Breaking the Mold (Alex Morgan x OC)

Heh, you'll surely enjoy the weather down there more than up here

Ellie's POV. Late 2006.

"Ellie! You've got some mail!" One of my older brothers, Bruce, called out from downstairs.

I slammed my book shut and bolted downstairs. I've been waiting for a letter from Stanford University for weeks, and my heart raced as I ran down the stairs, anticipation making my stomach flutter.

I'm the youngest of 12 kids. My oldest brother, Ken, was in his 20's when I was born back in 1988. I've got 7 brothers in total, and 4 sisters.

The order of us kids goes: Ken, Bruce, Keith, Peter, Dan, who sadly passed away when I was 10, Georgia, Alice, Brian, Jenny, Rick, Rachel and last but not least, me.

My dad, Eddie Taylor, was a wrestler back in the 60's, and he met my mom, Elizabeth, earlier in that decade, then Ken followed before mom popped out 11 more. Our home is massive, it was supposedly built back in 1905, and was a Red Cross Children's home. It's like a mansion in a way, 22 bedrooms, 4 fireplaces, five chandeliers, two porches, and a view of downtown Calgary sitting on 30 acre land. The basement was converted into a gym, complete with weights and a 300 square foot wrestling mat. Our backyard is full of old Cadillac's, including an old, rough limousine that our dad used to take us all to school in.

He promotes his own show here in Calgary, and owns the surrounding territory and pretty much all of my brothers are wrestlers. I've been involved with this stuff since I was a kid, even though I don't want to be involved in it. My dad got me to join the amateur wrestling program at high school but soccer is what I was into more, and I earned myself a scholarship for it. He seemed to be upset by this, but he was happy for me either way.

Bruce handed me a big envelope and grinned. "Looks like you've got the acceptance letter," He said. "Hopefully this'll be Stanford or some other college."

"Yeah. I'll go mad if it's not."

Loud screams of pain came from the basement and I knew my dad was stretching the guys who came to be trained as wrestlers by my dad in submission holds. He used to stretch some of us when we were kids if anyone was being little shits, and it made me fear and respect him. He does this to wrestlers who come to be trained by him as a way to see if you're meant to be doing this, then he'll train you.

"C'man, have some gad-damn dignity. Be a man!" I could hear dad shout from the basement. I looked over to mom who was sitting in the living room, going through some papers while shaking her head before taking a sip of her cup of tea.

She operates the family business, Wildcat Wrestling. Originally it was named Big Time Wrestling and it created a huge money pit a year or so before I came along. After I was born, my dad brought it back to life and renamed it to its current name. My mom doesn't do this as a 9 to 5, she does it as a 9 to midnight. Sometimes I feel as if she's putting too much on herself considering her age and my dad's age. He's nearly 70, and my mom is currently 60. I've got old parents, but hey, I love them and all my siblings.

What's even more surprising is that I found out that my mom wanted 15 children, but was told by the doctors that her body couldn't handle any more pregnancies.

My dad was considered tough as nails way back in the day, some of his peers say that he was born 300,000 years too late in life since he'd make an excellent caveman. He was also big, rough, and handsome, living by his own rules. He grew up in poverty and had nothing while he and his family lived in a tent throughout the cold Canadian winters. Eventually he became an amateur wrestler, and qualified for the 1960 Olympics but he didn't go due to him joining the Canadian Navy. Later on he went on leave, started wrestling in New York and that's where he met my mom. They got married, moved to Edmonton, had Ken, dad started his promotion, then they moved here to Calgary and all the rest of us children came along. He also instilled the belief into all of us children that if you could withstand pain and live right, there was nothing a Taylor could overcome.

You could wake him up at 2am, telling him that there's someone downstairs who wants to learn how to wrestle and he'd instantly get up and be halfway down the stairs putting his pants on. That's how much he loves wrestling, and he's taught all my brothers how to wrestle. All my sisters are all married or engaged to wrestlers, so the tradition runs in the family, I guess.

Bruce chuckled and went outside where there was a wrestling ring out to the side of the house, where my other two brothers, Brian and Rick, were right now.

I held the big envelope in hand and sat down on one of the chairs in the living room, "Ellie, go on and open it," Mom said with a smile.

I took a deep breath and opened it up. I was so relieved when I saw the acceptance letter inside. My eyes went wide as I read it out loud. "Dear Ellie Taylor, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Stanford University and are eligible for a full four-year scholarship."

My mom smiled and hugged me while one of my sisters, Georgia, came downstairs. "What're you two celebrating?"

"Ellie got into Stanford!" My mom said excitedly.

"That's awesome! We are so proud of you," Georgia said, giving me a hug.

"Yeah! This is amazing!" I said, still in shock.

"Wait till dad and all the other boys and girls hear about this! This is going to be great!" Mom said, as if she was already imagining the scene.

I smiled, feeling proud of myself. I worked hard for this and I knew that it was going to open up a lot of opportunities. I was so excited to start this new journey and see where it takes me.

Later on at dinner time while all of us 11 kids plus my parents were gathered around, I shared the news with everyone.

"I got into Stanford," I said with a big smile.

The whole table erupted in cheers as dad motioned for me to come around the table. He gave me a big hug and said, "I'm proud of you. You worked hard for this and you deserve it."

I smiled and thanked him, feeling so happy that my family was so supportive and proud of me.

I sat down at the table again and felt like my future was just starting to open up. I was so excited for what was to come, and I couldn't wait to see what the world had in store for me.

"So, I guess you'll be living in California now," Rick said, as he took a bite of his food.

"Yep," I replied with a chuckle, "Looks like it."

"Heh, you'll surely enjoy the weather down there more than up here," Bruce added.

"Yeah, I'm excited to experience it," I said, taking a sip of my water.

I looked around the table, feeling so grateful to be surrounded by such a loving and supportive family. I knew that everything was going to be alright and that I was going to make the most out of this opportunity that'll most likely change my life forever.