No matter what

You've not let any of us down...

Tabitha had just woken up and gone downstairs, Alex was downstairs in the kitchen so she went in at sat at the breakfast bar, "morning" she smiled, "morning Teej, sleep well?" He asked, "yeh" she replied. Tabitha stood up and got herself a glass of juice before returning to her seat, "morning Teej" Perrie said as she walked into the kitchen. "Morning" Tabitha replied, "morning Alex" Perrie smiled giving him a hug.

They ate breakfast and got ready for the day, it was Alex's match at around lunch so they'd need to be at the stadium soon. "Teej, when we get there I can carry you or you can walk, it's up to you but if you walk then you seriously can't let go of my hand until we've got past everyone" Perrie said, Tabitha thought for a second about how hard it was to walk past the paps yesterday, "can you carry please, I don't want to walk past them like yesterday" she replied softly, "of course baba, now go get in the car" Perrie said, Tabitha smiled and then ran out to the car, Alex was already in it. And he had the glory days album playing like always.

Soon enough Perrie joined them both in the car, "I can't wait for the game!" Tabitha smiled at Alex, she'd never seen him play in real life but she seen videos of him before they adopted her. "Me either Teej, I'm gonna see if you can be my little mascot today, I'll check because we were told they were a few kids short this time" Alex said, "really!" She said surprised, she did enjoy football but she couldn't play it at all. The stadium wasn't too far away so they were there in no time.

Once they were there Alex took Perrie and Tabitha to the part where they would be sat, when they got to the seats Perrie spotted Wendy, Alex's mum and went straight to give her a hug. Alex held tabithas hand and took her over, "Teej, this is my mum, Wendy" he exclaimed, "hello" Tabitha said quietly, "hello sweet, so you're Tabitha then, I've heard that you're very lovely" she smiled at tabby, who smiled back at her.
"Tj, I asked about being my mascot, they said not this match because they've sorted it but the next one you can" Alex said, "okay, thank you!" She beamed as Alex pulled her into a hug.

Perrie was sat next to Wendy talking about how the group was getting on, Tabitha was on the end just next to Perrie, she was watching Alex warming up for the match. "Mummy?" She whispered, "yeah baby?" Perrie replied quickly, "I'm cold" Tabitha said, she was only in shorts and a kids version of Alex's jersey. "Aww Teej, come here sit on my knee and have a snuggle" Perrie smiled lifting the small 8 year old to her knee. She wrapped her arms around tabitha, who leant closer to her. Perrie noticed that Tabitha was still shivering after a while so she took a hoodie from her bag and wrapped it around Tabitha, the small girl reacted well to this action and slowly stopped shivering, however she didn't move from perries knee.
"Babe, are you ok?" Perrie questioned, "yeh" Tabitha sighed, she was really tired, the past couple of days had been nothing like her old schedule, she was enjoying it, she liked doing something different everyday but it was tiring, it was something she wasn't used to. Perrie noticed that the small girl was a bit down but thought that she might not want to talk about it, instead she just kept her arms around her and pulled her closer for an even bigger hug.

Unfortunately Arsenal lost the match, Alex had put in all his effort but from the point of view of a lot of fans it seemed like he was the only one really trying. He was extremely disappointed that he didn't win this for his team to the point where he couldn't stop himself from crying, he tried not to let it show but everyone could tell how upset he was. As he was walking off the pitch he wiped his hands firmly over his eyes to dry the tears. Tabitha noticed him crying too, "mum, whys dad crying? Is he ok?" She asked worried, "oh baby, he'll be fine. I think he's just disappointed that they didn't win, don't you worry" Perrie said sympathetically. "So Tabitha, how old are you?" Wendy asked, "im 8, nearly 9" she replied softly with a smile.

"Come on, let's go find your dad" Perrie said as she got hold of tabithas hand, they began to walk down the steps, luckily the stadium was mainly empty so Perrie wasn't likely to be stopped for any pictures. Wendy followed the two making sure no one could get to them, "this way" Perrie said leading Tabitha down a small corridor and into a room with a few benches. After a few minutes Alex walked through into the room, he looked really low, defeated in fact. Tabitha noticed he seemed upset but got up straight away and ran to give him a hug, "daddy, you did so well! You were the best" she smiled as he wrapped his arms around her, "thank you princess, I'm sorry we didn't win" Alex replied quietly, which was unusual for him. He sat down on the bench behind him which was across the room from Wendy and perrie, Tabitha sat on his knee and looked at him, she was proud to call him her dad. Whilst Alex and Tabitha were talking Perrie and Wendy were also chatting amongst themselves, "pez, she's gorgeous! She actually reminds me of you with her looks, and I think your personalities are very similar except she's a little more shy than you" Wendy awed over the little girl praising the family, "aw thank you! Jade said she thought she looked a bit like me too" Perrie beamed back in happiness. "I'll go get her so you can talk to Alex, I think he'll tell you more than he'll tell me" Wendy smiled softly as she got up and went over to the other side of the room, "hey tabby, do you wanna come and get something to eat with me?" Wendy asked he sweetly, Tabitha looked at perrie in question who replied by smiling and nodding her head, "yes please" Tabitha smiled.

Alex continued to look at the floor in disappointment, "Alex, babe, you were great, what's wrong?" Perrie asked, "just feel like I let everyone down" he mumbled, Perrie stood up and went over to the bench he was sat on, "and by everyone you mean?" She questioned, "the team, my mum, myself, you, Teej, everyone" he replied glumly, "babe, you've not let any of us down. You never will! If you watch that match back today I swear to god you'll see how much more determination and hard work and genuine effort you put into the game than the rest of the team. Your mums proud of you, she knows you did your best to try and win. I'm amazed, you might not have won but you could tell that there was passion there when you were playing. And for goodness sake Teej was just bewildered at your skills, she was mesmerised by how well you did! You've not let any of us down. I promise" Perrie said, she was clearly aggravated by how lowly Alex thought of his playing in the last game but she kept as calm as she could. "I love you Perrie" he smiled, "I love you too you big baby, now come on let's go find our little baby!" She replied grabbing hold of his hand.

The couple walked down the corridor to the food stand to find Tabitha eating a large portion of chips with Wendy, "hey" Alex smiled, "hi mum, hi dad" Tabitha said quietly as she devoured the tray of chips in front of her, "come on Teej, we're gonna head home now babe" Perrie smiled, Tabitha finished off the chips and walked over to Perrie, "can you carry me please?" She asked Perrie, "I will princess" Alex jumped in, "ok" Tabitha smiled back.

The journey home was very quick as there wasn't much traffic, Alex made them all tea when they got back.
"Right, wanna watch a film?" Perrie asked, Alex and Tabitha nodded their heads as they made their way to the lounge, "tangled?" Perrie asked causing them both to nod their heads once more.