Every Little Thing || Pulisic/Evans

9.

~ September 16, 2020 ~

Christian smiled as the car pulled up in front of his house. He would be playing Arsenal in two days in the Europa League. But more importantly, it was Morgan's first birthday. He flew in a day before his teammates to make the birthday party that Hallee had worked so hard to plan. He had wanted to surprise everyone.

Christian grabbed his suit cases and pulled them behind him as he walked up to the door. He tested the knob and smiled when it was open. He opened the door and dumped his bags on the ground. Christian went out to the back yard.

"Where's my little man?" He asked.

"DADDY!" Sabrina yelled as she ran over to him.

"Chris!" Hallee jumped up and scooped up Morgan.

He leaned down and picked up Sabrina. He grinned and kissed her cheek as she cuddled into him. Hallee walked over with Morgan. He pulled Hallee and Morgan in close and kissed his wife's forehead. She kissed his cheek happily.

"I didn't think you were getting in until tomorrow!"

"I wanted to surprise you three," Christian grinned.

"Daddy!" Morgan grinned and poked his cheek.

"Hey buddy! Happy birthday!" He kissed his head.

"I'm so glad you made it," Hallee whispered, kissing his cheek.

"Me too, baby. I wouldn't have missed this for the world."

Christian walked over and pulled up a chair next to Hallee's. He greeted his whole family who was in town for Morgan's birthday. Hallee's parents were also there. Unfortunately, Clint hadn't been able to come out with his busy Rapids schedule. He quickly kissed Alexia's cheek. He greeted Tom, Harrison, and Timothee. He smiled seeing Laura and Olivier. He missed his teammate. He waved at Evie and Aaron. He was happy to see Mattia. He knew how close she and Hannah were, and it probably meant a lot to her that Mattia had come all the way from Italy.

Christian smiled seeing how happy Hallee was. He knew it meant a lot to her that he was there for Morgan's first birthday. It meant a lot to him too. He missed his family while he was in Spain. He and Hallee had pretty much been living on FaceTome with each other when they weren't working or travelling. It wasn't perfect, but it helped.

Hallee planned an amazing party of course. Her mother took pictures of the whole thing. Christian enjoyed being back in London with his friends and family. It made him sad that he wouldn't be back in London until just before Christmas. The only silver lining is that La Liga had a winter break, so he wouldn't have to be back to Spain the first of the new year. He was seriously looking forward to spending all that time with Hallee and the kids.

"Daddy!" Sabrina held her arms up to him. It was just about the end of the party and he could tell that Sabrina had worn herself out playing with Jade.

"Gottcha, Princess!" He picked her up as his mom took a picture of them with Hallee and Morgan.

And that would be the last picture they would ever take as a family.