Lover II- ML

232. Switch

Mapi really tried not to rush through recovery the next day, she let the team therapists check over her body and fitness because she couldn't let herself slip, she couldn't slack on training and she needed to be at her best for her club to win the league and her country to win the Olympics.

So simple.

Yet that didn't stop Mapi from flicking through all the pictures she had taken over the last few days, leaning on the upright bench and getting her thighs massaged professionally.

Alexia was at her side having specialised treatment to her knees, but she was leaning over with a smile as she admires her godson.

The next picture Mapi flicks onto is a less than flattering angle, making Fabian's little double chin, pout and stern stare a lot more prominent.

Both of them laugh at the image, in pure adoration.

"His eyes are so dark." Alexia notes, still seeing the bright green hidden under the cloudiness.

"Mm." Mapi hums in agreement. "It's the newborn haziness. He can still only see like ten centimetres in front of him and basic colours." She explains. "By one week he should be able to see brighter colours. And by the time he's like seven months old they'll be identical to Kaia's."

"Your book told you that?" Alexia teases.

"Yes." Mapi huffs. "Why does everyone make fun of me for that?"

"I'm not." Alexia chuckles as she places a reassuring hand on Mapi's arm. "It's good Fabian has a mother who cares so much."

Mapi's lips lift a little at the compliment, but she can't help hear some type of undertone in Alexia's voice. She'd noticed the captain had been a lot more reserved these last couple of days; or more she was lost in her own head. "Are you ok?"

"What?" Alexia chuckles in surprise. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

Mapi shrugs softly. "You seem less you." She states. "If you don't think you can be Fabian's god-"

"-no, no." Alexia interrupts with wide eyes. "I'm honoured to be his godmother, I'm excited to get to know him and his little personality. I promise."

"Ok." Mapi accepts, nodding unsurely but she believes Alexia's words.

"It's not... it's not really my place to say." Alexia drops her volume so their therapists don't hear. "But Natalie's started to pack her things from my house, she's... leaving at the end of the season."

Mapi sits up in pure shock. "What?" She scoffs quietly, naturally getting the attention of those around. "What do you mean she's leaving? Why?"

Alexia shrugs gently, pulling Mapi to sit back down properly. "She told me after the Champions League final, she said it wasn't about us. But I can't help feel that if we didn't crash and burn then maybe she would stay."

"You can't take responsibility for a decision she made." Mapi shakes her head seriously. "This has nothing to do with you, it's all her."

"Flirting with Rosa at your wedding..." Alexia trails off to make the point. "Then dancing with her, and then Kaia-"

"-who I married literally six hours before then." Mapi makes that point. "And you didn't flirt with Rosa, not like... fully. Anyway, you weren't even together then, so that's not a reason for her to leave the best club in Europe." She huffs, hoping Natalie has an actual reason to leave.