Time skip to January 2018.
"Oooff," Becky breathes out as she feels a weight land on her. She knows immediately that it's Ella. Becky's impressed that Ella managed to wait until 7:30 to wake her up.
"Momma, it's my birthday and my party!" Ella informs happily. She quickly climbs under the covers and into her mom's side when Becky raises the blanket.
"How could I forget the best day ever!" Becky replies giving Ella a kiss. The little girl smiles. It takes her all of about a minute to ask her next question.
"When does my party start?" Ella inquires. This is probably the millionth time she's asked the question. Her excitement is making time pass at a glacial pace.
"Not until 1. We already have everything set up so we can just hang out until then," Becky suggests. Ella immediately frowns at the idea. "Or we could open up your first present of the day," Becky continues, knowing the little girl will jump at the idea.
"Yeah, let's do that!" Ella decides pulling her mom out of bed by her arm. She nearly drags the older blonde the whole way down the stairs. Her eyes go wide at the sight of Zola sitting on the couch, a cup of coffee in hand and a present by his side. Becky and Zola had planned for him to come early, knowing Ella wouldn't wait very long to get up. "Birthday twin! What are you doing here?" Ella exclaims at the sight.
"I couldn't miss out on you opening your first present," Zola replies hugging the girl and placing a kiss on her temple. Ella smiles in return but her attention is quickly diverted to the present beside him. Zola slides the present over to the awaiting blonde.
The other awaiting blonde takes the opportunity to sit next to Zola and place a kiss on his lips. "Happy birthday, Z," Becky offers after the two break apart. He mouths a thank you while passing her the cup of coffee. She smiles graciously and both of them turn their attention back to the newly turned 7 year old.
"Momma, Zola, thank you so much! I love him," Ella squeels. Inside the torn-open present is a carrier containing a small gray kitten. She carefully manages to open the carrier and pull the kitten into her arms.
"You're welcome, baby. What are you going to name him?" Becky responds, smiling widely. She remembers the first time she got a kitten fondly.
Ella furrows her forehead in contemplation. It takes her a few minutes before she answers. The decision is a very important one to Ella. "His name is Silverstein, like the poet," Ella announces triumphantly. The name fits her kitten to a 'T' in her opinion.
"That's perfect, Ella," Zola agrees with a laugh. 'Only Becky's kid would name her kitten after a literary figure,' Zola thinks to himself. Becky only chuckles at the name and finishes drinking her coffee. She knows this will probably be the last moment of peace before chaos breaks out later today.
The rest of the morning is spent getting food ready and finishing up last minute preparations. It's going to be a lot of people between her brothers, some of Ella's friends, and the majority of the team. The national team was having January camp in Portland later in the week. Many of the players had managed to fly in early for Ella's party.
"Aunt Ella!" Ella shouts at the entrance of her namesake. She didn't know her Canadian aunts were coming.
"Happy birthday, Ellie," Ella replies, embracing the girl. The little girl then turns to her other aunt and gives her a hug.
"Hey, Ellie bug," Erin greets. They haven't seen Ella in person for quite some time. Now that their playing time in Sweden was over they planned to see the little girl and their families more. The blonde's eyes wonder as her friends pass by bundled up to play outside with soccer balls in hand. The couple make a motion to let the girl know she go join her friends which she immediately does.
"Hey Zola, this is my wife Ella," Erin introduces as the see the man. He's in the process of restocking the drinks for Becky. He and Erin have met on multiple occasions due to her affiliation with Adidas.
"Hi, it's so good to finally meet you," Zola says sincerely. He's wanted to meet Ella's namesake for a while.
"You as well. I'm happy to see Ellie and Becky genuinely happy for once," Ella offers in return. She truly approves of his relationship with Becky.
"Thank you," Zola replies with a nod before the couple is pulled away by other soccer friends. It's been a while since the two had been back in the states.
The party lasts longer than Becky anticipates but she doesn't really mind. It's mainly the team that lingers after Ella is put to bed. She had fallen asleep with her kitten in her arms. Everyone had laughed at her position. Zola ended up taking the little girl for Becky so that she could keep talking with her teammates. He doesn't mind. In fact, he looks forward to their up coming week with each other. The handful of weekends they spent together had been a test run for when Becky had national team duty.
"I'll see you guys at camp," Becky says in goodbye. The last of the team is just now clearing out from the party. They were excited to see each other after the longer break. Camp was going to be interesting with the gals all back together. The blonde shuts the door and turns to Zola who had been standing behind her. "So, do you want your present now?" Becky asks, a coy smiles spanning across her face.
"Well, you seem excited. I don't want to make you wait," Zola replies feigning disinterest. An amused smile crosses his face when he sees Becky roll her eyes in response.
"C'mon," Becky instructs as she grabs his arm and pulls him behind her. The two head upstairs. Zola has to admit that Becky had a reason to be excited once he sees his present. It's one of the best gifts he's gotten in years.
