Tobin's POV
After Zari had told her story I was in tears, the kid had been through so much more than a kid her age should go through. "We'll give you some time whilst we get this all sorted"Mark said as he got up to walk out. "You're a tough kid Zari, I'm sorry you had to go through this" Jess said before following her partner out of the room.
After the two officers had left the room Zari shifted around in my lap, so she sat sideways. She tucked her head into my neck and I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight to make her feel secure after having to tell all the horror that had happened to her she was probably quite exhausted.
out of the corner of my eye I saw Alex walk up to my side and rub Zari's shoulder "You did amazing sweetheart" She said "Yeah you did amazing Fishy, there's no way I could have done something like that" Ash said ruffling Zari's hair.
For a few minutes we sat in silence making sure Zari was okay. The door opened and Jess walked back in, "So social services have been called and your parents are going to be arrested. Would you like to hear the charges?" Jess asked "No but we would like to have custody of Zari" I said pointing at Christen and myself.
"Okay i'll get on the phone with social services and ask them to bring the right papers" Jess said walking out of the room again. "Thank you" Zari whispered into my neck "What for kiddo?" I asked quietly "For everything" She replied, making us all smile.
"Zari, do you want your phone?" Alex asked "Maybe to text your friends telling them that you're coming to school tomorrow" "I don't have a phone" Zari replied "What! Kid we are gonna get you a phone" Ash said dramatically, making us all laugh "Um my parents never gave me one, they gave me a time to be back home otherwise you know" She explained.
"Well we're gonna get you a phone so you can contact your friends and keep in touch with us when you're out" Chris said. Ash bent down and whispered in Zaris ear. I didn't hear what she said but it made Zari laugh.
We sat talking and laughing and the atmosphere in the room went from sad to happy pretty quickly. Mainly thanks to Ash and her crazy sense of humor. Soon there was a knock at the door and Jess and another man walked into the room. "Hi guys this is Tyler, he is from social services" Jess said, "Oh hi, nice to meet you" Alex said, sticking out her hand, which he shook.
"I'm Alex Morgan, this is Ashlyn Harris , Christen Press, Tobin Heath and Zari Tame," Alex said, introducing all of us. When Alex said their name Ash and Christen shook Tyler's hand, I would have but I still have Zari sitting on my lap clinging to me and I had a feeling she didn't want me to let go.
"Okay i'll get straight to the point, who is thinking of getting custody of Zari Tame?" He asked, whilst taking a seat on the opposite side of the table. "Me and Tobin would like to get custody of Zari" Christen said "Okay I've heard a lot about you guys I know that you travel a lot so what is your plan for that?" He asked, pulling dome papers out of his briefcase.
"Well Zari doesn't have that long left of school and she does want to stay at this school, so Alex and Ash here have said that when the season starts that they will look after her. When we go to different countries for the national team we would take her with us and she can do online school." Christen explained.
"Okay I like how you have this all thought out and I have noticed that she has not even moved since I've walked into the room so I know she is comfortable with you. So if you both would like to sign here you can be the legal guardians of Zari Tame. You would have to schedule a meeting with the judge for you to officially adopt her '' He explained, sliding the papers and a pen across the table.
Christen grabbed the pen and signed the paper after reading it through carefully, then slid it over to me. I kept one arm around the child in my lap and signed the paper with the pen with the other. Christen took the pen and paper and slid it back over to Tyler who took it and slid it back into his briefcase. "I'll leave you ladies to it, have a good night" he said, standing up and walking out.
A couple minutes later Jess came back in "Hi you're free to go now if you wish, but we may be in touch" She said, then walked out again. I slid my arm under Zari's legs and stood up holding Zari in my arms bridal style. We all made our way towards the door with Alex going first, Chris behind her, me carrying Zari behind her and Ash at the back.
Chris held the door as I walked through with Zari. We walked out of the station and back to the car, Ash and Alex got in the front again whilst Christen opened the door for me again and I carefully got in. She shut the door and walked round to her side and got in. Ash started the car and we started the journey back to the hotel.
"What are we gonna tell the others?" Alex asked no one particular "The truth" Zari spoke up, for the first time in a while startling all of us. "Okay do you wanna do it?" Christen asked "Not really" Zari mumbled before yawning. "Why don't I take you up to our room, whilst Ash and Alex talk to the team and you babe can talk to Jill" I suggested to which the others agreed and I felt Zari nod against my chest.
After that conversation was over Alex put some songs on, until we reached the hotel where we pulled into the garage. Where Ash pulled into the same spot that we left and killed the engine. We all got out of the car and walked to the lobby of the hotel where we split ways. I took zari up to mine and Christens room and laid her down on the bed.
"Zari..Zari wake up" I said, shaking her gently. I never even realised she had fallen asleep, I kept shaking her until I saw her eyes start to open. "Hey kiddo it's time you get ready for bed all you really need to do is take your pants off then you can sleep. You don't have a toothbrush but we can get your stuff tomorrow okay" I said helping her sit up and walk into the bathroom.
I heard the door unlock before Christen walked in "Hey how is she?" She asked "She's okay. She's just getting ready for bed, she fell asleep in my arms and I never noticed" I replied, smiling "That's adorable babe" She said, pecking my lips, "Now let's get ready for bed I know were all exhausted" she walked over to her suitcase and pulled out her pj's, just as Zari walked out of the bathroom sleepily.
"Hey sweetheart you ready for bed?" Chris asked Zari, who only nodded in response due to how tired she was. I walked over to the bed that she would be sleeping in and pulled back the sheets "Come on get in '' I said and that she did. She snuggled into the sheets as soon as I tucked her in. She fell asleep quickly, the poor girl was exhausted.
I quickly got changed and did my night time routine and then slipped into bed next to Chris. "You're gonna be a great mom Tobs" She whispered to me "So will you baby" I replied before cuddling into her and swiftly falling asleep.
Middle of the night
Christen's POV
I woke to the sound of whimpering and sat up in bed, to see Zari tossing and turning in her bed. I shook Tobin before climbing out of bed and rushing over to Zari and climbing on to her bed to hold her. I pulled her into my lap and held her tight as she struggled. I saw Tobin sit up in bed and look over at us then jump out of bed, now fully awake and aware of what was happening.
"I think she's having a nightmare, we need to wake her up" I said to Tobin, who nodded. "Zari... Kiddo you gotta wake up, it's just a dream. Me and Christen are with you your safe I promise. Whatever is happening right now Zari, is not real. You've gotta wake up" Tobin said to Zari loudly. I saw Zari's eyes start to flicker open and pulled her up in my lap, so her head was resting against my shoulder. "Hey sweetheart you're okay we're here" I said, as she opened her eyes fully.
She pressed herself against me as if wanting to be closer and so I decided to lie down with Zari's head on my chest and her by my side. "You gonna join us?" I ask Tobin who seems to just be sitting there awkwardly. She smiles and slips in on the other side of Zari and pulls the covers over us all. Soon we all fall into a peaceful sleep.
The next day
I woke up first and found that I had someone on top of me asleep. Zari's head was tucked under my chin and she was gripping my shirt as if I was gonna disappear. I smiled when I remembered that she was now my daughter. I gently slipped out from underneath the girl and peeled her hand off my shirt. I walked back over to my bed and picked up my phone from the nightstand and found I had a lot of messages from the team.
Squirrel: PREATH YOU HAVE A KID!!! CONGRATS
Pinoe: Zari's very lucky to have you
Ali: Thank you guys. I was gonna ask if you hadn't
Lex: ^ Really?
Ali: Yeah the kid obviously needed someone and I wanted to help her
Pookie: Yeah Alex we talked about it and I felt the same way but Pressy and Tobs got there first
Allie: Congrats Harry
Lindsey: well done guys
JJ: Congrats Pressy and you too Tobin
Rose: More young people!
Sonny: Exactly what I was thinking rose :)
Lex: No Sonnet you are not making Zari do pranks with you
Sonny: Awww but it would be fun
Carli: No Emily. And congrats guys
Becky: ^
Abby: ^^
Lyss: Emily please don't do anything stupid. And you guys are gonna do great as parents
Sam: CONGRATS!!!
T: ^
Mal: Your gonna be the best parents I just know it <3
Jess: Parenting is hard but you'll be amazing
Pressy: Thank you guys for all the support
Carli: Were always here if you need us Christen
I turned off my phone and grabbed new clothes for today and went to ump in the shower. When I got out of the bathroom I looked at my phone. It's almost time to get ready for school so I decided to wake up Tobin and Zari so we didn't miss team breakfast. "Tobs... baby" I said, shaking Tobin awake. She groaned but opened her eyes "It's time to wake up baby" I said, pecking her lips then walking around to Zari's side of the bed and stroked the hair out of her face "Zari sweetheart you need to wake up now" I said.
"Tobin make sure she gets up she has school today" I said before walking out of the room. I took the lift down to the lobby and went to the breakfast room. When I entered most of the girls were already there "MORNING PRESSY!" Kelly shouted across the room "Good morning Squirrel" I said back knowing she would shut up if I called her that and she did. I walked past everyone and went up to the trainers table where Jill was drinking some coffee "Good morning Christen, how can I help you?" She asked "Morning coach, I'm sure you heard about Zari and I was wondering if me and Tobin could go to the school today as I'm worried about her" I explained.
"I'm sure we can figure something out and grab some breakfast. I'm gonna announce who's going today in a minute" She said, I was about to walk away when she spoke up again, "Oh Christen, Where is Tobin and Zari?" She asked "There's still up in the room but should be down in a minute, we had a bit of a long night" I replied, to which she nodded and I walked over to Alex and sat in the spare seat next to her.
"Hey how was your night?" She asked "Not good really, Zari had a nightmare and we all ended up in the same bed. Which is kinda cute." I replied honestly "Sounds like you could use some coffee" Alex said, standing up and grabbing me a cup of coffee, which she handed to me "Thanks Lex" I said as I took a sip.
I was sitting talking with Alex Ash and the other veterans when two people walked through the door. "Lovely of you to join us" Ash said to the two sleepy women "Shut it Ash" Tobin said unhappily, "Tobin watch your language there's a kid in the room" Ash said back. "I realy don't give a fuck if you swear in front of me. I'm sixteen not three" Zari said, obviously in a mood from being awake so early.
I stand up and walk over to both my girls and I give my coffee to Tobin and Zari's hand. "We understand you're sixteen but you don't need to swear to prove your point" I said to her "Sorry" She replied hanging her head "It's okay lets go get you some breakfast" I said pulling her to the buffet and giving her a plate.
"Can you help me?" She asked me timidly "Of course, why don't you just have some toast and a bowl of fruit" I suggested to which she nodded why don't you go and sit with Alex and Tobin whilst I get you this okay" I said and she nodded before walking away and sitting on Alex's lap to which Alex smiled and wrapped her arms around her.
I smiled at the sight, then grabbed Zari's breakfast and made my way back over to the table placing the food down in front of Zari. She swiveled round in Alex's lap and started eating. We missed dinner last night, so I'm not surprised shes hungry. I then walk over and sit down in Tobins lap taking the coffee from her hand and taking a sip.
"Okay ladies listen up" Jill said, catching everyone's attention "So the list of girls going to the school today are:
Ashlyn Harris
Alyssa Naeher
Julie Ertz
Carli Lloyd
Tobin Heath
Emily Sonnett
Alex Morgan
Christen Press
and Mallory Pugh
Everyone else you have a free day but please let me know if you're leaving the hotel" After Jill made her announcement a lot of people got up with friends to decide what to do for the day, whilst the ones going to Zari's school all gathered around our table.
"Okay so when are we leaving?" Sonnett asked "Pretty soon, we need to get Zari to school in time for her first lesson. Alex and Ash do you guys wanna go with her to her first lesson, me and Tobin need to talk to the principal" I said.
"yeah we can do that right Ash" Alex asked Ashlyn "Of course we can" Ash replied. "What do us other people do?" Emily asked "Well we have a PE lesson to plan Sonnett" Alyssa replied for me. We sat around talking for a bit until I checked my phone and realised we don't have long until we have to go. "Okay everyone, make sure you're ready, it's nearly time to go" I said to everyone.
I grabbed the empty plate and bowl that Zari had used and put them away. I walked back over to the table and grabbed Zari's hand "Come on we need to get you ready, you to Toby" I said, walking away with Zari and Tobin trailing behind. We walked up to the lift and then rode it up to our floor.
I swiped my keycard and opened our room's door letting the two behind me into the room. "Zari grab your bag and Tobin grab what you need and quickly" I instructed, and they did what they were told. Once we had everything we made our way back to the lobby, where the rest of the group were already standing.
"Everybody ready?" I asked "Yep I have the key to the car as well" Alyssa replied "Okay cool lets go" I said. The group all made our way to the car and got in. Alyssa was in the driver's seat with Carli next to her. Julie, Emily and Mal are in the back, and me, Alex, Christen and Zari were sat in the middle. Zari was sitting in Alex's lap as there weren't enough seats but she didn't seem to mind. Ash decided to take her own car so as not to be a hassle.
Alyssa started the engine and pulled out of the garage. "So Zari, how do you feel about going to your old house and collecting your things?" I asked her "Will you be there?" She asked "Of course you can bring whoever you want" I replied "Then okay that's fine, but where would I put my stuff?" She asked "Well you can leave your stuff at my house or Ash and Ali's or a bit of both" Alex explained, to which Zari nodded in understanding.
"So Z what's your first lesson?" Emily asked "First of all did you just call me Z?" Zari asked "Yes. Yes I did" replied Sonnett obviously proud of herself "Okayyyy well my first lesson is Economics" Zari replied "Oh nice" Sonnett said. Soon we pulled into the parking lot of Zari's school and Alyssa killed the engine.
Let's get this day underway.