Rookie

“Great game, rookie,” Ryan Johnson told me as I entered the locker room.

“It wasn’t too long ago you were a rookie, Ry,” I shouted as I made my way to my locker.

“Sophie, Sophie, just a few minutes of your time?” reporters demanded.

“Sorry boys, being the only girl has disadvantages.” I grabbed my bag and took off in full gear towards the shower room. Once there, I locked the door and took a quick shower. I redressed in a cute fall dress before packing my disgusting padding into my bag along with my uniform. I then went to put it in my locker.

“Good game tonight, Captain Mosier,” I heard Sidney’s voice. We were still dating, but this was the first time we had seen each other in person since Pittsburgh.

“Sidney,” I turned and dropped my bags before taking a short running start to jump into his arms. He lifted me off the ground and twirled us around before I touched the ground again. We shared a kiss. “I missed you and I got your text that I didn’t reply to, sorry.”

“It’s alright, I was flying here anyways.”'

“How long can you stay?”

“Tomorrow afternoon is my flight back. I was just glad I got to see this game in person. You against Ovi was freaky, but you totally destroyed him.”

“He got me a couple of times though,” I replied honestly.

“It doesn’t matter. Where’s Ava tonight? I thought we’d go to celebrate.”

“She’s somewhere with Jackie and Abby.”

“Great, go put your stuff away and grab Ava and we’ll go. I’ll stay here so the press doesn’t get too nosey.”

“Okay,” I kissed his cheek and did what he asked. “Corey, Sid came to surprise me, so I’ll see you when I get home, alright?” Corey nodded and looked disappointed.

Sid, Ava, and I went to a small diner that I knew of and had dessert. Ava fell asleep on the way back to the house that I shared with Corey.

“You even got a carseat for Ava, Sid. You really thought of everything.”

“I took time to plan this out. That’s all.”

“Well, thank you, it was really sweet,” I told him as he pulled into the driveway and was obviously shocked.

“The goalie does this good?” he asked.

“It was foreclosed on and he got a great deal.”

“But taxes alone,” he started and I cut him off.

“We split them. I’ve lived here for two years and he refuses to let me pay for anything else. So I chip in for taxes.”

“Ah,” he replied.

“So, I better get Ava inside. Where are you staying?”

“That seems to be the only thing I didn’t plan.”

“You can stay here, but its just sleep.”

“I can do that,” he got out and took Ava from the car seat to bring inside. I got out my keys and let us in. Corey was standing in the kitchen as I went in.

“Hey, Core.”

“Uh hi. Let me put Ava to bed,” he offered.

“Thanks,” I said giving my daughter a kiss on the forehead and he took her upstairs. “This is the kitchen obviously. The family room is this way. Then up the stairs is mine and Ava’s rooms. Corey’s is down the hall that way.” I led him upstairs were I showed him my room. “I’m going to talk to Corey for a minute, but I’ll be back in a few. Make yourself comfortable,” I went to Ava’s room.

“So he’s staying the night?” Corey asked.

“We aren’t going to do anything but sleep, Corey. I am not ready for sex. In fact, I don’t even know if I’ll ever want to have sex after what those assholes did to me. So don’t worry about me.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” he said and looked towards Ava who was fast asleep. “She already thinks of me as her Daddy because I’m always there. I don’t want her to get confused with Sidney around. I like being her Dad.”

“I know, Corey, but he is still a Penguin. He lives hundreds of miles away. He won’t be here long enough for her to get confused. Especially before she reaches two years old.”

“Soph, there’s something I have to tell you,” Corey stared and stared at me like he stares at Ava.

“Soph, where’s the bathroom?” Sid asked popping his head in. I looked to Corey before turning towards Sidney. Corey had a look in his eyes before he pushed past Sidney and I.

“It’s the next door over.” Sidney disappeared and I looked at my daughter. She had gotten all my features and was the most adorable little girl I had ever seen. Big blue eyes, brown hair that had tints of red, and the cutest smile in the world all belonged to Ava. I had everything an 19 year old could only dream about.