this is me trying

Chapter 21 - Year Three

The season was moving along quite quickly, and before I knew it, it was the Christmas break. We were sitting 4th on the table, which wasn't ideal, and United were 3rd. Arsenal and Chelsea occupied the top two positions, but as they would be playing against each other the first round back, points were going to be lost.

For Christmas, Ona and I decided to go to Trondheim. She was adamant that we would go to Norway, rather than Spain. She wanted to not only spend Christmas with me, and my family, but also experience the Norwegian winter, and see the Aurora.

Over the last few weeks, there had been a lot of discourse surrounding Ona, and her lack of resigning with United. We had talked about it, quite thoroughly, and she was positive that she didn't want to sign any papers until all our options had been explored. She specifically said "our".

"What do you want to do?" I asked her, after she came home one day having not signed an extension.

"I just want to make sure I'm not rushing into anything. We could go anywhere, Eva. The world is so wide."

"Europe ain't too wide," I laughed.

"Are you happy at City?" she asked. I thought about this question, before answering.

"I'm happy with you," I answered. She smiled at me, before taking my hand and bringing me closer to her.

"Well, we need to work it all out together."

"Together?"

"Together." She said this all with such certainty that I believed her. I believed that it would all be okay. It would all be alright.

We flew across to Trondheim, a few days before Christmas, and spent time with my family. My parents, and whole extended family loved Ona. They loved who she was, and what she had done for me. My little cousins, who are twin girls and only eight years old, love spending time with Ona more so than myself. I don't really mind though. I love how they love her.

I held Elske in my arms, as Ona ran outside in the snow with Amalie and Astrid. I watched her smile, and throw snowballs, releasing her inner competitiveness. I could watch her for hours, but soon I was distracted.

"So," Mamma said to me. "Where is she going?"

"What?"

"We heard that she declined her contract."

"You did?"

"I keep up with the twitter," Mamma replied, and I could only laugh.

"Yeah, she declined."

"What does that all mean?" Mamma asked.

"It means I have no idea," I answered, softly.

"What will happen?"

"I have no idea." Mamma looked at me, before walking over and grabbing my hand. I took it, with more ease than I ever have been able to before, and stared into my Mamma's eyes.

"We will always be here, despite anything. You know that right?"

"I know," I answered, "but so will she." I stared outside to Ona as I said this.

The next morning, I went into the shed to fish out a couple of old belongings I hadn't used in years.

"Wake up," I said to Ona, as she was still asleep.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Not that early," I replied. "But time to get up."

"Where are we going?" she questioned.

"A surprise, but dress warmly." She reluctantly got out of bed, and I watched her as her tired body limped into the closet.

I grabbed her coat, placing it around her body, as she had layers of thermals on.