By your side (Rúben Dias)

Chapter Eleven

"This is so much fun!"

"Who knew you'd be so good at painting walls?"

"I'm not surprised. I was always very artistic".

Maddie was desperate to get the nursery ready for baby Ingrid and the perfect start was to paint the walls to know which colour palette to go for with the furniture. She didn't want to do the classic pink for a girl so she chose a lovely peach shade. It was bright, as a nursery should be. But it wasn't too strong. Perfect.

"Done. Now it will have to dry. Let's get the plastic sheets together for the next step".

Another one of her plans was to do little drawings in some areas of the walls. The teacher in her was loving this little project. But they needed to wait until the paint dried before they could do that and Rúben was starting to worry about how much she was doing. 

"I think we should rest while the paint dries".

"I'm not tired".

"No, you're too hyper because you're excited to do all of it and then you'll crash because it's too much".

"Rúben, this is the best part of the pregnancy so far. I just have some water retention and that's it. Let me enjoy it while it lasts. I want to do things. I'm bored of spending so much time napping or lying down on the sofa".

Rúben couldn't stop staring at her getting all the drawings ready. It was so good to see her happy again. That only proved to him that he just couldn't allow Rob to ruin this. He almost ruined Maddie's happiness once but now it was her and Ingrid's happiness he was threatening. 

"Can I see the rest of the drawings you got on your phone?"

"Sure", said Maddie, unlocking the phone before passing it to him.

Rúben didn't look at the drawings but went to her contacts instead. She had blocked Rob's number but didn't delete it. So he took a screenshot and sent it to himself via email. Then he deleted the photo and went back to her designs.

"I like this one a lot".

"Yes", she smiled. "I like it too. I thought that could go above the crib. What do you think?"

"It sounds perfect".

**

He knew what he had to do but didn't fully know how to do it. Thankfully, he knew a lawyer he could trust to fix these issues for him.

"That's his NDA and this is mine, redacted by one of my peers and signed by me. Your secret is safe".

"Good. Thank you so much".

"You're doing the right thing, Rúben".

"I know. I have to protect my girls. I'll do whatever it takes".

He shook the lawyer's hand and left to meet Rob. It was going to be so hard to resist the temptation of punching his face. But he wanted to fix the situation...not make it worse.

"It's my baby, isn't it?", he said the moment he saw Rúben.

"She is nothing to you and never will".

"How are you going to make that happen?"

"By giving you this check".

Rúben placed the check in front of Rob and he picked it up to check the sum. It was generous. But it wasn't anything outrageous. He didn't deserve that.

"And you'll sign this contract saying you won't speak of this, you won't contact Maddie or my daughter, and you won't come back for more money. This is it. Take it or leave it but I recommend you take it because if you try to start a legal custody battle, I'll make you regret it".

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised you're doing this. You were always obsessed with her...".

"I was always in love with her. And it turns out you never were. You never deserved her. But that's not a problem now, is it?"

"And you're going to raise someone else's child? That's so pathetic", his laugh enraged him so much.

"She won't be someone else's child. She'll be my daughter. And luckily for her, she'll never know you exist".

"Alright. Have fun with that. Not only do you get my sloppy seconds, but you also get to raise my daughter".

"The fact that you take the money so easily, instead of fighting for her, shows she's not your daughter".

"Whatever you say, mate".

After Rob signed the two copies of the contract, Rúben took the one he was going to keep and got up without saying goodbye. He didn't want to see him again. And he was happy knowing neither Maddie nor Ingrid would ever have to see him. Maybe money could buy happiness after all. At least sometimes.

He wasn't far from his apartment, so even though he was walking, he got back very quickly. Maddie was lying down on the sofa, almost fully hidden under a blanket and watching reality TV. Rúben chuckled when he saw her and it made Maddie turn to look at him. 

"Hi! Where were you?"

"Talking to my lawyer about boring stuff. Are you comfy?"

She nodded. "But I'd be comfier if you were here cuddling me".

"Let me get changed and I'll be there in a second".

Rúben took off his jeans and jumper and put on some joggers and a T-shirt. And then he joined Madison on the sofa, getting comfortable and putting his hands on her belly. Ingrid had been kicking often lately and he never wanted to miss it.

"She kicked like 20 minutes ago and I swear to God she'll be a footballer like you. That kick was intense. It wasn't Julián shooting to score a goal. It was you tackling a player to get the ball...or trying to break his leg".

"Good girl. She'll be a centre-back like her dad".

"Will she play for England or Portugal, though?"

"We'll let her choose".

"Pfft, she'll choose Portugal then".

"Why?"

"Rúben, you know girls are all in love with their dads. Ingrid will be obsessed with all things Portugal because you're Portuguese. She'll want to play for them like you. Daddy's little girl".

"I like the sound of that".

He put his face on the crook of Maddie's neck, inhaling her scent and feeling so stupidly happy.

"Rúben?"

"Yeah".

"I just wanted to tell you that we love you".