What I Never Knew I Always Wanted

2

The first few days after bringing Aiden home from the hospital were stressful, to say the least. Like most newborns, he hardly slept through the night, opting to cry at random hours throughout the night. Kelley was still recovering from the C-section, so the responsibility of these late night visits fell mostly to Hope.

Hope didn't mind getting up during the night, if she was honest. Sure, she was tired as hell during the day. But the Reign had allowed her to take the rest of the season (it was in its final month anyways) off, and Aiden slept easily during the day, so the former keeper could easily get the sleep she needed during the day.

It had been a week since Aiden and Kelley were released, and once again the couple was woken up by their son's cries from the bassinet in their bedroom.

"I got him," Hope whispered, sliding out from under Kelley.

"Again? You sure?" the defender asked sleepily, not completely awake.

"Yeah," Hope replied, pressing a kiss to Kelley's lips. "Go back to sleep." Kelley was out again in seconds.

The former keeper smiled at her wife's sleeping form, then walked over to the bassinet.

"Come here little guy," she said softly, picking Aiden up. She walked out of the bedroom, gently shutting the door behind her, and moved into the nursery, sitting in the rocking chair in the corner.

"I don't think you're hungry," Hope mused, glancing at the clock that read 2:37 am. "You just had a bottle an hour ago," she said. "Do you just want me to talk to you?" she asked rhetorically.

Over the last week, the couple found that quite often, Aiden's cries weren't an indication of hunger. He simply just wanted to be held. Hope also discovered that he liked the vibration of her or Kelley's chest when they spoke. Most nights she spent in the nursery consisted of retelling her day, even though Aiden wouldn't understand a word. Sometimes she'd read her book or the newspaper out loud, just to keep her son calm.

Tonight though, Hope didn't read a book or the newspaper.

"You want to hear a story, Aiden?" she asked the boy in her arms, his piercing blue eyes looking up at her.

He didn't make any signs of acknowledging Hope's question, but he wasn't crying anymore, instead curling himself more into her chest, so Hope took that as a good sign.

"Alright buddy," she said. "I'm going to tell you about how your mama and I found each other, and I found I had everything I didn't know I wanted," she explained, a smile forming. "Starting with the day I met your mama."

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2010

She still keeps to herself in the locker room. Things have gotten slightly better in the last few years, but when it comes to her teammates, her guard is always up and she keeps to herself, trying her best to not draw attention to her.

She can easily hold conversations with Carli and Christie, the only two who never completely turned their backs on her. Things with Abby had gotten better, but there was still a bit of tension between them. And the newbies? They'd introduce themselves, then steered clear of the keeper unless they had to.

Until that January camp.

The team was filing onto the bus, heading for training. Hope made her way to the back where no one would bother her.

Or, at least that was what usually happened.

Instead of riding the short trip by herself, Hope found herself looking up from her phone as one of the new players stood at the end of the seat.