The Honeymoon Phase
The next week passed by in a blur. Tobin returned home to New Jersey to spend Christmas with her family before jetting back to PV for Christen's birthday. Tobin joined the rest of the Press family for a fancy dinner, and afterwards, she and Christen walked down to the beach. Together, they say in the sand and watched the sun set over the water. Christen was resting her head on Tobin's shoulder when she felt the other girl shift beneath her. Christen gave her a quizzical look as Tobin rummaged through her pockets and pulled out a small velvet box.
"I got you something," Tobin said in a soft voice. She carefully lifted the lid of the jewelry box to reveal a silver necklace with a heart pendant. Tobin pulled it out and held it up so that Christen could get a better look. The forward let out an audible gasp when the pendant caught the light, allowing her to see the initial CAP engraved on the pendant.
"I love it," Christen breathed, still in awe of the simple beauty of the necklace. "Will you put it on for me?" Christen turned her back to Tobin, sweeping her hair to the side. She shivered as she felt Tobin's fingers ghost upon the back of her neck. Once the necklace was in place, Christen turned back to Tobin and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Thank you for today. It was the best birthday ever!"
"And it's not over yet," Tobin said as a mischievous grin spread across her face. Suddenly, she scooped up Christen, bridal style, and carried her all the way back to her house, and it's safe to say Tobin made sure the birthday girl felt like a princess that night.
Two days later was the Press' annual New Years' Eve party. The family spent the day bustling around, setting up decorations, heating up hors d'œuvres, and pulling out the fancy champagne and glasses.
When Tobin went upstairs to get ready, she found Christen sitting on her bedroom floor amidst a huge pile of clothes. It looked as though a tornado had ripped through the younger girl's closet. Christen was tearing through her clothes, mumbling to herself and letting out an occasional, exasperated sigh. Tobin sat down behind her and used her thumbs to rub circles in to the forward's back.
"What's wrong?" Tobin asked, pressing her lips into the side of the other girl's neck.
"I have absolutely nothing to wear!" replied Christen, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat.
Tobin chuckled. Leave it to her girlfriend to over dramatize a situation. "What do you mean you have nothing to wear?" Tobin questioned, picking up a maroon dress from the pile on the floor. "How bout this one?"
"No! I wore that last year!" Christen complained, ripping it from Tobin's hand and throwing it back into the pile.
"Chris, I'm sure you'll look great no matter what you wear. You even look great wear nothing," Tobin smirked.
Christen turned around and slapped her on the shoulder. "This is serious, Tobs. This is the first time my friends and family are meeting you!"
"Not the first time," Tobin reminded her. "I've met lots of them at games before."
"But this is different. Back then, you were just Tobin Heath, another teammate. But now you're Tobin Heath, my lovable yet sometimes dorky girlfriend," Christen answered with a grin.
"Hey! Don't pretend like you don't love when I make stupid jokes," Tobin warned. "Besides Chris, they're not gonna care. As long as you're happy, they'll be happy for you. Most of them already know that we're dating anyways."
Christen knew that Tobin had a point, but her type A personality prevented her from being as calm as Tobin about the whole situation. She knew that her friends loved Tobin and that they were happy that she had Tobin in her life, yet she couldn't help but feel nervous about tonight. However, a couple kisses from Tobin calmed her down enough that she was able to get ready.
Christen was just putting the finishing touches on her make up when guest started to arrive. She had finally decided on a tight blue dress with black lace patterns, paired with open-toe black heels. She exited the bathroom and headed back towards her room, stopping in the doorway to take in the sight of her girlfriend. Tobin was sitting on her bed, engrossed in something on her phone. She had opted for a simple, loose-fitting black dress and a pair of ankle boots. Her light make up seemed to bring out her chocolate eyes, eyes that Christen could get lost in forever. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Tobin clearing her throat, and Christen could feel her cheeks heating up, knowing that she had been caught staring. Tobin quickly crossed the room and pressed her lips against Christen, who was suddenly overwhelmed by all things Tobin. She could taste Tobin's strawberry lipstick and smell her lavender perfume. The midfielder's tan skin was warm to the touch and made Christen want to melt into her arms.
"Are you ready?" Tobin asked, looking at Christen, who simply nodded.
The rest of the night went by smoothly, with Tobin catching up with some of Christen's friends and meeting lots of new ones. They all seemed to take to Tobin immediately as she was cracking jokes and playing with the little kids running around the house.
As it neared midnight, everyone gathered in the living room to watch the ball drop. Christen snuggled into Tobin's side, soaking up the warm atmosphere. She felt Tobin's hand travel down her back to squeeze her ass, and glancing up, saw that the older girl had a wide grin on her face. Christen stood up straight and kissed Tobin, if only to wipe the smile off her face. Then, she felt something soft hit the back of her head. Christen looked down to see a crumpled up napkin laying at her feet. She spun around to see Nima smirking at them.
"There's still 30 seconds until midnight, Presi! Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he joked.
Christen just shook her head and turned back to focus on the tv. Together, everyone watched as the countdown began on the screen. "10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Happy New Year!" everyone screamed in unison. All around them, people kissed their significant others and Tobin wasted no time in doing the same. She placed her hands in Christen's hips, spinning the girl around and pulling her close. Taking Christen bottom lip in her own, Tobin savored the taste in champagne lingering on Christen's lips.
After breaking the kiss, Christen raised her glass and yelled, "to 2016!" The sentiment was echoed around the room, accompanied by the clinking of glasses.
Tobin, too, raised her glass, adding , "to winning Olympic gold with my beautiful girlfriend!" They could already feel it was going to be a special year.
It was 3am by the time all the guests had cleared out and the house was clean. Tobin and Christen dragged themselves up the stairs and peeled off their dresses before collapsing into bed. Any plans they may had had for the night were long forgotten as both women were asleep in a matter of minutes.
The next morning, Tobin was awoken by the feeling of Christen placing a soft kiss on her cheek. "I'm going to do some yoga," she whispered. "And don't forget, we have TOCA training at 10!"
At this, Tobin groaned, rolling over and shoving her face in her pillow. She had forgotten that they had scheduled a training session for this morning. She and Christen were working on improving their on-field chemistry as well as their off-field chemistry, but right now, she was regretting the decision to train on New Year's Day. She didn't understand how anyone could be so cheery after such a long night. But that was Christen Press for you. Tobin, on the other hand, had fallen back to sleep before Christen was even out the door.
When Tobin awake again to the sound of the front door closing, she knew she was in trouble. She shot out of bed and scrambled around the room, throwing on the first pair of shorts and t-shirt that she could find. She ran to the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face before rushing downstairs.
"Whoa there, Speedy," Christen said, meeting Tobin at the bottom of the stairs. "Save some of that energy for training. Do you want a cup of coffee before we go?"
Tobin simply nodded in response, still too asleep to form coherent thoughts. Christen started to walk towards the kitchen, then stopped and turned her head back toward Tobin. She looked her up and down, then continued walking. "Nice shorts," she commented with a giggle.
Tobin was confused at first. What's wrong with my shorts, she thought. But glancing down, she quickly realized her mistake. She was wearing a pair of national team shorts, but where her shorts would usually have the number 17, there was a big fat 23. For a second, Tobin was embarrassed, but then she just shrugged and continued into the kitchen. She was proud to wear her girlfriend's number. She never got the chance to wear one of Christen's jerseys to a game, for obvious reasons. So this felt like her chance to be a supportive girlfriend. It felt right.
One the way back from training, Christen commented on how well it went today. Both women felt more confident in their first touches and their passing chemistry. Tobin noted that it may have been their best practice together.
"You know, Chris? I might have to start borrowing your clothes more often," she said with a grin.