begin again [reus]

happily ever after

MARCO

I'm not a crier, I'm sure of it.

I can't remember the last time I cried — it was probably way back when I injured myself during the friendly against Armenia. Okay, the last time was honestly probably a couple of months ago when Mia forced me to watch a sad movie with her. Even then, I'd only shedded a tear or two. (The movie was Coco and I tried so hard not to but I just couldn't.)

I gawked as the nurse settled the tiny blue bundle into Mia's arms. She was making small talk with Mia, fluffing her pillows for her and telling her what she could expect from the baby's first night. I probably should've been paying attention, but all I could do was stare at our baby.

Baby Reus was born a little earlier than we expected. He was due in another two weeks but I guess he was just itching to get out after Mia turned on the same romantic comedy we've been watching three nights in a row. I get it, buddy.

The clock on the wall read 2:09 AM. It's been just about three hours since he was born perfectly healthy and screaming at the top of his lungs. He already had a tuft of light brown hair atop his head and dimples etched deep into his cheeks, courtesy of me, of course. He'll thank me for them in a couple of years when girls find him cute.

The nurse said a couple more things to Mia before ducking out of the room, muttering another cheery 'Congratulations!' to us. She closed the door behind her and finally after what felt like forever, it was just Mia and I.

Her brown hair was tied up into a messy top-knot, some strands falling and framing her face. Her blue eyes were focused on our baby, tears glistening in her eyes as she stroked his soft little cheek with her finger. She sniffled and turned towards me, a wide smile on her face.

"Hey, come here," she said, patting the large spot beside her on the bed. I didn't hesitate, kicking off my shoes and gently settling in beside her on the bed. Mia leaned over and kissed my cheek softly before resting her head on my shoulder. I kept my eyes focused on our baby, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly agape as he slept in his mother's arms. "Do you wanna hold him?" Mia asked.

I glanced at her, feeling the pace of my heartbeat pick up. Mia's been amazing throughout the whole pregnancy — avoiding foods that might be harmful to the baby even though they were her favorite foods; attending about a thousand baby classes; having to go through back cramps and morning sickness without ever complaining and to top it off, she put on a brave face and delivered the baby even though I knew she was scared as hell. We were both new to this parenthood thing, but I was terrified of messing anything up while Mia dove headfirst into every challenge. I don't know how she does it.

I nodded slowly, holding out my arms. Mia gently eased our baby into my arms and I held him against my chest, watching as the blanket rose and fell every breath he took. He was so small it didn't look like he was breathing at all.

"Meet your mini-me, Reus," Mia whispered with a soft chuckle. I didn't say anything back to her, because I couldn't. A lump suddenly appeared in my throat and my brain felt like it was being turned into mush...

It felt like all my surroundings melted away and it was just me and him. My heart clenched once in my chest. Then it clenched again, and again, and again. It felt exactly like your heart would when you watch a sad movie on the TV — except this time, I couldn't feel anything but love. Blinding hot, radiant, and all-encompassing.

I shut my eyes and blinked them twice to make sure he wasn't just one of my very vivid and colourful dreams, but the weight pushing against my forearms assured me that he was real. He was very, very, real and very much ours.

The little baby started squirming in my arms and my eyes widened. I was prepared to turn and hand him over to Mia who I was sure took a class on how to manage this sort of thing. But, instead of bawling his eyes out, he opened his eyes. I gaped as he blinked once slowly as he looked up into my eyes with his green eyes, identical to mine. I knew that he didn't know who he was looking up at, but it sent chills from the top of my head to the tip of my toes.

I wasn't a crier, I'm sure of it.

But, holding my son in my arms was enough to break my no-crying streak.

Without realising, a trail of tears started streaming down my face — and they didn't stop. It felt like my heart had grown three sizes bigger. I thought that I couldn't love anyone half as much as I loved Mia, but I was holding the living, breathing proof that I could in my arms.

"Mia, he's perfect," I managed to say through all the tears. "Thank you, thank you so much...you did amazing, Schatz. I can't ever thank you enough."

Mia reached for me, gently moving my head towards her. She leaned up and kissed me softly, her hands winding through my short hair. "I love you, Reus." She said simply. She nuzzled her head into the crook of my neck, one of her arms around my bicep and the other one on our baby's head, her thumb softly stroking his head. "Hey, we need a name for him. What do you think?"

"Are you sure we settled on no Marco Jr.?" I joked.

Mia laughed and flicked my arm, "We're veto-ing that forever."

"How about Adrian?" I offered.

"He doesn't look like an Adrian," Mia frowned, "What about Christian?"

"And have Pulisic think I named our son after him? No, thank you." I replied. "What do you think about Roman?"

"You're not okay with Pulisic thinking that we named our son after him, but you're okay with Bürki thinking that?!" Mia giggled.

I laughed softly, "You're right. I'd never live it down."

"What about Aidan?" she asked.

"It doesn't suit him. Liam?"

Mia shook her head, "No. Peter?"

"Nah, I had a weird friend named Peter in high school," I grimaced.

Mia and I stayed quiet, the only sound in the room being the rain pouring outside. Mia eyelashes softly grazed against my jaw — the only indicator that she was awake and hadn't dozed off yet. Suddenly, Mia tilted her head to look up at me. "What do you think about Luca?"

I smiled softly, repeating the words 'Luca Reus' in my head over and over again. I glanced down at our little baby boy who had already dozed off to sleep, his cheeks rosy and what little brown hair he had tousled. "Luca Reus...I like it."

Mia pressed a soft kiss to my jaw and I shut my eyes blissfully, leaning into her embrace. It felt like my heart could've burst into a million pieces from all the sheer love I was feeling in this moment.

"Luca Mario Reus..." Mia trailed off, "Perfect."

Not long after, Mia dozed off nuzzled into my side while Luca slept in my arms. I was the only one awake now, my eyes never leaving Luca's sleeping face as if he could've just disappeared into thin air and this was just another one of my surreal dreams. It felt way too good to be true. This all seemed too good to be true.

I was forced by my manager to fake a relationship with an up-and-coming singer to boost our reputations for nine months. I dreaded that stupid contract; I wanted to be able to date anyone I wanted to. I didn't want to give up being single in my 20s to be tied to one girl that I didn't even know — but the moment I met Mia in that gloomy office tower, I knew that fate just might've been on to something then.

Six years later, we were cuddled up in bed together with our new baby boy.

Life turned out pretty fuckin' good, if you ask me.

//

a bonus chapter bcs i missed my babies too much!! i rlly miss writing about marco and mia omg! and please let me know if you want more bonus chapters! maybe mia and marco's wedding? or more chapters with luca! also i'm crying bcs i made his middle name mario 

AND! i wanted to let you guys know that i have a new antoine griezmann fic called LOVE$ICK! just gonna give you a lil context: it's an AU fanfic where antoine and luna, the OC in the fic, are set to become CEOs to the huge company that their fathers founded together but only if they stop sleeping around and actually start being proper adults by having stable relationships. so, they start looking for fake partners to make it seem like they're settling down so they can inherit the company!! the plot thickens from then. it has a kind of settle down/begin again vibe to it so pls check it out if you wanna! <3

happy reading lovelies!xx