Yours, Mine and Ours

Chapter Seventeen: Mutual Agreement

“Leo what are you still doing awake amor?” Antonella asked padding into the living room, it was the middle of the night and it was freezing but her boyfriend of six years was still up.

Antonella was a little annoyed that she had been kept away during the inspection, she had a feeling that Lionel had something to do with it but there was always next time in her mind.

Lionel sighed and turned to look at his girlfriend, they needed to talk about their future; he had come to a decision and he wasn’t sure what was going to happen next for them.

Sophie had opened Lionel’s eyes to what he wanted and he knew that Antonella was never going to change her mind about what she wanted; they had finally reached an impasse in their relationship.

Lionel wanted to be a father, he wanted children and it had taken looking after Sophie and hearing her call Katania mama to realise just how much he wanted it.

The footballer wanted sons that would one day follow in his footsteps and daughters that he could treat like princesses; he wanted all of it and it was something that he couldn’t let go of for anyone.

Lionel sighed, he now knew that he would have come to hate Antonella if they stayed together and never had children; it had always been a dream of his to settle down, marry and have children.

“Leo,” Antonella whispered nervously when her boyfriend didn’t say anything to her, she didn’t know what had gotten into him lately but she knew it was all down to having Sophie around.

Lionel blinked looking at Antonella, he had to talk to her but he didn’t know how he was going to bring their relationship to an end; he had to do this before they ended up hating each other.

“You want to break up,” Antonella guessed moving to sit down next to her boyfriend, she sighed not even surprised that this was happening; she had known it was coming and she had for a long time.

Lionel opened and closed his mouth, he wished that he could say something and he hated that Antonella was a lot smarter than he ever gave her credit for; he was glad that this wasn’t some horrible surprise for her.

“I’ve known since you became Sophie’s guardian that this was coming,” Antonella murmured a little disappointed, she hadn’t wanted to let this become a problem but she knew that they were both to blame for how things had been.

Antonella wasn’t happy with how she had behaved since returning to Barcelona, she didn’t want to be the jealous girlfriend and she knew that she hadn’t been herself recently.

“You’ve always wanted to be a padre and I can’t give you that Leo,” Antonella whispered looking down at her hands, she really didn’t want to lose him and she loved Lionel so much but she didn’t want to be a mother and this was where the problem lay.

Lionel swallowed watching Antonella, this was painful and he wasn’t sure what he could say; he wanted everything to work itself out but it wasn’t going to happen.

“I love you Anto,” Lionel told her, she was always going to be his first love and she had been with him through a lot; she would always hold a piece of his heart.

Antonella smiled at him, she knew he did and that was why she had held onto him when he wasn’t hers anymore; she blinked back tears knowing that this talk had been a long time coming.

“I love you too Leo… but I should have let you go years ago,” Antonella replied softly, she brushed some hair from her face knowing that Lionel would make a wonderful father and she should have never have made him wait for what he wanted; he deserved to have a family even if it wasn’t with her.

“I’ve been terrible these last couple of months, I threatened Katania… I wanted to get rid of Sophie…” Antonella admitted gently, she hated that she had let all of this get to her and she doubted that anything could repair the damage that she had wanted to do.

Lionel stared at his girlfriend, he had known all of this since Elena had warned him along with Cesc; he hated that Antonella had felt that it was the only way that she could act.

“I’m sorry,” Lionel said shaking his head, he wished that Antonella would have talked to him about how she was feeling; he hated that she hadn’t trusted him enough and he was trying his best to balance everything.

Antonella shook her head, she was proud of what Lionel had done and she knew that he had done the right thing; Sophie needed someone like him in her life.

“It’s not your fault,” Antonella said shaking her head and pressing a kiss to his cheek, it was over and they both knew it; saying goodbye wasn’t going to be easy but it was for the best.

Lionel watched as Antonella got to her feet and walked away, he sighed running a hand through his hair knowing that this was for the best; neither of them had the same wants in life.

The footballer wished his now ex-girlfriend all the best, he wanted Antonella to be happy and he was sure that one day they could be friends; Lionel knew that he would never forget her.

***

“Mama,” Sophie whimpered as Katania settled her into bed, she rubbed her eyes tiredly and yawned while Katania covered her up so that she wouldn’t be cold.

It had been a long day with the inspection and Katania hoped that Sophie would now sleep until morning; she was sure Sophie needed the sleep as much as she did.

Katania was still getting used to the fact that Sophie now called her mama, it was something that she hadn’t been expecting; in her mind Martha was always going to be Sophie’s mother and not her.

“Sweet dreams,” Katania whispered pressing a kiss to the top of Sophie’s head and turning on the nightlight, she smiled softly hoping that wherever they were Sergio and Martha were watching on them proudly.

Katania quietly left the bedroom, she turned off the big light and yawned tiredly glad that they had passed their first inspection; they only had a couple more and then they were done.

Closing Sophie’s bedroom door, Katania stopped when she looked towards the main area and stopped when she spotted Lionel; she frowned wondering what he was doing.

“Leo,” Katania whispered walking towards him, she wrapped her cream dressing gown tightly around her green polka dot button through pyjama set, wondering what was going on.

Lionel blinked surprised to see Katania awake, he hadn’t thought anyone would be up and he needed to get out of the main house after breaking up with Antonella.

“Is everything okay?” Katania asked her bare feet padding against the cold wooden floor, she brushed some hair from her face knowing that Lionel had a lot on his mind right now.

Lionel stared at Katania, he nodded his head not wanting to tell her what had happened in the main house just yet; Antonella would be packing her things to move out and he couldn’t bear to watch her go.

“I’m sorry if I woke you up,” Lionel said dodging her question, his mind was a mess and he kept thinking about how his friends all talked about Katania and it was making him a little confused.

Katania nodded her head, she didn’t believe that everything was okay but she wasn’t going to push it; she brushed it off knowing he had probably been fighting with Antonella.

“It’s fine,” Katania replied with a small smile, she hoped that whatever had happened wasn’t going to upset him too much.