Book 3 - Living the Dream

Chapter Fifteen: Post-Partum Depression

The next morning there was no sign of Alyssa at breakfast or at lunch and Fernando seriously worried that Iker may have pushed her to do something stupid when he had confronted her the day before.

Iker pretended not to care about his missing wife, was clearly worried of the same thing; the footballer had even asked several of his team-mates if they had seen Alyssa but they’d all had the same response.

“I’m sorry Iker, I haven’t seen her today,” Monica said as she glanced at Iker and his husbands while she organised some stuff for an interview before exiting her hotel room.

Monica glanced down the corridor at Alyssa’s hotel room door, she didn’t know why the three were so worried; it wasn’t as if she was a threat to herself or the children, and she was getting help for her condition.

“We had a fight… I lost temper when she told me something,” Iker said gently as worry started to eat away at him; he felt horrible with the thought that she could have overdosed or something worse in response to their fight, he hadn’t slept well at all.

Monica sighed relieved as she turned to the three men, she hadn’t thought that Alyssa was going to tell them; she was glad to see that her friend had done so before it dragged on.

“I’m glad that she finally told you… I was beginning to worry that she wouldn’t,” Monica said making the three footballers stare at her in shock that Monica knew about Alyssa’s problem before they did.

“You knew about this… why didn't you stop her?” Iker demanded furiously as Monica looked at him confused; Alyssa hadn’t done anything wrong, it wasn’t something that could be helped.

“It’s nothing that I could have stopped… no one can stop something like this, sometimes it just happens,” Monica said making Fernando and Sergio look puzzled while Iker looked furious, but before he could speak his husbands’ stopped him and asked what she was talking about.

“I’m talking about Alyssa’s post-partum depression… what are you talking about?” Monica asked confused while Iker stared at her dumbfounded, not for a moment did he think that Alyssa would ever suffer like his mother did.

Sergio and Fernando looked at Iker, who leant against the wall in shock as Monica realised that the three hadn’t known.

“I thought… oh dios; I thought she was taking drugs,” Iker replied making Monica stare at him as if he was crazy, she knew what why that Iker was referring to and she knew that Alyssa would never do something like that.

“Iker, what did you say to her? She’s on anti-depressants,” Monica demanded as she unlocked her door and headed to the pile of spare keys that she had, she couldn't believe that he had been so stupid.

***

Panic soon spread throughout the team after there was no trace of Alyssa or the children found in the hotel; Iker wanted to kill himself for doing this to his wife, he couldn't believe that he had doubted her.

“We will find her Iker,” Xavi promised his friend as Iker buried his head in his hands; Sergio and Fernando hadn’t said anything but it was clear that they all knew that this was Iker’s fault, if he hadn’t snapped at her then she wouldn’t be missing with their children.

“No one blames you…” Xavi comforted his friend, though Iker didn't want his comfort he wanted someone to hurt him for what he had done.

It was at that moment there was a shout of relief from Fernando as he rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Alyssa, who had just walked through the doors of the hotel with another woman.

Iker and Sergio quickly moved towards their spouses and sighed relieved that Alyssa was okay, Fernando did a quick body search before he released the brunette who looked confused.

“You had us worried… where are the children?” Fernando asked as he realised that the children weren’t with their mother; while Alyssa looked completely confused about their reaction.

“They’re with Iker’s parents… what is going on?” Alyssa asked confused while Iker stared at her guiltily, he owed her so much more than a I’m sorry; the woman behind Alyssa cleared her throat making the brunette look at her.

“This is my therapist… Dr. Phelps,” Alyssa said as she introduced her husbands to the woman behind her, who suddenly made the brunette’s husbands swallow nervously; they knew that they needed to talk about this.

Dr. Phelps smiled at the three men before she told Alyssa that she would speak with her later; she needed to check in and relax after her long flight and her talk with Alyssa.

“Is everything okay?” Alyssa asked as Monica distracted Maria while the rest of the team left the group alone; the brunette sighed as she crossed her arms, she had a feeling that they wanted to talk to her privately after what had happened the day before.

***

Sitting in Alyssa’s hotel room, the foursome sat quietly wondering where to start; none of them had ever expected for this to happen to them.

“Nena?” Sergio asked making the brunette look at him, she noticed the concerned look that he wore; that all her husbands’ wore right now.

Alyssa sighed as she looked at her hands; she knew that they had to talk about what was happening, she was ill and she needed their help.

“It was after you left… I know I should have told you, I honestly didn't know what was wrong myself for a while,” Alyssa said softly making the three men nod as they listened to her talk; they felt guilty that they hadn’t known that she was suffering.

Iker watched his wife sadly, he wished that he had known before he had accused her of drug abuse; it made him hate himself even more.

“I’m sorry,” Iker said gently making the brunette looked at him; Alyssa smiled at him gently as she brushed her hair away from her face, she shook her head at him.

“It’s okay,” Alyssa said making Iker look at her sadly, Fernando watched his wife quietly as he tried to wrap his head around what was happening to them; he couldn't believe that she had been going through this without telling them.

“How bad was it?” Fernando asked gently making Alyssa sigh as she knew that she had to be honest about this with them; Dr. Phelps said it would help her if people understood what she was going through.

“I felt completely useless when it came to Viola… I was short tempered, at one point I wanted to drop her out of a window, because she wouldn’t stop crying,” Alyssa admitted making them stare at her shocked, the brunette pulled her pills out of her pocket; she noticed how Iker flinched as he spotted them.

“They help me control the depression,” Alyssa said gently as she shrugged while Fernando gently took them from her, he quietly read the label as Sergio wrapped his arms around Alyssa.

Iker watched his wife as he sighed and moved to sit next to her; he wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes.

“We are here for you corazón… no matter what,” Iker promised as Fernando and Sergio nodded in agreement; he would do anything to make things up to Alyssa after what he had done to her.