IR - Future Part 3

The draft was, of course, only the second most stressful thing on your calendar. You’ve been immersed in soccer forever and watched plenty of drafts, even if you haven’t been part of it. FUTA did a good job preparing you for some of the differences between collegiate play and going pro. The shock of assimilating is nothing. Playing pro soccer is by no means easy, but it’s a lot simpler than balancing school and the game or FUTA, which included the pressure of the limelight along with constant surprises. Weirdly, serious professional soccer is easier than dealing with that. Being engaged to Ingrid doesn’t hurt.

But getting married is definitely new to you.

Your mom is happy for you. She likes Ingrid and she can hardly complain about the path you’re on, but she does not like that she has to fly to Sweden for a wedding that she did not get to micromanage or even weigh in on. This was part of the deal; Ingrid knows that she’s signing up to spend a little time in the United States. You’re both grateful that you’ll be living in Washington rather than, say, Florida or Texas, but Ingrid is having to make serious adjustments to her own life plans to accommodate being with you.

The least you could do was let her cave to her mother’s demand to lord over the wedding.

Ingrid went back to Sweden a week ago. Now you’re on a plane with your mom and Kayla. Your dad will be there as well, but he’s not traveling with you. You’ve had time to practice, but your Swedish still isn’t great. You’ve met Ingrid’s family, but you don’t know them. You know almost nothing about Sweden.

So, it’s even worse than waiting for the draft and the wedding is still a week away. There’s some consolation in the fact that airports in Europe are vastly less gross and horrible than what you’re used to in the States.

On top of that, your mother and sister are behaving strangely. Although to be fair, navigating all these airports and cabs and trains isn’t the easiest thing to do.

You finally touch down in Stockholm, although Ingrid’s family doesn’t live in the city. After a tolerable amount of confusion and feeling like dumb, boorish Americans, which you are, you find yourself climbing into the back of yet another suspiciously clean taxi. In America, taxis are gross and they aren’t nice cars to begin with. Here, taxis are seriously nice cars that actually smell good. Everything that you thought you knew about your country as a child was a lie.

The bags are in the back. You’re beside Mom and Kayla, but the taxi isn’t moving. Mom and Kayla don’t seem surprised.

The door is suddenly yanked open and you squeak in alarm as you’re grabbed from outside the vehicle.

[ Riley is being kidnapped! But it’s just a wedding tradition that some Swedish people do for brides and grooms before weddings; Mom and Kayla must have known about this in advance. The same thing is happening to Ingrid at this very moment, although her bachelorette party will be different from Riley’s. Whose bachelorette weekend do you want to see? Ingrid’s or Riley’s? ]