You are my mums (a Lucy Bronze fanfic) - Book 2

Chapter 5 - Best in the world

Lucy Bronze's POV:

A high pitched, familiar scream sounded not too far away from me. Immediately I recognised it, Rosie. Whipping my head round so fast it caused my muscles to ache, I ditched the suitcase and scanned the room for my daughter. Fear was rising up in my body, what had happened?

And then I spotted them.

Mapi had picked Rosie up and was now spinning her in the air, both of them laughing. I wandered up to them and Alexia grinned, "what's got you annoyed?". Trying to remove the frown on my face, I explained, "I heard Rosie scream and thought the worst". Alexia chuckled and placed a hand on my shoulder, "it's okay, she's safe". We both looked over at Mapi still spinning my daughter at lightning speed and I pointed out, "i'm not too sure about that...". The brunette grinned, flashing her pearly white teeth, "Mapi's harmless". Even though Mapi acted so carefree and reckless at times, I knew she wouldn't let any harm happen to Rosie.

Alexia pulled me in for a short hug and I told her, "good to see you made it, we didn't see you on the plane". She began to speak but Mapi answered for her, "we were sat at the very front". I nodded and she continued talking, "I'm not complaining about it but why's Rosie here?". Rosie lightly nudged her arm, pretending to be annoyed as I explained, "Keira's ill". They both immediately turned to Rosie and Alexia asked, "so...are you excited for your first red carpet event?". Rosie shrugged her shoulders, "I guess". Mapi threw her a smirk, "you'll love it. Soon you'll be coming to these all the time when you're professional". Rosie raised an eyebrow and said jokingly, "I might decide to never play again". She went off to collect the suitcase that I had ditched in a panic with Mapi running after her, "Please say you're only joking, Barcelona needs you. Please, football is in your blood".

I had no doubt that Rosie would play again - Mapi's right, it's in her blood. She's born to play whether she recognises it or not. When she first told me she didn't want to play any more, I was hurt, confused and disappointed that the Bronze family football legacy wouldn't continue. The way I reacted wasn't right and I know that now. She needed me to be there for her, not have me telling her she was making the worst decision of her life. That day in the changing room when she told me with tears in her eyes that she couldn't do it anymore, I completely misread the situation. I thought she was just upset that she was losing and it took me time to see that football was slowly destroying her. She went through a lot in those few weeks - quit football, found out she was being cheated on and moved countries. Now, as a family we're in a better place and she's starting to love life and football again. I've left her decision completely up to her - it's not my place to get involved. However, I'm pretty sure that after Christmas when she's recovered, the ball will be attached to her feet again.

The drive from the airport to the hotel was relatively short. Rosie was filling a very interested Alexia and Mapi in on her conversation with Millie, I looked out of the window - observing the Parisian culture. There was so much going on inside my head: is Keira feeling better? Will Rosie be okay tonight? Will this trip go smoothly? Who will win the Ballon d'Or? I knew that I just had to take a few deep breaths and relax - I was on a short break away with my daughter and we were spending some quality time together.

Before we left for Barcelona, mine and Rosie's relationship wasn't the greatest. I hadn't supported her and the decision to quit football and she was inevitably angry at me. There was nothing that could fix it, everything I did just made it worse. Leaving the country gave us both time to figure out our difficulties and fix the relationship. We knew no one in Barcelona so we basically had no choice but to talk to eachother. Luckily, things worked out and we were back on track again. Our 1 year reunion was coming up shortly and I knew it was going to be an emotional time. It seemed like yesterday that I was walking up the steps and I spotted her. Immediately I knew it was her. Thankfully, I was right and things worked out for the better. Often I think about how different things could be for the both of us if she hadn't been there in the right place at the right time.