Standing in the airport, Valeria stared up at the arrivals board as she tried to work out how long it would take for them to collect Davi's bags from baggage claim before they reached her.
Neymar had argued with Valeria that morning about who was going to collect Davi from the airport, he was stuck in training for the match that Sunday and wasn't able to come and get him.
That left Valeria, who Neymar would have preferred to stay home resting instead of making the trip to the airport to collect his son.
It had been Valeria who had won out in the end, she had insisted that she would be fine and she'd be able to manage with Davi until he got home.
"Ria," Davi shouted hurrying away from his mother's side and rushing to greet Valeria, a large smile on his face as he approached her.
He slowly down as he approached remembering what his mother had said about being gently with Valeria since she wasn't well, he wrapped his arms around her middle and gently rested his head against her stomach.
"Hola," Valeria greeted smiling down at him, her fingers brushing through her blonde hair and she looked up at Carolina as the other woman approached them tugging along Davi's suitcase.
Carolina smiled pleased to see that it was Valeria that had come to pick her son up, she was rather fond of Neymar's girlfriend and had been upset when Neymar had told her that they had found a tumour on one of her ovaries.
"It's good to see you on your feet," Carolina commented moving to hug Valeria, the two had become good friends since the older woman had entered Neymar's life and she trusted her completely with the care of her son.
If anyone was going to be Davi's stepmother, Carolina preferred that it would be Valeria; she was wonderful with him and Davi always seemed excited to see her no matter what was happening.
"How is Vini?" Valeria asked recalling Carolina's new boyfriend's name, she had met him briefly at Davi's last birthday and he seemed to really make her happy with is something that Carolina completely deserved.
If anyone deserved happiness then it was the hard-working Carolina, she had done so well in raising Davi especially given the hectic schedule that Neymar had.
"He's well, we've actually got a little break planned for this weekend," Carolina revealed with a grin, she was looking forward to some alone time with her boyfriend and he had encouraged her to take the break that she needed.
Davi was a wonderful little boy, Carolina adored her son but it was very rare that she got much time to herself especially since Neymar now lived in another country and it wasn't possible for him to see much of Davi.
"Well, I hope you have a great time," Valeria insisted, she was sure that Carolina would be grateful for the break where she could focus on herself and her new relationship.
Vinicius seemed like a great guy and he was really supportive of Carolina and Davi, he didn't care that she was a single mother and Neymar liked him since they were friends before he started dating Carolina.
"I certainly will, be good for Valeria and give your dad a big hug from me," Carolina stated turning to look at her son, she gave him a look that Valeria didn't quite understand before she pressed a kiss to the top of Davi's head and prepared to leave.
Taking Davi's suitcase, Valeria watched Carolina go for a moment before she smiled down at Davi and signalled for him to follow her back to the car.
There was no point in lingering and Valeria was hopeful that they could beat the traffic before they got caught in the rush hour traffic.
Davi followed along taking Valeria's free hand as they exited the airport, the two of them talking about how school had been for Davi and about all the things that he wanted to do while he was in Paris.
Valeria nearly laughed as soon as he brought up Disneyland Paris, she wasn't even surprised that was something that was on his list.
It had been a long time since Valeria had been to the park, she vaguely remembered the school trip that she had taken there and how disapproving her parents had been about it.
It was only the fact that her grades had been perfect that year that had allowed her to go, since they didn't believe in distractions and had wanted her focused on her schoolwork not some trip to a theme park.
***
Grumbling as she hurried from her car with Davi and his suitcase into the house, Valeria glared up at the storm clouds that had appeared and the torrent of rain that now pounded the stones that lined the driveway.
They had gotten caught in traffic on the way home and Valeria cursed living in the busy city especially when it meant getting caught in traffic for nearly an hour on the way back from the airport.
It had been so nice that morning and Valeria had almost considered venturing out into the gardens with Davi later, the boy eager to show off his new football skills that he had been honing in his mother's small back garden.
Setting the suitcase on the inside of the door, Valeria ushered Davi further into the house so that he didn't get soaked through by the rain and closed the door behind her.
Her shirt was wet from the rain but not entirely soaked through, something that Valeria was grateful for as she turned to make sure that Davi wasn't to wet before she heard a conversation from the living room.
"Dani? I wasn't expecting to see you here," Valeria said surprised as she stepped into the room, she wracked her brain trying to remember if Neymar had said anything that morning when he left about his friend visiting.
Not that Valeria minded in any form, they just didn't get many visitors to the house especially since it was a little out of the way of where everyone else seemed to live.
"I was just helping Neymar with something," Dani replied waving her off, he shot a look at Neymar as he got to his feet and moved to give Valeria a hug and greet Davi.
His movement giving Neymar the chance to hide the brochures that the two men had been looking at before Valeria came home; Neymar shoved them into a compartment of the coffee table before he stood up.
"Thank you for your help," Neymar said grateful for someone else's opinion on the matter of which he was struggling, he wanted it to be a surprise for Valeria and he didn't trust Ana not to tell her.
Ana was her best friend and from what Neymar recalled couldn't keep a secret to save her life, she had ruined her partner's surprise party almost as soon as it had been planned.
"I better get home to Joana," Dani mused with a smile thinking about the woman that was waiting at home for him, he adored Joana and she had certainly made him jump through hoops to prove his love for her.
Neymar nodded, his eyes glancing nervously towards Valeria before he moved passed her and walked Dani to the door; he hoped that she didn't notice any of the brochures that he had been looking at.
Only once they were by the door, did Neymar look at Dani who seemed rather amused by the situation that Neymar had found himself in.
"Stop thinking too hard about this, she'll love whatever you decided to do," Dani told him bumping his shoulder with a grin on his face, he very much doubted that Valeria would say no to the question that Neymar wanted to ask.
He was honestly surprised that Neymar was so worried about all of this, from what Dani had heard she had expected a proposal during their anniversary dinner.
"What if I mess this up?" Neymar mumbled glancing back towards the living room, he truly wanted this to be an amazing surprise for her and he wanted it to be special.
After everything that had happened recently, Valeria deserved some good news and Neymar wanted nothing more than to get this right; it wasn't every day that you asked someone to marry you.
Dani snorted and shook his head before jogging towards where he parked his car so he didn't get wet; the sky seemed to have really opened up and it was really coming down now.
Neymar watched him go with a wave before he closed the door behind him, he had no idea how he was going to pull this off or what ring he wanted to propose with but he knew that he had to get this just right.
"Hey buddy," Neymar greeted moving to wrap his arms around Davi, he held his son close and a smile formed on his face as his hug was returned.
It felt like ages since he had last seen his son and while they talked all the time, it wasn't the same; he loved having time like this where he could hang out with him.
Valeria watched the two of them, a slight frown forming on her face as she peeked down at one of the brochures that had fallen to the floor when she and Davi had entered the room.
This was certainly not what she had been expecting especially after how the last couple of months had been for them before her diagnoses.