Deanna Frost vs. Fall St. Patrick

[SnowQueenSCW]

DISCLAIMER: The following is a work of fiction and not to be confused as complete or accurate representation of any beliefs, religions, etc. Please refer to research/articles by experts for that.

The Witches of Alden

”Goals”

Manhattan School District #3
Manhattan, New York
May 19th, 2024
3:46pm

Deanna covered/supressed her yawn by choosing to yell, releasing a ‘WOO!’ that fit in perfectly as she stood up, clapping her hands happily as she watched the children run across the vast field. “Come on, David!” she called out in encouragement, not sure if her seven-year-old could hear her but hoping he had. “Don’t give up!”

Before her, the redhead could see the small group of red-shirts running around with the group of yellow-shirts, all kids 6-8 years old and chasing a soccer ball around. Some running towards it, some running away from it to ‘get in position’ or something. Yes, Deanna knew the rules of soccer and had played a little when she was younger but in terms of ‘strategy’? Still, what kind of strategy can be expected from kids? I mean this isn’t FIFA or whatever – just keep cheering! “BOBCATS! BOBCATS!” she added to her first cheer, adopting one of the many ‘styles’ of cheers she had picked up in her years with SCW and the SCW audience. She continued this with a few other people sitting around her before sitting back down in the bleachers, feeling the rough metal supporting her. Immediately, her hand instinctively reached out to her side, not having to look for its location. It found its place perfectly back inside the waiting hand, which closed around hers and held it snugly. With her free hand, she reached up to tuck in a stray lock of red hair behind her ear.

Gazing away for a mere moment, the redhead spotted the electric billboard that sat in the far corner just outside of the red-dirt track lap that circled around the field. The Bobcats – David’s team – were tied with 2-2 against the Sharks – ‘Our arch-nemesis’ her son, David, had declared – though how a kids’ soccer team could have an ‘arch-nemesis’ in another team Deanna wasn’t sure. Maybe it’s a tradition thing… like Jersey vs Yorker… she reasoned.

Eyes back on the game, the United States Champion watched her son run around, trying to get to the ball to kick it, her smile unable to fade as she watched him. It had been the best thing to happen for her prince. Ever since her and Selena’s ‘separation’ (for lack of a better word), David had seemed the most affected outwardly. While Amiliah didn’t quite understand – thinking her older mother was just ‘travelling a lot’ - and Elsianna kept to herself (as per usual), David had needed ‘outlets’. From video games to movies and comic books, the boy had tried everything to keep busy and avoid talking about his parents ‘marital issues’, until he had come home one day a few months ago with a request. He wanted to join the local soccer league for youths. It hadn’t been too hard to accommodate and, to both Frost-wives’ surprise, the process had been downright easy. The league ran both Fall and Spring programs and David had leaped into the last season. Now? It was the last game of the spring season, with a break between the two until September. Even so, David had already begun asking his mothers about baseball in the summer, soccer in the fall, and then hockey in the winter. With a laugh, Deanna slapped her knee as a sort of clap as she watched her son kick the ball out of bounds by mistake, earning a whistle-blow from the youth playing the referee/officiating the match.

“I think we have another athlete in the family.” She leaned to her side, towards the clasped hand of hers, to speak that.

“Runs in the family.” Came the response, Deanna feeling her hand being squeezed. It was enough for her to turn her head to see the focused expression of her wife, Selena, the world champion of SCW staring out into the field with a laser-focused gaze, as if she was studying something.

“What is it?” Deanna almost didn’t ask the question aloud, her mind already ascertaining a guess as to her wife’s less enthusiastic nature compared to her own. These days, it was almost always about SCW. And given the past week, Deanna wasn’t surprised that the platinum-blonde was somewhat morose about it and, thus, consistently thinking about it.

It hadn’t been a great week for either of them. While Selena was recovering from the second, or third, or was it the fourth sneak attack she had suffered this year, once more targeted by Kandis and now, Kristen Scott, Deanna was using this distraction of her kid’s game to clear her mind regarding Jessica Winters.

A large man…

That’s what Hiro Tanaka had told her. A large man had come to the John Hopkins Hospital, visited Jessica and now her dear friend was gone! Gone to… who knows where! And gods bless Hiro, the man was already on it by the time he had told Deanna, reporting a missing person, launching an investigation, the works – nothing was being spared to get some answers. For Deanna, she had been grateful to the point where she had hugged the poor agent later that night and even almost hugged CHBK when she had run into him and he had offered her his sympathies and assurances of SCW doing their best to find her friend.

It was… strange when she thought about it. She knew how Selena felt about them all. The Snow Queen questioned every move and motive of SCW and management, refusing to trust anyone, despite evidence pointing towards how much they were doing for so many. It wasn’t just this. It was their care for Deanna’s injuries. It was how CHBK and Hiro (as well as the other agents and crew) listened and took all ideas into consideration. Why couldn’t her wife see all the good Alex and the others had done for their first season under the new regime? Maybe she’s just too hurt to fully trust them… Deanna reasoned, turning again to see her wife’s expression, realizing her wife’s mouth was moving, but the redhead’s brain being unable to process the words.

“Sorry.” She leaned closer to allow her voice to be heard better, but also to hear the older Frost’s better as well. “What did you say?”

“I said…” to answer, Selena reached up and pointed a pale hand towards the field, where all the kids were back to chasing the ball, kicking it to and fro. Her pointed finger, however, indicated a rather larger, taller, plump kid (compared to the other children) with brown hair, running around the field. When he would get to a kid, he would push or shove them a little out his way, using his naturally larger size to do with ease. “Him. You see him?”

Spotting the Shark-player, Deanna’s eyes widened. “No way he’s the same age.” She whispered. “He’s twice David’s size!”

“I’m sure he is.” Selena remarked. “Ryan was never a big kid either if we’re talking genetics.”
“Then his parents must be either lumberjacks or grizzly bears!” she laughed a little at her own joke but her smile diminished as Selena’s eyes remain focused on the field, specifically the kid in question. “What about him?” Deanna finally asked.

“He’s been shoving and tripping the kids all game.” Selena explained. “Ref hasn’t called him on it once.”

“Well…” Deanna tried to reason. So far, no one had been hurt and there hadn’t been any significant falls or calls in that regard. Maybe Selena was just being overly critical – which seemed to be a thing for her these days. “Long as no one is getting hurt and everyone is having fun.” She settled on answering, earning a hum for a response from her wife, Selena releasing Deanna’s hand to adjust her iconic braid.

“You know…” Deanna remarked as she watched the kids continue to play. “The kids’ final projects are happening next week.” She reminded. “Amiliah has her map of the neighbourhood to finish, David has that story he has to write and read to a younger class, and Elsianna-“

“Has her class presentation.” Selena nodded. “She’s been working on that all school year. I don’t know if David’s even started his.”

“He has.” Deanna sighed. “Begrudgingly.” She gave a shrug. “Anyway, we’re planning a big ‘project’ day to work on it together. Gerda, me.” She stole a glance at her wife, biting her lower lip. “Think you can make it?”

For a moment, Selena didn’t answer, merely turning her head to gaze at her wife. “Don’t we have the same work schedule?” she asked. “I mean, if you can make it-“

“Yeah, but…” Deanna shrugged nervously. “I know you’ve got a lot on your mind with work and… everything with that.” She REALLY didn’t want to go into the details of work now, thus running the risk of upsetting Selena. “With the title and all that. I don’t know, maybe you wanted to train and all that.”

She felt a hand on her shoulder, successfully stopping her from starting a rant. “I’ll be fine.” Came Selena’s remark. “I’ve got enough time to prepare that I can spare a day with OUR children, Deanna.”

“G…good.” Deanna nodded. “It’s next Sunday. And Elsianna’s presentation is-“
“The Wednesday after. Right here.” Selena nodded in knowing, indicating the school they currently sat within – Elsianna’s middle school. “I’m already working on some stuff for work to make the time for it.”

Deanna simply nodded her head. She didn’t need to hear how ‘The Blue-Eyed Devil’ was preparing her promos or whatever it was. Far as she was concerned, Selena couldn’t stop being world champion fast enough. Least that might get some of the pressure off her… She thought to herself, though she was one to talk.

She was so close… she bit her lower lip at the errant thought. She was so close to making it a full year as United States Champion. She had already beaten all but the longest record of the title’s history – effectively becoming the second longest reigning champion of the U.S title – but still… she wanted to defend the title at Rise to Greatness again! She wanted to reach that milestone, now that it was so close within her grasp. She had never had any true ‘championship reign’ goals in the past. In fact, she had really just wanted to be a good superstar and, if she even held a title, be a good champion with her grit and passion. This reign… it just had happened… she just had kept going and kept fighting with all she had. And now, with things getting better with Selena and their marriage, to her kids growing up and them becoming a family again…

It was so close to perfect! Everything. Yes, things could be rough in SCW and she was scared to death for Jessica, but she was going to figure that out! She was sure of that. And then she would deal with it, help Jessica, and then work through Rise to Greatness – then take the post-season break off from SCW and celebrate with her wife and kids, work more on getting them back together. She was giddy with the notion.

She was so deep in her thoughts, however, that she did not notice Selena’s absence until she saw the platinum-blonde down by the running track, flirting with the ‘boarder-line’ between the dirt of the track and the grass of the field, watching the kids continue to run forward. Though Deanna’s eyes widened, she was too nervous to say or do anything to stop her wife, her mind, instead, running a million possibilities through it. That number only increased as she watched Selena, spying David running across the field near her, held up a hand and called him over with a wave. The boy was quick, jetting over the few yards needed to reach his mother, the game still in play, but few people really noticing. Kids running to their parents in the bleachers wasn’t exactly strange. It had happened a few times in this game alone. In a matter of seconds – no more than half a minute – Selena patted her son’s shoulder affectionately before he ran back onto the field to rejoin his teammates, with the Snow Queen marching back up the few steps to return to her seat in the bleachers.

“What was that?” Deanna asked.
“Just some advice.” Selena shrugged. “He’s been talking to me about how important this game is. I don’t really get how kids have ‘rivals’ in these sports, but he’s been on it for weeks.”

“That’s what I said!” Deanna remarked, momentarily forgetting the ‘pep talk’ she had just witnessed. “I figured it had something to do with ‘history’. You know like Jersey-folk and us New Yorkers.”

“Oh gods…” laughed Selena. “I got booed SO loudly when we were in Jersey! That was fun.”
“You get booed loudly everywhere.” Deanna remarked without thinking.
“Yeah but I made fun of them being in Jersey-“ she stuck out her tongue playfully. “That was fun.”

A sigh escaped Deanna as she watched her kids continue to play. “Do you ever think about just… changing things up?” she really didn’t want to ask this question but she didn’t feel like she had much of an option. The questions were weighing too heavily on her mind now. “I mean… go back to just being about ‘integrity’ and all that?”

The smile faltered a little from Selena’s expression. “I still do that.” She shrugged.
“Not the same way.” Deanna remarked. “Everyone keeps talking about-“
“I know.” Selena nodded. “That I’m being protected. That I’m hiding. That I’m a coward. That I’m a hypocrite.” She sighed before turning her head. “Deanna… I just…” she tried to explain. “I just want to lose fairly. For someone to be good enough to beat me. Without interferences, without mind-games, just… without anything but talent and passion.”

“I know… and I get the intention.” Deanna tried to reason. “But… it’s not looking that way. It looks like you’re just trying to stay world champion as long as you can.”

“To what end?” Selena asked. “I’ve already got the longest reign. Nobody’s touching that for awhile. I’m so close to typing the most reigns if Lexy is to be believed – in fact, me losing the world title helps that cause then I can regain it. Me being world champion any longer, aside from one thing, is actually more of a burden on me.”

“Then what is the plan here?” she asked, turning her head to gaze at her wife, watching the sapphire eyes go back and forth.

“I…” she sighed, running a hand around and against her braid, pulling at it. “If I can get to Rise to Greatness, then I’ll be fine. Maybe after that…”

“BREAK AWAY!” the scream came from another audience member, a parent Deanna guessed, followed by a chant of ‘BOBCATS! BOBCATS!’. Looking around frantically, Deanna spotted her David! Her son running straight down the center of the field with the soccer ball just a short distance in front of him as he kicked every few steps. Jumping to her feet, Deanna joined in the cheer, even adding more volume to it as her son made a beeline for the Shark’s net! As he reached the halfway mark and closed in on the last third, she spied the large boy Selena had pointed out, the bigger child having hung back and was now descending on her son. The size difference now seemed far more immense and the redhead felt her heart leap into her throat as she saw the larger boy reach David, sticking his foot out try and take the ball away while giving a slight shoulder shove as he had been doing all game to the other Bobcats. At that instant, however, David spiraled to the ground, the shove seemingly knocking him off balance and into the dirt hard.

Immediately, an uproar came from all those cheering for the Bobcats, outrages being called at the shove! Deanna barely heard it as she kept her eyes on her son, watching the boy look up from his fall and pointing at his ‘attacker’. He said something but Deanna couldn’t hear it. Still, it all was enough as the official blew his whistle and pointed at the larger boy, calling him out on the shove! A few minutes passed as the issue was dealt with, the shover being moved back to his team’s bench and David being offered a penalty kick as compensation for the illegal move…

Was that even the right name for it? Even as Deanna watched the kids line up and the ball be set up for David’s kick, she could not help but rerun the entire moment in her mind. Maybe it was just from her angle or just the way it had looked to her while she was excited for her son, but… it hadn’t looked like that big of a shove. I mean, yes, the boy had gotten up in David’s space, but the way her son had fallen? Had the boy really hit him that hard? It hadn’t looked like it.

Maybe he’s stronger than he looks – which is saying something… Deanna reasoned. Regardless, she did her best to force the notion out of her mind as she watched David line up the shot, the seven-year old nervously looking around and wiping his hands on his blue shorts as the audience began to cheer him on-

“HIS NAME IS DAVID!” Selena shouted, giving the audience a name to applaud while the others – the parents of Sharks – tried to combat it with their own chants. For Deanna, still on her feet, she held her hands together, almost in prayer, and held her breath as her son ran as fast as he could towards the ball and kicked it with his right cleat. The ball sailed high and right, way beyond the goalie’s reach, and up into the corner, sailing into the net without any opposition!

The audience went ballistic, deafening the space with their cheers as David looked on in shock at his goal! Even Deanna could not stop the jubilation she felt, cheering her son’s name and whooing and whooping as loud as she could! Turning her gaze, she beamed at her wife.

“He scored! He scored!” she stopped suddenly as she saw her wife’s expression. It was a knowing smile and a nod of her head, the Snow Queen applauding quietly as she watched her son, who was giving her a thumbs up in excitement before his teammates reached him to properly congratulate him.

“Knew he could.” Selena remarked with a grin. “Just needed the opportunity.”

Despite a feeling in her gut, Deanna’s joy was too powerful to dwell on it. “He scored the winning goal!” she remarked. “With only ten seconds left in the game!”

“Yep.” Selena smiled again before releasing a sigh. “I’m guessing it’ll be pizza for dinner?” she eyed her wife knowingly.

“Pizza Hut.” Deanna corrected with a laugh, wrapping her arms around Selena’s waist in joy. “And you know he’s going to have us watch one of his Spider-Man movies too.”

“I know.” Selena laughed. “We’re in for a long night.”

“Yes, we are.” Deanna grinned as she sat down with her wife, watching the last seconds of the game play out uneventfully, the Bobcats – thanks to HER son – coming out as the victors in a 3-2 win. “Worth it, though.” She said aloud before rushing down to meet her excited son and to embrace him.

So close to perfect… she thought as she held her son and held him up with Selena to celebrate with the team and other parents. So close…