Half a Heart

-Maria:
We were currently at the airport. And I was feeling really nervous. This would be a long flight, and then we'd meet up with Leo's family directly, and since the fiasco with my family, I can't help but feel worried. Leo sensed that I was worried and wrapped his arms around me tight.

"It's going to be ok amor, they'll love you and even if they don't, I'm not letting you go." he said and I smiled at him weakly.

"And the plane won't crash amor, we'll be fine." he said softly and I laughed a little, he always knew how I felt. We boarded the plane and found our seats. Leo let me have the window seat even if I protested a bit at first, since it was the most comfortable seat. He just laughed and ended up shoving me into the seat. I rolled my eyes and kissed him softly as he took his seat in the middle. The planed started to move and I held Leo's hand tightly, looking slightly out the window before burying my head in his chest. When he whispered that we were up in the air, I let go of him slightly and rested my head on his shoulder and he rested his head on top of mine. I fell asleep shortly after that, since it was early in the morning.

I woke up later too Leo moving slightly and I looked out the window. All I saw was clouds and I glanced at my clock to see how long it'd been since we left Barcelona. It had been almost ten hours and I giggled at how much we had slept, and Leo was still asleep. I kissed him softly and then plugged in my earbuds and listened to some music, before picking up my book and reading what was left of it. After about three hours, Leo woke up and smiled at me sleepily. I laughed and kissed him, and he smiled into the kiss, pulling me closer.

"Morning sleepy head." I said and he laughed.

"Well I hate early morning flights amor so I sleep on the plane, and I'm not quite sure it's morning over her." he said and I rolled my eyes. We looked out the window together, and it was pretty dark outside, so I'm guessing it was night over here. That sucked, since I knew we'd be pretty jet lagged, since we'd slept a lot on the plane.

"That's amazing." I said as the city was covered in lights.

"Welcome to Argentina mi amor." he said and kissed me tenderly. I smiled and hugged him tight afterwards. The captain announced that we were about to land in Rosario, and I smiled,feeling excited. The plane touched the ground softly and Leo smiled, kissing my hand gently.

"Are you happy to be home?" I asked him and he smiled brightly.

"How can I not be, I've got three of the most precious things I have with me tonight, you, my family and Rosario." he said making me smile widely. We unfastened our seat belts and got out of the plane, with Leo walking in front of me, shielding me from all the photographers. As we got out of the airport, he extended his hand to me and I grabbed it, chewing my bottom lip nervously. I knew his family would be here. We continued walking, Leo leading the way, until I heard a woman squeal and run to Leo, wrapping his arms around him tightly. Leo smiled and closed his eyes, embracing the woman.

"Mama." he said thickly and the woman took a long look at him.

"Mi hijo." she said thickly, tears running down her face. I smiled at their reunion, it was amazing to see how much he cared about his mother and family. Leo finally let go of his mother, looked at me and ushered me forward, wrapping his arm around my waist and smiling at his family, who had all made their way closer to us by now.

"Mamá, papá esta es la hermosa chica que capturó mi corazón, María." he said and I blushed, looking at his parents shyly. They looked me up and down and glanced at Leo before coming closer to shake my hand.

"Bienvenido a la Argentina María, me llamo Jorge y este es mi esposa Celia." Leo's father said and I smiled at him, shaking his hand.

"Es muy encantado de conocer finalmente ambos de usted, Leo habla mucho sobre usted" I said and Leo looked at me shocked. I had brushed up on my spanish a bit, trying to make a great first impression on his parents, knowing that they meant a lot to Leo. They looked at me surprised, probably because Leo had mentioned that I didn't speak spanish, a small smile appeared on their faces and they looked at me approvingly.

"Sólo cosas buenas, espero." Celia said and I smiled at her.

"¡Desde luego!" I said and she smiled back at me. I sighed, feeling relieved. I think that was ok. Leo kissed my cheek and we made our way to his siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews. I smiled at his family, it was great that they were a big family, since my own family was pretty big as well. They all smiled and hugged me and Leo tightly and I grinned at all of them, they seemed so nice. We drove over to Leo's family home and he smiled at me.

"When were you going to tell me that you practiced on your spanish?" he asked, looking in my eyes.

"Well, you never asked, and I felt I would surprise you." I said and tapped his nose lightly, making him laugh. When we arrived at the house I smiled, it was utterly beautiful. Leo laughed at my reaction and pecked my lips.

"Así que, ¿cuántos años tienes Maria?" Celia asked after we spoke a bit more, seeming genuinely interested in getting to know me.

"Acabo de cumplir dieciocho señora" I said politely looking at her shyly, I had been feeling nervous about the whole age gap thing. Since my mother didn't approve of it, I didn't think Leo's parents would either. Celia gasped, and frowned at Leo.

"Querido, ella es tan joven" Celia said, looking at Leo disapprovingly, making me close my eyes. I knew it would trigger something.

"Yo sé mamá, pero yo la amo, no puedes evitar que te enamoras de" he said firmly, wrapping his arm around my waist. Celia just shook her head at him. Leo looked at her pleadingly.

"Por favor mamá, ella ha estado a través tanto con su propia madre ya, ella perdió a su madre debido a mí" Leo said softly, and although I couldn't understand all of it, I understood some and I looked down. Celia looked at me and gasped.

"Soy no diciendo yo apruebo totalmente de esto, pero viendo como usted la ama y está claro que ella le ama, no voy a estar de la manera de su amor, yo le daré la bienvenida." she said softly, looking at me. Leo hugged her tightly and looked at me.

"She says although she doesn't completely approve of this, she sees that we love each other, so she won't be in the way of our love, she'll welcome it." Leo said and I smiled brightly at Celia.

"Una madre real, nunca para el amar de sus niños, lo siento que su madre no era una madre real, yo estoy aquí para usted y le amo ya Maria." she said and I swallowed before hugging her tightly, a tear slipping down my face.

"Gracias tanto, esto significa todo a mí, te amo también." I said and she smiled and kissed my cheek. Leo smiled at me and kissed my forehead.

"Asumo que una recepción apropiada a la familia está en la orden, recepción a la familia Maria." Jorge said and kissed my cheek, I smiled widely at him and hugged him as well. This was going better then I expected and I already loved Leo's family. I could see where he got his big heart from, it was evident that his entire family shared the same big heart, and I was over the moon about them approving of us. Finally something was going right in our relationship, and I couldn't wait until I got to see more of Rosario with Leo.