#uswntfanfic

[mmroad]

Through Pain Lies Beauty

They say beauty is pain. But what does that mean. It works when you think of love. Love can be so beautiful, but more often than not, it's painful. Beauty is pain; pain is beauty. Love is beautiful; love is painful. Why work so hard for something that is painful? …because it can be beautiful. But beauty can come from pain. When a phoenix dies, a new one is born from its ashes. When a tree dies, eventually new plants grow from the nutrient rich soil. Life comes from death. Beauty comes from pain. Old relationships have to die in order for new, better, healthier relationships to form. Old love dies, and it's painful, but it’s only to make room for something more beautiful.

Tobin was meandering, trying to get away from all the thoughts running around her head. The only thing on her mind, holding Tobin hostage, was her recent break up. She had been with Alex Morgan for two years. And if you ask Tobin, she would tell you they were the best two years of her life. What she wouldn't tell you, though, are all the red flags she had been ignoring for the past six months. However, if you asked her friends and family, they could point out every last red flag in painstaking detail.

Like they say, love can be beautiful. It can be so beautiful that you look past it when your girlfriend doesn't like your friends, and your friends definitely don't like your girlfriend. I mean, there was that one time when Alex never showed up to Tobin's birthday dinner, and Tobin cried, cried, and cried in the bathroom for a majority of the night. But Alex forgot, and you can't be mad at someone for forgetting something; you don't forget on purpose. Plus, birthdays aren’t that special anyways.

You also look past it when your mother, for some odd reason, just had a bad vibe about "this one." Tobin's mom would never trust Alex, not after that time when they got into a heated fight.

"Alex, I just think you need to distance yourself from your family from time to time for your own good."

"Your family has just as many issues as mine Tobin; don't pretend like your life is perfect."

"Yeah, my life isn't perfect, but just because your mom left, and your dad is a drunk doesn't mean you can drag me down with you!"

*Slap*

Alex didn't mean it though. She apologized immediately afterwards. She told Tobin she loved her for the first time that night. Tobin had been waiting a long time for that. Tobin tried to cover the bruise with makeup (the little she had), but when her mom came down that weekend, they both knew soccer balls didn’t do that. Plus, Tobin should have never said any of that in the first place.

You might also tell yourself that these people in your life simply just don't "get it" because clearly you are the very first person on this earth to find a love so deep and so passionate that no one else could understand. Yeah, "beautiful love" can do that to you.

Tobin had definitely fallen into that trap. Alex and Tobin's friends could fake being cordial for about an hour or so before emotions would run high and names would start spewing out. However, Tobin always thought she was just attracted to strong, sometimes abrasive, personalities. They were all playfully fighting to be the line leader in Tobin's life. Tobin had a way of doing that, spinning a situation into the fluffiest, softest version of itself. Love, foggy love. Although, Tobin did struggle a little more with her mother's opinion of the love of her life, even before the “soccer ball to the face” incident.

When Tobin first brought Alex home for the annual family fourth of July cookout, Tobin was ecstatic to get her mother alone in the kitchen to hear her thoughts on Alex. She could only assume all the amazing things her mother would say about the diamond in the rough Tobin had found. However, to Tobin's surprise, her mother's thoughts were slightly less than enthusiastic.

"So…what did you think?" Tobin stated in somewhat of a whisper as she sauntered into the kitchen to help her mother clean up from the festivities.

"What did I think of what?" her mother questioned back clearly paying more attention to the dishes she was drying than to Tobin.

"Of Alex, obviously" Tobin said in carefree voice while jumping up onto the counter to sit.

"Oh…she seems nice" her mother said.

Tobin was caught off guard "Just nice!?"

"Yes, she seems nice."

"What about how gorgeous she is, or how funny, smart and energetic she is?"

"I mean all that matters is that you think that" her mother stated back with a slight lilt to her voice.

"You don't like her…" Tobin accused.

"It's not that I don't like her…I just don't necessarily like her for you" her mother said through gritted teeth. She was clearly trying to spare her daughters feelings, but was also trying to get her motherly point across.

"Why don't you like her? What's not to like?"

"Honey, I think she's nice. It's fine."

Tobin stormed out. Tobin's mother hadn’t loved every girl that she brought home, she just didn't understand. What Tobin had with Alex was special and different. It would be fine. Her mother would come around. Her mother never came around. Love, delusional love.

All of these, anomalies, or at least that's what Tobin thought at the time, were playing around in her head. The walk around campus was meant to clear her mind, but instead it seemed like her whole relationship with Alex was on replay. Unfortunately, it wasn't the beautiful moments.

All these thoughts were reeling around her head as Tobin pranced around distracted. There was so much coming to light. All that Tobin had missed during those two years was coming to fruition. She turned the corner, not paying attention. All of a sudden, she was knocked on the ground trying to pull herself out of her foggy mind and return to reality. Then, there was a hand in her face helping her up. Tobin looked up to see a girl with a wickedly stunning smile and long, dark, curly hair. She had to catch her breath. "I'm sorry I knocked you over," the girl blurted out. Tobin took her hand and stood up, still a little star struck. "No, no. it's my fault." Tobin said blushing and rubbing the back of her neck "I'm kinda in my head a little." The other girl flashed that brilliant smile back at Tobin "I sorta know what that's like…" she stuck out her hand "hi, I'm Christen Press."

[sssammich]

chapter four

She feels a connection to Tobin she can’t quite explain. The obvious is Kelley, but she feels in her bones that it may be something else, too. Otherwise why would she care this much?

Special thanks to oneheartuswnt for looking things over for us.

[mmroad]

The Auction Chapter 12

Tobin strutted into Lexa's office at Clexa Corp. with a huge smile on her face after her morning off with Alex. Her skin was glowing. "Well if it isn't our own Casanova, Tobin Heath herself..." Lexa teased after putting aside her work on her desk and sliding her glasses farther down on her nose to get a better look.

 "I sure hope whatever you were doing was worth it since you had to call off this morning...." Lexa joked. Tobin, clearly thinking of something else "I know, I know. I feel terrible for calling off, but I wanted to see Alex a little longer, and I didn't want her to just think I ditched her. You know I'm not a 'hit and quit it' type of girl. And Alex looked so peaceful while she was sleeping, and I..." Tobin would've kept rambling for hours had Lexa not stopped her. "Tobin! Tobinnnn...I was kidding. Geez, you haven't taken a single day off in years, and I have to beg you to not bring your laptop home on Christmas. You're fine. I hope your talk” she said with air-quotes “went well."

 At that moment, Clarke waltzed in obviously entranced in her work, "Hey Babe, do you have the numbers for last month’s—” She finally noticed Tobin standing there. Clarke took one look and knew everything that happened the previous night. "Well someone had a good night with Alex Morgan." Clark cupped her hand around her mouth and nose toward her wife (as if Tobin couldn’t hear her) and whispered not too inconspicuously, "but how can you not with that body.” Lexa shook her head with a shy smile in agreement. "What. Whattt. I'm standing right here you guys. Plus, how did you know that we..." Tobin’s face was sanguine—if they weren’t sure before, they knew now—"did...yanno..." "Oh you're glowing, and besides, you smell like sex..." Clarke said matter of factly. Lexa hummed in agreement.

 "Whaaaattt is with everyone thinking that you 'smell' after sex?" Tobin said to herself but also, unbeknownst to her, out loud. Her two bosses looked at her confused. Lexa ventured, "Uhm...you always smell after sex; it’s—" Tobin interrupted. "No, only you guys smell after sex," she pointed laughingly at them, "because you do it in small cramped places like your car in the parking lot" she counted on her fingers with grand gestures as if playing charades, “the storage closet down the hall that you had cleaned out but never repurposed,” Tobin had made her point but was just having fun now, “and don’t get me started on—” “OK Tobin, we get it,” Clarke interrupted. Tobin blushed, she hadn’t been able to concentrate very well recently, "I mean yeah, you guys aren't subtle at all..." she trailed off laughing nervously.

 "On that note, I'm gunna get to work" Tobin said in an obnoxiously upbeat voice as she gave both of her bosses a thumbs up and sauntered out. As she was walking out, she could hear Clarke whispering, "I told you someone would notice.” 

 As Tobin left work that day, she hurried over to her house to grab a change of clothes and a few essentials for the night. At a red light, she pulled out her phone just to make sure one more time. "Bring an overnight bag;)" Ugh, did Alex know how much those little words rattled around in Tobin’s head?

  Tobin pulled in Alex's circle drive way a little after 7 and parked her car before the tip of the circle so as to not block the beautifully lit house from the street. As Tobin was climbing out of car with her overnight bag, Alex walked out the front door. "What are you doing...?" Alex’s voice shout out; she looked puzzled. Alex had obviously re-showered after practice and was now wearing her hair up in a very tight, very wet bun. Wearing a Cardinal Red Nike soft cotton tee and some Nike sweats with the courage insignia on the thigh, Alex was obviously embracing her team.

  "Oh I...I…" Tobin stuttered after pointing back to her car, "I was just parking my car, but I can move it to the street if you w—" Alex cut Tobin off. "Tobin, the street? Really? You act like you're some one-night-stand." Alex said with a confident smile and her arms crossed over her chest. Tobin looked back at her a little nervous. "Bring your car over here, and pull it into the garage," Alex said as she turned around and motioned Tobin to follow her by throwing her hand back over her shoulder. "I know I seem crazy, but I don't have four cars to fit in there" Alex reiterated. Tobin snapped out of her trance and smiled. Alex was treating Tobin like a long-term girlfriend, not a lapse in judgment—this was intentional. Some would be scared by the steps, the benchmarks, that had apparently been skipped in their relationship, but Tobin couldn't have been happier. Seven years had been too long. They needed to make up for lost time.

 Alex opened up the garage door and Tobin looped around and pulled her car in, and Alex hit the button to close the door. Tobin walked up to Alex standing in the doorway. "V. I. P. treatment I see..." Tobin said with a smirk, "Do you do this for all your guests?" "Only the ones I really, really like," Alex said sensually as she caressed Tobin’s chin, up to behind her ear, and back into Tobin’s thick hair. "So, you really like me, aye?" Tobin pretend to be confused, trying very, very hard to stay on topic. "After last night, I think it’s pretty clear how I feel," Alex said in a low voice as she slowly leaned in to kiss Tobin. Tobin met Alex's lips with the same vigor. They both took in every crevice of the others soft lips. "Man, I could get used to coming home to this..." Tobin said softly after they pulled apart.

 Alex just laughed and grabbed Tobin's hand pulling her into the house behind her. "C'mon silly, I made dinner" Alex said as she dragged Tobin to the kitchen. "Wow and she cooks, too" Tobin commented from behind.  When Tobin walked into the kitchen she could see a few candles strewn around the countertops and the table along with 2 cups of red wine on either side of a pizza box. "Alexxxx, you said you made dinner," Tobin complained laughingly, "and last time I checked, your kitchen is not ‘Charlie’s Pizza and Italian Edible.’ " "Yeah, you see the thing is..." Alex explained half-heartedly in-between sips of her red wine, "Don’t tell anyone, but…I can't really cook." Tobin’s giggling erupted into a tear-extracting cackle.

 Alex went on as if Tobin could listen in her state, "You made such an amazing meal the other night, and I wanted to repay you...but this is all I got," Alex said putting her hands up in, palms out, the air in defeat. When as the laughs began to trickle and she caught her breath, Tobin walked over to Alex who was turned around looking at the table and put her arms around her waist pulling Alex’s back to her chest.  They both looked at the small yet momentous table-setting. So many nights were unjustly past with these two apart. Whether a four-course meal or a store-bought pizza, it was perfect; it was right. "I love it, thank you." Tobin slowly whispered into Alex ear and quickly progressed into a hot kiss in the middle of the kitchen.

 When their lips parted, and their eyes met only inches apart, Tobin smiled. Then spontaneously, Tobin unraveled herself from Alex’s embrace and went straight for the pizza box, opened it, and pulled out a steamy hot piece of cheese pizza. A string of cheese came with the piece as she pulled it higher and higher as if each fiber were hanging on for dear life. She had gone nearly two feet from the table before the last filament accepted defeat and succumb to gravity. Tobin gazed with a twinkle.

 With a mouthful of pizza, Tobin turned to Alex: "you remembered." Alex smiled back at the girl who seemed so much like a child. "Plain cheese is pretty boring, but yes, yes I did," Alex said with a smug smile as she pulled her wine glass up to her lips. For some reason, everything Alex said that seemed to fit with Tobin. They were like two parallel cosmic rays, together for eternity in their trip through the universe.

 The girls gulped down their pizza and wine at warped speed. Once every crumb was picked out of the corners of the pizza box, Alex looked up at Tobin giving her big, knowing eyes. "I think we should talk now," Alex said as she stood up from her place at the table. Tobin nodded and followed Alex into the living room. They both planted themselves on the couch, each mirror images with one leg hanging off the sofa, and the other, under her to make a “4,” so they to look directly at the other.

 It was quiet, Tobin opened her mouth and was about to make the first move, but Alex interrupted her and took control. "You did all the hard talking last night, Tobin. Let me start this one." Tobin silently agreed to allow Alex to lead this dance.

 "Tobin..." Alex said looking into Tobin's eyes. Alex thought for a second. She remembered the very first time she ever took a free kick, way before she even met Tobin, way before she was getting paid to play, way before she really knew the beautiful game at all. In that moment with Tobin, Alex thought back to what Coach Press told her before she took that kick: ‘Trust yourself, Alex, and just do what you have to do.’ Trust yourself. Alex knew what she had to do. "I'm just going to come right out and say it: I love you, and I've always loved you. And I'm not trying to scare you, but I want, no I need, to be honest. I want whatever this is..." she motioned in between the girl with her hands "I want this and more. I don’t want this to be just a hook up. I want you to be my girlfriend. I want you to live in this giant house. I want to marry you." Tobin's eyes just about popped out of her head. Seeing Tobin, Alex clarified, "I want to marry you someday. Not today, but someday." Alex could see the sigh of relief as Tobin exhaled. "Like I said yesterday, this house is way too big for one person. I want to fill it with many little humans and to raise them with someone I love. I don’t want this to be too much for you; I don’t want to drive you away," she continued, "but you need to know where I stand and what I want the future to look like so that, if you're not game, we don't start something that will end poorly again." Alex took a deep breath as she finished her monologue and now intently looked to Tobin for her response.

 Tobin took a second to let what the girl across from her had said sink in. She could see the anxiety hiding behind Alex's eyes. "Alex..." Tobin reached over to grab her hand and looked into her eyes, "I want every bit of what you just said.” She could see Alex's smiling pulling up her face. "But how about you let me have you to myself for a little bit before we bring any little ones into this picture," Tobin said with an even bigger smile. Alex laughed "Yeah maybe we should go on a real date first." "A real date?" Tobin questioned jokingly. "You don't consider Saturday's dinner a real date?" "Well, honestly, I’ve had worse.” They both giggled.

 A cool sense of reality struck Tobin as the events of that night played through her head. "Yeah, you're right. We need something better." "Movie night...right now," Alex said as she shrugged her shoulders. "She's the Man?" Tobin tossed with a devilish smile. Alex rolled her eyes, "You're twenty-six, and that's still your favorite movie?" "You bet your ass it is. Amanda Bynes pre-breakdown, you can't beat it!" Tobin chirped back. "Whatever you want," Alex said as she turned off the lights around the room, opened the credenza, retrieved the Apple TV remote, and threw it to Tobin.

 The soccer player plopped right down next to Tobin on the shorter part of the L-shaped couch and pulled her in close to her body. Once Tobin set up the movie, she wiggled into Alex’s body, placing her head in Alex's lap while sticking her legs out the length of the long couch. Tobin didn't look up to see if Alex cared that she was lying in her lap, but when Tobin felt Alex's long fingers running though her hair and, at the same time, gliding ever so lightly over her exposed skin by the arm of Tobin’s t-shirt, she knew Alex was more than okay with having Tobin there. The light touches seemed to lull Tobin straight to sleep. Alex noticed the slow, even breathing, but could not pull them up to bed before capitulating to sweet sleep. The rest of the movie played out in front of closed eyes.  

[mmroad]

The Auction

Chapter 11: The next morning, Tobin woke to the light shining through the floor-length windows of Alex’s bedroom. After reminding herself that she was, in fact, in Alex Morgan’s bed, naked? yes definitely naked, a giant smile found its way to Tobin’s face. Tobin turned to her left to see Alex, still asleep, tangled in the crisp white sheets. She looked so peaceful as her chest slowly rose and fell. Tobin giggled as she remembered the previous night; it was a lot of fun, but it was nothing compared to waking up next to the beautiful brunette that she loved. Tobin quickly leaned over to the end table next to her and texted Lexa to let her know she would be taking the morning off. Lexa just responded with a winkie face along with a sly, “take all the time you need.” Tobin rolled her eyes and laughed. She put her phone back down and slowly maneuvered over to Alex who was dead asleep on her side. Tobin carefully moved her breast right up against Alex’s back and wrapped her arms around her. As soon as Tobin touched Alex, Tobin could feel Alex wiggle subconsciously and effortlessly into her embrace. Even half asleep, Alex still searched for Tobin’s touch. Tobin moved her chin up over Alex’s shoulder just enough to put a light a kiss on her temple. She could feel Alex relax under her. A few seconds after, Tobin heard Alex mutter out, "just like old times…” in a mutter tone, still half asleep. “Just like old times,” Tobin whispered back. After a few minutes, Tobin could tell by Alex’s now more cyclic breathing that she was fully asleep once again. Tobin gingerly ducked out behind Alex and searched the ground for any clothes she could throw on. She found her underwear but no shirt. Tobin tip-toed over to Alex’s closet, stepped in, and flipped on the light. Damn. Tobin didn’t expect this many clothes even from Alex. She combed through the massive amounts of shirts until she found an obviously oversized, heavily-worn Courage spirt shirt with a thirteen on the back. It was just long enough to cover her butt. After slipping the shirt over her head, Tobin slipped out of the bedroom door and made her way to the kitchen. Alex was obviously exhausted from her soccer game the night before, among other things, so Tobin decided to whip her up a nice little breakfast in bed. Of course, the giant kitchen took a while to get accustomed to—Tobin feared that by the time she made it all the way to the fridge to get the garnishing strawberries, her French toast would be already burnt. One small consolation was that the kitchen came equipped with everything. “Do you really need three sets of every instrument, plate, and utensil, Alex?” Tobin asked herself as she eeny-meeny-miny-moed among the different sets of plates for her masterpieces, two pieces of golden-brown French toast with strawberries (hold the powdered sugar: she’s an athlete,) an egg sunny side up for some protein, and Tobin even took the time to squeeze some fresh orange juice because she didn’t want Alex’s immune system to falter. She tried to be as quiet as possible during this whole endeavor to make sure she didn’t wake the sleeping beauty upstairs. Once the food was ready and plated, Tobin headed upstairs with the tray of food in her hands. She gently pushed the open the cracked door, expecting to see Alex sound sleep, but instead, she found the girl propped up in bed with a slightly sad and confused look on her face. “Good morning beautiful,” Tobin said with a goofy smile on her face as she walked over to her lover and placed the tray on her lap, “I thought you could use some breakfast to refuel from last night,” Tobin winked at her with a gaping smile. Alex looked at her for a second and then reciprocated the giant smile, grabbed Tobin’s loose shirt, almost dropping the plate of Tobin’s slaved-over food, and pulled Tobin’s lips to hers. Once Alex eventually switched from digging into Tobin’s face to digging into her food, Tobin jumped into bed next to her girlfriend. She wiggled over to Alex and put her arm around the girl as she ate. “When I woke up and you were gone…I thought that you…” Alex wondered until Tobin interrupted her, “leave a girl as a pretty as you without saying goodbye? Not a chance.” Alex just looked down at her food. “I didn’t know…” Alex went on; Tobin knew that not everything could be easy right away. Tobin leaned over and kissed the side of Alex’s head, “I took the morning off work so we could spend a little extra time together.” "Tobin,” Alex turned to her with a questionable look, “you didn’t have to do that for me.” “Shhh—I wanted to do it,” Tobin smiled back at the girl. Once Alex was finally done with her power-breakfast, she crawled over onto Tobin’s lap and looked down at her. Tobin couldn’t help it, but her heart began to race. When Alex looked down at the girl she loved, she also noticed the t-shirt she was wearing. “You’re wearing my t-shirt,” Alex stated. “Yeah, is that okay?” Tobin gave Alex a quizzical look. “That’s amazing—I mean like you’re in my house, and it’s morning, and you slept in my house and…” “ALEX STOP QUOTING THE SANVERS SCENE FROM LAST WEEKS EPISODE OF SUPERGIRL!” Tobin yelled out jokingly. “Okaaayyy,” Alex pretended to pout before looking into Tobin’s eyes and giving in to her act with a slight, slight giggle. Tobin pulled the girl on top of her closer until she could kiss her lips. Alex finally hopped off Tobin and headed to the bathroom. “Hey wait,” Tobin harped, “I didn’t think we were done just yet;” she ended with a dirty a smirk. Alex poked her head out of the bathroom, “Listen to you, Ms. Bad Influence! Some of us can’t just call off work: I have practice in an hour.” Tobin understood, she didn’t want to make Alex miss anything. Tobin’s job was important to her so she respected Alex for caring so much about hers. The game meant everything to her. “I’m going to shower,” Alex continued, “but come in here so I can talk to you for a little before I have to leave.” Tobin hurdled out of the bed and moseyed on over to the bathroom. If Tobin was impressed by the kitchen, she was blown away by the bathroom. This bathroom had everything one could imagine and more. The floor was all white marble leading up to the sleet walk-in shower. The shower had water jets on the wall allowing perfectly clear water to be projected at all angles and even a rain shower from above to make you feel like you’re outside. The door was pure glass, so Tobin could peer right in if she felt so inclined. There also was a giant Jacuzzis with a fire place at the foot of the bath. The bathroom even had a granite island. “Who needs an island in a bathroom?” Tobin thought obnoxiously to herself. Tobin made her way to the wall across from Alex’s shower and slumped down to the floor with her back leaning against the wall. Alex wasn’t the only one worn out from last night. Alex came out of the linen closet in the corner with a white fluffy towel wrapped around her. Alex walked over to the sink, dropping her towel and looked at herself in the mirror to make sure there were no marks from last night that were going to have to be covered up before practice. But Alex noticed as soon as she dropped her towel, Tobin quickly turned her head the other way. Alex wanted to test out her little hunch; she walked over to Tobin who continued to turn her head only more and more noticeably. Tobin still wouldn’t look straight at her. “Tobin, yanno,” Alex said in a tasty, sassy way, “Why won’t you look at me? You did a lot more than look last night,” Alex said jokingly through her toothy smile. Tobin turned her head to take in her full body all at once, “I was just…” “I know,” Alex interrupted, “you were just being Tobin,” as Alex bent down and kissed the girl on the cheek. “And that’s what I love about you,” Alex said over her shoulder as she made her way to the warm shower. Alex stepped in and let the water fall over every inch of her body before she slicked her hands back through her hair. “Why do you have to shower anyways, you just showered last night,” Tobin said with a hint of a pouting. “If I walk into that locker room today with my skin glowing and smelling like I do now, the whole team will know something is up and they don’t need to know what’s going on just yet.” Alex explained from the shower while pulling her lavender shampoo through her long brown hair. “Ohh so you’re embarrassed of me, I see,” Tobin said from her spot on the floor with a hint of jealousy and sarcasm in her voice. Tobin heard a loud laugh come from the shower. “I’m sorry, Heath, but trust me, I’m not embarrassed. Last night, I was with my high school sweetheart, and we had some great sex if I do say so myself. I would shout it from the roof tops if I could, or at least tweet about it. But it’s just different. This is good, and I want to keep it to myself right now,” Alex chimed with her eyes closed while rinsing her hair out quickly and stepping out of the shower. She beamed over to see Tobin trying to hide the goofy smile plastered all over her face. “Shout it from the roof tops, aye,” Tobin playfully said to herself. “And then some,” Alex responded lovingly as she made her way to the closet to change for practice. Once Alex was all ready for practice, she and Tobin made their way downstairs. The whole morning was filled with little touches and nudges between the two. Neither of them could help that they got more touchy as it got closer for the two to separate. “Tonight—“ Alex broke the peaceful silence, "come over after work.” Tobin nodded her head in agreement. “That way we can order the U-haul together and you can move all your stuff in tomorrow.” Alex said with a smirk. “Aleeeex,” Tobin rolled her eyes at her lover dressed in her full-on soccer gear. “I’m kiddddinngggg, I was just trying to fit the lesbian stereotype, duhhhh!” Alex said jokingly with a flip of hair. “But really though,” Alex’s voice took a serious turn, “come over tonight, and let’s talk about how we want this to go. Call it a date?” Alex said as she locked the house door behind her and headed to her car. “It’s a date,” Tobin reciprocated. They both drove away in their respective cars. As she drove to her job that seemed so unimportant now, Tobin couldn’t restrain the gargantuan smile drawn across her face.