Morgana's POV
I spent the next morning and afternoon in D.C. with the Ashley's and Trinity. We went out to breakfast and took a few pictures before they took me to the airport and gave me a speech about how I need to take care of Mal and how I can't do stuff like this.
I told them I wouldn't let them down, and I'd see them in a few weeks. We exchanged big hugs and I boarded my plane.
I brought Mal cookies from her favorite place in D.C, as well as my favorite type of cookies, Hatchy's homemade.
I hope she's not mad at me, which she definitely is.
I burst into our house, leaving my shit by the door and walked straight into the living room where she was sitting.
"Mal, I'm ready to be done with whatever selfish bullshit I was going through. I'm ready to be fucking responsible for once and take care of you every minute I possibly can. I'm with you 100% in this recovery process and I will do whatever you need to get you back on the field as soon as you're ready."
"Thank you Morgana." She said, tears in her eyes. "I was starting to get worried that-"
I sat down and hugged her, not letting her finish that statement.
"It's always you, Mal." I tucked her hair behind her ear and grabbed her face, looking her dead in the eye. "Always you. Forever."
She kissed me to finish off our moment. Then her parents came in, and she pushed me away like I was her secret high school boyfriend or something.
"Look what I brought you." I smiled, running to the door to grab the cookies from her favorite bakery and the cookies Hatchy gave me.
"You're gonna share those, right?" Her dad asked, diving his hand into the cookie tin. "I've heard too much about Hatchy's cookies to not try one."
We all laughed and I sat back down, flipping through the channels.
I was happy everything was cleared up.
I was just happy.
----------
A few long weeks passed. The Red Stars were beginning to crumble. We'd lost 2 of our last 3 games and the other was a tie.
I was really, really struggling without Mal. Like having the hardest possible time. I got subbed at halftime of our last game because I was so frustrated with the way I was playing.
Her birthday was April 29th, and it was her 21st. She didn't want to do anything at all, so I bought a cake and we ate it with her parents and her sister's family flew in. She said she'd wait for my 21st to go to the bar with me.
By our 4th game without Mal, she was at the games without crutches but still wearing a tough brace. Her recovery was going well thankfully, though it wasn't easy at all. She was still in pain through PT, but she said she started to feel better overall.
At this point, I was playing so poorly that Mal was the only thing keeping me going. I felt run down and completely exhausted all the time.
I had less than a month until World Cup consideration, so I needed to step it up.
On the night of May 22nd, I got a text from John, Chloe's husband.
We'd just won 2-1 in an afternoon game in Portland, I put up both goals, the second one coming in the last 3 minutes of the game after we were tied 1-1.
I played like my old self again. Mal was right there on the bench, and I felt more relaxed and less pressured. I just felt great that day, for the first time in a long time.
After the game, I figured out why.
"Morgana. Morgana!" Mal called to me once the whistle blew and I broke away from my teammate's hugs.
"What's up?" I walked over to where she was standing, smiling down at her phone. Her face was all lit up and bright. It hasn't been like that in a long time.
"We're not going back go Chicago."
"What?"
"I booked us a 2 flights to Denver."
"What??"
"Chloe had the baby."
----------
Mal's POV
We made it to Denver by 8:30 and went straight to the hospital. Morgana was jumping around, completely bouncing off the walls.
"Hayley's a big sister! Hayley's a big sister!" She sung as we walked through the hallway to the room. "Okay Mal. Okay. Mal. Mal."
"First of all, Morgana, you need to calm down." I laughed, her beautiful blue eyes blazing so bright. "And second of all, what's up?"
"Do you think it's gonna be a boy or a girl?"
"Definitely a boy."
"I wonder why Chloe or John or my parents haven't sent pictures yet. That's weird. They love pictures. I-"
"Morgana, please." I said, grabbing her hand as we found the room. "You need to be calm now. Take a deep breath."
"You never answered the question though."
"I think it's a boy." I said calmly, rubbing the back of her hand with my thumb. "Now let's go in and be calm, okay? I can't imagine how stressful having a newborn is."
She nodded and squeezed my hand as we walked into the room.
I saw Chloe holding a baby in the hospital bed.
I also saw John holding a baby.
"Heyyy!" Morgana said. I don't even think she noticed at first.
"Is there two babies or am I drunk?" I whispered.
"I think I see two."
"That's two."
"Definitely two."
"Did you guys steal someone's baby?" I asked.
"No, Mal." Chloe laughed. "There's two here. Little girls."
Morgana's hand flew to her mouth. She seemed in shock.
"You didn't tell me there would be two of them!!!" She said, tears in her eyes. "I'm an aunt to THREE now!"
Morgana freaked out some more and ran to Chloe as I walked over to John, who was holding one of the girls.
When I looked up, Morgana, Hayley, Chloe, and Mrs. LaRue were all looking at the one baby, and it was like looking at the same person at four different ages.
"They really look alike don't they?"
"Strong genes." He laughed.
"So did you know you were having twins?"
"We did, we just chose not to tell anyone."
"So do you have names yet?" Morgana asked, which ended my conversation with John. "I've got a suggestion."
"I swear, if you say your own name..." Chloe shook her head at Morgana, who looked defeated.
"Ooh! What about-"
"Your middle name?"
"How'd you know?"
"I just know you too well."
"Well you do have to name them before you leave the hospital, so you always have those to fall back on."
"Got it." Laughed Chloe.
We each took turns holding the babies and there were a lot of pictures taken before going back to the LaRue's house for bed. Mr. LaRue took us and Hayley to sleep over.
"You know, Mal."
"What Morg?"
"They were born on the 22nd. There's two of them. And I scored twice today."
"That's-"
"I wonder if I summoned the other baby."
"Oh my..." I just laughed, and so did she. "You're such a child."
"I didn't even finish my first year of college."
"I think that would have done you well, love."
"Or maybe I've been spending too much time talking to Ashley."
"That's always possible."
We both laughed as we got changed. She went to the bathroom to take out her contacts and switch into her cute glasses. I climbed into her bed and scrolled on my phone until she came in and laid next to me.
"Should we go get something for Chloe tomorrow?" I asked her as she got under the covers. She turned to face me after putting her glasses on the bedside table.
"Definitely. But that's a tomorrow problem."
"For sure."
"I'm exhausted." She yawned.
I flipped over so I could turn off the lamp on my bedside table.
"I love you." She said when I flipped back.
"I love you too."
She turned away after giving me a quick kiss.
I was exhausted, but I couldn't fall asleep, and clearly she couldn't either.
"Mal?" She whispered about 10 minutes after I turned the light off.
"What's up?"
"If we ever decide to have a baby, can we name her after my sister?"
"Wouldn't that get confusing?"
"No, I'm talking about Lena."
"I'd love that."
"Me too."