Pedri had been right: when he began his recovery journey at the training center, he was back to "normal". His smile was back and his energy was all channeled into get back onto the pitch as quick as possible. The prognosis was to return at the end of October and we all hoped that he would be able to play the Clasico, but Pedri wasn't too sure about it. He was really taking it maturely and rather wanted to sit out on one more game, rather than rushing back too early - even if it meant missing a game against Real.
The day of my birthday had come around and there it was: September 10th, a Sunday this year. I was throwing myself a small barbecue at my parents' place and besides my family and Rodri's family there, Laura had come as Rodri was playing with the national team and she was in Spain anyways, as well as... Pedri and his brother. I had to invite him because he would have held it against me for ages and when he actually accepted the invite, I decided against inviting other friends of mine because I didn't want things to get weird and revolve around Pedri instead of me on my birthday.
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📍 Barcelona, Catalunya, España isa.vasquez 27 👵🏼🎈
ferrantorres I thought 17 pedri You might be prehistoric, but at least you're not extinct! 😘 gzl.0123 C u laterrrrrrrr pablogavi Happy birthday! 😊 ericgm3 Getting prettier with every year 😉
Pedri POV
"How do I look?" I asked my brother nervously for the eighth time today as we were standing in front of Isa's parents' house. It wasn't big and it wasn't small, a normal middle-class family's house with a small backyard in the back probably. "You don't look like Pedri" he chuckled. "What do you mean? What's wrong? When we left you said I looked fine!!" I hissed nervously and he pressed the doorbell. "You look like you want to impress the in-laws" he snickered and I shot him a glare. I mean, he wasn't wrong, but he didn't know about... what happened with Isa and me, so that was a weird comment.
"Oh! Hello, Pedri!" a nice woman said as she opened the door - that must be Isa's mother. Damn, she looked hot too and I started dreaming about me with grey hair and Isa looking like her mum in 30 years, sitting on the patio of a house in Tenerife. My brother snapped me out of my thoughts as he elbowed me into my rib. "Yes! That's me! Very nice to meet you!" I stammered and extended my hand which she shook happily. "Come inside! This is where Isa grew up" she chuckled and I admired the sleek interior and stopped in front of a dresser with lots of pictures on it. Isa and her sister, her sister's wedding, Isa's wedding, baby Sofia, baby Blanca - so many beautiful memories.
We walked to the back and everyone's eyes were on us... better said on me and I sent a nervous wave accompanied by a hi. "PEDRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! Caro, come!!!" Sofi shouted and ran towards me, dragging along another kid that was probably her cousin. "Hi, Sofi, I'll be with you in a minute, I have to tell mum a happy birthday first. Hello, Caro? Wait a sec" I told the girls and patted them on their head before walking to Isa. "Hey" I said nervously and looked at her - she looked beautiful. Her top had slightly ridden up and a very small piece of skin was exposed just over her skirt and I had to try my best to not grow hard - think of the dead cat you ran over a day after getting your license, Pedri! Dead cat, dead cat, dead cat. "Hi Pedri. Nice of you to come" Isa said and hugged me. I put my arms around her too and feeling her breasts against my body - dead cat, dead cat, dead cat!!!!!!!
"Sure. This is for you" I told her and gave her the bag with mine and Fer's present in it, as well as a small one, just from me. "Thank you" she said and looked at me with an adorable smile. "Can I open them with the others?" she asked. "Um... the small box - just open it alone" I said and gulped. Not everyone needed to know that I had spent 70.000€ on a Tiffany diamond bracelet for her.
(For reference)
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"Ok" she giggled. "Make yourself comfortable, you already know Gonzalo" she chuckled and pointed at the chair next to her brother-in-law and I cringed at the memory of me meeting him for the first time. She went on to say hi to my brother and they chit-chatted about Ibiza - how did she know that he had been there. Oh gosh, was she in love with him? I mean, he was older than me, he wasn't as annoying as me, he lived a more laid-back life. No, no, I was hallucinating.
I walked over to the buffet and poured myself a glass of water which I immediately gulped down, before I felt someone patting my back. "There you are. How was Tenerife?" this Gonzalo guy asked. Isa's sister was eyeing us while laughing as she whispered something into her husband's ear. Fuck, hopefully they weren't like these families from the horror movies that would now go all crazy and make me do weird tasks like kill someone or stuff. "Uh... good, always nice to be home" I stammered and he laughed.
"I meant your secret little escape" he whispered and my eyes widened. "Carmen can't keep her mouth shut" he added. "Who else knows?" I asked, full of panic, looking at the sets of parents that were sat in this garden. "Chill, she only told me" he chuckled and I sent him a nervous smile. Great, this guy knew that I had shagged his dead brother's wife. "I don't know what happened or what's going through Isa's head, but I've never seen her this happy. Sure, she was happy with Rodri, but... that was content happy. He gave her everything a girl could want in life, a loving marriage and wonderful kids. But she's a woman now, she ticked all those life boxes, and the smile she gave you when you arrived: it's giving 'I'm-carefree-happy' vibes. I don't know if it makes sense" he said and I was very surprised that he actually didn't hate me.
"But she doesn't seem to want to be carefree" I sighed, looking at her talking to what must be her in-laws. "You never met Isa before, she was bubbly, happy, a bit crazy and he was serious, calm, rarely cracked any jokes. When Rodri died, she kind of turned into him and... now I kind of see Isa in you, the one who gets her out of her shell, just like she did with Rodri all those years ago. She has huge trauma, you can't expect her to jump into a relationship with you, who's six years younger while she has two kids on her back" he replied and I knew he was right. "I told her I'd wait" I mumbled and he smiled. "Good things come to those who wait" he said and patted my shoulder before walking away.
I gathered up some courage eventually and introduced myself to her father as well as her in-laws. They surprisingly were all really friendly and nice, asking me about my injury and football in general. Finally, it was time to say hi to the table with her sister and brother-in-law, where Isa was sitting too, as well as my brother, who already seemed to have become besties with everyone. "Hello Carmen, nice to meet you" I told the woman who knew about my sexual escapade with her widow sister. Gosh, where is a hole I can dig myself into? "Hello, Pedri" she said with a smirk on her face and kissed both my cheeks, Isa looking at the trees to not witness the scene. Thankfully, Carmen seemed to love her sister enough to not put her into the embarrassment of making any comments about... us... or Tenerife.
Eventually, Isa started opening up her presents and she seemed to be happy about the Hermes scarf Fer had chosen with me. It was a very nice afternoon all in all, but the conversation with her brother-in-law continued echoing in my mind. I just didn't know how to break down her walls.
