Lily Daly - My baby girl

chapter 17

We all sat down getting ready for the team chefs to bring out the long-awaited meal. The Christmas dinner was taking place in the facility's canteen, and as both the women's and U16 team Christmas celebrations were taking place at the same time, they tried to divide the room into two. One end of the room had the women's team tables and on the other end were the U16s tables with two long tables dividing us with the presents and games placed on top. Our end had 3 tables, one of 4 and two of 5; I was on a table of 5 with me, Luce, Isla, Harper, and Niamh. I tried my best to avoid watching my mum and making eye contact with her as (still) none of the girls had figured out that 'The Rachel Daly' as everyone called her was my mum, the only person who had suspicions was Niamh but that made sense after what happened at the match. We were all chatting away before our team's coaches said to settle down as the food was coming out. The dinner consisted of a slice of beef and turkey, roast potatoes, lots of vegetables and greens (including brussels), pigs and blankets, yorkshire pudding and obviously gravy. I was sat between Niamh and Luce who were fighting over who wanted my brussel sprouts as I was the only one on our table who didn't like them.

Niamh whispered in my ear, "I promise to give you a surprise later if you give them to me" making me blush but wanting to know her surprise I handed them over, also earning me a slap across the back of the head from Luce. I felt eyes on me so I looked up thinking it was the girls but it wasn't, it was my mum. She gave me a confused look but I just smirked back because after all who doesn't love making your mum live on the edge every once in a while?

The meal was a perfect opportunity to plan the upcoming Christmas party that we (me and the girls) were going to have to celebrate the season so far and just have fun. We ate the food and decided on where it would take place, when, etc. When I first joined the club I didn't know what to expect from the 'canteen' and what the food was to be like, as the food at my old school in the canteen was DISGUSTING but the chefs here are really nice and I love the food. It may just about beat Mil The Chef's ability. Niamh was the first to finish all of her food and then Luce; I swear those girls could take part in competitive eating. As per usual I was the last to finish, well not even finish as my stomach is tiny, so as always I gave my leftovers to you know who.

"So does my favourite girl want my leftovers?" I whispered in her ear earning a nod and a squeeze on the thigh. Within two seconds she scoffed that down, just in time as the team secret santa exchange was about to take place.

Jaqueline got everyone's attention and started to call out people's names to come up to the front to get their presents. We all made sure to not tell who we had to each other to make sure that I was perfect. Everyone went one at a time but as there were only 14 people it didn't take long. The first table went and there were some slightly strange presents but also some nice ones. Next, it was our table: Isla went first and she got a pair of frog slippers and some rainbow belts, Harper was next and she got a packet of yoghurt-coated raisins (everyone in the teams knows how much Harps loves these) and a jelly cat, Luce got a chocolate orange and a t-shirt that said 'i love milfs' (it's a long story), Niamh got a panda teddy which was actually a real-life panda that had been adopted in her name (if you couldn't guess pandas are her favourite animals) and also a packet of skittles, and finally, I got a jar of the purple jelly tots (my all-time favourite) as well as one of those hat umbrellas (random I know). We all loved our presents however weird and wonderful they were, and we were trying to figure out who gave who whilst the end table received their presents.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with chatter and games, and to be honest I've never laughed so much in my life. I received a message from my mum saying that the girls wanted me to come over to talk to them, I sat there with two different things going on inside my brain. Either I could ignore my mum's message and the girls would probably be upset but then at the same time if I went over to her then everyone would know and I wouldn't have to keep any secrets. After a few thoughts, I decided that I wanted to go over, so I simply rose from my seat and told the girls that I'd be back in a minute before going to our coaches and asking if I could over and see my mum. Our coaches knew about my mum but when I first joined my mum made sure that no one  would tell my teammates about us as I never wanted special treatment or fake friends, so when I asked whether I could go over, Jaqueline asked me whether I was sure it was what I wanted as then I sort of had to tell the team why I knew them all so well. I decided that was what I wanted so made my way over.

Mum had already spoken to her coaches so when I walked over I came and stood behind her with my head rested on hers and my arms dropped round her shoulders. I could tell my friends eyes were on me but chose to ignore them as i knew that i wanted to enjoy this moment before i had to share with everyone. My mum spoke first,

"Hey baby girl, are you okay?" she said looking up to me although all i did was i nod back.
"I've missed you mini daly. You finally decided to tell them who your mum is?" Hamps came over to ask as i came to sit on my mums lap. Again i simply nodded still avoiding eye contact with the girls and my team.
"How's everyone doing? I feel like i haven't spoken to you in ages?" I asked trying to trying to start an actual conversation.
"Lil, they were round ours last night" my mum whispered in my ear. Oops. I received a group of nods and 'all good'. So then i added...
"Tell me, tell me, what did everyone get for secret santa?" i asked excitedly. Going round one by one i saw the weird and wonderful presents, there was some odd gifts and lots of alcohol. During it Niamh and I kept making eye contact earning me a puzzling facial expression from her but i just smiled back and ignored her. Eventually all the girls were looking at me and i just chose that now was the time.

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i'm back!! i hope you all enjoyed this chapter and i'm sorry for the really long delay but seriously everything has been so busy but i'm hoping that i can get a few chapters out in the holidays!! thankyou for coming back and i really hope you like this chapter!