Mi Liefje

Chapter 7

 When the final whistle blew, Gabby dropped down on the field. First full game at the Emirates. She started. Assisted her sister. And scored. What a feeling it was with a packed stadium, all 60,000 plus people watching from the stands.

A hand extended into her field of sight, "Come on, get up."

"Wow," was all she could say as she was pulled up by Giselle.

Smiling at her sister, "Indeed. This is why I chose to play at this team."

Nodding along with her sister, they started walking towards the middle of the field where the opposing team players were gathered.

Giselle walked around shaking hands with each player, while looking around for her friend. After spotting the Spaniard off the to side, Giselle ended her conversation with a player and walked over.

"Hola," She said, "Good game."

"Hola, could have been a better game if we had won. But you played great."

Lifting her ankle up, Giselle pointed at the red spot. "Look! This was from your tackle."

Feeling a bit sorry for the younger player, "I'm sorry. I get too into the game sometimes."

"Completely fine. I like that about people." After still seeing Claudia's apologetic expression, Giselle added, "Plus you should see some of the things my family has done to get other when playing."

Coming from a family of footballers, scraps and bad tackles were not something uncommon in their household. Giselle and Gabby have been at each other's throats since they could talk. Their parents, both being footballers have injured each other on multiple occasions and that has been the topic of multiple arguments. Especially when one of them broke the other's cheekbones when they both tried to head a ball.

After a few more exchanges it was time for them to meet the rest of their team, so they both went their separate ways. One to a locker room bursting with music and the other to one where their manager is going to drone on and on about their performance.

Before Giselle got off the field, she walked over to where Birdy was and pulled her in for a hug. "How did you like the game, miesje?"

"Very good. I screamed so loud when Tante Gabby scored."

"Oh yea. It was a beautiful goal."

"Can we stay here after you change, so that Ricardo and I can play too?"

Seeing the confusion on Giselle's face, Aunt Elena jumped in and explained that during halftime, Claudia brought Ricardo over and they made plans to stay around longer after most people left so the little ones could run around the pitch and pretend to be footballers.

"Of course, let me get changed and I'll be right out." Giselle looked across the field at the visitor's bench and saw Claudia and gave her a thumbs up. "We have to wait for the stadium to clear out a little first."

Then Giselle left the stands and went into the locker room to take a shower, bypassing the partying that was going on. Music boomed as she tried to clean herself up and while many tried to get her to stay and celebrate their big win, Giselle had a mission in mind and a promise she made.

Once she made it to the field again, the stadium had cleared out a lot and only a few people still standing around chatting. She was quickly approached by Claudia who was also freshly cleaned up and had Ricardo by her side already.

"Good afternoon Ricardo. Did you enjoy the game?"

"I wish mama won." Ricardo looked at Giselle's taped-up ankle. Point at it, he asked, "Is that from Mama?"

"Oh don't worry about it."

Looking up at his mom, "Mama, did you say sorry?"

Claudia smiled at her son who repeated what she usually tells him when he hurts someone. "I did right after we finished, but I can say it again." Claudia turned to Giselle and looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm very sorry for the tackle Giselle. Please forgive me."

"Thank you for your apology. Again don't worry about it."

They both wanted to set good examples for their children and even though Birdy was not close by, Giselle still played her part with Ricardo. Together the three made their way to where Birdy was eagerly waiting.

"What took you guys so long!"

"My Mama had to say sorry to your Mummy," Ricardo explained.

"Okay. Let's go play," Birdy pulled Ricardo to the center of the field while holding her football while Claudia followed behind them

Giselle thanked her aunt for watching her daughter, while Elena waved her hand to stop her. "You can thank me by coming around more often and taking your good old Aunt Elena out to eat."

"Of course, of course. When my parents come to visit in a few weeks we will take everyone out."

After a quick goodbye, Elena left the stadium and Giselle joined the three in the center of the field. They kicked the ball around for a little before Birdy complained about being tired and they all sat down and enjoyed the view of the stadium.

"One day I will play in here and win," Ricardo announced. It makes sense that being a footballer is his dream since both his dad and mom played.

"Sounds like an attack," Giselle whispered to Claudia. "He just called you out for losing."

Pushing Giselle away from her, Claudia exclaimed, "Watch out for the next match."

They lay there for a few more minutes watching their kids kick the ball back and forth before a shout interrupted their peaceful bubble.

"Giselle! Some of the girls are going for dinner. Are you coming?"

"You go on with them Astrid. I can figure something out for tonight!"

"Sounds good. See you later!"

Gabby did not even notice who her sister was sitting next to, if she did, she would have made a huge deal out of it.

"Astrid? I thought your sister is called Gabriëlle."

"Family nickname. Started with me, my parents did not like the name Giselle so they called me by my second name Annika. I guess they liked the tradition so they started calling Gabriëlle, Astrid."

"Now you guys go by your first name?"

"Yeah, it keeps people from saying we get our fame because of our parents," Giselle explained. "When we were young, we were only referred to by our middle names."

"That is cool. What do you want to be called by then?"

"I'm more used to Giselle now after playing for so long, but since you are my mom-bestfriend you can call me whatever you like."

"I will have to think about it for a little bit." Comfortable silence stretched between the two as Claudia was deep in her thoughts. "What about Ainsley?"

"Are you stalking me?" Ainsley is Giselle's mum's last name, but in the football world, she has only been known as Giselle van Holt.

Claudia shrugged. "I thought it was common knowledge."

"Nope, vetoed because my sisters and mum are Ainsleys too."

"Then give me something special to call you."

"I'll have to get back to you on that," Giselle got up from the ground and extended a hand towards Claudia. "Now it is time for me to go. Do you guys need a ride home?"

"Por favor."