Page 116

‘I’m definitely not nervous about that; I’m excited,’ I tell him honestly.

‘You haven’t met half of them,’ he jokes – well, I assume he’s joking, because he’s laughing, but you never know. ‘Let’s go.’

The christening is being held at a small church not too far from the family bakery, with the celebration afterwards in a private room at the local pub. It’s not the first time I have met Eddy’s family, but it is the first time I’m meeting them as his actual girlfriend, so it feels special to me.

This is also our first proper date – technically. We talked about what we would do, back in the UK, for our first official date, but the christening has come around before we’ve had a chance to plan anything, so, yeah, this is it.

The church is already busy when we arrive.

Rachel sees us first. She steps away from a group she’s chatting with near the gate and walks towards me with both arms open. I barely have time to smile before she hugs me.

‘Hello,’ she says.

‘Hello,’ I reply.

She holds me tightly, then pulls back to look at Eddy.

‘And you…’

‘Hi, Mum.’

Rachel hugs him too. She raises a hand to his head, feeling where his bump was.

‘I’m fine,’ he reassures her.

‘I know.’

She says it in the way mothers do when they do not believe a word of what you’re saying, but know they can’t object.

Then she turns back to me.

‘Thank you for looking after him.’

‘Any time,’ I reply.

Lauren appears carrying Elsie, who is wearing a long white christening gown and a small knitted cardigan. She looks so angelic until she grabs a handful of Lauren’s hair and pulls hard enough to make her swear. Lauren remembers where she is. She looks up at the sky and apologises.

Eddy reaches for his niece and feels one of her tiny arms.

‘This one has potential,’ he points out. ‘Those are rugby players’ arms.’

‘Speaking of… How are you feeling about next season?’ she asks him.

‘I can’t wait,’ he says. His smile comes easily.

‘I can,’ Rachel chimes in. ‘I’ll be terrified you’ll get hurt again.’

‘I’ll keep an eye on him,’ I promise her.

Rachel’s expression softens.

‘He seems like he’s in very good hands,’ she says.

You can’t get a clearer blessing than that, can you?

I’m so, so happy Eddy is staying at Leeds. I’m weirdly excited about Jamie joining too; it’s going to be so interesting, watching them play together – especially now that they’re friends.

Inside, the church glows with coloured light from stained-glass windows. Pink flowers line the pews, each with little photos of Elsie sticking out of the arrangements.

We sit with Rachel and Lauren near the front. Eddy’s knee rests against mine comfortably as he takes my hand in his, locking our fingers together. I look at them and smile, because no one is watching. This isn’t for anyone’s benefit; it’s just him and me now, and it’s all real.

In a strange way, it feels like I’ve known him forever, when really our relationship has only just kicked off. This is the very beginning of our story, not the end, and we’re about to go into a new season together, which feels exciting. Terrifying, in a way, but exciting, because who knows what’s going to happen?

Next season could be extraordinary or a total fucking disaster. Jamie and Eddy might become the best partnership in the league, or they might argue so often that I have to constantly tick them off. Leeds might win everything… who knows? We don’t just have one year to give it a go, we’ve got two. After that, all bets are off. Maybe Eddy will retire, maybe he’ll have another year in him – maybe he’ll have another two after that.

I’m about to start a new season too – I’m turning thirty in a few weeks.

For years, thirty felt like a deadline. A point by which I should have acquired a home, a husband, a career, kids – the works, just like my friends, because that’s what everyone told me success looked like. Eddy has shown me that that’s just not true. There are so many ways to be successful, and so much time to do it. Whatever ‘it’ is, we’ll figure it out together, but I feel like I can see a path now, a route for me to take, even if I’m not entirely sure of the destination. At least I know who I’m travelling with – Eddy. I couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else.