Picking Up the Pieces

“Do you want anything to eat?” Sergio asked as he burped Maria after I finished feeding her.

I shook my head no, as I buttoned up my top and laid back against my pillow. It had been two weeks since the girls were born and Sergio had suggested that it would be easier in the early months that I move in with him for a little while. Just so he could help me deal with both of them.

It turns out me moving in with him wasn’t such a bad idea as he had baby proofed the house and set up the nursery, something I had yet to do in my new apartment. And despite us seemingly having settled into our new parenting roles, we had yet to actually discuss that little statement Sergio had made in the middle of me giving birth.

“Well I’ll put her down and leave you to take a nap” he offered but I opened my mouth to object, however nothing came through as I just nodded before covering my face with the blanket.

I waited until the door close before I let out a string of cusses because I was being such a coward.

I wanted to know if Sergio meant everything he said because over the last two weeks I had realised I was ready for us to move forward…together…as a couple.

***

“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid” I kept repeating to myself as I settled Maria down next to Lea before leaving the nursery.

I could tell that Rey wanted to say something but I was being a coward and not giving her an opportunity to say what was on her mind. A part of me was hoping it had to do with what I said the night of the twins’ birth. I had wasted enough time already and I was ready for us to discuss where we stood.

I could not spend another day without her and trust me from the ache in the lower part if my body it turns out my heart wasn’t the only part of my body that was missing her.

“Sergio” I heard her whisper as she entered the kitchen. I accidentally dropped the glass I was drinking from before quickly composing myself and turning to her.

“I-is there something wrong?” I asked, as her eyes looked glassy as if she was on the verge of tears.

She shook her head no but when she closed her eyes a tear fell. I quickly rushed over to her to give her a hug because I was getting worried that something was seriously wrong.

The tears continued to fall while she hugged me as I rubbed her back trying to get her to calm down. After a while, she composed herself and slowly started moving away from me.

I will admit that I missed her warmth when she pulled away but when she called me telling me I needed to sit while we talked, my heart filled with anticipation as I took the seat opposite her at the kitchen table.

“I think you know what this is about” she began as I nodded. “Look Sergio what you said that night…”

“I meant every word” I admitted as a blush over took her cheeks.

“Good then this talk will clear a few things up” she continued as I moved my hand across the table to hold on to hers.

She seemed to contemplate moving her hand but she didn’t as she kept hers there while continuing to talk.

“I’m scared” she confessed as I nodded my head. “I’ve done this with you before and you hurt me really badly. I’m scared that if I take a chance with you again and you hurt me again, I wont be strong enough to survive it. Sergio we have kids now. Everything you do know not only affects me but it also affects them too” she argued and I completely understood where she was coming from.

“I understand everything your saying Rey but you’ve got to understand that I’ve learnt my lesson. These months being away from you have forced me to grow up and take responsibility. I know what I need to do now. I know the kind of man I want to be and I can only become that person if you are with me”

“Sergio…”

“No Rey hear me out” I pleaded, as I stood up to stand next to her. “I lost everything when you left me. I may have had football and all those material things back after what happened with Lena but none of those things matter if I don’t have you to share them with. None of this matters if you aren’t there with me at the end of the day. I love you babe and it’s taken me a while to know what real and true love is but now that I do know I’m not letting it go”

“I understand what you’re saying but I don’t understand why you started acting out when things were getting serous. Why didn’t you tell me you were unhappy? We could have worked on things. Or we could have just ended things if you were that unhappy?”

I shook my head no, because I needed her to understand why I was such a bad boyfriend before she left.

I sat down next to her as I asked her to turn to me as I confessed my insecurities.

“I was never unhappy Rey. I just got scared. Here I was on top of my game and everything looked to be going back to the way it was. I was getting back the same friends who got me in the mess I was in when I got together in you and no matter how hard I tried to tell myself I had changed I realised that I was still that no good guy that mistreated everyone around them. So rather than turning to you to help me sort through that, I turned to the one thing that never has any sort of expectations of me. When I’m social Sergio no one cares that I don’t think I’m good enough for you or that all I want for myself is kids, a wife and a picket fence. That’s why I pulled away from you; it’s because I was scared and I’m so sorry for that”

Rey just nodded her head as she pulled me in and gave me a hug without saying anything.

When we pulled apart, she tentatively moved forward as she joined our lips for a quick yet sweet kiss.

“Thank you for being honest with me but next time you are having issues about anything please come to me. I’m not saying I can fix them but it would be so much better if you just let me in and tell me what you are thinking?” she pleaded and I nodded in relief that she hadn’t snapped at me for my actions.

However as I enjoyed the moment that I realised that there was something I also wanted to know about Reyna.

“Uhm can I ask you something?” I began and she nodded. “The apartment that you were in when you went into labour….”

“It’s mine” she finished for me before I could get the whole question out. “For a long time it looked like you weren’t interested in patching things up so I thought it would be best if I tried to move forward with my life. I didn’t mean not to tell you about it but I just needed you to see that I could do things by myself. And I may have also brought it in the hope that if you could see how successful I was without you you’d come back and beg me for a second chance” she shrugged as she avoided making eye contact with me.

I held in a smirk as I realised what she was trying to do.

“So you were trying to make me jealous?” I questioned as he quickly turned to me and opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

“Rey if you just nod your head it would make this all very easy” I teased as she reluctantly nodded her head. “Just for the record, I never moved on from you, it’s kindda hard to move on from someone who you regard as the better half of you” I confessed as she smiled before giving me another kiss.

This time it was longer and full of passion as our tongues explored each others mouths, letting us know just how much we’ve missed each other. By the time we pulled apart we were both practically panting but I knew before things between us could be completely fixed, there was one thing I needed to as her.

“Rey can I ask you something?”

“Always”

“Now that me and you are…”

“Back together?” she looked on hopeful as I nodded.

“Yes. Back together. Now that we are back together, do you think maybe you could… I don’t know… sell the apartment and move back in here? The house is really big and we can redecorate it anyway you want. I just can’t live he by myself anymore. I need to wake up in the morning next to you and kiss you goodnight” I explained as she blushed.

“I could do that but under once condition”

“O.K. cool, name it and it’s yours”

“I’m going to need you to create a walk in closet for both of us. The amount of Louis Vuitton you have stored in your cupboard is getting out of hand” she joked but I nodded because I needed her back.

“I’ll get started on that right away babe” I said before lightly ghosting my lips against hers. “I love you Reyna Gonzalez” I admitted as I waited for a response.

“I love you more Sergio Ramos” she smirked before reconnecting our lips.