Surfer Girl 2 // A.I (completed)

thirty

< Saturday >

{ Tatum }

My last tournament. My very last tournament.

I was getting a bit emotional standing on this beach. This is my last time competitive surfing, but I know I'm doing the right thing in retiring from the sport.

"Baby?" Ashton spoke, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me and placing his chin on my shoulder, "You okay?"

"Lots of emotion," I told him. I felt him nod then he kissed my cheek,

"Where are the kids?" I asked, turning to face him,

"With Chris. He's giving them cookies"

I laughed,

"Now they'll be high on sugar all day"

"I know" Ashton chuckled, "Our friends are on their way. Mike and Crys are bringing Noah too"

"The kids will love that" I smiled just as I heard my name being called from the tent that the kids were hanging out in with Chris.

Ashton and I made our way back and I grinned when I saw Avery and Krew. Both were wearing my surf jersey, but on the back of theirs it said 'Mommy' instead of 'Kahole' or 'Irwin',

"You guys look so cute" I gushed, kneeling down and hugging them both,

"Chwis gave us dem" Krew told me,

"Did you say thank you?"

Avery nodded and I stood back up,

"Okay, I have to go do a bunch of stuff. Stay with Daddy"

They nodded and I gave them both kisses then kissed Ashton and headed off to do interviews and such.

{ Ashton }

Tatum was about to head out into the water when all our friends showed us. Avery, Krew, and Noah shared the cutest hug before they sat in the sand,

"Is she about to head out?" Michael asked,

"Yeah. She's going now" I smiled and pointed to where she was paddling out,

"Is she sad or happy about retiring?" Sierra questioned,

"I think both. She's sad to leave the sport but she's happy she'll be able to be home with the kids and me and stuff"

We looked back to the water and Tatum immediately started catching waves. She was absolutely killing it too.

She caught one wave and wiped out, but popped right back up and paddled out. She turned right when the perfect wave hit, but she didn't take it.

She was taking longer than usual to catch a wave, and I was concerned. She never does that. Suddenly she hopped up oddly but successfully rode the wave in.

As she paddled back out, Chris came walked over to me,

"Somethings wrong with her," he told me, making my eyes furrow, "She's surfing with her right foot back. She never does that"

I looked back to Tatum and noticed what he was saying,

"She's not applying like any pressure on her front foot" I spoke, "She's hurt"

Chris nodded and gave me a sad look. I looked to my friends who were already reading my mind,

"If something is wrong, we've got Avery and Krew" Luke assured. I nodded and followed Chris to the edge of the water where Tatum was paddling in.

As she got closer, I noticed she was crying. I reached her and knelt down, not caring that I was getting wet,

"Somethings wrong," she told me, "It's my knee"

Chris crouched down and gently grabbed her left leg, but that small touch and movement made Tatum jump and squeeze her eyes shut from pain,

"ACL" Chris whispered to me, "The same one too"

I sighed but nodded. Tatum heard him and looked at me,

"It's okay. We will get it taken care of" I promised as I carefully picked her up and followed Chris to the medical tent.

I sat her on the chair and one of the medics started looking at her knee. Tatum just stared blankly in front of her, tears falling from her eyes. I know she's crying from pain, but I think there's more to it. It's her last tournament and she's hurt. She didn't get to finish her last tournament.

The medic did some movement with her knee and Tatum all but screamed,

"Your ACL is definitely torn. I don't think we even need MRI's to tell. Head over to the medical center and I'll give the WSL surgeon a call. We'll get in you fast" he told us. I nodded and watched how crushed Tatum was,

"Where are the kids?" She asked me,

"With Luke and Sierra. They said they'd take care of the kids" I told her,

"I wanna see them"

I nodded and texted Luke, telling him to bring Avery and Krew to the medical tent while Chris went to grab all of Tatum's stuff.

Avery and Krew got here quickly with Luke and Sierra. The toddlers hugged Tatum carefully,

"You huwt Mommy?" Krew pouted,

"I am but I'm okay. I got to go to the doctor so the doctor can fix my owie" she explained,

"We go too?" Avery asked,

"No honey. You guys are going with Luke and Sierra. Daddy has to help Mommy so he's going to be with me" she told them. They nodded and hugged Tatum,

"I love you" she whispered,

"Love you Mommy" the twins responded.

****

As soon as we got to the hospital, they took Tatum into a room. Now we are waiting for the surgeon to get there. Luckily we were going to get her knee fixed pretty quickly. Pro athletes to get a perk in that.

I sat on the bed next to Tatum and let her lay against me. She huffed and held my arm to her chest,

"Want to talk baby?" I asked, kissing her head and reassuringly rubbing her thigh,

"I'm pissed. That was my last tournament and I couldn't finish" she spoke angrily,

"I know" I sighed and let both my arms hold her, "I'm sorry"

I was going to say more but the surgeon walked in,

"You ready? Let's get this going so we can get you out of here and home with those cute kiddos of yours" he smiled. Tatum nodded and I got off the bed,

"I love you" I whispered,

"I love you too"

****

After an hour, a nurse came and got me and took me back to Tatum's recovery room. Tatum was awake but very groggy. Her IV was still in her arm and her knee was hooked up to a large ice machine just like the last time she tore her ACL.

"She's okay. She just started waking up. I do want to keep her the rest of the night considering it's pretty late"

I thanked the surgeon and the nurses then they headed out, leaving me with my wife,

"Hi baby. You okay?" I asked,

"I'm sleepy" she hummed and shivered, "And cold"

I laughed and got in the bed with her. I pulled the blanket up and held my arms around her,

"Get some more sleep. We get to go home in the morning"