Chapter 8
“Carli, do your fucking dishes!” Hope yells, from the bottom of the stairs. “I’ll do them later!” She hears the midfielder call back to her. She rolls her eyes. “Fucking asshole.” She mutters under her breath, before beginning to do the dishes herself. “I said I’ll do them later.” Carli says, as she walks in the kitchen. “You would have forgotten. Plus, I want everything to be done before they get here.” Carli rolls her eyes and grabs a bottled water from the fridge. If Hope insists upon doing her dishes, she’s not gonna stop her. “Pinoe and Sera are on their way.” She mentions. “Great.” Hope responds, sarcastically.
When Pinoe and Sera arrive, they all settle in the living room, making conversation until Kelley gets there. When Hope finally receives a text from Kelley, letting her know they just pulled in, she quickly makes her way outside. “Hey.” She says, smiling at the pair. Kelley gets Lily out of the car, before moving to grab some bags that she’d brought with her. “Hi, Hopey! Mommy told me you’re her new girlfriend.” She says, excitedly, running towards the taller woman. Hope crouches down and accepts the unexpected hug, picking the little girl up. “You excited to meet my friends?” She asks. Lily nods, quickly.
They make their way inside and Hope carries Lily into the living room, Kelley following close behind her. “Hey, kid!” Pinoe says, happily, standing up. Hope places Lily back on the ground and watches as Pinoe and Sera introduce themselves. Sera moves on to Kelley, who she hasn’t formally met yet. “This is Carli. She lives here with me.” Hope says, softly, motioning to the midfielder, who hasn’t moved from her seat. Carli smiles, awkwardly. “Hi, Lily. Nice to meet you.” Lily waves back, shyly, but stays glued to Hope’s side. “Nice to finally meet you.” Kelley says, confidently walking up to Carli and putting her hand out. Carli shakes her hand, with a firm grip that almost makes Kelley cringe. She gives the bartender a pointed look, before releasing her hand.
Hope moves to sit on the other couch, motioning for Kelley to do the same, while Lily follows and jumps right onto her mother’s lap. “Can I show her my butterfly now?” Lily whispers, loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear. Hope smiles at her, while Kelley nods and opens up the backpack that she’d brought along. She hands a very colorful bug to Lily, who instantly jumps to her feet and stands in front of Hope, holding it out, proudly. “Wow, Lil.” Hope says, taking the art from the child. “This is great! They let you bring it home yesterday?” Lily nods, excitedly. “I love it…Maybe your mom will hang it up at your house.” She offers, giving Kelley a questioning glance. Kelley smirks back at her, knowingly. “No, I want you to hang it up here. That way you can think of me and mommy when you’re not with us.” She smiles up at the goalkeeper, who’s face brightens at the gift. She gives the child a proud smile. “Thank you, Lil. I love it. You wanna come help me hang it on the fridge?” She asks, earning an excited nod from the child.
Hope’s friends watched the interaction, closely. Pinoe and Carli share a confused look at the bond that’s already formed between their friend and the four-year-old. They watch as Hope and Lily make their way out of the living room. Kelley watches them leave, in slight adoration. “What the fuck was that?” Pinoe asks, incredulously. Carli shakes her head, slowly, her gaze still focused on the doorway that the two left through. Kelley looks between the pair, confusedly, while Sera’s focus is on her IPhone. “What?” Kelley asks, finally. Carli snaps her gaze to the freckled woman. “What did you do to her?” She asks Kelley, who furrows her eye brows at the question. “She’s…she doesn’t even like kids.” Carli says, in a hushed tone.
“Well she likes Lily.” Kelley retorts, shrugging. Pinoe nods at her. “Clearly. Calm down, Lloyd. Don’t be jealous that Hope found a new mini best friend.” She says, jokingly. The midfielder rolls her eyes, ignoring the blonde. “Anyone need a drink?” Hope calls from the kitchen. She returns a few minutes later with the 4 water bottles and two glasses of chocolate milk. “You seriously drink milk?” Carli asks. Kelley nods, confidently. “Chocolate milk.” She corrects. Lily bounces in, plopping down on Hope’s lap with her own cup of chocolate milk. “You live here with Hopey?” She asks Carli, who almost looks afraid of the child. Carli nods, in response. “Do you like butterflies?” Everyone lets out a chuckle at the innocence of the question, while Carli only looks confused. She nods, slowly, in response.
Lily busies herself with a game on Kelley’s phone, while Kelley decides to try and make conversation. The women were pretty into a college baseball game and other than a few disapproving grunts coming from Carli when a player on her team strikes out, the room is quiet. “So where are you guys from?” She asks, not speaking to anyone in particular. Megan looks at her first. “I’m from Cali. You?” Kelley sighs. “Georgia.” Megan smiles. “You got yourself a Georgia peach, Solo.” She says, jokingly. “What’s a Georgia peach?” Lily blurts. Kelley lets out a laugh, knowing her daughter wouldn’t know because she’s never actually been to Georgia.
“I’ll show you, some day.” Kelley whispers to her daughter. Carli watches the interaction, closely. She watches how Hope looks at Kelley and Lily and something clicks for her. She’d always known Hope needed something. She needed something…someone to show her that there’s more to life than girls, soccer, and partying. Kelley seems to be doing that and while she’s still skeptical, while she still wants to protect her best friend, she sees that this is what the goalkeeper may need right now. “I’m from Jersey.” Carli finally states, answering Kelley’s original question.
Kelley crinkles her nose a little bit. “I heard it stinks there.” The glare she got from the midfielder all but burnt a hole through her forehead. “You’ve never been there.” Carli bites back, in response. Hope rolls her eyes at her friend. “It smells.” She states, in agreement with Kelley. Carli shakes her head at Hope. Lily looks around at the women around her, seeming to have an internal battle with herself. She climbs down from Hope’s lap and walks over to Carli. “Will you please help me?” She asks, looking up at the midfielder.
Carli’s eyes widen, as she glances from Lily to Hope. “Uh…Sure.” She responds. Hope stifles a laugh at her friend’s lack of grace. Carli listens as the four-year-old explains the game to her. Kelley smiles at Hope, who returns the gesture. They all watch, as Carli tries to beat the level of the game that Lily’s having trouble with. Minutes pass and they continue to hear the grunts of frustration coming from Carli, while Lily watches over her shoulder, occasionally reassuring her. “Almost!” Lily says, exasperatedly, as the midfielder fails the level for a fifth time.
“I can’t do it, kid. I’m sorry.” She says, handing the phone back to the blonde. Lily pouts, a little bit, but nods. “Thanks for trying.” She says, sweetly. She hesitates in front of Carli for a couple of seconds, before opening her arms up for a hug. Hope stifles her laughter at the look of fear that crosses Carli’s face, before she hugs the small girl. She shoots a glare at the laughing goalkeeper over Lily’s shoulder before pulling back. Lily bounds over to Hope and holds out the phone. “Hopey, your friend isn’t very good at this game. You try?”
Carli looks almost betrayed by the toddler, but shrugs it off and returns to watching the game. Megan’s focus stays on Hope and Lily, watching the duo interact. It’s clear to her that despite Hope’s worries, she’s getting along with the child flawlessly. Hope takes the phone and figures it out pretty quickly. Lily sits on the goalkeeper’s lap and watches her every move. “Jump! Jump!” She exclaims, at one point. “You did it!” She says, when Hope finally beats the level after only three failed attempts. Hope sends Carli a smug grin, before accepting the hug she gets from Lily. “Mommy, she did it!” She says, as she crawls across the couch to Kelley’s lap.
“I know. Did you say thank you?” Lily blinks a few times, before shaking her head. “Thank you, Hopey.” She says, smiling sweetly at the brunette. “You’re welcome, Lil.” Lily goes back to playing her game for a few minutes, before putting the phone down. She takes a deep breath, feeling herself becoming drowsy. She yawns and looks up at her mom. “I’m tired.” She says, quietly. “You can take a nap. We’ll be quiet.” Lily nods, before slowly sliding off of Kelley’s lap and going back over to Hope. She reaches her arms up to the brunette, who picks her up without second thought. Lily settles sideways on Hope’s lap, resting her head on the keeper’s shoulder.
Hope, proudly, looks at Kelley over Lily’s head. Kelley smiles back at her, adoringly. Lily has always been a rather outgoing child. She gets attached to people almost too-quickly. It’s the main reason that Kelley’s always so cautious when bringing new people around her. Seeing how easily Hope has seemed to catch on to Lily’s quirks and tendencies gives the bartender all the confidence in the world that the keeper isn’t going to run. As Lily falls asleep in Hope’s arms, Kelley feels herself falling for the goalkeeper just a little bit more.
As the night winds down, Lily sits in the living room and watches a movie, while the adults move to the kitchen. “Somehow I feel like the fifth wheel.” Carli states, as she sits down at the dining room table. Hope scoffs, as she pours two glasses of wine for her and Kelley. “You say that as if I don’t always have to third wheel it when Brian’s in town.” Carli rolls her eyes, in response. Pinoe and Sera sit down across from Kelley, while Carli sits next to Pinoe at the circular table. As Hope sits, she doesn’t miss the semi-awkward tension coming from her best friend. “So, you’re a bartender, huh?” Carli asks, curiously.
Hope places a hand on Kelley’s thigh. “Yes. For now, at least. It pays the bills well enough.” She responds, easily. While she doesn’t want to be behind a bar counter for the rest of her life, it’s a job and she’s not ashamed of it. “I was a bartender for a few years, back in my college days.” Sera says, smiling at her. Sera remembers what it was like when she first met Hope and Carli. While the women were nothing but nice to her, it was also intimidating to meet people that are so close to her girlfriend. She wants to make Kelley feel as comfortable as she can.
“That’s cool. I’ve been at it for almost 3 years now.” Kelley explains, smiling appreciatively at her. “Mom?” They hear a tired voice call from the other room. “Excuse me.” Kelley mumbles, as she makes her way to the living room. “Where’s Lily’s dad?” Pinoe whispers, curiously. No one had mentioned the man yet and she’s genuinely curious if he’s still in Lily’s life or not. Hope sighs and shakes her head. “He left before she was born.” She explains. Just as she opens her mouth to continue, Kelley walks back in the room. “Sorry, she just wanted me to change the channel.” She says, a smile covering her face at the thought of her daughter. “Does she need anything?” Kelley shakes her head at Hope’s question. “She’s fine.” She responds, pecking Hope’s cheek as she sits back down.
“Like she said, Kyle left us after I told him I was pregnant.” Kelley says, looking at Pinoe, who immediately looks horrified. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you heard me. I was just-I..I” Kelley cuts her off, saving her from the embarrassment. “It’s fine, it’s totally fine. I’d be curious too if I were you. He only contacted me after she was born to make sure she was okay. Other than that, we haven’t spoken.” She explains, grabbing Hope’s hand and interlacing their fingers. “So you’re really interested in this moron?” Carli butts in, motioning to the goalkeeper, who gives her a deadly glare. Kelley lets out a stifled laugh. “Well she’s hot and good with Lily, so I suppose I’ll keep her around for a while.” Hope scoffs and jokingly tries pulling her hand away, with no success as Kelley clutches onto it.
“I’m kidding. Calm down.” She laughs out, smiling at her girlfriend. “Be careful. She talks about the kid more than she talks about you. Lily’s gonna take her from you.” Pinoe speaks up, dodging the keeper’s glare, by looking at whatever Sera’s doing on her phone. “That’s not even true.” Hope retorts, shaking her head at Kelley, who’s smiling back at her. Pinoe sighs and stands up, while Sera follows her lead. “Well, kids, we’ve gotta go. We’re going to see the ‘in laws’ tomorrow and have to start driving early.” She explains.
They say their goodbyes and Carli excuses herself to her room to ‘skype with Brian’. Hope and Kelley walk to the living room to check on Lily, who’s fast asleep. “You’re welcome to stay here. There’s a guest room if you’d prefer to stay in there with Lil.” Hope offers, as she watches Kelley packing up their things. She contemplates it while she finishes up, but eventually nods her head. “It’d probably be for the best. I had a few glasses of wine and I don’t feel like dealing with an Uber right now.”
The goalkeeper watches as Kelley carefully picks her daughter up, carrying her upstairs. She follows behind with the bags, trying to help as much as she can. Lily slowly wakes up, as they make their way into the room. “Where are we?” The little girl mumbles into her mother’s shoulder. Kelley places her on the bed. “We’re gonna stay at Hope’s for the night okay?” This catches her attention, but not in the way that the women were hoping for. Her eyes fill with tears and she shakes her head, quickly. “No. I wanna go home. I wanna go home.” She repeats. Hope watches from the doorway and feels a little bit guilty that Lily had to be woken up like this.
“It’s just for tonight, love bug. Maybe Hopey will make you pancakes in the morning.” She winks over her shoulder at her girlfriend, who nods her head. “I’ll make whatever kind you want.” She states, trying to calm the sniffling girl. Lily looks between both women for a few seconds, before nodding. “Can we go to the zoo tomorrow, mommy? You said we could.” She says, pointedly looking at her mother. Kelley rolls her eyes. ‘Kid doesn’t forget anything.’ She thinks, before nodding. “We can go to the zoo. Maybe Hope will wanna come.” She answers, softly. Lily nods, trying and failing to suppress a yawn. “I’ll let you two sleep. See you in the morning.” Hope says, softly, waving at Lily. The child returns the sentiment, while Kelley stands up and pecks Hope on the lips, earning a sleepy ‘ewwww’ from the four-year-old. Kelley rolls her eyes, but smiles up at the keeper. “Get some sleep.”
By the time Kelley gets her ‘late sleeper’ up and dressed, she can smell the coffee wafting through the house. It’s around 8:30, which is around the time Lily usually wakes up. Today though, Kelley made sure she was up and ready to go. “Good morning, Hopey.” Lily grumbles out, as she walks into the kitchen. Hope turns around, making eye contact with Kelley, who shoots her a smile. “Morning, Lil. What kind of pancakes do you want?” She asks the child, who’s made her way to the dining room table to take a seat. “Chocolate chip, please.” She says, before folding her arms on the table and laying her head down, dramatically.
“Morning.” Kelley says, smirking up at the brunette, as she approaches. “Good morning.” Hope replies, wrapping her arms around the woman. Kelley melts into the embrace, resting her head on the keeper’s chest, content to stay there for as long as she can. Hope places a kiss on the top of her head. “Coffee?” She offers, earning an affirmative response. Kelley sighs and steps back, allowing Hope to continue to prepare breakfast, while she leans against the counter and watches.
“These are the best pancakes I’ve ever had.” Lily states, as she finishes her third (small) pancake. Kelley furrows her eyebrows at the child and opens her mouth, in shock. “Better than mine?” She asks, shooting a joking glare at Hope. “Mhm.” Lily says, while taking another bite. Kelley scoffs, while Hope tilts her head, cockily, at her small victory, her face clearly showing her excitement over it. “Don’t get too excited, Solo, she says that every time I cook something for her.” She retorts, slightly amused at the pride Hope took from such a small sentiment.
“Hopey, you gotta come to the zoo with us. There’s bears. And foxes!” Lily exclaims, after breakfast. Kelley’s currently helping the child tie her shoes on the bottom stair, while Hope brings their bags back downstairs from the guest room. Hope looks at Kelley for help. “Hope can’t come, baby. She has other plans.” Kelley explains. She doesn’t miss the way Hope’s face falls, slightly. She furrows her eyebrows at the goalkeeper. “Lil, stay here for a minute. I have to talk to Hope.” Hope immediately looks confused, but follows the woman to the kitchen. “Do you wanna come with us?” Kelley asks, leaning back against the counter. Hope shrugs. “I don’t want to intrude.”
“The only reason I covered for you was because I didn’t think you’d wanna come.” The goalkeeper tilts her head, questioningly. “Why wouldn’t I wanna come?” Kelley shrugs. “I figured you’d have something better to do on your Sunday off.” She chuckles out. Hope shakes her head. “I’d love to come.” She states, simply. If you had asked her six months ago where she envisioned her life to lead, this certainly isn’t what she would have predicted.
“Look at him, mom!” Lily yells, excitedly, pointing to the lion who’s sunbathing near the viewing room. “He’s pretty, huh?” Kelley asks, she and Hope trailing behind the child, holding hands openly. Hope looks at the lion through her sunglasses. A hat is placed on her head and she’s comfortable in jean shorts, a black t-shirt, and sneakers. “Hopey, do you see him?” Lily asks, placing her palms on the glass to get as close as she can to the animal. “I see him, Lil. He’s huge.” She chuckles out. They’ve been walking around the zoo for around an hour and they haven’t even seen a quarter of it yet. Lily’s excited about every single exhibit, making it difficult to move quickly, which is perfectly fine with the goalkeeper, who’s enjoying her time spent with the duo.
Hope loves getting to know Lily. She’s finally been given the opportunity to see Kelley with her daughter and it’s turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences she’s had. As she watches Lily point, excitedly, at the flamingos, her face bright with joy, she knows her decision to stay was the right one.