Peyton Ackley - The Beginning of Change

Chapter 15 - Vivianne Miedema

About a week ago Viv told me about the pain she was feeling in her knee, and the recent scans that came back the next day indicated the need for surgery. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get her in for the operation but it was scheduled for a couple of days later. Thankfully Viv has Beth to care for her which made emergency contact and transport arrangements much easier. 

It's been a couple of days since the surgery and Viv hasn't been able to leave the house to get to the training centre so I agreed to do a house visit on the weekend. Since it was a weekend that meant I would have Gabe with me. I shot Beth a message asking if it was okay if I brought someone with me. I was scared she would ask questions about who, but she simply replied with 'yes'. It was definitely smarter to ask Beth over Viv, Viv would have had many a question about who I was bringing into their house.

The trip over to Beth and Viv's was rather long since they lived closer to London Colney than London itself, but we eventually rolled up outside their house. 

"That drive was so long," complained Gabe as I parked the car on the side of the street. He quickly jumped out of his car seat and opened the door to run across the grass.

"Gabriel," I called to get his attention. His face turned to meet mine as he walked back over to the path I was standing on. "These are people I work with, so you must be on your very best behaviour." I was going to continue to lecture him on being well behaved but the front door opened before I could.

Immediately his demeanour changed, he went from his rambunctious loud self to a quiet, much more tame version, but I wasn't complaining. Beth was standing at the door waving, so I took Gabe's hand and we walked up to the door.

He cowered behind me as I gave Beth a hug, but he quickly began to warm up to the short blonde. Then Myle stuck her head through Beth's ankles and all fears of new people were lost. Not once had Beth questioned Gabe, she somewhat knew I would tell her momentarily. 

"Hey buddy, what's your name?" she asked as she crouched down to the five-year-old's level.

"Gabe," he replied with his attention fixed on the small dog.

"Hi Gabe, my name is Beth and this is Myle," she replied gesturing to the small bundle of brown fur. "And the grumpy woman inside on the sofa is Viv."

I laughed at the last comment and followed Beth into the living room. Viv's face immediately looked confused at the small human chasing her dog around the room but Beth's smile omitted any of Viv's questions. I took a seat next to the Dutch and let her tell me about the pain. I thought Beth was going to stay and listen to the updates but she instead decided to chase Myle around the kitchen with Gabe. Viv began to shed a smile that I hadn't seen in ages. 

Viv told me about how her knee was recovering and that it felt much better than she thought it would, but she was still being cautious about it.

"Who's the kid?" she suddenly asked.

I took a deep breath to prepare myself for the first conversation about Gabe which Viv must have picked up on. "He's my son," I told her in not full confidence.

"Wow, that's a big move to make with a kid," Viv replied.

"Yeah, I know," I nodded in response. 

Myle came tearing through the room with Gabe and Rona on her tail and Beth trailing behind. Viv was laughing hysterically.

"Mijn liefje, I thought you were a footballer," Viv joked at Beth's panting.

"So... did... I," she replied through laboured breaths.

Viv asked a couple of questions about Gabe and his father which I answered confidently. Beth was quickly informed about the family status of Gabe and myself through Viv's questions.

A loud crash could be heard from the kitchen and I immediately threw my head back in disappointment. Viv went to move but I quickly pushed her back down to the sofa. "Don't you dare," I fired at her.

"I'll check it out," Beth told me as she strolled into the kitchen and soon began laughing. Myle and Gabe were lying on the floor with a pile of pans cluttered around them.

"She did it," Gabe said as he pointed at the dog.

"I'm sure she did," replied Beth as she started to pick up the mess.

Meanwhile, back in the living room, I sat with Viv still talking about Gabe. "Beth would make a great mum," I mentioned to Viv.

"She would," Viv replied nodding towards the blonde.

We could just see her through the doorways in the kitchen tidying up the complete mess my son had created. Viv told me to let her finish up but I insisted that I couldn't let her do that while I was the guest.

"Bubba, did you help Beth clean up?" I asked walking into the kitchen.

He shrugged and ran into the living room to sit next to Viv. Beth and I turned to see that Viv and Gabe were as awkward as each other and were simply sitting in silence.

"I'm sorry about this," I apologised. 

"Don't worry about it, he was having fun. He's blaming Myle anyway and knowing that dog it very well could have been her," Beth replied.

"Thanks for understanding. Viv looks to be going well by the way," I informed her.

We found seats next to Viv and Gabe on the sofa and spoke about the team and London. "Do you think Cruise would like London?" I asked Gabe.

He nodded frantically in response.

"Cruise is our dog back in Australia," I explained to the couple. "He couldn't come with us this time and is living with my brother, but maybe soon he can."

"Can he come over with Noah?" Gabe asked.

"Maybe, we'll have to see," I told him in response. "I think we might head then," I said getting up from the sofa.

"Are you sure?" questioned Beth.

"Yeah, someone has had a long week and so have I," I said gesturing to my son.

"I'll walk you out," said Beth. Viv waved from her seat not wanting to move out of fear that I would tell her off.

"Does anyone else know about Gabe?" asked Beth as she opened the front door to the cold outside world of London.

"Only Leah, and even then she only knows that I have a son, nothing about him. I'm going to tell Jonas soon but I'm just not sure when."

Beth nodded in agreement before hugging me goodbye. "Thank you for dropping in," she told me, "I'll make sure Viv follows her recovery plan".

I laughed at Beth's protectiveness and Viv's lack of awareness when it came to injury recovery.

"You ready to head home?" I asked Gabe to which he nodded.

If two of the players have already met Gabe then it can't be that hard to introduce him to the rest of the team, could it? He seems to already be loved by Beth, and even by Viv just a little.

WORDS: 1200

a/n: shorter chapter, hope you guys are enjoying, is there anything you want to see in particular with this book?

make sure to go check out my other book if you haven't already, it's unfinished but has a decent opening and if it gets enough support I might start updating it again