Epilogue
Six months later…
The late June sun beat down across the pitch as Emma shaded her eyes with her hand, her heart pounding harder than it ever had during her own sport tournaments. She wasn’t the one out there in shin pads and with grazed knees, but in a way, she felt as though she was.
Vanessa gave her a nudge, holding out a lukewarm bottle of water. “You’re sweating more than the players.”
Emma blew out a breath and took the water. “That’s because my entire life, aside from you, is out there running around in a number nine shirt.” Emma followed every move Freya made. “God, look at her, babe. She’s everywhere.”
Vanessa followed Emma’s line of sight to Freya, who had just intercepted the ball with precision. She sprinted down the wing, braids flying behind her, her eyes fixed on the goal.
“She’s brilliant,” Vanessa said with a proud smile. “I wonder where she gets it from.”
Emma snorted. “Me, obviously. Have you seen me play in the staff five-a-side?”
“Oh, I have. It was unforgettable,” Vanessa teased, sipping her water. “That was the game when you nearly knocked poor Mr Hammond out with that impressive shot.”
“Mmhmm. That was the one.” Emma winked as she stepped a little closer to Vanessa. She dipped her mouth towards her ear and said, “And I remember your reaction.”
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly recall that day.”
Emma slid her hand into the back pocket of Vanessa’s jeans, inconspicuously squeezing. “That was the night when you were so overcome with me in a football kit that I was a shaking mess on the living room floor by the time you’d finished with me.”
Vanessa lifted a hand and patted Emma’s cheek lightly. “Not now, baby. I have no way of replicating it.”
As Emma turned her attention back to the match, the crowd around them erupted into cheers. Freya had blasted the ball straight into the bottom corner, a goal so clean it even had the opposition’s parents clapping.
Emma cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Yes! Come on, Freya!”
Freya quickly glanced over from the pitch, grinning as she jogged back to her team. The pride that swelled in Emma’s chest was almost unbearable. She settled her nerves again, but not before wiping a stray tear from her cheek.
Vanessa leaned close, her lips brushing her ear. “I’m very impressed by your sister’s talents.”
“My sister.” Emma was still getting used to that, but she didn’t care.
The final whistle blew twenty minutes later, the score three-nil.
Emma was hoarse from shouting, and Vanessa had given up pretending not to be equally invested, her palms stinging from continuous clapping.
Parents, grandparents, and siblings swarmed the sidelines, the field suddenly alive with celebration.
Freya’s team had won the league…and she’d been the one to lead them to the victory.
Not only was she the captain of the team, but she’d scored all three goals, too.
Emma jogged onto the pitch with Vanessa at her side, craning her neck above the mass of kids, coaches, and parents. Then she saw Freya, sweaty and flushed, holding up a trophy almost bigger than her head.
Emma’s breath caught.
“Top Goal Scorer,” the coach announced. “Twenty-three this season with seventeen assists!”
Freya looked straight at Emma as though the whole pitch had vanished, her grin brighter than anything Emma had ever witnessed in her life. “Did you hear that?!” she shouted.
Emma laughed as tears blurred her vision. “Oh, I heard! You’re unstoppable!”
Vanessa clapped beside her, calling out, “We’ll need to build you a trophy cabinet at this rate!”
Laughter rippled around them, and then the coach held up a plaque.
“And Players’ Player of the Season, voted by her teammates, goes to Freya Fields.”
Freya froze for a second, her eyes wide as she stared back at Emma, then clutched the plaque to her chest. She was stunned and overwhelmed, and Emma realised just how young she looked in that moment.
“Players’ player,” Vanessa whispered. “That’s the one that matters.”
Emma nodded as tears streamed down her face. “Yeah. That’s the one.”
Freya ducked away from her teammates and jogged straight over, her trophy and plaque clutched awkwardly in her arms. “Look!” she gasped, breathless. “Emma, Vanessa, look! Look what I got from my team. They like me!”
Emma crouched and brushed Freya’s sweaty hair back from her forehead. “Freya, I’ve never been prouder in my life.” Her voice cracked. “Not just because you scored goals, but because your teammates love you so much that they voted for you. That’s massive, kid. That’s everything.”
Freya’s lip wobbled as she launched herself forward, knocking Emma back onto the grass. “I love you. Thanks for coming to watch me all this season.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Emma held her tight, overwhelmed by the weight of the moment. “And I love you, too.”
“I love you both.” Vanessa crouched beside them, resting a hand on Freya’s back. “Freya, you’re a superstar. Don’t forget me in your victory speeches.”
Freya giggled into Emma’s shoulder before pulling back. “I won’t.” She turned, proudly holding her trophies out to Vanessa. “Here. Hold these before I drop them.”
Vanessa took them carefully. “Your mum and dad are going to have a job finding somewhere to put all of this if you keep scoring so many goals each season.”
Freya lifted a shoulder. “That’s okay. I can put some on the shelf in my bedroom at yours.”
“You absolutely can.” Vanessa tweaked Freya’s nose and winked. “Now, who wants to go out for dinner on the way home? My treat.”
“Yes, please. I’d like that.”
“Perfect. Then we should make it back in time for Carmen and Ben to call you from Cyprus.”
Emma’s stomach growled as they stepped inside the restaurant, the infusion of garlic and caramelised onion teasing her from the open kitchen.
A cluster of kids in the corner still had their shin pads on, their socks shoved down to the ankles, and someone had draped a captain’s armband over the back of a chair like it was a medal. It made her want to cry all over again.
They were shown to a booth by the window. Vanessa slid in first, then Emma, then Freya, who seemed to be bouncing rather than sitting. She’d insisted on bringing the Players’ Player plaque in with her, tucking it carefully beside her on the seat like another person had joined them.
“We need to get a picture with it,” Vanessa reached into her bag for her phone. “Before it’s covered in greasy fingerprints.”
Freya grinned. “Take loads, please. I’m going to send one to literally everyone.”
A waitress appeared with a pen at the ready. “Celebrating?”
Freya sat up straight, her hands folded in her lap. “We won the league, and I got two awards,” she announced as she patted the plaque. “Players’ Player and Top Goal Scorer.”
“Blimey,” the waitress said with a smile. “Well done, you. Shall we start you off with a big jug of lemonade?”
“Can we do that?” Freya glanced at Emma. “And please may I have the sharing platter for two, but just for me? I’m really starving now.”
Emma didn’t even pretend to hesitate. “You order whatever you like.”
Vanessa lifted a brow at the waitress. “And when she says the sharing platter is just for her, she means it.”
“Understood.” The waitress grinned. “We’ll bring a bowl of veg for the adults. That should make them happy.”
“Oi,” Emma said, laughing. “I’ll have the penne arrabbiata. Extra chilli.”
“Risotto for me,” Vanessa added. “And yes, the veg bowl, please.”
They ordered a jug of lemonade for Freya, a Coke for Emma, and a glass of red for Vanessa. When the waitress left, Freya tucked the plaque closer and slumped back against the back of the booth, happiness written all over her face.
They were chatting amongst themselves when the first wave of food landed.
The sharing platter was a ridiculous mountain of mozzarella sticks, chicken strips, potato wedges, onion rings, garlic bread, battered mushrooms, and something that smelled suspiciously like barbeque ribs. Freya’s eyes widened.
“Beast mode,” she whispered, then picked up a mozzarella stick and bit into it, molten cheese stringing from her lip. As she pulled the plate closer, she grinned. “Oh, my God. This is the best day of my life.”
“Better than Christmas?” Vanessa asked as she leaned in.
Freya paused. “Well, equal best. Today I have awards.”
“We’ve peaked,” Emma said, helping herself to an onion ring when Freya wasn’t looking. She’d get caught. She always did. “It’s all downhill from here.”
“I just like being with you both, no matter what we’re doing. All my days are the best days lately,” Freya said around a mouthful, then swallowed and reached across the table to smack Emma’s wrist lightly. “Stop stealing my onion rings.”
“You said sharing platter,” Emma protested, completely bypassing what Freya had just said. If she thought about it, she’d be a blubbering mess at the table.
“For me,” Freya corrected, her fingers curling protectively around the plate. “You can have the mushrooms.”
“Ohhh, I see how it is.”
Emma and Vanessa’s food arrived, but Emma found herself staring at Freya instead of enjoying her meal.
If she could pin this moment to a corkboard in her memory, then she would.
Ten times over. Freya had changed so much since Christmas.
She walked a little taller, she seemed a little more confident in herself, and the edges of childhood had started to soften into whatever came next. But her smile was still the same.
Vanessa tapped the screen of her phone, then angled it towards Emma. “Carmen has just texted me. They’re by the sea and said they’d like to FaceTime now if it’s possible.”
Freya’s head shot up from her plate. “Can I?”
“Of course.” Vanessa was already pressing call.
The ringtone sounded a few times, and then Carmen’s face appeared as she squinted against the sun. Ben’s shoulder was visible behind her, and the background was impossibly blue sky and the kind of water that made you think of postcards and summery cocktails.