Talia's POV
"Check this out." Julie says then she shows me her phone as we ride to the stadium in Chicago.
1-Alyssa Naeher
5-Kelley O'Hara
7-Abby Dahlkemper
8-Julie Johnston
14-Talia Martin (C)
18-Jaelin Howell
3-Sam Mewis
9-Lindsey Horan
17-Tobin Heath
13-Alex Morgan
23-Christen Press
Becky got the stomach bug last night so she's staying at the hotel with her wife who's taking care of her.
"Still doesn't feel real." I say as we pull up to the stadium.
Once the bus stops everyone gets off the bus then I hold Lanie's hand and head to the locker room. When we walk into the locker room I head for my locker where I see the rainbow colored captains armband sitting on my shorts.
"I guess it is real." I mumble.
I take a deep breath, remove my three necklaces and my ring, then I place them safely in my bag before I start to change. I then change into my warm up shirt, game shorts, my right sock, my left sock, my right red boot, and lastly my left red boot. After that I head to Julie's locker then sit down on the floor in-between her legs.
"Hey Beautiful." Julie says and starts running her fingers through my hair.
"Hi Jules." I say then let Julie do her thing.
Julie runs her fingers through my hair for a little bit before she puts part of my hair in a braid then she puts my hair into a pony tail.
"Thanks." I say and hug one of Julie's legs. "Love you."
"Love you too." Julie says and kisses my head then I get up, walk out of the locker room, and head to the pitch.
When I get on the pitch I run through my warm ups with the starters then head back to the locker room.
Once in the locker room I change out of the training top and change into our game jersey. After I'm dressed I wait around in my locker as the coaching staff do their last minute talks then the starters and I head to the tunnel and I line up at the front of the line. A minute later we walk out onto the pitch, stand for a bit, shake hands with the Brazil players, I do the captains stuff, then I head to my position as the game kicks off.
In the 10th Debinha gets the ball from Andressinha then she turns right as Julie slide tackles the ball away. The ball rolls to me so I one time pass the ball to Lindsey then run into the space ahead of me. Lindsey returns the pass to me as Thaisa closes down on me.
Right as Thaisa gets to me I rainbow the ball over both of us and breeze past her to catch up to the ball. Once I do catch up to the ball I sprint forward into the space and look up to check for runners and I see three options. Another Brazilian comes to close me down so I look down at the ball then put my laces through the ball and send it into the 18 yard box.
I then watch as the ball flies through the air and drops right into the path of Tobin. Tobin hits the ball on the volley and sends it rocketing past the keeper and into the goal making the score 1-0.
The rest of the first half goes very well for us and we put a bunch of shots on goal, but Bárbara saves every one of our 7 shots out of goal. Thankfully, our back line is solid and doesn't let Brazil get a shot off so going into halftime the score is 1-0 which is annoying since it should have been more.
During half-time I sit in my locker and drink water then follow the rest of the starters back onto the pitch fifteen minutes later. Once both teams are on the pitch Brazil kick off the second half.
The first 20 or so minutes of the half continues in the same way as the first half. We pepper the Brazil goal with shots and don't let them get a single shot off.
In the 70th minute we get a goal kick so Alyssa quickly takes it and kicks the ball to me so I trap it then walk up field. Geyse runs at me so I pass to Jaelin who then passes to Alex. Alex then passes quickly to Christen, who's streaking up field, but after the ball leaves Alex's foot, Debinha decides to take Alex's feet out from under her.
Alex gets off the ground and gets in Debinha's face so I run over and put myself between my teammate and the Brazilian. A few of the other girls take Alex away so she doesn't get a card while I talk to the ref.
"That's at least a yellow." I say. "There's no way she was gonna get to that ball."
The ref tells me to let her do her job so I do then I watch as Debinha is given a red card.
We are also given a free kick so I walk over to the ball and stand behind it while everyone gets set up. When the whistle blows I send a cross towards the box and Alex jumps up and heads the ball into the back of the net making the score 2-0.
I don't really feel like jogging 50 yards to celebrate the goal so I head back to my position.
The rest of the game goes pretty smooth with our back line not letting a shot off the whole game.
"You won your first game as Captain." Julie says and hugs me.
"Meh." I say. "Just another game."
I hug the rest of my teammates then I walk around the stadium, take pictures, and sign stuff then I head to the locker room. When I get into the locker room I take off my kit, grab my shower stuff, and take a shower. Once I've showered I dry off, put my street clothes on, then I put my necklaces back on.
"Talia what happened to that song you made?" Kelley asks.
"Alicia and Gabriella gave it to me to do with as I wish."
"What does that mean?"
"I can release it or keep it for myself." I say as Julie picks up Lanie.
I grab all of our things then we head to the bus. Once we're on the bus and sat in our seat I tap Lanie's shoulder.
"Yes Mama?"
"Do you have something you wanna ask Julie?" I question.
Lanie nods then she looks at my soulmate.
"JJ?" Lanie says.
"Yes sweetie?" Julie says and looks at my daughter.
"Will you be my Mommy?"
YOU ARE READING
The Family
FanfictionTalia has a lot of secrets, but her biggest secret she hopes nobody will ever find out. Her secret could put the people she loves most in danger. How will she protect her secret, her friends, her loved ones, and herself?
