The Wait Is Over

A Dream Deferred

Sam: Today's the big one, babe. We find out if we're going to be moms or not.

Abby: Yep. If the news is positive, do you tell the sisters or hang onto it until we see them for the wedding?

Sam: I'm hanging onto it and surprising them with gifts from the kid when we're in Chicago. Nervous?

Abby: A little. What if we find out the little one isn't there anymore?

Sam: Then we try again. You haven't had any unusual symptoms or bleeding that might indicate that that happened, have you?

Abby: No.

The pair left their flat for the hospital's clinic and their appointment with Dr. Fleet.

Sara Fleet: Good morning, Abby and Sam. Let's find out if you'll need to order cigars yet.

Sara had Abby raise her shirt and roll down her trackies and underwear a little, then proceeded to put some ultrasound gel on her stomach and upper pubic region. After letting it warm up a little on her patient's skin, she took the ultrasound wand and ran it over the lubricated areas.

Sara: Hmmm........hmmm......well, it's definitely not a soccer ball that I'm seeing. Let's magnify this image a little.....I see two feet and the proper number of toes, a head, and what might be a little John Thomas, although I can't be sure because the umbilical cord is blocking my view. Suffice it to say, you're having a baby!

Sam leaned down and kissed Abby on the forehead. "Are you sure about the sex?"

Sara: Fairly sure. I didn't see any of the signs that it might be a girl in that part of the body. If you don't mind, Abby, I'd like to see if I can jostle the cord a little so I can get a clearer shot.

Abby: Go ahead!

Sara ran the wand right over where the umbilical cord was positioned and used the waves to pull it aside a couple of centimeters. "There it is. Proof that the baby is a he."

Abby: Steph is going to LOVE that! Kristie, on the other hand, will freak out since she'll be outnumbered worse in the non-girly-girl department.

Sara: Do you have any questions before we set up the battery of appointments between here and your projected due date of April 24th?

Abby: Can I finish out the season without harming our son?

Sara: It's still first trimester, so I'd say you should be fine. Just watch your exertion level and your weight. We don't want a situation like Yael has, where she burns off too much of what she's taking in and the baby suffers.

Abby: The season ends in just over two weeks if we're lucky. This for sure will rule me out of World Cup qualifying. What's the minimum time I might need to get back to a reasonable level of fitness and ability to play after birth?

Sara: It's different for everyone, really. Even if you get your body back into peak shape, the rest of the physical and mental challenges might mean you're not able to be at 90% until you're 8 to 12 weeks post-partum.

Abby: Which means no World Cup this time around, since that will kick off about six weeks following the projected due date.

Sara: I'll monitor things as the pregnancy progresses. If everything is looking good for you and the baby, we can probably induce a couple of weeks early so you can reach that 8 week mark by your team's first match in France.

Sam and Abby nodded at Sara's hopefulness.

Sara: The schedule of appointments, if everything runs to course, will be: the weeks of October 23rd, November 20th, December 18th, January 15th, February 12th, February 26th, March 12th, March 26th, April 2nd, April 9th, and April 16th.

Sam: Sara, any way we can move that first one to the 21st? I'd be leaving for national team camp on the 23rd.

Sara: How about the 20th? The 21st is Yael's induction date and you know that babies arrive on their own time schedule.

Abby: Sounds good to me. Sarm?

Sam: I'm good with that as well.

Sara: Well, congratulations! I hope when I see you next that you will be able to bring in your league championship medals. Take care.

Sara left the room and Sam and Abby talked for a couple of minutes.

Abby: It's a boy! Still trying to adjust to that knowledge.

Sam: I think we'll have an easier time of it than if we had a girl because then we'd have to watch out for Kristie's influence on her. I love you, Abae.

Abby: I love you too, Big Mama Sarm.

They left the room, then stopped at the reception desk to get the list of future appointments before exiting the clinic and heading to training at Jordan Field.

Abby: Thought at all about names?

Sam: Nothing that jumps off the top of my head. It's not like any of our close friends have names that can be easily converted to masculine ones. Well, except for Kristie and Steph, but there's already one Stephen in our circle, as well as a Michael.

Abby: I'm thinking.....Robert has to be in there some place, and Kratch is such a big part of us that she should get in there, and that also would allow us to honor Killion.

Sam: We should get your dad in here as well. So three names?

Abby: I'm fine with that. Now what order? We have Robert, Christopher, and Andrew.

Sam: Since we KNOW this kid is going to be the antithesis of my sister, it would be funny as heck and perhaps poetic justice that his first name be Chris as well.

Abby: You're evil! As for the middles....Robert Andrew would give you Christopher Robert which sound too much like Christopher Robin from Winnie-The-Pooh.

Sam: Knowing us, he'd end up with my temperament and be nicknamed Eeyore in that case. Christopher Andrew Robert Mewis.....CARM, like karma.

Abby: I think that's settled, then. Back to the grind. Two games away from a title, 17 days away from becoming Abigail Lynn Mewis.

After Sam stopped the car in the parking lot at Jordan, Abby leaned across the armrest and kissed her future wife deeply on the lips. "My one, my only, my baby mama."

***

At NWSL headquarters in New York, deputy commissioner Leslie Osborne held a press briefing.

Leslie Osborne: I have a handful of things to announce this afternoon. First, the two play-in matches on Saturday will be shown as a doubleheader on Lifetime, with Atlanta at Orlando kicking off at 4pm Eastern and Vancouver at Chicago at 7:30pm Eastern, allowing enough time between them so there will be no overlap should the first game go to a shootout. Jenn Hildreth, Aly Wagner, and Dalen Cuff will handle the first game, while Jordan Angeli, Kate Markgraf, and Karina Leblanc will be on the call for the second one.

- Next, there were certain criticisms following the release of the NWSL First and Second XIs, namely that there were no flank defenders or midfielders on either team, only center ones. As a result of that, we have created an honorable mention team for this year. The eight players recognized are Katelyn Rowland, Kassey Kallman, Taylor Smith, Christina Gibbons, Lynn Williams, Adriana Leon, Kristie Mewis, and Julie King.

- Our final announcement is that the 2022 NWSL Rookie of the Year is Kayla Duran from the Atlanta Storm.