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

Chapter 6 - In your blood

Lucy Bronze's POV:

Glaring sunlight gradually awoke my exhausted body. Last night had been an incredible experience but now I was facing the after effects. I didn't drink too much because I knew that if anything happened with Rosie, I had to be sober enough to deal with it. Despite this, the few drinks I did have seemed to have created a light hangover. The last thing I wanted to be doing was getting on a plane and flying back to Barcelona, but I suppose that's life as a professional footballer.

Rosie was peacefully sleeping next to me, curled up in my side with one arm draped across my body. Not to be creepy, but it was nice watching her sleep - the way her breaths were even and her body was calm. We were both still in our clothes from last night and I was feeling extremely uncomfortable and in need of a fresh, clean outfit. I brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face, taking note of her golden skin dappled with small freckles. My eyes scanned the rest of her beautiful face, but narrowed when I saw visible, dried tear stains caressing her soft cheeks. It only made me embrace her even tighter, wondering what happened in the night and why I somehow didn't wake up.

At home, Rosie would say goodnight and we wouldn't see her until the morning. I had no idea what went on inside the four walls of her room when no one was there. Both me and Keira presumed that she would tell us if there was something wrong, but this mornings sight made me wonder. Waking up next to her with tear marks on her face caused me to question if this was a regular occurrence. From the outside she seemed better, happier. But maybe the outside is just a cover for the darkness happening on the inside. Not wanting to overthink things, I pressed a light kiss to her forehead and tried to block out my concerning thoughts. "It's probably nothing" I told myself repeatedly. I hated the idea of my baby girl in pain and couldn't bare to think of it anymore.

My restless moving about had caused Rosie to stir from her deep sleep. Her eyes slowly opened, taking in her surroundings and I said softly, "good morning darling". She mumbled a quiet, "morning" back before cuddling further into my body. Not wanting her to fall back asleep, I questioned, "you okay? Did you have a good night's sleep?". I began to draw small circles on her back with my hand that was resting there, encouraging her to talk. She sighed tiredly, "it was alright...I'm tired though". Chuckling slightly, I told her, "I can tell but we need to get up. I'll let you sleep on me during the flight". Originally the flight back home was the next day but I changed the date to today. I knew that there was no point trying to look around Paris when we'd be exhausted. We just needed to be home and back with Keira.

Knowing that Rosie would tell me what happened during the night in her own time, I asked her about something else to try and distract her from whatever's bothering her, "did you enjoy last night?". I watched as a small smirk appeared on her face, "it was so good. Thanks for letting me come with you". I rubbed my hand on her shoulder in an attempt to warm up her visibly cold skin, "it's fine, I actually enjoyed having you with me. I'm sure it'll be the first of many red carpet events we'll be attending together". She looked up and faced me, "so you heard me?". I nodded, while trying to stop myself from beaming too widely, "I did. And as-long as you're certain about it, then I'll support your decision".

Just as we were falling asleep, Rosie told me that she wanted to start playing football again. I am completely ecstatic about her decision because she's so talented and deserves to have an amazing career. I know exactly what it feels like to win award after award and I want Rosie to feel to same sort of pride and joy. She deserves to feel all the happiness in the world especially after everything she's been through.

I grabbed one of Rosie's hands and held onto it tightly, "and remember, if at anytime you need to talk about something, I'm always here for you". My sentence had two meanings, she could talk to me about whatever happened in the night. But also if she ever wanted to stop playing football again, I needed her to know that I wouldn't get annoyed. Last time I reacted in the wrong way completely. Now I recognise where everything went wrong, and I want her to be able to come to me about things like that. It hurt me that so much was going on but she didn't tell me any of it. Over the time we've spend in Barcelona so far, I've tried to repair our relationship. It's not completely fixed, but it's definitely on the right road to recovery.