Love Runs Deeper Than Blood

PORTLAND

"Ali! We're gonna miss the flight!" Ashlyn called
"I know! I'm coming!"
"What are we gonna do with her?" Ashlyn asked Sammie, to which she responded with a giggle.
"I don't know, mom!"
"ASHLYN!"
"WHAT!"
"Where is my training bag!"
"In the car!"
"Oh, okay." And with that, Ali ran down the stairs, and the family got into the car. Ashlyn tore off towards the airport, and by the time they got there, they only had an hour until they had to get boarding, so they ran, Ali carrying Sammie, and Ash somehow managed the bags, to security and found the shortest line. Luckily, they made it past security in 30 minutes, and they made it to the gate with 20 minutes to spare. Ali put Sammie down, and Ash and Ali fell down on a chair, out of breath. Crystal came up next to them, and sat down with three coffees, and a hot chocolate for Sammie.
"You guys looked like you needed these." She said, getting their attention.
"Oh, hey Crystal. Thanks. You can't. even. imagine." Ashlyn said, enunciating each word.
"Tough morning?" She said handing everyone their drinks.
"Yup." Sammie answered
"You guys do realize that you are pro athletes right? You shouldn't be this tired!" Crystal joked.
"Well, we were running late, and so we had to run, so I had to run with her, and Ash had to run with the bags." Ali justified.
"Oh, ok. That makes more sense."
"Flight 412 to Portland now boarding." The monotone voice rang out. With that, the four of them, and the rest of the Spirit got up, and boarded their flight. Sammie did much better with the takeoff this time, and the rest of the 5 hour flight went fairly smoothly. When the team landed in Portland, it was 10:00am local time, and they headed to their hotel. They had training that day at 3, so they just hung around until then. Sammie came with them, and watched the keeper training session. Today, they were working on crosses, and like always, she studied every move, and word the coach said. Usually she would jump in, but she still wasn't cleared to play. Today was a pretty boring training, however. It was just so they could get their legs back from traveling, so it was only an hour. That night, they were free to do whatever they wanted, so they decided to go out and have dinner. They went out, and they found a pretty good pizza shop, and so they went in and sat down. They ordered a large cheese pizza to split, and it was really good.
"We have to remember this place for the next time, huh guys?"
"Yeah definitely." Ali agreed.
"Mhmm." Sammie nodded, her mouth full of pizza. "Mom, how much longer until I can get out of the boot?"
"The doctor said three weeks, and that was two weeks ago."
"Oh. Ok."
"Hey, at least you'll be out of it when we go to Rio. It won't be too hot, so That's good." Ashlyn encouraged.
"Yeah it is."
Once they finished, they headed back to the hotel, and hit the sack since tomorrow was game day.

THE NEXT DAY

Ashlyn woke up before Ali, so she got up to go get coffee, since they couldn't go out and do their normal game day routines that they do at home. Once Ali and Sammie woke up, they saw the note Ashlyn left, and decided to stay in bed until she got back. I was an early game today, with the kickoff being at 1:00, and Ali was particularly nervous. Not just for the game, but for the fact that she didn't know who Sammie would be sitting with. Once Ash got back, Ali gladly accepted her coffee, but she was visibly nervous.
"What's up Al?"
"Nothing."
"Really?"
"Honest."
"Ok. Whatever you say."
However, when Sammie got up to take a shower, Ali turned to Ash.
"We don't know who she is going to be sitting with today, and I'm kinda nervous."
"I was thinking about that as well. Maybe someone from Alex or Tobin's family is coming, and we could switch her ticket. I already talked to the girls on our team, and nobody's family is coming."
"Yeah, I'll call them."

ALI ON THE PHONE WITH ALEX
"Hello?"

"Hey Alex"

"Oh hey, Ali. What's up?"

"Hey listen. We were wondering if any of yours or Tobin's family is coming to the game today?"

"Nobody from mine is. Let me ask Tobin. Why?"

"Well, Ash and I aren't comfortable with Sammie sitting with a random person, so we were hoping to get her seat switched to near somebody that we semi-know."

"Oh, makes sense. Let me ask Tobin." Ali heard Alex off the receiver talking to Tobin, but she couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Ali?" Alex asked.

"Yeah?"

"Tobin's sister is coming to the game. We can get your seat switched if you want."

"Yeah if you don't mind."

"Not at all. Good luck today! You're gonna need it!"

"Cocky much, Morgan? But you guys too! See you on the pitch!"

"Bye Ali."

Ali walked back in, and saw Sammie and Ash watching the Premier League pre game.
"Alex and Tobin are going to change Sammie's ticket so she can sit with Perry."
"Ah Perry's cool. I like Perry."
"Who's Perry?"
"Tobin's sister. You'll like her."
"Oh ok."

The girls just hung out in the hotel room until it was time to head to the pitch, and when it was time, Ashlyn texted Perry to meet them at gate B. Once Ali and Ash were sure Sammie was safe with Perry, they went into the locker room and got ready for the game. A few minutes later, the two teams came out for warmups. Sammie was getting pretty nervous, because she knew that this game could ultimately decide if the Spirit would get a playoff birth or not. If they lost today, FCKC would need to lose to Sky Blue, and Sammie knew that that probably wouldn't happen, so they needed to win or tie. Once the teams lined up for the National Anthem, Sammie looked down, and saw that Ash was determined. She had fire in her eyes, and sheer determination on her face. Nothing was going to stop her, and Sammie saw it. And stop her nothing would. Until the 79th minute. The Spirit were up 1-0, and all of a sudden, Tobin played a ball over the top to Alex Morgan, and met her in full stride. And when Alex Morgan is met in full stride, I wish the keeper luck. Alex took off galloping towards Ash. Ash held her line, and Sammie groaned. She knew that Ash should've came out, and Alex buried it. Ashlyn took the walk of shame to the back of the net to retrieve the ball, and kicked it back towards the circle. She looked up in the stands, and met the eyes of her daughter. Sammie looked at her, smiled and gave her a thumbs up, and pointed at her head, reminding Ash to stay in the game. Ash nodded, and had laser focus. The game ended in a tie, and once it was over, Sammie went to the edge of he stands, and called Tobin over.
"Hey Sam!"
"Hey Tobs!"
"You wanna come in the field?"
"Yeah sure!"
"Come on, I'll lift you over."
"Thanks!"
Tobin lifted Sammie over the wall, and they walked over to Alex, Ash, and Ali.
"Hiya Sammers!" Alex greeted.
"Hey Alex. Good game!"
"Aww thanks kid!"
"Hey Sammie-girl!" Ali said.
"Hey mommy!"
"Hi" Ash said, only after Ali kicked her.
"Hey mom." Sammie greeted, treading lightly. "You ok?"
Ali whispered something in Sammie's ear.
"Mom? Will you come with me?"
"Sure."
Sammie and Ash walked away from the group because Sammie had to talk to her.
"What did you want to talk about."
"Look. I know you're upset about that goal, but you can't dwell on it. You're probably gonna let in hundreds, if not thousands more goals in your lifetime. Yeah, maybe you should've come out, but the game is over now. You're in the playoffs, and Alex and Tobs are now your friends, not competition, mommy is still your wife, and I'm still your daughter."
"You know, unless i totally misunderstood this whole parenting thing, I think I'm the one that's supposed to give you these speeches!" Ashlyn laughed. "But thank you, Champ! Now hop on!" Ash said. Sammie hopped on Ashlyn's back, and they headed back over towards Ali, Tobs and Alex.
"Did you ladies have a nice talk?" Ali asked.
"Yep!" Ashlyn answered.
"Guys, do you want to come over for dinner tonight?" Alex asked.
"Yeah sure!" Ali answered. "What time?"
"Umm around 4-ish?" Alex answered.
"Yeah sure see you then!"

AN: really sorry that
A: this is just like a filler chapter
B: that it's been so long since an update.
Hope you semi-enjoyed this. It's definitely not my best work, but I just wanted to get an update out. Let me know what you thought...