The Seven Sins

iv. sloth

Cristiano had nothing to do for weeks that were coming. He spent a lot of quality time with Junior, just laying around in bed sometimes, watching movies or going for a walk to the best ice cream place in Madrid. It was too good to be true, and even Junior was getting suspicious. They were walking around town one day when Junior spoke up.

"Pai, why are you home so much?"

Cristiano had been expecting the question, but it caught him off guard at the moment. The pain of his life coming to an end in about seven months was there and he didn't know how to approach the subject with Junior. They were so attached to one another, it was riddiculus. They loved each other. So, so much. Cristiano feared that Junior would develop the same disease after he was gone.

"Cariño, I wanted to spend some time with you."

"Why pai, we do it every day! Why so much?"

"Do you not like it? I can go back to work-"

"No, pai!"

Junior cried out in frustration and clung onto Cristiano's leg for his dear life. Cristiano let out a chuckle.

"Okay, okay, querido, I'm not going anywhere. I was just joking."

"Not nice, pai."

Cristiano ran a hand through Junior's unruly curls as he was mumbling something in his leg. Crouching down to his level, Cristiano untucked Junior's arms from around his thigh and looked at him sincerely.

"Juni, you know why pai is at home so often?"

The little version of himself shook his head and frowned.

"Pai has been a bit sick lately. You can still be close to me, I'm not going to give that disease to you. Okay? Pai can't train and can't play football because of that."

Junior looked at him sadly but nodded nonetheless.

"Are you going to be okay?"

That question came to him like a slap. What does he say? Lie to his own son? Yeah, that'll have to do.

"Yeah. Of course I'll be okay."

Junior clung to Cristiano's hand as he led them through the streets of Madrid, the town market, and finally, Junior's favourite stop, the ice cream place.

"What do you want, Juni?"

Cristiano had him on his hip so that he could look at all the flavours.

"Chocolate! Can I get extra sprinkles, pai?"

The woman behind the counter smiled when she looked at the happy Junior in Cristiano's hands.

"Sure, whatever you want."

Planting an affectionate kiss on the side of Junior's neck, they ordered their ice creams and went outside, where Cristiano let Junior down to walk beside him again. To hell with diets, thought Cristiano, this is delicious.

Going back home, the two of them cuddled for a few hours in front of the TV and Cristiano realised that he was really enjoying himself, doing absolutely nothing with his adorable son. He wouldn't trade this special time for anything.

So, that's how the days went, with them lying lazily around beds and couches, and one day, Cristiano thought that he could, after all, give a call to Lionel Messi. He thought about getting his number from Pipita, but quickly chickened out. It would all probably end up in misery, and now he was just enjoying his life. He didn't want to interrupt his happiness with the dash of misery that would make him want to actually kill himself.

He went to sleep, but it didn't last long. Yeah, Junior sometimes liked to kick, but it wasn't that. There was a lump in Cristiano's throat when he checked the digital clock on his nightstand. Four thirty-six am.

He got up from the bed and went to the bathroom. The light was seeping through the windows, but the dark curtains stopped the sun from peaking out in the room.

He washed his face and started coughing, his eyes tearing up from the pain he was feeling. There was a lot going on now, though. The sink was full of petals, red mixing with red, and even some of the green stems were seen in the complete mess he made in the sink.

Little poppy seeds were mixed in with the blood on his hands.