The Captain's Heart

twenty-nine

7th March 2022 - six weeks and two days old.

'I'm so sorry about this.' Leah says softly as she makes her way into the gym, her bag flung over her shoulder as she pushes Rory's pram.

'It's okay. Don't worry about it. We can work around the little one.' Rose replies smiling.

'I was supposed to be leaving her with my mum, I had it all arranged but I just- I couldn't leave her.' Leah says and Rose nods her head.

'That's perfectly understandable. She's still so tiny so it's fine. We can definitely work around her.' Rose replies.

'How's she doing? Can I have a peek?' Rose asks and Leah nods her head.

'Of course. She's just wakened up, haven't ya? Mean mummy woke you up getting you out of the car.' Leah replies smiling as she pushes the hood of the pram down.

'Oh she's beautiful, Leah. Still so tiny.' Rose says softly causing Leah to smile.

'So plan for today is just see where you're at fitness wise. Obviously you trained for a fair chunk of your pregnancy so we just want to see where you are at after the birth and stuff.' Rose explains and Leah nods her head.

'Sounds like a good plan to me.' Leah says reaching into the pram to pop Rory's dummy back in her mouth.

'So we'll start on the treadmill when you're ready, just ease her into it and then we'll see what else. Does that sound okay?' Rose asks and Leah immediately nods her head.

'Sounds perfect. I don't think my fitness levels are very high. I haven't done anything since she was born.' Leah admits and Rose smiles.

'I'd be slightly concerned if you had, Leah. You're body has just gone through a huge change, now we focus on getting it back to where it was, or as near as we can. We take it slow though. There's no rushing it.' Rose says and Leah smiles.

****

'Ey, look at you go!' She hears the strong Irish accent shout causing her to glance over her shoulder at Katie who is making her way into the gym followed by Jen and Kim.

'She's back!' Jen adds causing Leah to smile as she reaches out to decreased the speed of the treadmill until she's at a walking pace instead of the light jog.

'How are you feeling?' Kim asks softly as they come to stand next to the treadmill.

'Exhausted... Nah, I feel good. It's nice to get my body back moving again.' Leah replies.

'It'll take some time before you feel fully back to normal but you're doing amazing. So good for your first day back, honestly.' Rose says smiling as the treadmill slows to a stop and the blonde cautiously makes her way off.

'My legs feel a bit like jelly.' Leah admits as Kim reaches out to steady the blonde.

'Where's little legs? She with your mum?' Katie asks and Leah immediately shakes her head.

'No, I wasn't ready to fully leave her just yet. Wall has just taken her on a walk around the pitches to get her to sleep.' Leah replies smiling as Jen wraps her arms around her.

'So good to have you back.' Jen says.

'So good to be back honestly. I wasn't sure if I was ready to come back but being here, moving my body, it all just feels good.' Leah replies smiling.

'What's going on in here then?' The familiar Aussie accent asks causing Leah to smile as she lifts her head off Jen's shoulder at Imogen who is making her way towards her.

'Hey, you...' Leah says softly.

'Hi. How are you?' Imogen asks.

'I'm good, glad to be back. How are you? How's the ankle?' Leah asks.

'Yeah it's good, recovery is going exactly how they want it to.' Imogen replies smiling.

'It's good to see you back though.' Imogen says and Leah smiles.

'It's so good to be back.' Leah replies smiling.

****

'How long are you here for? Are you doing a full session?' Imogen asks as she watches Leah glance over towards where Beth has Rory cradled in her arms as her, Steph and Jen all fuss over the baby.

'I can leave whenever really... Today was just about getting an idea of where my fitness levels were at so that they can come up with a plan on how I move forward and get my fitness back.' Leah replies.

'That's sensible I suppose... What are your plans for the rest of the day then?' Imogen asks and Leah shrugs her shoulders.

'Don't really have any. I wasn't sure how long I'd be here so I didn't want to make any plans.' Leah replies.

'Are you exhausted?' Imogen asks.

'A bit. She didn't sleep great last night so we were up and down a few times then obviously I was up earlier than usual this morning.' Leah admits.

'Why don't you go home and try get some sleep? I could watch Rory for you?' Imogen offers.

'Oh I'm not ready to leave her yet.' Leah replies.

'I don't mean here... I've done my rehab for the day, I can leave at any time. I could just chill in your living room for an hour or so while you sleep.' Imogen says.

'I can't ask you to do that.' Leah replies shaking her head.

'You're not asking, I'm offering. You need sleep.' Imogen says.

****

'I've missed this... I've missed you.' Leah admits, her head resting on Imogen's knee as the Aussie softly runs her fingers through her hair.

'I'm sorry. I'm the reason we've drifted. I pushed you away when I wanted quite the opposite... I was just scared.' Imogen replies.

'I know and that's okay. Us drifting isn't just your fault. It's mine as well. I distanced myself, didn't really come visit anyone in training because I didn't want things to feel awkward between us.' Leah says.

'I've missed you both so much. I don't want to lose what we have.' Imogen admits.

'I don't want that either.' Leah replies and Imogen nods her head.

'But I don't want to live to regret not giving us a chance, not giving whatever these feelings are a go... I'm not promising it's going to be easy.' Imogen says softly.

'What are you saying, Ims?' Leah asks.

'I'm saying, I like you as more than a friend and no matter how much it terrifies me, I want to see where this could go. It won't be easy, I'll probably panic and pull away when things get serious but if you can deal with that then I'm in.' Imogen replies watching a smile appear on Leah's face.

'I'm in too... As slowly as you need. We'll take it all at your pace.' Leah says.