You can't be my mum (a Lucy Bronze fanfic) - Book 1

Chapter 4 - forever and always

The next day...
Lucy Bronze's POV:

It has been 15 years without her. 15 years today. In those 15 years, I hadn't gone a day without thinking about her. My Rosie.

Today was the 5th of December. We had a game against Austria later today in the very place my daughter was born all those years ago. Was she still here? Would she be at the game?

I woke up earlier than usual, I couldn't sleep at all because of the millions of thoughts and questions eating away at my brain. Keira was already in the shower so I decided to go on my phone for a bit, hoping to take my mind off of things. The lionesses Instagram page had posted a picture 10 minutes ago with the caption : who's coming today??. There were 180 comments already, with eager fans hoping to get noticed. I scrolled through a few 'me!' 's and liked them. I must have gone through around 100 when Keira came out the shower but I hadn't come across an account with the name I was subconsciously looking for, "you okay?" My girlfriend asked with one eyebrow raised. I threw my phone down on the bed and sighed, "you're wondering if she'll be there today aren't you?" She asked even though she already knew the answer, "how could I not? I know it would have been the wrong decision to keep her, my career was just taking off, but I can't help but miss her everyday, I thought it would get easier with time but it hasn't", I finally let off my chest. Keira now stood in front of the bed holding out a hand for me to grab. She pulled me off the bed and lightly pushed me into the bathroom, "come on, we've got a game to win" she smiled, "if she is there, she at least deserves a win from us".

After breakfast, the whole team piled on to the coach and we set off for the stadium which was only 10 minutes drive away.

Arriving at the stadium brought back so many memories, happy and sad ones. This is the place I made my first senior debut but also the last place I took Rosie before I handed her over to the foster care system at 10 days old. That was the last time I had seen her, I wondered what she looked like now. Would I recognise her? Would she look like me? Did she play football?

Rosie's POV:

Earlier this morning, Amelia had texted me to let me know her mum had managed to persuade my parents to let me go. If I'm being honest, I think they just want me out of the house and out of their way today because it was a Saturday.

I whispered happy birthday to myself as I clambered out of bed and grabbed my concealer to cover all the black and blue mounds that had appeared over night after last night's beating. I managed to cover the smaller ones but when it came to the bigger, more visible ones, it was a struggle.

My parents were both still in bed so I had a 5 minute shower just in case I met my idols, I didn't want to smell bad in front of them. That would just be embarrassing. I pulled on a pair of black leggings and a pastel pink hoodie after I had shoved my still wet hair into a bun. I grabbed my old, dirty white converse and made my way down the stairs to the front door as quickly as I could, I didn't want to get involved in confrontation before I left.

I sat outside on the step and waited for Amelia's mum's car to pull up. It was bitterly cold and my coat was inside so I texted Amelia : can you bring me breakfast and a spare coat pls, left mine at school X. I was trying to hide my excitement for today but inside, my entire body was jumping up and down, buzzing with energy.

Finally, a big, white Audi came rumbling up the street and I hopped in the back seat next to Amelia. She held out the coat but paused, "but first..." She pulled out 2 England football shirts from her bag. One had 'Bronze' on the back and the other had 'Hemp'. She handed the 'Bronze' one to me and said, "dad bought them for us especially for the match". I hugged mine before putting it under my hoodie and smiled at her, "thank you so much! I can't believe it!". She reached back into her bag and handed me a frosties cereal bar while smiling, "mum said to bring you something nutritional, but I knew you loved these".

I opened Instagram and saw that the lionesses had posted the lineup for today. The only name I was looking for, was there in bold lettering, Lucy bronze. I could already feel that today was going to be such a good day and no one would get in the way of it.