Forever & Always

7. Meeting the family

Time Skip*

I had my phone call with my like cousin. We then warmed up and after that the matched kicked off.
Kick off 0-0
14' goal for Lauren hemp
37' goal for Caroline Weir
Half time 2-0 to city
55' goal for Keira Walsh
Full time Man City 3-0 West Ham

When the match was over I went around and shook everyone's hand. We all gathered in the middle of the field and Gareth gave us a pep talk.
When that was over he told us all to enjoy our 2 weeks holidays and when he said that I immediately locked eyes with Keira and we both smiled at each other. When the huddle broke, I walked straight over to her.
"Congrats on your goal" I said as I hugged her
"Thanks" she said as she hugged me back tightly
"Do we need to leave straight away" she asked and I could see that's she was really tired.
"You have time for a shower if you need it" I said smiling at her as we broke away from our hug

All of us headed into the dressing room to clean ourselves up before we headed home. When Keira was out of the shower and ready yo go we left the cfa and grabbed our suitcases out of our cars and got a taxi to the airport. The air port wasn't very busy considering that it was 3:00 pm on a Friday, therefore we make it through security quickly and we were on the plane in no time.
The minute the plane took off Keira fell asleep, it was only a 40 minute flight but I knew that she needed that sleep because she was tired.

When the plane landed I woke Keira up and we got off. The airport that we are at isn't very big, I mean we are Ireland😂, which mean that it was very quick on this side as-well and we were out in about 20 minutes.
"You ok" I ask Keira as she looks very tired
"Yeah I'm just tired" she said as she laid her head on my shoulder as we were waiting for our rental car to come out.
"How long of a drive is it to your aunts house" Keira asked groggily
"About 30 minutes, is that ok"
"Yeah, that means we'll be there for about 5:00 so hopefully most of your family will still be there"
"Yeah, are you excited"
"Yeah" she said as she looked up at me and smiled "but still a bit nervous"
"Here you go miss" said the mechanic as he hands me the keys of our rental car
"Thank you" I say as I take the key as and put our suitcases in the boot before hitting the road.
It took Keira all of 2 minutes to fall asleep again, but I didn't mind as it gave me time to think about how I was going to start this whole surprise by ringing my mom and I had finally come up with the idea by the time we got to the end of my aunts estate.
I text Tara to left her I was here.

Leah🤍
Just letting you know that I'm at the end of the estate and I'm about to ring mom, I have a bit of a story planned so just go with it ok.

Tara❤️
Ok. See you soon😝

I gently placed my hand on Keira's leg and shook it.
"Kei, we're here" i said as she slowly opened her eyes
"Ok, are you ringing your mum now so"
"Yeah but I have something planned"
"Ok"

(Mum in bold & Leah in italics)
Hey mum
Hi love, congratulations ye all played great
Thanks mom, listens remember I told you I had a surprise for everyone
Yeah
We'll I'm going to tell you all now so whoever is there can you gather them all around you so they call all see the screen
Ok we're all here now love, why are you in a car
Because I left something at the training ground and Alex rang me to come back for it but she walking out to me here now so can I mute you for a second but don't let anyone go anywhere because I'm about to tell ye,
Yeah hurry up tho we're all waiting
I mute the phone for a second and me and Keira get out of the car and start walking into my aunts house, I keep the phone close to my face so they can't see the background because that would give it away. When we walk into the house we're trying to be really quiet and we walk into the kitchen, I can see everyone out the back all gathered around looking at the phone. I unmuted my phone and say
Ok is everyone ready
Yeah
I placed my phone one the kitchen window and turned the camera around so they could now see themselves, and I ran to the back door, they all looked a bit confused at first until I shouted
"IM HOME"
Everyone's attention turned to me and a few people started running at me and hugging me while some others started crying. Before I did anything else I reached back and grabbed Keira's had so she knew I wasn't ignoring her, I then saw my aunt walk over to her so I let it go and greeted a few more people. After greeting everyone I took a step back to take a breath and fix my hoodie, bearing in mind me and Keira were still in our city tracksuit.
"How did you even get here" one of my little cousins asks as everyone laughed
"Am we got on a flight straight after the match and then drove from the airport" i said as I turned and smiled at Keira, it was a bit awkward because we were both standing on a kind of step and everyone was just looking at us.
"By the way everyone" i sad getting everyone's attention "this is Keira, she's my teammate at city, her family are away for the week so I offered her a holiday to Ireland" I say laughing
"It's lovely to meet you all" Keira says shyly
"Come and sit down girls, yer probably exhausted" my other aunt Caroline says
We both walk over to the outside sofa and sit down, I could tell that Keira was really nervous.
"Do ye want something to drink or eat" Caroline asked us
"No I'm ok thank you" Keira says
"No I'm good thanks Car"
"Are ye sure"
"Actually can I have a drink" I say smiling "it's been a long day"
"Yeah of course what do you want"
"I'll have a Heineken please, do you want a drink kei" I ask softly while smiling at her
"Am no I'm ok thank you tho" she says putting her hand up indicating that she doesn't want anything.
I look down at her and smile, she was sitting quiet close to me on the couch, but I don't mind I know she's nervous and plus I like the physical contact.
"You ok" I asked concerned
"Yeah" she says as she smiles
"You have a big family" she said laughing
"Yeah I know" I replied laughing. She still looked really shy and nervous and I was kind of worried so I asked again
"You sure your ok kei"
Just before she could reply my aunt came over with my drink "here you go love"
"Thanks Car"
"Are you alright pet" she asked Keira looking at her smiling
"Yeah I'm just really tired" Kerri replied back smiling
"Sorry for interrupting, I'll let ye alone" she said smiling as she walked away. After she left I put my hand around Keira's shoulder and brought her closer to me. "What's really the matter kei" I asked worried about her
"I'm just really shy and I'm nervous that your family won't like me and I know what your going to be talking to them for the evening and will want nothing to do with me" she said sadly
"Don't think like that kei, my family are going to love you, and I'm not going anywhere, anybody who I talk to, I'll want them to talk to you to and get to know you, and I know that there going to like you as much as I do" I said and I could feel her smile against my chest.
My little cousin then came running over and jumped straight onto my lap. My hand was still around Keira and she was still cuddled up to me. "Who's that Lele" she asked as she cuddled into the other side of my chest looking at Keira.
"That's my friend Keira"
"She's very pretty" she said as if Keira couldn't hear her. Me and Keira both laughed.
"So are you" Keira said back to her
"Thanks" she smiled at Keira
"What your name" Keira asked her
"Nathalie" my little cousin said
"That's a lovely name" Keira said to her
"Thank you" she said smiling again
Nathalie looked up at me "Lele will you play princesses with me" she asked with her biggest smile
"Maybe later" I said laughing
"But I'll be in bed later"
"We'll then I'll come back tomorrow and play"
"Ok"
The three of us stayed in that position for awhile until some of my family called us over to talk to us.
We got up off the sofa and I made sure to wait for Keira, when Nathalie got up she gazed up at Keira and asked "can I hold your hand"
"Of course you can" Keira said and walked over holding her hand
"Why are ye hiding over there, come over here and talk to us" my uncle said as he pointed at the two chairs that were free for us to sit on. All my family were now sat in a big circle around a fire pit. The sun was just starting to set. This was kind of traditional in my family anytime that we were all together, we would all have a few drink, sit around a fire, have many conversations and at the end of the night we always had a sing song. This is what I loved most about family gatherings. When we went to sit down I made sure to pull Keira chair right up next to mine. I sat down and when Keira did Nathalie looked up at her and said "can I sit with you" while still holding Keira hand. "Yeah come on" Keira said as she lifted Nathalie onto her lap, Nathalie cuddled up to Keira and had her head on her chest as Keira had her hands around her. I think my heart melted a little bit in that moment. " I think she's found a new best friend" I say and everyone laughs, Keira just looks at me and smiles.
"So tell us Lee how have you been" my aunt Caroline asks.
"Yeah I've been good, been really busy, but glad to have a break because it's going to be hectic when we go back isn't it" I say looking at Keira and she nods
"How come it'll be hectic" my uncle asks
"We'll the first week after holiday we have a week of really intense training cuz we're playing arsenal that weekend" and then the week after we have the rescheduled England camp and then in between all that we have a lot of media stuff going on and I have a few other things lined up as-well"
"Are you going to tell them about the contract you have lined up" Keira asks smiling knowing that everyone was listening to us speak
"Oh yeah I actually have a pretty big contract waiting to be finalised"
"Wait are you moving clubs, please say your moving to Liverpool" my uncle James asks me because he's a massive Liverpool fan.
"No I'm not moving clubs" i reply laughing
"It's actually a sponsorship contract with Nike" I say and everyone started smiling and congratulating me
"So what does that mean" my Nan asked me
"It just means that I'll have a Nike account for any clothes of shoes or anything that I want and I can get it all for fee Nan"
"Oh very nice"
"And they'll give me all my football gear like boots and shin pads and stuff, so expect a lot of Nike clothes for any birthdays in the near future" i say sarcastically and everyone laughs.
The night was going very well, everyone was having a good laugh and people were starting to tell some funny story's and some were now starting to sing. Most of the kids had gone to bed but Nathalie was still in Keira's lap because she refused to leave her. She had fallen asleep about an hour ago but the two of them looked very comfortable.
"I think she might be getting cold Lee" Keira said to me because Nathalie was in a dress and I was a bit chilly outside.
"Do you think we should put her to bed"
"Yeah probably"
"Come on so" I said as I stood up to lead Keira inside to Nathalie's bedroom so she could put her in bed.
When Keira put her in she didn't even stir, she just rolled over and went straight to sleep.
"You ok" I asked as we closed Nathalie's bedroom door and we were stood alone in the hallway
"Yeah" she smiles and hugged me
"Are you still nervous"
"No not as much"
"That's good" i said as we began walking back outside and sat down.
"Is she ok" my aunt Tara (Nathalie's mum) asked
"Yeah she's sound asleep"
"I'm really sorry about her Keira, I've never seen her like that with anyone before except Leah"
"Oh it's ok I don't mind" Keira said smiling
"Are you sure you don't want a drink pet" Caroline asked Keira
"No I'm good thank you" Keira said sweetly
I looked over at Keira and smiled, every time I look at her everything else just disappears.
"You know there's some wicked blue in the fridge if you want some."
"What's that" she says laughing
"Oh yeah I forgot, do you know the drink you ordered at the restaurant the last day, you called it the blue drink"
"Oh yeah"
"We'll Ireland people call that wicked blue"
"Oh" she says laughing
The two of us just sit there gazing at each other making small talk for a few minutes
"So do you want a drink"
"Yeah" she says softly while smiling at me
"Car, do you mind if Keira has a bottle of your wicked blue and I'll buy you some more tomorrow" I asked my aunt
"No work away Keira, let your hair down girl your on holidays" my aunt says to Keira trying to make her feel comfortable and Keira laughs and thanks her.
I grab Keira's hand and lead her to the garage where the fridge and freezer are because that's where all the alcohol is. When we get in I grab her a bottle of wicked blue and I get a Heineken for myself and pop the tops. I hand her the bottle and say "cheers"
We clink them together and she replies "cheers"
We took a sip and smiled at each other. Keira looked around and realised that for the first time since getting here we were alone and no one could see us so she put her hands around my torso and buried her head into my chest, I put my hands around her shoulders and held her close.
"I think I overthought it a little, I shouldn't have been as nervous as I was"
"I told you, but I understand why you were"
She leans back out of the hug and looks at me "so what are the plans for the rest of the week"
"We'll I'm not sure yet, but whatever we do we'll probably have to bring Nathalie because she won't let you leave her side now"
I say as I gaze into her eyes smiling. I'm currently leaning backwards a little bit against the freezer and Keira is about 2 steps in from of me.
"She's really cute" she said
"Your really good with kids" i said gazing into her eyes.
"Do you think" she asked softly
"No I don't think so, I know so" I say laughing and she just laughs back.
"It's kind of cute if I'm honest" I say as I look down at the ground and blush a little before looking back up and biting my bottom lip while looking at her.
She takes a step closer to me and I can feel my breath hitch.
"Do you think so" she asks cheekily
"Yeah I do" I say as Keira takes another step so she's right in front of me and she slings her hands around my neck.
"I think you miss Leah might have baby fever" she says laughing as I can feel her two hands on the back of my neck.
"Yeah I think I might" I say and I decide to make a move, I put one hand on her waist and the other on her cheek and lean down and connect our lips. The kiss is passionate, almost like we were both desperate for it, we both pull away when the lack of air becomes a problem. We stay in the same position but just open our eyes and look at each other and smile, we stay like this until I hear my mom shout "come on you two, it can't take that long to get a drink" we both look at each other and laugh before heading back out to join my family.

The rest of the night consisted of singing and telling more stories until we were too tired to stay awake anymore, seeing as we only lived around the corner from my aunt, I decided to ask my mum for the key so we could go home to bed, we decided to say good night to everyone, when we were a few people informed me that they would all come from breakfast in the morning.
When we left the house we grabbed our suitcases out of the car to walk them down to the house with us because I couldn't drive as I was drinking, when we were walking down to my house I could see how tired Keira was, I reached over and grabbed her hand and squeezed it. When we finally reached the house I unlocked the door as fast as I could and we went straight to my bedroom. Keira opened her suitcase straight away to get her pyjamas on, I did the same thing and then went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I walked back into the room I made sure to close the door behind me and saw that Keira was already in bed.
"Awh are you ok" I asked softly as I got in to bed next to her. She turned her body so she was now facing me and she just nodded I wasn't fully convinced tho.
"You sure" I asked encouragingly
Before she could even say anything, she burst out crying.
"Awh kei come here" I said as I pulled her close to me, I tried to comfort her by rubbing circles on her back and kissing the top of her head every few seconds. She eventually calmed down and stopped crying. I pulled away a small bit so I could see her face but still kept a tight grip around her.
"What's the matter kei, you know you can talk to me, come on"
"I'm fine honestly, It was just all a bit overwhelming, and I was really tired as well which didn't help."
"I know, hopefully we'll get a good nights sleep tonight and you'll wake up feeling refreshed tomorrow. Kei promise me that if you feel like that again that you'll tell me so I can try and help you"
"I promise" she says as she leans in a pecks me on the lips
We hear the front door open and know that it's my family so Keira pulls away from you just in case that come to the door,
"Why'd you pull away" you ask a bit sad
"Just in case someone comes in" she said as she grand your hand under the duvet to reassure you.
Just then you hear a nock in the door.
"Come in" you say as your mum opens the door
"Are ye ok girls" she asks
"Yeah we're good mum thanks"
"Keira has she shown you where the toilet and everything is pet" she asked Keira
"Yeah she has" Keira says laughing
"We'll don't be afraid to ask for anything ok"
"Thank you" Keira says smiling
"Goodnight girls"
"Night mum" I say as she closes the door.
The minute the door is closed I turn my body so I'm now laying on my back and I lift up my arm indicating for Keira to move closer to me, which she does, she lays her head on my chest and holds onto my body with one arm, I also put my hand around her holding her close, trying to make her feel safe.
"Goodnight kei" I say as I kiss the top of her head
"Night Lee" she respond already half asleep