𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘 | l.messi

twenty-four.

present.

EMILY FELT A soft tug at her shoulders and she slowly opened her eyes , squinting and rubbing them. she frowned and saw Mateo next to her , smiling while Ciro is laying on her arms , engulfed in video games.

she then realised where she was and with who and immediately sat up , making Ciro look up at her.

"Em?" Mateo's voice said and she looked down at her younger brother. "are we almost there yet?" she asked. Mateo just nodded his head.

Antonella was reading a magazine and Leo and Thiago were playing on his phone. Antonella looked up and saw the teenage girl rub her eyes , awaking from her sleep.

she grabbed a fresh bottle of water and handed it to Emily with a smile. "here you go" Antonella said and Emily shyly took it from her. "thank you" she replied.

Antonella smiled at Emily's shyness and sat back down in her seat. Emily took a big gulp out of the bottle of water and screw the cap close again.

Mateo engaged himself in the ipad he had in his hands and stared at the movie that was playing.

"w-when are we t-there?" she asked out loud , embarrased at her stuttering tone. Leo looked up from the phone and smiled at his daughter — something he seemed to do a lot ever since he found out she was his.

"we'll be there in about 20 minutes" he said and she nodded her head. Leo then looked at his wife and then back at Emily.

"are you hungry yet?" he asked , rather nervous and Emily shook her head. "no , maybe later" she said.

her father frowned at her words. "are you sure? we've been on this plane for a while" he said.

"i'll be fine. the nervousness took away my appetite anyway" she said and he hesitantly nodded his head.

"tell me when you're hungry" Leo said and Emily nodded her head with a faint smile and laid her hand against the seat once again.

with her siblings being busy , Emily took out her phone and put her earphones in her ear. she let some music play and went to her gallery.

she scrolled through one of her old albums that contained pictures of her and her mom. her eyes first landed on the picture that they took at the beach.

Valentina were laying on her beach chair and Emily was on her lap and they smiled at the camera.

Emily smiled at the photo. she scrolled once again and landed on a picture they took in a photobooth. it was at a carnival and Emily practically begged her mother to take photos with her.

she felt her throat ache as she thought of her mother's laughter and smiles and how she stuffed her cheeks with cotton candy that she loved so much.

Emily felt her eyes burn but closed it briefly and swallowed her tears. she had no idea why she was torturing herself like that.

she felt a tug at her shoulders and saw Mateo looking at the photo curiously. he was staring at it and Emily exited the app and pulled out her earphones.

she had an idea of what he was going to ask and she had no idea how to stop it from happening.

"who is that?" he asked her as he looked at her with big round eyes , catching the attention of them all in the plane.

"uhm...t-that's uh...." she trailed off and looked at Leo who slowly nodded his head , knowing what Mateo was referring to.

Emily gulped and cleared her throat. "that's...that was my mom" she said softly and she saw his face morphe into confusion.

"isn't my mama your mama too?" he asked. there was silence for a little while until Emily nodded her head.

"so you have two?" he asked , his eyes slightly wide and she chuckled. "yeah, i have two" sbe said and she he smiled.

"i want to have two mamas too" he said and she chuckled. she was glad when he averted his eyes to his ipad again , when something interesting happened on the movie.

a woman walked towards them and gave a smile. "Mr and Mrs Messi , we're going to land the jet in 5 minutes , so be prepared" she said and he nodded his head. 

she went back to the front and Emily relaxed against her seat as she waited for the plane to land.

she always hated the landing of planes and Mateo seemed to notice that. "you scared too?" he whispered and she chuckled.

"yeah, hold my hand?" she asked and he held her hand with a smile. he was such a sweetheart.

the plane landed on the runway of a private , secluded area. Emily let out a huge breath of relief when the plane stopped.

she was finally on earth and not in the sky anymore and that thought made her feel safe. she was always very sceptical of planes because she always used to watch those airplanes crash movies.

the door of the jet opened and light came pouring in , making her squint. three bodyguards came on and helped them with their suitcases.

Emily unbuckled Mateo and Ciro and they all went outside where Thiago and Antonella already were.

Leo was still inside, grabbing the remaining things that were there.

the wind was warmer than she expected and she smild as she realised she was in Barcelona. she was never there before and it was never on her bucklet list but now that she was here , it was gorgeous.

"take them to the car" Leo said and the bodyguards nodded their heads as he took them to the front.

Leo let out a huge breath. "we need to walk out front" he told Antonella who frowned. "won't there be people?" she asked and he nodded his head.

"it's the only way to get out of the airport" he said and sighed. Antonella nodded her head and grabbed Thiago and Mateo's hands.

Leo picked up Ciro and put his arm around Emily's shoulders. "just shield yourself , okay?" he said and she just nodded his head.

he was famous , this was bound to happen.

they walked out with some bodyguards guiding them out of the airport.

people quickly started to recognise them and flashes were everywhere. "hide your face if you want to" Leo said and she nodded her head.

she managed to held onto him without falling behind and screams as well as questions as to who she was were yelled at them.

"Mr Messi who is she?"

"who's the girl?"

"What is she to you?"

those questions were thrown at them , but the family paid them no mind. they finally all got into a black SUV and buckled themselves in.

Leo sighed as he buckled himself in and made sure no one was following them.

he drove towards their family house and sighed in content as he finally had his daughter here with him.

———