For The Longest Time

Lionel grinned to himself as he picked Thiago up, the footballer couldn’t believe that his little boy was finally turning one that day; it had been a year since his birth and Lionel couldn’t have been happier.

“Happy birthday,” Lionel said cuddling his little boy close before he moved to dress him for the party that they were having, he was a little surprised that his mother had agreed to come and he had warned her not to cause any problems since Rosalie had worked hard on the party.

“Papa,” Thiago said making Lionel smile as he dressed the little boy and made sure that he didn’t need changing, he knew that there were already people downstairs waiting to see the birthday boy; their families had come together completely for this day.

“Come on your madre will be waiting,” Lionel said shifting his hold on Thiago, the little boy had recently started walking a little bit and the footballer couldn’t have been happier even if it did mean that they had been forced to baby proof the house.

Lionel headed downstairs and chuckled as he spotted Sergio waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, he smiled at his friend knowing that today was the first time in a long time that things were going so well for the family.

“I can’t believe that he’s getting so big,” Sergio said amused as he followed Lionel into the living room where most people were gathered, they had tried to keep it a small gathering but that seemed impossible with nearly everyone wanting to be there for Thiago’s first birthday.

“There’s the birthday boy,” Giannina said moving to coo over her nephew, she ignored her eldest sister who frowned as she watched her with the little boy; Dalma had felt a little betrayed when she had discovered that Giannina had known where Rosalie was the entire time.

***

“How are things between you and Dalma?” Lionel asked softly standing next to his wife, he knew that her older sister had spoken with her privately and he hoped that she wasn’t to upset about the fact that Rosalie had cut contact with her.

“Still a little tense… she understands why I didn’t talk with her about any of this, she would have told our parents without thinking about what I want,” Rosalie said softly, she knew her eldest sister well and Dalma would have told their parents straight away if she had contacted her.

Lionel nodded his head as he looked over at his sister-in-law, she was hurting but she had never been close with Rosalie and was the type of person to rat someone out to get ahead.

Rosalie laughed softly as she watched Thiago with her father and mother, she wasn’t surprised that Diego had given Thiago a football shirt for a present while Claudia had given him a couple of bath toys and some books.

“I think my padre’s trying to steal Thiago’s allegiance to Barca,” Rosalie said making Lionel snort amused before he headed over to his in-laws in an attempt to stop that sort of nonsense.

Rosalie rested a hand on her ever expanding stomach, she was eighteen weeks pregnant and she knew that Lionel was going to be protective of her as time went on but she hoped that he would be okay when her pregnancy went along.

“You okay?” Dalma asked approaching her sister, she watched her concerned before Rosalie nodded her head and offered her a small smile.

Rosalie was wearing a nude jumper with rolled back sleeves and blue skinny jeans with ripped knee paired with tan suede wedge ankle boots for the party.

“I’m fine… the baby’s just moving a lot,” Rosalie said reassuring her sister, she watched as Dalma glanced down at her stomach before she moved closer again curious about what her sister was feeling; Dalma had been too busy with her own career to even think about starting a family.

Rosalie glanced at Peyton who was happily chatting to Jorge and Sergio, she knew that the little girl still wasn’t happy about her hair cut and she hoped that it would grow back quickly.

“You did amazingly Rosa… I don’t think I would have ever coped with any of this like you have,” Dalma said sitting down next to her sister, if she wanted a relationship with her sister then she was going to have forget about the past; she had a niece and nephew that she wanted to get to know.

Rosalie smiled at her softly as she looked over at Thiago who was now being held by Claudia while Lionel and Diego discussed what team the little boy would be supporting from now on.

The two sisters chuckled at the little argument as Sergio walked over and judged the discussion, they knew that this was going to be a long one and Lionel was more determined than the other two men to win.

***

“He’s going to support Barcelona,” Lionel said stubbornly making Rosalie chuckle amused as she kissed her husband’s lips, she knew that he was going to stick to his guns about who the little boy was going to support.

Thiago cooed softly as he looked up at his father, who smiled down at him before he picked him up and cuddled him close; he wasn’t going to allow his father-in-law to make this decision.

“Whatever you say Leo,” Rosalie said knowing that it would be better to agree with her husband, he might have started his career at Newell's Old Boys but he was a Barcelona player now and had been for years.

Lionel grinned as he held his son close, he knew that she was just saying that to keep him happy and he was grateful for the fact that he had a wife like her; he turned to look at her as she watched him with their son.

“How is our baby girl?” Lionel asked with a small smile on his face, the couple had decided to keep the news that they were having a little girl to themselves for a while since they wanted it to be a little bit of a surprise.

“She’s fine,” Rosalie said moving to rest a hand on her stomach, she knew that Lionel was amused that they were having another girl; he loved Peyton and he had a special connection with her.

“I can’t believe that we are having another girl,” Lionel said moving to settle Thiago down, he hadn’t really minded before what they might have been having but now that they knew he couldn’t have been happier.

Rosalie chuckled as she looked at her husband, she knew that he loved children so it was never a questioning of having a set gender as long as they had a healthy baby.

“Well the chances were fifty-fifty,” Rosalie teased finishing folding some clothes and put them into Thiago’s cupboard while Lionel put Thiago to bed.

Lionel looked at his wife who smiled at him knowing that today had gone better than expected; he carefully moved towards her and kissed her lips as he wrapped his arms around her.

“We did good, didn’t we?” Lionel said holding his wife close, he was aware that things still had to calm down; the world was still in shock from the fact that he was married and had a family, they wanted to know everything about them.

“We did,” Rosalie admitted looking at him, she kissed him softly before they left Thiago’s room so that he could sleep.