Kim looks up. “Finish drying your hair. You’re dripping on the rug.”
Danika whisks the towel from her body and starts towelling her hair. “At least I’ve showered.”
Kim comes closer and draws a line down Danika’s body with a finger, from the base of her throat to the top of her mound. “You’re making me forget all about getting ready. Seeing you naked still makes me think only of one thing—and it’s not a celebratory dinner for a junior soccer team.”
Danika shudders as Kim’s finger moves even lower. “We can’t. We have to leave in thirty minutes. Bella and Cami have been ready for literally hours—they’ll never forgive us if we’re not on time.”
Kim lifts her finger away. Danika fights the urge to reach for her hand and place it back, on her breast, on her belly. Lower still.
“You’re right.” Kim pouts. “Consider this a promise for later.” She kisses Danika on the lips, sweeping her tongue first over her upper, then her lower lip. Then she steps away and pulls off her clothes, dropping them in the laundry hamper. “I’m in the shower. I’m ready. I’m not even here.”
Danika laughs, then finds clean underwear and starts getting dressed.
Bella’s voice drifts in from the living area. “So if you get the Golden Boot, and I get player of the season, what will Sylvie and Jorie get?”
“Um… Jorie should get the Golden Glove award for best goalie. She’s been awesome this season. But I don’t know about Sylvie…she hasn’t played much. But she’s got her running medals, so I don’t think she’ll care.” Cami’s voice.
Their girls. Both twelve years old now, on the verge of becoming teenagers. Both already have crushes on boys—girls too, in Bella’s case. Both still soccer crazy, but the hobby horses only come out occasionally.
And, best of all, both still loving sisters who share most things, but squabble fiercely at times.
They’ll start secondary school in January, although whether they’ll be in the same class is still up in the air. Danika and Kim haven’t decided what will be best.
Once Danika and Kim marry later in the year, all of them will share the same last name. Kim and Danika have decided to hyphenate, and the girls will take that too. Evershed-Varga. After all, as Cami says, it’s too difficult to include Chris’s last name, because which one would it be?
Danika shakes herself. Here she is, reminiscing, and the shower has stopped, and any second Kim will bound out ofthe bathroom asking why Danika isn’t ready. She goes into the bathroom and runs the hairdryer over her short hair for a few minutes, while Kim smooths moisturiser over her body.
Ten minutes later, they’re both ready. A formal black dress for Danika, and a minimum of makeup. A pant suit for Kim, and no makeup, although she’s let her wild hair loose and it cascades over her shoulders.
Together, they go out to the living area where the girls are watching a replay of a Women’s Super League match on TV. Hugo lies between them on the couch, acting as an arm rest for both girls. He doesn’t mind what they do, as long as they include him.
“Ready?” Kim asked.
“Yes.” Cami bounds up and takes one hand, and Bella takes the other, and together they tow Kim to the front door, leaving Danika to gather bags, wallets, car keys.
Hugo follows her to the door, and his tail droops as he realises he’s not coming. Danika pets him. “We’ll be home later, Hugo.”
She locks the door, and glances at the painting of Johanna Beach on the wall. It’s the last thing she always does when leaving the house. Their home. The neglected old house is now updated, and while it’s no luxury mansion, it’s comfortable and welcoming.
They all love it. The girls love the huge garden, where they have a soccer goal. Hugo loves the shade trees and places for him to rest on hotter days. His soccer-playing days are fewer now—he’s getting stiff, but he still won’t be parted from the girls.
Kim’s embraced veggie growing and has a thriving garden that will soon feed them all in the warmer months. Her business has expanded, and although Danika still works part time as a transcriptionist, she also assists Kim during busy times. Theirlives are combined: emotionally, physically, and financially. The only thing left is formally, and that will happen later in the year.
It’s a short drive to the hall where the end-of-season soccer club dinner is being held. The annual event celebrates all the teams: women’s, men’s, kids, mixed, seniors, and social, and their highlights and achievements throughout the year. Cami and Bella both play in the under fourteens, and both are nominated for awards. Danika is on committee, and the girls begged almost daily to know who won. Danika refused to tell anyone, not even Kim.
The hall is decorated in the team colours, and players, parents, kids, and supporters mingle around the tables.
Danika takes Kim’s hand and together they enter, greeting friends and acquaintances. Suze stands at the bar with Tyson—who has turned out to be solid gold. Suze and Jorie have moved in with him. Jorie runs up to greet Cami and Bella, and together they go off to find their teammates.
Pre-dinner drinks taken, and people drift to their tables. Kim and Danika sit with some of the adult women’s team and their partners, and parents of the under eighteen boys’ team. The girls are on another table, with a couple of their teammates, and some of the boys’ team—including Cami’s current crush. Danika watches her giggle out of the corner of her eye. Surely twelve is too young to think of boyfriends, but then Cami turns away from Jayce and back to her teammates.
After the roast beef or vegetable filo, there’s a break for the awards. The chairperson stands, taps on a glass for silence, and launches into a recap of the club’s year.
Kim catches Danika’s hand under the table and squeezes. “Look at our girls,” she whispers.
Cami and Bella have dragged their chairs closer and have their arms around each other’s shoulders, watching the chairperson with fixed gazes.
“They’re trying to psych him into getting on with it quicker,” Danika whispers back. “But I know Bill—there’s no chance of that.”
