Forever (Tobin/You)

8

Ever since Hope said her first word, Ashlyn has been trying to get her to say shark, and other words, like brick wall, she got her to say meow. Not that challenging a word, but I'm glad that she's starting to make substantial strides in talking. I kinda was starting to think that Hope was going to be mute, there's nothing wrong with mutes, but I don't want her to be bullied through school. She's already going to be because of Tobin and I, and the fact that Lydia had to have me adopt her when she was born. I can hear it now 'your birth mom didn't want you'.

"Hey." Alex says, resting a hand on my shoulder and I look over at her. "Stop thinking about Hope going through school. You've still got four years to worry about that."

"Just glad that her first year of school is going to fall on a year with no major tournaments." I say and she smiles.

"Well, you've still got the She Believes Cup and the Tournament of Nations." Ali says and I raise a brow.

"Again, no major tournaments, no World Cup, no Olympics. Just qualifiers for both and friendlies." I say, looking over at Syd who was playing with Hope over on the pitch. Dom had Cassius with him in New York. Cas wanted to go, begged Syd, so she let Dom take their son and stole my child from me as soon as I walked into the locker room. 

"She's going to be fine." Ash says and I sigh. "And if not, well, home school." Ashlyn says and I scoff.

"I am not letting you teach my daughter anything that isn't related to soccer or how to date a girl for a century without going public with it or proposing." I say and Ashlyn frowns. "I'm kidding." I say and she pushes me lightly.

As practice started, Ashlyn kept Hope outside of the gym so she doesn't get hurt, and when we get out onto the pitch, Ashlyn 'flies' Hope over to me, and I smile as she giggles happily before kissing all over her face.

"I'll be right here, love, I gotta go work again." I say to Hope, tickling her stomach before jogging over to the goal as Ashlyn follows with hope.

"You should just pay me to be your videographer." Ashlyn says as she helps me with my gloves, Khano taking over baby duty for the moment, he was sitting in front of Hope rolling a ball to her, and she'd push it back to him. It was adorable.

"I should hire one, huh?" I ask and Ash looks at me. "I mean, if you were my videographer, we wouldn't get moments like that." I say nodding to Khano and Hope as Ash finishes with my left sleeve and glove.

"We're lucky the club is filming today." Ash says and I nod.

"Exactly."

"Hire one." She says and I nod.

-
Ashlyn
-

As Y/N works in goal, Hope watches her mother, and I smile at the little one as she watches Y/N with the same spark in her eye that Y/N has when it comes to soccer. Khano has Y/N working on her flying still, and she's doing great. I'm impressed by my best friend's progress since she's shown back up.

"Alright, hand me the child." Y/N says, walking over to me after practice had been dismissed, so I let Hope go to Y/N and smile as Hope hugs her mom tight.

"You two are so cute." I say and Y/N smiles at me.

"Yeah, but you're cuter with her." She says and I roll my eyes. "Go to rehab, sharky, I'll come back for you when you call." She says and I sigh, but go to the training room for my rehab session.

-
Y/N
-

When I get home from practice, I feed Hope and put her down for a nap, waiting for her to fall asleep before getting a shower, and when I get out of the bathroom, I see Hope standing in her crib, so I smile and walk over to her, kissing her cheeks.