DREAMS, II ✦ MARCO ASENSIO

TRES

DECEMBER 1st, 2018.

"Hey," Marco mumbled, walking into the changing room for night training with Mattia in his arms. The rest of his teammates greeted him as he took a seat in front of his locker. Mattia sat beside him in front of another locker, Marco started to change into his training kit while she fiddled with her fingers.

A gasp from beside him made him turn his head to look at Mattia. She had an excited grin on her face. "Look, daddy! I counted to twenty in Spanish!" She exclaimed happily. "Just like you taught me! Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nuevo, once, doce, trece, catorce, quince, dieciséis, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte!"

"You missed two numbers, but that's great!" Marco grinned at her. "I'm very proud of you, I'll take you for ice cream after we leave, okay? Come on, say them again so I can send a video to your mother."

The rest of the team watched in astonishment, except for Raphael and Marcelo who had warm smiles on their faces. Marco had a proud grin on his face, he engulfed Mattia in a hug when he put his phone away, she giggled and shrieked as he kissed all over her face happily. She took her phone from her dad's bag and started playing a game on it as he texted the video to her mother.

Marco looked up and was about to resume putting his cleats on when he caught his teammates' gaze on him. Marco raised his eyebrows in confusion, they smiled at him. Marcelo sat in front of his locker and gave Marco a little grin. "That was kinda surprising to all of us, you know? To us, you'll always be the kid, you're like everyone's son. Now, our kid is a great father. It makes us all proud, even after what you've done two years ago. I'm happy to call you my little brother and my teammate, Marco."

"Well, thanks, I guess." Marco smiled back at them. "It does mean a lot to me, after all the harsh words I've received in the past two years from you. I'm happy someone's finally proud of me."

✴︎

DECEMBER 1st, 2018.

Adelina took a deep breath and pushed her laptop away, she was finally done reading a report for work. She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and shut her laptop. Adelina exited her and Olivier's bedroom, she found him watching TV on the couch in the living room.

"Hey," Adelina smiled as she leaned across the doorway. Olivier returned the smile and patted the space beside him on the couch. She moved to lay down beside him and put her head on his lap. He tangled his fingers in her hair and started stroking it. "You finally done with work?" He asked. "You don't spend time with me anymore, this has to change."

"Sorry," Adelina chuckled softly. "I just had to finish that report, there are some issues in the armament shipment that went to a company in South Korea and I have to figure it out. Their shipment went to Australia, and the Australian shipment went to Ukraine. It's all a mess. How could I let this happen? It's an armament company, we don't make mistakes!"

"I'm sure you'll be alright, chérie. You'll figure it out," he hummed. Adelina sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I hope so, or else I'm gonna have to fire a lot of people."

"Hey, when's your daughter coming back?" Olivier asked. Adelina glanced at her watch and sighed, "In two hours, Federico and Miguel will bring her from Marco's house. I sent them there to make sure nothing happens to Ti."

"You don't trust him?" He asked.

"No, of course I do. I trust him with my daughter. I've seen Marco with her, he loves Mattia. She's his daughter too, Oli. He may have made a mistake and all, but... I can't keep them away from each other. Oh! He taught her how to count till twenty today in Spanish! He sent me the video, and I have to say, I'm really proud of him for being a great dad. He—"