smiled. She grabbed a mug out of the cupboard and poured herself some coffee Andy had made.

"Good. I'm nervous but I'm happy to be nervous. I love her. I don't care that I'm nervous. I get to marry my best friend. That's all that matters." Tobin said. Andy smiled at her mom.

"I'm so happy for you mom." Andy said. She hugged her mom tightly. They pulled out of the hug and Andy went to the living room and turned the tv on. She put 'Warrior Nun' on again from last night. "When do the guys get here?" Andy said coming back to the kitchen. Tobin smiled at Andy's nickname for their teammates.

"They should be here any minute." Tobin said. Andy nodded.

About five minutes later, the door opened. "We here bitches!" Sonnett yelled as she walked through the door. Lindsey and Ash came in behind her, shaking their heads. Tobin and Andy looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Y'all are fuckin insane." Andy said as the three walked toward the kitchen.

"Anderson!" Tobin yelled. "Language!" Andy rolled her eyes playfully. She sat on the couch to watch the show a little bit.

"Oh my god! I love this show!" Sonnett yelled. She jumped over the back of the couch and grabbed a pillow to cuddle. "I love the part when Beatrice sees Ava for the first time after she's been gone. I cry every fucking time." Sonnett said. Andy chuckled and nodded in agreement. Tobin cleared her throat. Sonnett looked behind her. "Oh. Right." Sonnett got up and hugged her friend.

"So when are we heading over Tobs?" Lindsey asked.

"We'll get there around 12:30. Sound good?" Tobin said. They all nodded.

"What are we doing until then?" Ash asked. Tobin shrugged. "Leave it up to Tobin Heath to not want to do anything or to not have anything planned on the day of her wedding." Tobin shrugged again. The five got comfortable on the couch and watched tv until they had to leave.

"Alright. I texted Kelley and said we're on our way." Sonnett said.

They got in the car and headed toward the venue.

As they pulled into the parking lot, Tobin felt her nerves surface. She rubbed her hands on her pants and took a deep breath before getting out of the car and heading into the building.