The Best Years

12

An: As in the previous books of this series there will be topics discussed that could potentially be triggering. For the rest of the book these could include any of the following: food, eating disorders, blood, or hospitals. This is the only trigger warning.

"I still can't believe you let Calum tell the boys before me!" Lexi whined under her breath as she and Holland stood next to the mat, arms crossed, and watched their athletes practice.

"Lex, I didn't let him do anything. He totally let it slip, well, to Michael and Luke anyways, Ashton guessed. I wasn't very happy with him either, we hadn't even told our parents at that point."

"Still! I can't believe I wasn't the first to know." She pouted.

"I promise any other big news I'll make sure to tell you first, before Calum even, as apparently once he knows so does everyone he talks to. The man can't keep a secret for shit. I'm surprised he hasn't posted it on twitter, ya know really let it slip."

"Isn't he like very anti-social media?"

"I don't know that I'd go that far. He's just very private about what goes on in our lives on there these days which I don't mind."

"Well if you guys want to be the ones to tell people you're expecting you better get on that. You're starting to show."

She made the comment so casually, not noting the look of panic that set in Holland's eyes.

"What?" Holland asked after a moment, her throat dry and her body frozen in place.

"It's so cute Holls, you've got a teeny, tiny, little bump. I mean, I think anyone who doesn't know would just assume you've put on a few pounds but it's definitely there." She replied happily.

Holland's hands moved slowly to brush down her stomach. Her abs were still present, she may not have been a competitive athlete anymore but she still maintained a healthy lifestyle, just at the base of stomach, right above her waistline, she felt the smallest amount of pudge.

She knew she should be happy. She had known going into this her body would change but there was a difference between having the knowledge that something will happen and actually experiencing it for yourself, and for Holland the experience was terrifying.

She held it together through practice, she encouraged and critiqued her girls on their performances— the biggest competition they'd participated in all year was only days away and they needed to be at their best to compete against the clubs they'd face. Chloe continued to excel, only a few weeks in to her training and she was leaps and bounds ahead of some of the other littles who had been with Holland for months. It was like she could master anything Holland threw at her with ease and it was incredibly exciting.

"Coach Holland?"

"What's up, Chloe?"

"How come I'm not competing on Saturday with everyone else?" She asked.

"Well, I just thought it might be a little soon for you to compete just yet. You've only had your routines finished for a little over a week and I want to give you a bit more time before we show them off yet, okay?" The little girl looked a bit disappointed but agreed none the less.

"How about this, if you keep working super, super hard, I promise I'll let you compete before the season ends, okay?" She nodded excitedly and ran off back to her group.

Holland felt the buzz of her phone in her pocket, the text from Calum to let her know he was out front and waiting for her so they could go speak to Elise.