When Where and How to Love

Chapter 73. The Cheerleading Clan

Valdés-Carvajal Family
Juliana and Valentina: 41
Kara: 26
Anne and Scarlet: 16
Macarena: 14
Jules: 10
Elena: 9 months

Jauregui-Cabello Family
Lauren and Camila: 41
Gaby: 17
Andrea: 14
Tomas: 8

Five years later - Casa Valdés Carvajal

"I miss you so much," said the brunette as she spoke to her wife on the phone.

"Is that all? Only one I miss you?" The blonde asked seriously. "Every time you miss me less," she accused. "Of course, San Antonio is full of beautiful women and players who are dying to conquer Coach Valdés, you probably don't even have time to think about me," she added with a soft, sad voice.

"Do you know what I woke up thinking?" Juliana asked, she hated to hear her wife like this. "I woke up, looked at the empty side of the bed and closed my eyes trying to imagine the way you would be sleeping," she finished and added a short laugh.

"Why?" she caught the blonde's attention.

"When I wake up every morning," the story began, "you are never in the same position," she said. "There are days when I find you clinging to me like a koala," they both laughed, "and you don't know how hard it is for me to get out of bed because I would stay in your arms forever," she confessed. "But other days you are almost on the edge of the bed, far away from me, with your arm hanging off the bed..."

"That's your fault," the blonde murmured.

"My fault? Why is it my fault?" she asked playfully.

"Because I have to get away from you, so you're not tempted again and let me sleep," she explained easily.

"And do you think fleeing to the other side of the bed will save you?" Fleeing to the other side of the house didn't work either.

"Continue your story..." Valentina wanted to avoid starting something over the phone, her daughters were about to come home from school and it wouldn't be the first time they found her in a strange situation.

"The girls will be home soon, right? Okay," she would continue with her story. "Do you know what my preferred position is when you sleep?" she questioned.

"Tell me," she demanded weakly.

"When I wake up and I have your head on my chest and one of your hands on my abdomen," the brunette's voice was already a provocation, "you move up and down with my breathing. There are times when I change my rhythm to try and make you do that little wrinkle on your nose that I love so much," she laughed. "And do you know what you do when I get up?" Valentina did not answer, she waited for the answer. "You replace me with a pillow... with a miserable pillow!" she complained.

"But it's your pillow, I don't hug mine," Valentina was aware of some of her sleeping rituals. "Yours has your perfume, the perfume you use only for me," she told her.

Valentina heard her wife sigh but gave her time to process what she wanted to say. "This gets more difficult every trip, my love," she confessed.

The blonde had promised to try to make this as easy as possible for her wife, but she also shared the same frustration. "Juls... baby... when we discussed the offer, we knew this was going to happen," she said softly.

"I know but..."

"And it's no different being the Liberty coach than when you travelled as a player," she needed to be strong for her wife.

"I know but I miss you a lot, I miss my daughters, I don't know if I made the right decision," she said.

Valentina held her tears as best she could. "But you know if you quit basketball, you will go crazy!" Although the love for this sport had been displaced by Valentina and the girls, Juliana was still passionate about what she did. "Are you still there?" Valentina asked, after a moment of silence.