Page 33 of Coast to Coast

Crew was groggy when Kelsey finished reading his story, and I thought he might sleep before Callie had a chance to sing. When I wanted to stand, he perked back up and reminded us of our promise: “Song time!”

I struggled to keep my eyes off Callie when she sang Your Song by Elton John. It would not have been my first choice for a lullaby, but Crew’s attention never wavered. Kelsey watchedquietly, and Callie’s voice and the song moved all of us. And yes, the boy was out cold by the time she finished.

After we slipped out of Crew’s room, we quietly went to our rooms. Kelsey and Callie were still adjusting to the change in time zone, and I had an early morning.

CALLIOPE

Tom left early this morning for practice, and Kelsey had a midday flight back to Boston. I left her and Crew alone until it was time to bring her to the airport. Yup, I cried for them when they said goodbye. Watching Kelsey struggle to be strong for Crew was painful to watch. Even worse was Crew’s sadness leaving her behind.

I had planned to bring him to the pool in the condo complex. Both Tom and Kelsey had mentioned that Crew loved swimming. But even after I had him dressed in his swimsuit, he still was fixated on when he would see his mother again. Before we went to the pool, I found a whiteboard and made a chart for him where we could count down the days until he would see his mother again. I charted the following two transitions and drew a cartoon figure to stand for each of his parents.

“Here, buddy. This is today,” I said, showing him where we were on the calendar. “And here is the day we fly back to see Mommy.”

He nodded, counting the days and repeating the numbers after me.

“One, two, free…”

“And today,” I said, we’re going swimming. “How does that sound?”

While we were at the pool, Tom texted me several times, though his and my responses were sporadic. Between his practice and my watching a very active toddler around a large body of water, our responses were short and to the point.

Tom: How is he doing?

Me: Happy to be with you but misses his mom. Swimming helps.

Tom: [Image of woman and two small children] If you see her, introduce yourself. Her name is Mariana.

Me: Okay. Thanks.

Crew and I were both swimming when Mariana and her children arrived at the pool. I estimated the son to be about four years old and the little girl slightly older than Crew. I waved to her, and she recognized Crew.

“Hi, Crew!” Mariana yelled towards us in the pool, and her kids quickened their pace, working on their pool floats so they could join us in the water.

Crew immediately perked up. Seeing the other kids, he kicked his legs, pushing his floatation device toward the side of the pool to meet them.

Mariana waved, but neither of us had hands available for a handshake. “You must be Calliope. I’m Mariana. I was hoping I would see you here today!”

“Call me Callie. Also known as Kiwi,” I said and gestured towards my sidekick. “Tom mentioned you were the official welcome committee,” I said as Mariana and her two kids eased into the water.

She laughed easily, “I guess so. I try to do for others the things that would have been helpful for me when I was new to the league. It’s not an easy lifestyle. Several of us live in this neighborhood, so you’ll run into many WAGs at the pool.”

She introduced me to Alex Jr., or AJ, and Luciana, who went by Lucy. I had estimated their ages correctly; AJ had just turned four, while Lucy would be two in October.

I loved listening to Mariana and her children’s accents as they flowed back and forth between English and Czech. Growing up, my parents hired an au pair who immersed us in the French language and focused on teaching us Spanish at an early age. Because we were young when first exposed, we were fluent in both languages.

“How did you all end up in the same complex?” It was strange for so many players to live in one place.

“Word of mouth, the units here offer privacy and security. The guys talk, the wives talk. Fans, especially female fans, can make privacy difficult to come by.”

“How bad can the female fans be?” I asked, trying to understand the issues they dealt with better.

“You’ve heard of puck bunnies?” she asked, and I nodded.

“A bit, but only what I’ve read about online,” I clarified.

“Well, last year, one of the guys had a stalker. She would sneak into his hotel rooms and found her way into his house.”

“Did she end up in jail?” I asked.

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