herophine - Trouvaille

Chapter 28

Crosby, Liverpool - England, 2026

There is a subtle change between them.

The air that used to be heavy and full of tension, now is filled with electricity. Hero was convinced that his feelings towards her were not there anymore, but the chemistry they had was pretty noticeable. And, since Josephine went three days ago to soccer practice with them, Hero can't stop staring Jo's lips.

Not her eyes, not her hair, not any other part of her body. Her lips.

And he tries to repeat himself that is not appropiate, that she is here in Crosby for Sofía and not him. Yet, he closes his eyes and he can only see the shape of her lips.

Shit, shit , shit.

Hero tries to go back to the angry emotions. However, taking part of the blame about what happened when she got pregnant, has made the anger disappear. It's like when you stir the sea, some things come up to the surface again even you thought they were gone forever.

The truth is that it was naive thinking that if he would put his anger aside, there would only be left courtesy towards her because of their daughter's wellness. But, we are talking about the freaking love of his life. Nobody feels just courtesy towards the love of their life.

He wants to bang his head against the wall. He can't believe that after seven years, just two days before Christmas Eve, he finds himself in the same spot as after the After promo tour in 2019: thinking about her any time of the day and valuing the status of their relationship.

Afterall, what does he know about her life all these years later?

Ignoring everything that the media posted about Josephine Langford was a tough exercise, although the fact that neither of them used social networks helped him. The decision he took to forbid himself to google her, was the childish way he chose to return her the contempt. He wanted to know nothing about her. And now he denies to assault Google to find out if she has a husband or a lover, but if there is someone in her life he should know it, right? At the end, the other person would be also part of their daughter's life.

Right? Right? Right?

- Are we waiting for something? - Jo asks curious looking first through the car window and then to him.

Hero was deep in his thoughts and he didn't realized that he remained sit once they parked in the school parking lot.

Today is the big day for Sofía, the day she has been waiting the whole month of December. Hero and Josephine took Sofía to school this morning and a few hours later, they have driven to the same building because it is the school's Christmas show.

- No, sorry. - He smiles to her, before opening the car door. - Let's go.

They walk to the main entrance and Hero remembers all the times he has had to attend these kind of shows by himself. Other parents are already waiting to enter. Again, the parents from Sofía's classmates look at them with no subtle. Katie and her husband Paul, who are the parents of their daughter's best friend Sutton, are the only ones who have confidence enough with him to walk to them. Hero decides that being natura like in every other occasion is the best option, so he introduces Josephine to them as who she is: Sofía's mother. When Jo hears his presentation she is pretty surprised, and when she stablishes a short conversation with Sutton's parents she is very relieved that they doesn't ask anything inappropiate.

Ten minutes later, when they let the families know they can walk in, Hero puts softly his hand on Jo's back to guide her to the assembly hall.

It isn't the first time they have physical contact in the past days, they have hugged each other once. Nevertheless, the feeling is new. Or maybe not so new, but he doesn't remember when was the last time he experienced it.

The lights go off and Miss Mary's students start showing up on the small scenario, all of them dressing with a white gown and a tinsel on their heads. The song that Hero and Josephine have heard so much these past days starts playing.

- ... All for the little ones' Christmas toys. - Sofía finishes singing happily her lines. - Ho ho ho, who wouldn't go... - Then the whole class sings the chorus.

Hero dares to turn and look at Jo several times. He finds her completely fascinated without taking away her sight to their little human who sings with joy. Jo's eyes are sparkling and she has the biggest smile on her face, just as a proud mom.

Suddenly, as the performance ends, fueled by the excitement and adrenaline of all the applause from the audience, Josephine grabs Hero's hand and squeezes it.

Shit, shit, shit.