DREAMS, I ✦ MARCO ASENSIO

DODICI

JUNE 2nd, 2018.

"Mattia, be careful. You have ketchup all over your face," Adelina sighed as she wiped her daughter's face. Mattia groaned and tried to push her hands away. "Mommy, I'm fine!" She huffed angrily.

Adelina shook her head. "No, you are not. You need to control your temper, young lady. Spending too time with Claudia has changed you."

Marco chuckled as he watched them. After a long phone call with Adelina, he finally managed to convince her and Mattia to have dinner with him. She reluctantly agreed, they ended up going to her favorite restaurant in Milan.

"So, Mattia, do you know what you want to be when you grow up?" Marco asked her as he ate his pasta. During the whole dinner, he didn't stop asking Mattia questions about her life. He couldn't stop himself, he wanted to know everything about her.

"Yes. I want to be rich and scare people." Mattia said with a smirk as she ate her fries. "Like Nonno. People are scared of him because he's mean to everyone except me, tía, Madre, and vovó."

Marco chuckled at her response. He turned to smirk at Adelina. "Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" He asked. Adelina immediately rolled her eyes at him. She remembered when they were sixteen, she asked him the same question he asked Mattia and this was his exact response. I want to be rich and scare people.

"Are you here to marry my madre?" Mattia asked, making Adelina's eyes widen.

"Mattia!" Adelina hissed. Mattia rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It's okay, I can handle this, mommy. I'm a big girl now. Are you going to marry my madre?" She repeated her question for Marco, it was obvious he was trying not to laugh.

"I don't know, Mattia. What do you think? Should I marry your mother?" Marco said with a smirk that was directed to Adelina. She huffed and shook her head.

"I don't want you to marry her." Mattia shook her head, surprising Marco, as she drank her orange juice. "Because my daddy won't like it. My tía said that my mommy and daddy are married but mommy is mad at daddy, but she said that one day, daddy will come back and he will live with us. Daddy won't be happy if he found out that mommy will marry someone else. But I promised my tía that I won't let any man go near my madre!"

A genuine smile grew on Marco's face. "You're right. Your dad used to say the same to your grandmother. He promised her that he will never let anyone go near your mom."

"You knew my daddy?!" Mattia gasped as her eyes widened in disbelief. "Mommy, mommy, look! Marco knows my daddy!"

"Yes, I know, my love." Adelina sighed as she brushed her daughter's hair out of her face.

"I know your dad, yes." Marco nodded with a light chuckle. "He's very proud of you. He told me that you're a smart, beautiful girl who takes good care of her mother."

Mattia blushed and giggled, nodding. "Did he tell you when he'll come live with us? Did he tell you when we'll be a family again?!"

Marco nodded and turned to look at Adelina as he responded. "Very soon," he said, making his ex-wife shiver at the nervousness that ran through her body suddenly. He cleared his throat and broke the tension between the two adults. "Anyway, Mattia, what else did your tía tell you about your dad? Did she tell you about his family?"