It’s February, and four teams are gathering to play in the National Cup. Hosted by the United States, the USWNT was joined by the Brazil Women's National Team, England's Lionesses, and the Canadian Women’s National Team to play in a tournament.
Niamh and Jessie had flown over together with the other Chelsea and WSL players from England, a nine hour flight that few of them looked forward to. But the two had the chance to sit side by side on the plane, even if Niamh fell asleep on Jessie’s shoulder for the majority of the duration of the flight. They had said their goodbyes for the week as they left the airport, considering that they were staying in different hotels and would only see each other during the game that Canada played against England in just a few days.
The two had been dating for nearly a year now, and Jessie would be the first to say that it had been surprisingly nice. Neither of them had expected for it to get as serious as it did, but here they were a year later, and Jessie can confidently say that she can’t imagine her life without Niamh in it.
The Canadian had been really nervous about moving all the way to England by herself. She had been playing for Canada for years, and had done a lot of traveling of course, but it was the first time that she would be living on an entirely different continent than her whole family.
But she immediately felt right at home in England, and that was in large part due to Niamh. Jessie can say without a shadow of doubt in her heart that she would not be as comfortable at Chelsea, and in England in general, if Niamh was not there with her.
Jessie was awkward, she didn’t talk a lot, she was shy, people sometimes seemed just a little bit confused by her personality. Her football spoke for itself, but off the pitch she struggled to navigate the relationships in her life without over thinking them.
But then Niamh arrived, and she smiled at Jessie like she had known her for her entire life, and Jessie’s world had gone from awkward and uncomfortable to a surprisingly easy, and fun life. Everyone is immediately drawn to Niamh, to her infectious laugh and upbeat energy, but she only ever seemed to want the attention of the tiny Canadian midfielder.
The funny thing was that Jessie found that she actually talked more with Niamh around than she did with just about anyone else. And Niamh always listened with such a precise attention that Jessie never doubted that the defender wasn’t listening to her.
Everything about the English woman is compassionate and gentle, and it melts Jessie in ways that she hadn’t expected. In the early parts of their relationship, Jessie wondered if she was more committed than Niamh was, but every opportunity she had to back out, Niamh always stayed.
The blue eyed woman’s joy and presence was infectious and just everything, and still she chose day after day to come home with Jessie, to dance and sing in the kitchen with Jessie, to laugh and fall asleep watching movies with Jessie, everything with Jessie.
The Canadian had, in the past, had a few short relationships, but nothing had ever lasted. Either they didn’t work well together, Jessie overthought it too much, or football just simply got in the way.
But Niamh just…fits. Everything about her makes Jessie feel somehow like a more complete person. She brings joy and light into the midfielders life that she didn’t even really realize was possible.
It felt fitting that Niamh would be her first serious relationship. Jessie couldn’t imagine spending this much time with anyone but Niamh, really.
Secretly, selfishly, Jessie hopes that it will also be her last. But maybe that’s a little too serious of a thought for a 25 and 23 year old to have, but Jessie can’t help but think it. In the hours she used to spend in other relationships worried about herself and her past actions, with Niamh she thinks about the right here and now, about the joy that her life has in it now because of the English defender.
England and Canada played each other first in the tournament, with England coming out on top 1-0 thanks to a lovely tap in from Beth Mead.
Before the game even starts, when Jessie is warming up, her attention is slightly pulled, looking across the field waiting for England to come out. Jordyn and Quinn are teasing her beyond belief, but she just smiles and shrugs them off, focusing back in on the ball.
She’s just finished up with a little drill and is grabbing some water with the girls when Julia taps her on the shoulder, a shit eating grin on her face.
“What,” Jessie deadpanned, not exactly amused by what she’s positive is going to turn into a teasing of her.
“It’s your GIRLFRIEND Jeff!” Julia sing songs, practically screaming, and Jess immediately flushes red, looking over to see that Niamh has in fact come and started to warm up with the other girls.
“Oh good grief, give it a rest you three,” Jessie says quickly to Quinn, Jordyn, and Julia, but they have to at least get a little teasing in.
“Jessie and Niamh, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S–” Jordyn starts, only to be quickly cut off.
“Alright, enough you two, cut it out. Focus on the game!” Came a commanding voice behind Jessie, and the midfielder turned to see Janine standing behind her with an amused expression on her face.
“Thank you,” Jessie whispers lightly as they return back to their warmup drills, and Janine chuckles slightly, looking at Jessie with a raised eyebrow.
“I bet you’re regretting telling them now aren’t you?” She asks, and Jessie shakes her head, heaving out a sigh.
“It had to happen eventually. I figured if we had been together long enough that nobody would care, but I guess I was wrong,” Jessie said quietly, and Janine can’t hold back the real laugh that bubbles out of her chest.
“Jeff with a girlfriend? Might as well be front page news…” Janine jokes, and Jessie rolled her eyes before she passed her back the ball.
Jessie ends up playing for about 70 minutes, getting subbed off right before the goal from Beth Mead. She knows that she should be pissed about losing, it’s not exactly a great start to the cup, but she can’t quite find it in herself to care all too much when she sees the wide smile on Niamh’s face as they line up to shake hands.
She’s pissed, don’t get her wrong, but there’s something about seeing Niamh that happy that just somehow manages to soften the blow of it a little bit.
She revels in the way that Niamh’s smile widens when she sees Jessie in the lineup, her eyes lighting up as they make eye contact, and the Canadian can feel the blush flying up her cheeks, ducks her head when Jordyn and Julia tease her.
Canada continues to struggle, losing to the United States, setting them up for a game against Brazil on the last day of the tournament, when the United States was set to play England.
Jessie watched the United States versus England game on the television in her hotel room, watching as England beat the United States 2-0. It was just a few hours before Canada’s last game of the tournament, against Brazil.
Jessie watches with a wide grin as she can see Niamh celebrating with Ella and Alessia when the camera focuses in on some of the players, before she turns off the television to focus in on her own game. She wants to bring her A-game, she wants to win. She always wants to win.
The game actually does end up going well for Canada, who end up winning 1-0 to Brazil, with a goal from the one and only Christine Sinclair. Did the game go well for Jessie though? If you asked if she played great, then the answer would be yes. The night unfortunately took an…interesting turn in the 78th minute of the game.
When she had been running in a challenge with Debinha, Jessie had slipped on a wet patch on the grass, falling down and inadvertently causing Debinha to start falling as well. The only problem with this, is that in her fall, Debinha accidentally steps on Jessie’s knee, her cleat somehow managing to gauge Jessie’s knee, splitting it open.
Jessie can feel the eruption of pain before she’s even hit the ground, and she’s rolling over onto her head in a second. She can hear Quinn and Sinc running over to her, Quinn going to her head while Sinc moves down to look at her knee. Sinc gently takes Jessie’s calf in her hand, lifting her leg so she can see what’s wrong with it.
When she discovers that there is in fact blood pouring from Jessie’s leg, she immediately calls for medical, hurriedly waving the staff over to help Jessie.
She’s taken off the field and into triage as they try to stop the bleeding, with Jessie gripping the side of the bed that she’s in. She’s had a few injuries here and there, but this might take the cake because damn if this doesn’t hurt.
The game only had a few minutes left in it when Jessie had left, so it isn’t long before Janine, Julia, and Jordyn are barging, eyes all desperately looking for Jessie, who does her best to smile encouragingly when she sees them, but it ends up coming out as more of a grimace than she expects.
“Jesus Jeff, are you okay?” Julia asks, her eyes pulled down to Jessie’s knee, which has a cut so deep the doctor could see the bone. Jessie is feeling less than okay, but she’s keeping the stoic face up as best as she can.
“Yeah, yeah guys, I’m fine,” Jessie says tightly, and Janine watches on as Julia and Jordyn pepper over her for a few more minutes before she sends them away, pulling up a chair next to Jessie.
“Hey Jeff,” Janine says quietly, and Jessie can only offer a tiny smile back, even if she knows that she doesn’t really need to keep up the facade with her around.
Janine stays with Jess, listens patiently as the team doctor explains that Jessie will need surgery, and sends them off to the nearest hospital.
Jessie is put into triage, and she manages to keep up her patience and moral as the doctors begin to give her pain medication, making her loopy and disoriented for the few minutes before they can send her back into the operating room to get stitched up.
“You-u wanna know the ‘tupid thing Becks?” Jessie slurred, her voice barely above a whisper as she looks over at Janine.
“What is it Jeff? I’m sure it’s not stupid,” Janine says quietly, hoping that she in some way can help. She hadn’t expected Jessie to say much of anything, having expected the usually quietness from the little midfielder.
“All this hubbub and all I really want is Niamh…but she’s gone,she’s back in England,” Jessie slurred, her head hitting the back of the pillow with a muted thud.
“Oh Jeff,” Janine said quietly, bringing her hand up to rub gently at Jessie’s temple. She hated seeing her friend like this, and not one single time in all the times that Janine had seen Jessie injured had she ever asked for a soul.
When the nurse eventually comes to take Jessie in, another nurse who had been helping them comes in to give them some post-operative care.
“Alright, now here’s a packet for you to take home,” the nurse said softly. “She’s not going to be terribly mobile while she recovers, and she’s going to be in a fair bit of pain,” the nurse continues, looking around before she leaned in closer to Janine.
“Honestly, all of us were so impressed with her. That cut? She’s probably in a lot of pain, but she holds it really well. I was incredibly impressed, we all were really.” The nurse finished, and Janine nodded softly, trying to hold in her discomfort at the thought of her friend being in pain.
She can’t fix Jessie, but she might, just might be able to find Niamh in time before her flight back to England. She can only hope that the Lionesses haven’t left yet, but she seriously doubts that they have, they are likely still celebrating their cup win.
Maybe she should be hoping instead that nobody is too drunk to pick up her phone call.
Janine pulls her phone out, and calls the first person she thinks will answer that she knows on the English squad.
“Hello?” Alex Greenwood, bless the soul she is, picks up on the third ring.
“Oh Alex thank god, it’s Janine,” the Canadian breathes into the phone.
“Hey Janine. Is everything alright?” Alex asked with a confused tone to her voice, and Janine shakes her head and tries to frame this as well as possible.
“Yes–well I mean no, not exactly. Ok, so basically…” Janine launches into the entirety of the story, starting with Jessie’s injury and her asking for Niamh, and trying to see if Alex could pull any strings and get Niamh’s flight changed to Jessie’s, which is in three days so that way the English midfielder could come stay with Jessie and help her recover.
“Let me get Millie and coordinate to see if we can get it done, but I doubt anyone will mind. Send up the hotel name and we’ll send Niamh over once we can get her back to the hotel to get packed up and sent over to you guys, get her a room and all,” Alex says calmly, already looking around to find Millie and figure this out.
“Oh you are the absolute best Alex, I love you. Thank you so much!” Janine says, trying to pour her gratitude through the phone.
“Of course Becks. Keep your phone on you, I’ll text you,” Alex promises, and they hang up just as Jessie is getting out of surgery.
The brunette is clearly in a lot of discomfort after surgery, but Janine manages to get her back in the car and into the hotel in one piece, settling her in bed. Jessie is still entirely doped out, drifting in and out of sleep as Janine mills about, getting things set up for if Niamh ends up coming later.
Janine gets Jessie’s pain meds and water to put on her bedside, and wipes the few stray tears that Jessie has let escape in the meantime, though the midfielder swats at her weakly, clearly not a fan of Janine seeing her like this, despite how long they’ve known each other.
She also sets out Jessie’s instruction packet for what to do for the injured woman, and at that point just sits and waits for Niamh to get there, looking over worriedly at Jessie every once in a while. Alex had texted her saying that they had gotten Niamh’s flight changed, as well as a room in the hotel just a few doors down from where Jess and Janine are for the next few days. The blue eyed woman was apparently “furiously repacking her suitcase” according to Millie, but would be there as soon as possible.
“Hey Jeff?” Janine says softly, coming over to Jessie’s bed. The brunette is facing away from the other bed and the door to the hotel room, lying on her side toward the window, pushed to the far edge of the bed with her knee propped up on a pillow that Janine had carefully situated.
“Mhm?” Jessie mumbles back softly, a small and weak sound from even the usually quiet midfielder.
“I’m going to go get us a little something to eat okay? I’ll be back in just a few minutes, you’ve got your phone here if you need it, okay?” Janine says, pushing Jessie’s phone, which is sitting behind her, just a little closer to the brunette. Jessie makes no move for the phone, but mumbles out a small okay before Janine stands hesitantly, going down to the little convenience store that is in the lobby of the hotel. She mills about, looking at what snacks she should get Jessie and waiting for Niamh to arrive, which should be happening any minute if Millie and Alex are correct.
Janine is just looking down at her phone to text them again when the front door of the hotel swings open, and Niamh walks right into the hotel, charging full throttle in the direction of the front desk dragging a little rolling suitcase behind her before Janine is able to flag her down, calling out for her.
“Niamh! Niamh!” Janine calls out, and the blue eyed woman turns on a dime at the sound of her name, relief flooding her features as her eyes met Janines. The two had never really met off the pitch in a formal way, but she supposed now was as good a time as any. Niamh has heard enough about Janine that she feels that she might as well already know her, absolutely shedding the formalities in favor of asking immediately about how Jessie is.
“Hey Janine, how is she?” Niamh asked, her short lived relief turned back into concern for Jessie as soon as she’s standing in front of the Canadian forward, her suitcase in tow.
“She’s alright, I’m just getting her a few things to eat before I go back up there. She got out of surgery alright, she’s doing okay but I can tell she’s in a lot of pain. Why don’t you go get checked into the hotel room down the hall so that I can stay there tonight, and while we go up I can give you the rundown? I figured you would want to stay with her tonight,” Janine says quickly, and Niamh’s shoulders sag in relief at the easy suggestion.
“Yes, that sounds lovely, thank you so much for everything you’ve done Janine, I mean really,” Niamh replied, sincerity ringing through her tone.
“Of course Niamh. I would always do it for Jeff,” Janine says easily, pausing for a moment when she realized that Niamh might be confused, but the English woman doesn’t miss a beat, smiling gently back at Janine.
“Oh I know you would,” Niamh smiled slightly, despite herself. She’s just turning to go check in when she turns back for a moment, looking at the bag of pretzels that Janine had in her hand. “Janine?”
“Yeah?” the blonde asks, looking back at Niamh from the food that she had been looking at.
“Um, she loves the blue ones,” Niamh says softly, pointing to the bag of pretzels that Janine was holding. Janine nodded slowly, setting the red pretzels down and grabbing the blue bag as Niamh moved to go check in.
When Janine thought about it, Jessie did love the blue pretzels. Janine had recognized the brand but hadn’t been able to remember which kind the midfielder liked.
It was just pretzels.
It wasn’t that important, it shouldn’t be important.
But Janine had known Jessie for a long time, had been her roommate on traveling trips for a long time.
And not many people knew Jessie as well as she did. Jessie didn’t offer information up about herself, she preferred to stay in the background, let others have the spotlight.
Janine didn’t know Niamh very well, but she knew her well enough to know that she had a loud, boisterous personality, pretty much the exact opposite.
And well, maybe there’s a small part of Janine that was worried that Jessie just kind of fell on the back burner when she was with someone who was so much more extroverted than she was.
But it didn’t seem like that actually. If anything, from what she could gather, it was the exact opposite. Niamh knew a lot about Jessie, which was impressive considering the private nature of the brunette.
Janine wasn’t entirely sure how pretzels were the tell for her, but something about the gesture made Janine realize that this whole thing might be a bit more serious that she had initially thought. That maybe when Jessie looked Janine in the eyes and said she was happy, that there was more importance to it than she had initially assumed.
Maybe it was that Jessie genuinely never told anyone what she liked unless it was forced out of her, and therefore Niamh would have had to ask, to care enough to ask Jessie, who was not an easy person to get information out of.
Maybe it was the idea that Niamh had possibly just spent long enough observing the tiny midfielder to know what snacks she liked. Either way, there’s something about it that feels different, and Janine has a newfound respect for the blue eyed defender, who seemed to be just as serious about Jessie as she did her.
Janine isn’t sure exactly what she’s going to do with the information right now, but she holds it to her heart at the moment. And makes a note to tell Jordyn and Julia to can it when they tease Jessie about Niamh.
Janine finished checking out with some food, just a few snacks and some sandwiches for both her, Jessie, and Niamh, before she meets the English woman back in the lobby, where they both talk hurriedly about Jessie on the elevator ride up.
“I’m not sure how she’ll be, normally she’s pretty closed off when she gets injured, just kind of pushes you away,” Janine explains simply, and Niamh nods along, listening with rapt attention.
Niamh hands Janine her room key card, the blonde going over a few logistical details before she key cards into the room that Jessie is in.
Janine steps in first, Niamh stepping in after her silently, setting her suitcase and backpack right by the door, where she waits patiently.
“Hey Janine,” Jessie called out with a soft voice as Janine dumped the bag of food on the opposing bed, crossing over to sit on Jessie’s bed, tucking her legs under her as she sat down behind where the midfielder was laying on her side. She ran a hand over the brunette's side before she ran her hand over her hair softly, looking over at Niamh who was standing stock still near the door, watching Janine intently.
“Hey Jeff, someone is here to see you,” Janine said quietly, motioning for Niamh to come over to where Jessie is laying in bed. Janine is genuinely not entirely sure how Jessie is going to react. The brunette has been known to be a bit brash when in pain (who could blame her honestly), but Janine seriously hopes that Niamh won’t see the business end of a snapping after the rush she made over here to be with Jessie.
Niamh walks over quietly, turning the corner of the bed and seeing Jessie burrowed under the covers, a few fly away’s from her ponytail framing her flushed face.
Niamh walks just a little quicker at the sight of Jessie, making her way down the bed before coming to kneel next to the side of the bed just as Jessie seems to recognize her, her eye’s widening to something comically large as Janine watches with bated breath.
“Niamh,” Jessie breathes out, her voice reading nothing but disbelief.
“Hey Jess, yeah, I’m here,” Niamh says softly, bringing her hand up to tuck a baby hair back behind Jessie’s ear, and Janine watches as the brunette leans easily into the touch, her eyes fluttering shut.
When she opens them a moment later, there are tears in her eyes that she’s trying to blink away furiously.
“You’re…you’re here,” Jess squeaks out, her voice breaking just slightly on the last word of her sentence, and Niamh lets out a harsh breath through her nose as she nods furiously, a small, concerned smile appearing on her face.
“Of course I’m here Jess, I’m always going to be here if you need me,” Niamh murmurs softly, and Janine can feel Jessie’s whole body relaxing at the statement as the tears begin to pour down her cheeks, finally.
Janine decides to take her leave at that, nodding softly to Niamh before she gathers her things and leaves the room to go down the hall to Niamh’s room.
But for Jessie, Niamh’s face is just inches from hers and she can still barely see her through the tears.
Jessie hadn’t really realized just how much she had been holding in the tears, but apparently seeing Niamh opened up the floodgates in a way that she entirely wasn’t expecting. They stream down her face, and she can feel Niamh wiping them away softly with her fingers, but she can’t get them to stop either.
Jessie eventually brings her hand up, moving Niamh’s hand away from clearing her tears and threading her fingers through the English womans, squeezing tightly. But Niamh holds her just as tightly back, and she’s still right there.
Niamh shifts so that she’s sitting on her knees, one hand over Jessie’s side while the other is holding her hand tightly, her thumb rubbing soothing circles along the back of Jessie’s hand. She leans forward for a moment, resting her forehead against Jessie’s temple and murmuring sweet nothings into the brunette’s hair.
And for just a moment, Jessie’s world is nothing but jasmine and neroli and Niamh.
And Jessie just lets herself cry and cry and cry until she feels like she genuinely can’t anymore. And just when she’s finally done crying from the stress of the day, and this stupid injury and everything it could possibly mean, she feels like she wants to start crying all over again because Niamh is here and she came when Jessie didn’t even ask her to, and she just feels so overwhelmed with gratefulness she doesn’t quite know what to do with herself.
She knows this is likely Janine’s doing, and she makes a mental note to thank her friend when she gets a chance. But for now, she gets Niamh all to herself, somehow.
She settles for sitting up slightly, and Niamh immediately shifts back slightly so that she can look Jessie in the eyes.
Jessie is sure that she’s not exactly the picture of beauty, eyes red rimmed from tears, her face flushed and her hair is definitely a mess, but Niamh is looking at her with such care and concern that Jessie can’t even care about all of that, just the person sitting right in front of her right now.
“Hi,” Jessie says quietly, her voice wavering unevenly even over such a simple word, and Niamh swallows thickly, trying her hardest to keep it together when she can tell Jessie is so upset.
“Hey you,” Niamh says softly, bringing her hand up to brush over Jessie’s forehead and back into her hair lightly. “How are you doing?”
“I’m ‘kay,” Jessie whispers quietly, and Niamh doesn’t believe her for a second but she nods regardless, her eyes on Jessie the whole time. “Better now that you’re here,” the brunette says honestly, and Niamh smiles just for a flicker of a second, but it’s quickly replaced with a clear concern when Jessie shifts slightly, her face contorting in pain at the action.
“What can I get you? Food? Water?” Niamh asks, looking up and over Jessie at the bag of food that Janine had dumped on the bed. Jessie, who is still holding Niamh’s hand that she had grabbed just a few minutes ago pulls on it lightly, causing Niamh to look back down at her with eyes as wide as saucers.
“Niamh, I don’t need anything. I just need you,” Jessie murmured quietly, and Niamh’s face relaxed as she nodded tightly. Jessie shifted back to slip the covers down before Niamh stopped her gently, walking to the other side of the bed before pulling them back to crawl under with Jessie.
The blue eyed woman stays back on the left side of the bed, her hand reaching forward to land on the Canadian midfielders hip, the only point of contact between the two.
Jessie twisted her head around to look at Niamh with curiosity, finding only a slightly guilty half smile/half grimace from her girlfriend, who chuckles nervously at the look Jessie gives her.
“I’m worried I’ll hit your leg,” Niamh whispers softly, and Jessie’s face falls, her eyebrows scrunching slightly.
“That’s a risk I will happily take any day, but also Niamh you sleep like a rock. Like genuinely…you never move. You moving in your sleep and hitting me in any capacity is nowhere near the top of my list of worries, trust me,” Jessie stated clearly, and Niamh chuckles softly under her breath despite the situation.
Regardless, the English woman does move forward, pressing the front of her body to Jessie’s back, wrapping her arm securely around Jessie’s stomach and feeling how the brunette relaxes back into her.
She knows that it’s not possible, but there’s something about Niamh being here that is a million times better than any pain medication that the doctors could have given her.
One of Jessie’s hands comes to wrap and hold onto Niamh’s arm as though it’s somehow a lifeline, as her girlfriends nose rests softly against the back of her neck, and Jessie is positive that her hair is tickling Niamh but she can’t quite bring herself to care because everything about this is comfort and warmth and stability and Niamh and she genuinely wasn’t expecting any of it.
“You’re here,” Jessie mumbled again, and she’s not sure if she’s saying it to herself or to Niamh but it doesn’t really matter because either way it’s out there.
“I’m here,” Niamh confirms lightly, rubbing her nose lightly over the back of Jessie’s neck. A thought pops into Jessie’s slightly discombobulated brain after just a moment, one that she voices to Niamh.
“Shouldn’t you be like…with the team? Celebrating?” Jessie asks quietly, her eyes closed. She knows that she’s putting it out there, but she desperately hopes that Niamh will stay. The blue eyed woman is quiet for a moment before she speaks again.
“If you had won, but I had injured myself, would you have stayed with the team and enjoyed yourself?” Niamh counters lightly, and Jessie opens her mouth, scoffing and replying without really thinking about it, still loopy from the pain meds.
“God, no. I would be trying to get to you,” Jessie says, and Niamh gives it a moment before she responds, letting Jessie process exactly what she just said.
“I’m always going to come if you need me Jess. Might not be able to be there right away, but I’ll always try my hardest to be there,” Niamh promised, running her thumb over Jessie’s stomach in soothing circles.
“I’d come too, if you needed me,” Jessie promises quietly, and she can feel Niamh lean into her even if it’s just slightly more, her head shifting so she can press a soft kiss to the top of Jessie’s spine.
“I know you would Jess,” Niamh murmurs quietly, her grip on Jessie tightening, just imperceptibly.
“I love you,” Jessie crackles out, and Niamh leans back slightly, shifting up to sit on her elbow so she can press a light kiss to Jessie’s cheekbone. The Canadian melts under the action, leaning back slightly
“I love you more,” Niamh says, her nose pressed into Jessie’s cheek, and the brunette fights the smile that rises on her face but it wins in the end, her head shifting just slightly so she can look Niamh in the eyes. It’s not exactly original, but ever since they’d first said I love you to one another, it’s been their thing.
“I love you most,” Jessie finishes, and Niamh presses a gentle, long kiss to Jessie’s forehead before she settles back behind the Canadian, pressing into her tightly.
“Not possible,” Niamh whispers as Jessie drifts off to sleep, safe and secure in Niamh’s arms.