Unexpected (bayern munich)

Chapter 4

Most of Natalia's charges were easy to take care of—Robert's wife, Anna was a fitness guru and was thrilled at the prospect of cooking him new "healthy" food, as she put it.

With a big hug and a standing dinner invitation (from the recipe book), Natalia left the Lewandowski's house for the first time, a big smile on her face.

I can do this...I can do this!

A few other charges—namely Manuel, were a bit more difficult. Single players who lived alone hardly had time to cook for themselves, so Natalia found herself scrambling to make recipes they could follow and would take under 15 minutes to cook.

Several months after getting settled into her new position, Natalia was delivering a round of groceries to the Müllers.

After placing the boxes of groceries on the counters in the kitchen, Natalia turned to unpack them. She spent some time picking out the best vegetables from the market—after all, there was nothing like a home grown, in season tomato. Midway through putting the tomatoes in their respective bowl, Natalia heard quiet sobbing coming from the half bath that was halfway between the kitchen and dining room.

She crept quietly—despite being encouraged to utilize the Müllers' home to her hearts content, she still felt like a stranger. She wasn't an employee of the household, but she wasn't a guest—a weird in-between that Natalia still wasn't used to.

She came closer and softly knocked on the bathroom door, "Lisa?" she asked quietly, not wanting to invade her space but still feeling some form of responsibility for the crying woman.

"Yeah?" Lisa responded, her voice thick with tears.

"Are you okay?" Natalia asked, feeling stupid the instant the question left her mouth. Of course she's not okay, she's crying in the bathroom you dunce.

 

"Yeah, I just," Lisa sniffled and opened the door, exposing her red eyes and nose. How she still managed to look beautiful was beyond Natalia, but she was happy she at least opened the door.

"I...took a test," Lisa finished, pointing to the pregnancy test that she abandoned in the sink.

Natalia took a step into the bathroom and placed an awkward arm over Lisa's shoulders, who surprised her by enveloping her in a hug and crying again in her shoulder.

Natalia took a deep breath, "Lisa, I'm confused. You and Thomas...have been together for years, why are you.." she trailed off as Lisa removed her head from her shoulder.

"You don't get it do you," she said shaking her head and wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I—," Natalia started but was cut off.

"I must be about 10 weeks along," Lisa said defiantly, blowing her nose.

"But that's impossible, 10 weeks ago....oh," Natalia said, finally understanding, a chilling silence settling between the two young women. Thomas and the rest of the German National Team had not gotten back from Brazil until August, after being away for almost 12 weeks.

"So Thomas isn't the father," Natalia said quietly and slowly, as Lisa placed two hands on either side of the sink and stared at the test.

"Nope," Lisa said, popping the last consonant. "You know we were having problems when he was in Brazil. So I...met someone," she said quietly, matching Natalia's tone.

"And he...doesn't know?" Natalia said, her mind absolutely buzzing. She knew Thomas and Lisa were having problems before Brazil, but they had been so happy since getting back, at least he was...

"No he doesn't know," Lisa said bitterly, taking the test out of the sink and putting it in her pocket. She turned to Natalia, suddenly dawning on her the possibility of him finding out, "Please don't—"

"I won't say anything," Natalia said quickly, "But you are going to tell him, right?"

Just then she heard the sounds of the garage door opening.

"I'm going to go make some phone calls. Please tell Thomas I'm...taking a nap or something," Lisa said, jogging up the staircase.

Pregnant...with someone else's child? How could she? When did this happen? Who is he? Are they still seeing each other? Poor Thomas...

All of these thoughts ran through Natalia's head as she greeted Thomas who dropped his sports bag in the mudroom and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator behind her. Her head still foggy from the heartbreaking news she just learned.

"Did you get good tomatoes?" he asked perching himself across the island as Natalia finished putting away the groceries, still distracted by the information she just learned.

"I did! Did you have a good training session today?" Natalia asked, not facing him.

"Yeah, Basti is still not playing but," Natalia tuned him out and took a few subtle deep breaths. Come on, get your shit together. This is not your fight. "Anyway, now Pep is working us really hard because he wants us ready for the next match," Thomas finished.

"Well it sounds like you'll be ready. You work so hard, and I'm fixing all of your diets," Natalia said smiling and taking out a few pots and pans to get started on dinner, as Thomas proceeded to settle down nearby and flip through a magazine.

Jesus Christ.