"The doctor just called, they want us to take him in for one o'clock. So we should be able to take him and still make the game" Ale said as she walked into the living room, her phone still in her hand having just answered a call from the hospital.
"I'm not leaving him"
"I know... I don't want to either, but-" she started, but I didn't let her finish.
"No I mean it. I'm not leaving him" I blurted out, my anxiety had been at an all time high since Jordi hurt himself yesterday and the thought of leaving him terrified me.
"We have to Isy, we've got the game"
"I can't" I repeated.
"Isy..." she breathed softly, her hazel eyes looking into mine.
"I'm not leaving him Ale, I'll call Jonatan and explain" I sighed.
"You can go, but I'm not... Jonatan said if there was ever an emergency with Jordi then we could miss a game or two and I am using that now"
"He's ok Isy" Ale spoke gently, desperately trying to reassure me, but her usual tricks weren't working.
"I'm not though... all I can think about is that we weren't there. He was hurt and we weren't there to kiss it better"
"We can't be there all of the time cariño, mama was with him and he was fine"
"I know that Eli was there! But it should have been us. We're his parents Ale" I began to get more frustrated, feeling as if she wasn't understanding me.
"I know we are"
"I hate leaving him. I grew him inside me for 9 months, I spent every day with him for the first 9 months of his life and now I feel like I spend more time away from him than I do with him. I miss him so much"
"What about training and the game next week?"
"I don't know" I answered honestly, I had no idea how I was going to go back to normal after yesterday. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to.
"What do you mean you don't know?" She asked softly, taking a step closer to me.
"I don't know Ale. I just know that I don't want to leave him anymore"
"Ok" she nodded.
"Why are you attacking me? I feel like you more than anyone should understand why I don't want to be away from him"
"I'm not attacking you cariño and I do understand"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm giving you a hug, because I think you need one right now" she smiled, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me close to her.
"If you want to stop playing, then that's ok, but we've still got a month left of the season" she whispered into my ear before planting a gentle kiss onto my temple.
"I don't know what I want to do"
"I'll talk to Jonatan today, explain how you're feeling, maybe we can sort something out"
We would have talked about the topic for longer, but Jordi woke up and we were in full parenting mode again. Even after the scare yesterday and not much sleep last night Jordi was still our little whirlwind. Now that he was learning to walk, everything became so much harder, when he wasn't toddling around the house he was crawling at full speed either chasing after Nala or following Ale and I around.
Getting him ready to leave the house also took so much longer now that he was on the move, getting him dressed, putting his shoes on, packing everything he needs into his bag and wrestling him into his car seat took almost half an hour which meant that we were always running late.
"Hola Jordi, how are you feeling?" The doctor asked as he arrived into the room where we had been waiting.
"He seems like his usual self today, he's been chasing our dog around the house all morning like normal. He was a bit whiny and sleepy last night, but I suppose that's to be expected after the day he had" Ale answered his question whilst bouncing Jordi up and down on her knee, her nerves showing now that we were back at the hospital.
"Well, that's good to hear. Shall we get these checks done so that you can get out of here as quickly as possible" He asked with a smile on his face, walking over to the bed where Ale quickly joined him, sitting Jordi down on the bed.
The doctor did all of the checks that he needed to do, shining a light in his eyes, testing his reflexes, checking his vision and balance before finally giving him the all clear.
"He's absolutely fine, there are no signs of concussion, the cut on his head should heal in the next week or so and any scarring will fade over time" He explained.
"That's great" I breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you so much doctor" Ale said as she reached out to shake his hand.
"You're welcome, hopefully we don't see you back here anytime soon little man"
I broke down the minute the doctor left the room, Ale turned towards me almost immediately, walking across the room and wrapping her arms around my shoulders, holding me tightly.
"You heard him right? Jordi's absolutely fine, no concussion and his head will heal. He's ok"
"I know he is" I nodded into her shoulder.
"Then why are you crying?" She laughed slightly, rubbing her hand up and down my back.
"I don't know" I admitted.
"I was just so scared"
"I know, me too, but he's ok"
"Look at him" Ale loosened her grip and gestured towards Jordi who was sat in his pushchair, pulling the sunshade up and down playing peekaboo.
"I promise that we'll talk more about what you said earlier, but I do really need to get going if I'm going to make the game" She explained gently, not wanting to dismiss my feelings but knowing that she needed to leave soon.
"Yeah, you go" I smiled.
"Are you going to be ok?"
"Yeah, we'll be fine. Albs is going to come over this afternoon to see Jordi and we're going to watch the game together, so I won't be on my own" I reassured her.
"Ok good...I love you" she smiled, placing a peck on my lips before saying goodbye to Jordi and rushing out to her car.
Jordi fell asleep on the way home, I carefully carried him inside when we got back to the house and managed to settle him down on the sofa before the door bell rang.
"How is he!? How did the hospital go!? Is he ok!?" Alba fired questions at me as soon as I opened the front door, a giant lion teddy in her hand obviously for Jordi.
"He's ok, they gave him the all-clear...he's asleep on the sofa if you want to go and have some snuggles?"
"Can I?" She asked eagerly, stepping into the house and heading toward the living room.
"Of course, he'll be waking up soon anyway so you might as well make the most of it. He doesn't stay still for very long anymore"
Alba headed straight into the living room, laying down next to Jordi on the sofa as I sat down in the armchair in the corner. She had been so worried about him ever since she found out about his little accident yesterday afternoon, texting us all evening, FaceTiming us this morning and begging to come and see Jordi as soon as she could, the relief was clear on her face as she snuggled up with her nephew, stroking his curls away from his face as he slept.
"So, how come you're not playing today if he got the all clear?"
"I just didn't want to leave him"
"I get that, I mean look how cute he is" She smiled down at her nephew, kissing his cheek before nuzzling in closer to him.
I watched on for a moment, taking in the cute moment before talking again.
"Can I talk to you about something Albs?" I asked my sister-in-law.
"Always" She lifted her head toward me and smiled.
"My contract is up at the end of the year and I'm not sure if I want to sign another one" I said quickly.
"Please don't tell me you're movi-"
"I think I want to stop playing" I blurted out before she could finish.
"You-"
"Jordi getting hurt and not being there made me realise that the only thing that I want to do is be his Mami. I just- I just think that Ale will be upset if I stop. We've always been in this together and I don't want it to come between us"
"Ale didn't marry Isy the footballer... she married Isy her best friend. You're the only person that has ever truly understood her and if you decide to stop playing that isn't going to change anything. She loves you"
"I just feel like it might push us apart"
"Don't be stupid" she said matter of factly.
"We won't be spending as much time together, we won't be at training together every morning and traveling to games together every week" I explained further.
"Can I be honest?"
"When are you not..." I laughed.
"I think it might be good for you both, you spend so much time together that a little bit of space might be exactly what you need. It's only a few hours in the morning when you and Jordi can go and do something, we can have our morning coffee dates like we did when you were pregnant and then we both know that you'll go to all the home games and travel to any away games that you can"
"You've always wanted to be a Mami, and that is nothing to be ashamed of. If it has taken priority over football then Jordi is one lucky little boy"
Ale's POV
Alba was still at the house when I arrived home from the game, tidying the kitchen after dinner while Isy and Jordi were nowhere to be seen. Nala rushed around my feet excitedly as I set my kitbag down on the floor, before turning to my sister.
"What have you done with my wife and child?" I joked, looking around for any sign of them.
"They're upstairs. Jordi isn't settling, so she's lying with him until he goes to sleep" she explained.
"Thanks for coming over and keeping her company, she's been a bit overwhelmed since Jordi's accident"
"She's got a lot going on in her head that's for sure" she smiled.
"Did she talk to you?" I asked, looking over at my little sister who was drying the dishes with a towel.
Isy had always confided in Alba, for some unknown reason she found it easy to talk to my sister when she needed to get her feelings off her chest and although I used to find it difficult to understand why, I am grateful for it now.
"Yeah" Alba nodded, her eyes staring into mine as she tried to communicate silently.
"She wants to stop playing doesn't she?" I asked quietly.
"It's a bit more complicated than that..."
"Why? What's going on?"
"Ale" she warned me.
"You don't have to tell me the details, I just want to know if she's ok?"
"She's worried that you'll be upset with her, she doesn't want it to push you apart"
"It won't"
"That's what I said" she agreed, before turning toward the stairs.
"Someone heard Mama's voice and wanted to say goodnight" Isy appeared at the bottom of the stairs carrying Jordi in her arms who was looking at me smiling widely.
"There's my boy" I smiled, walking towards my wife and taking our son into my arms.
"Why are you not asleep, little man? Your bedtime was an hour ago" I smiled, smothering his face with kisses causing a little giggle to escape his lips.
"He's being stubborn"
"I'll take him up and work my Mama magic" I smiled, kissing Isy's cheek before heading upstairs.
"You mean rub his back until he falls asleep..." she called after me.
It had been something that I'd done ever since he was a baby and was the fail safe for when he wouldn't sleep.
It worked on him just like it did his Mami.
"That's exactly what I mean" I turned and smirked down the stairs at her before turning into Jordi's room.
It was later that night was when I decided to bring the topic back up. Jordi was asleep, Alba had gone home and Isy and I were cuddled up in bed together.
"Isy..." I mumbled into the back of her shoulder as I held her from behind.
"Mmmhmm"
"You know that nothing will ever come between us don't you?"
"Did Alba talk to you?" She asked, turning over in my arms so that she was now facing me.
"She just said that you were worried that's all" I explained softly, keeping my arms wrapped around my wife.
"You want to stop playing don't you?"
It was a few moments before she spoke, her voice sounded venerable as she did.
"I think so... a-are you upset?"
"No, absolutely not" I tried to reassure her, stroking her hair away from her face as I looked into her eyes.
"Honestly?" She asked quietly.
"Honestly. I thought that this could be coming for a while now. You just haven't enjoyed it as much since we had Jordi have you?"
"No" she breathed a sigh of relief
"I love the girls and I love spending so much time with you, I just miss our boy too much to carry on"
"I get it, I miss him too"
"I'm not expecting you to stop too if that's what you're thinking... in fact I'll be mad if you do. I want to start living my wag life, sitting in the stands with my wife's number on the back of my shirt, traveling to away games, partying after wins" she smiled, trying to deflect the tension and lighten the mood.
"Oh yeah?" I smirked.
"Yeah, you're not going to be able to get rid of us"
"I like the sound of that" I sat up and leant over her, hovering my lips over hers.
Isy immediately reached up and planted her lips against mine, her hands roaming up and down my back as I gripped her waist tightly. Eventually I climbed on top of her, slotting my hips between her thighs that were now open, her legs quickly wrapping around my waist.
"Do you want to know another reason why I think it's the right time for me to stop playing?" She asked between kisses, mumbling slightly into my lips.
"Mmmhmm" I hummed.
"I think it's about time to put another baby in me..." she whispered seductively as I sucked on her neck.
"Are you serious!?" I quickly asked, pulling my mouth away from her skin as I looked down at her. the shock taking over my body momentarily.
"I am" she nodded.
"I'd love to put another baby in you"
"Well, I thought it would be the doctor doing it, but-" Isy joked, but I continued before she even had the chance to finish.
"I think I could try... what's the harm in practicing anyway. Could be fun"