AS LONG AS WE'RE TOGETHER || Preath

16. Family

The first game of the World Cup went beautifully, with a 3-1 win over Australia and a goal from my girl. I couldn't celebrate with her on the pitch, since I was on the bench, but I still made sure that everyone around me would cheer her on.

So far, the World Cup had been really kind to us: a lot of people had come to Canada to cheer us on, and back at home even more people were rooting for us and already thinking that we had a shot at winning, something that I was both extremely grateful for and terrified of. Everyone had high expectations and we had to make sure to live up to them, something that resonated among us players: though we were still really happy and thrilled, there was a lot more tension on the pitch.

The night after our first game against Australia, we had arranged to meet Christen's parents and have dinner together: she would come out, they'd accept her gladly, she would introduce me and everything would have been fine. Or at least I hoped.

We were both nervous, but obviously I was way more than her. I was gonna meet my girlfriend's parents the same night she was gonna come out to them, which seemed just surreal.

What if they don't accept her? Would I be the bad guy who turned their precious straight bisexual? And if they do accept her, would they like me?, I kept thinking to myself, while I was waiting for Christen to get ready.

"Are you alright?" she asked, seeing me tense in front of the mirror. "You've seen them on FaceTime."
"I know, but it's the first time I'll meet them in person as your girlfriend."

She kissed my shoulder and smiled at me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"They already like you, and I'm almost a hundred percent sure that they won't have any problem with me being bi."
"Still, you said almost."
"It's gonna be fine" she rolled her eyes playfully, checking her phone. "It's time to go, how we feeling?"

I took a deep breath in and nodded slightly. She kissed me again and started talking to me about something else, to take some of the worry off my shoulders.

We walked outside the hotel and sneaked out. The day after we had morning practice to prepare against our second game against Sweden, but Christen needed to talk to her parents as soon as possible; luckily for us, our teammates agreed to cover us.

"Okay, here we go" I sighed, entering the restaurant next to Christen.

Chris immediately hugged her parents, which then hugged me too, and let us sit in front of them. They were overjoyed to be sitting across their daughter, which made me miss my own family even more. They promised that if we made it to the final they would immediately pack their bags and come, but there was still a long road ahead us.

"Why did you have to see us in such a hurry? Is everything okay?" her mom asked worried, after ordering something to eat.
"I have got to tell you something" Christen breathed out, taking a moment before continuing. "I am bisexual."

Her mom was surprised to hear that, and in fact she stood still for a few seconds, after which a big smile appeared on her face.

"Well, I didn't expect it, I won't lie, but as long as you're happy, we're happy, it doesn't matter who you love" she nodded, throwing glances at her husband.
"Tobin's my girlfriend" Christen finally revealed, putting her hand on top of mine, that was resting on the table.

Their eyes moved to me, and an even bigger smile appeared on their faces.

Wow, a family of smilers, I thought to myself, as they both congratulated us.

"We are really happy for you both" her father chuckled. "Now let's celebrate the couple, uh?"

They ordered a bottle of wine along with our food, and we spent the night talking peacefully. I didn't have my family there with me, but there were Christen, Lauren and Amy, all the other girls on the team, so for once I let go of every bad thought and realized that as long as I had them, I would have been fine forever.