Wambach's Kid

Meeting the Team and Tryouts

The next morning, I woke to the smell of waffles and bacon. I walked downstairs to find Abby in the kitchen cooking. "Morning, Squirt." she said, kissing the top of my head. "You want chocolate syrup on your waffle?" "What?" I asked. "I'll take that as a 'yes.'" Abby said, chuckling as she drizzled chocolate syrup on my waffle and handed me the plate. "Go eat. I'll be in there in a few minutes." I took my plate and sat down across from Sarah, who looked up from reading the paper. "Morning, kiddo." she said, smiling at me. "Morning, mom #2." I said. "So, Squirt." Abby said, sitting down next to Sarah. "Tryouts for the U-16 league are next month. are you interested?" "Hell yeah!" I said. Abby chuckled. "Ya know, it's kinda hard to believe you aren't my birth daughter." she said. "The national team's got training at the Thorns field today. We have a friendly here next week. How about you come with me and meet the girls, and then we can do some one-on-one practice. sound good?" "Yup!" I said. I packed my sketchbook and art supplies as well as my soccer gear in a messenger bag, then Abby and I drove to the field where the Portland Thorns played. As soon as Abby and I walked onto the pitch, a woman with short blonde hair spotted us. "ABBY HAS A SMALL PERSON WITH HER!" she yelled. "HI SMALL PERSON!" "Jesus, Pinoe!" Abby said. "Can you yell any louder? I think the whole city heard you!" Pinoe opened her mouth to yell again, but Abby cut in quickly. "It was a rhetorical question." she said. "Oh." Pinoe said. "Who's your small person?" alerted by Pinoe's shout, the team had gathered around us. "Guys, this is my adopted daughter, Thalia Skywalker. Thalia, these are my teammates." "Hi!" I said, waving. "I like this girl." Pinoe said. Practice started, and I walked over to the sidelines and took out my sketchbook, drawing the girls as they went through their drills. When they split up to do a scrimmage, a tan woman with brown hair came and sat down next to me. "Hey." she said. "Hi." I replied. "I'm Tobin Heath." she said. "Nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you too." I said. "So why are you over here?" "We're an odd number." Tobin explained. "There's always someone on the sidelines. It was me this time." "Ok." I said. "So what've you been drawing?" Tobin asked. "You all." I said. "You make good models. And I needed practice drawing moving objects." Tobin nodded. "Cool." she said. She was cute, especially when she focused. We watched the other women scrimmage until practice was over. "It was nice meeting you, Thalia." Tobin said. "You too." I said. Abby walked over to me. "You ready, Squirt?" she asked. "Yup!" I said, lacing up my cleats. Abby passed me a ball. "We're going to do some 1v1." she said. "Can you go easy on me?" I asked. "No." Abby said. "If I go easy, you won't learn." for the next month, we practiced. Abby even got Hope Solo to help me learn how to read a goalie. At Sarah and Tobin's Thorns games, Abby would have me read the goalies and tell her where they were going to go. Finally, the big day came. Parents weren't allowed in the tryouts, so Abby dropped me off. "You've got this." she said. "I just know it. You're strong with the Force. Remember what I taught you. Good luck and text me when it's over." "Alright." I said. As I walked into the stadium, I was more than a little nervous. I was in one of Abby's old Florida Gators warmup shirts and a pair of my own soccer shorts, while the other girls were wearing jerseys from their select teams. We sized each other up, waiting. Finally, tryouts were underway. After we had all tried out for our respective positions, we were led to a large multi-purpose room while the coaches talked. Finally, they came into the room and read names off a list. Each girl held her breath, waiting anxiously for her name to be called. "Skywalker, smith." I was on! I had made it! After the coach gave schedules to those who had gotten on the team, I texted Abby. five minutes later, she was at the entrance. "How'd you do?" she asked. "I'm in!" I said. "Starting forward." "Just like your mom!" Abby said, hugging me. "I'm proud of you, Squirt." we drove home. "I told you she was my kid in a past life, Sar!" Abby said proudly, walking into the kitchen, where Sarah was doing dishes. "What'd she do this time?" Sarah asked, drying her hands on a dishtowel. "She landed herself a spot on the U-16 team as starting forward." Abby said. "Good job, kiddo." Sarah said. "Ice cream after dinner?" Abby asked. "Actually, I think this occasion calls for pie." Sarah said. "But if you can go get ice cream to go with the pie, that would be ever so helpful." "Ok." Abby said. "Squirt, you wanna go help me choose flavors?" "Sure!" I said. Sarah's pie was delicious, and afterwards we had what came to be known as the "Fifa Battle of Epic Proportions." It was me and Abby versus Sarah, and we were all cussing each other out good-naturedly. Abby and I were amazed to find that Sarah could out-cuss both of us. It was especially surprising because I'd learned some rather creative swear words at the orphanage. Abby kissed my forehead as she tucked me in. "I love you, Squirt." she said. "And I'm proud of you." "We both are." Sarah said, kissing me as well. "Sleep tight, Kiddo."