Half a Heart

-Maria:
For the next couple of days I called Anna all the time, making sure that she was ok. And she'd tell me that she was making a decision. I sighed and shook my head, I still couldn't figure out why Xavi had done it, neither did Leo. I grabbed my bikini and changed, looking in the mirror. We were going to the beach so here I was, wearing a bikini. I felt incredibly self conscious so I grabbed a dress and put it on over the bikini, not planning to take it off. I braided my hair and walked out of the bathroom. Leo saw me and smiled.

"You look beautiful nena, and I can't wait to see you without that dress." he said and I laughed, hitting his shoulder playfully. We went downstairs and met up with everyone else. We ended up going with two cars, since we obviously wouldn't all fit in one car. When we got to the beach, Leo joined his dad, brothers and his cousins to play football. I followed the others as they went to sunbathe. I laid down, not taking of my dress, and put on my sunglasses.

"Why are you not taking off your dress Maria?" Maria Sol asked and I blushed, I didn't want to tell her of my self consciousness, it was ridiculous anyways. I swallowed and took of my dress, smiling at her. She smiled back and put on her sunglasses. I took out some sunscreen and put it on quickly. As I put it on I saw Leo smile and make his way towards me. He sat down next to me and kissed my cheek.

"You look gorgeous nena." he whispered thickly in my ear and I blushed before grabbing the sunscreen and applying it to his back and shoulders so he wouldn't burn. He laughed and kissed me swiftly before running back to the others. I spent a couple of hours sunbathing and eventually I decided to go for a swim, when I felt like a cooked lobster. I got up and looked over at Maria Sol.

"Do you want to go for a swim?" I asked standing up and grabbing my towel.

"Thank god you asked, it's way to hot to sit around here anymore." she said and I laughed. We made our way to the water. I slowly let my foot touch the water to see if it was cold, when I was satisfied that it was ok, I got in. Maria Sol followed me and we went in a bit further. Suddenly Maria Sol splashed me in the face.

"Hey!" I laughed and splashed some water back in her direction. We kept doing this for a while before deciding to head back. I got out and wrapped my towel around myself, making my way back to everyone else. When I walked pass the boys, Leo wrapped his arms around me and decided to join me and Maria Sol.

"So are you tired of chasing after a ball hombre?" I teased and he laughed.

"Never, just felt I needed to spend some time with two of my favorite ladies." he said and me and Maria Sol laughed.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere señor" I smirked and he shook his head, planting a kiss on my lips.

"Maria, you're already tanned, how do you do it!" Celia asked, her eyes wide at the visible tan line I had from my bikini top. I blushed and smiled.

"I don't know, I've always had this thing where I get really tan fast, must be genetics because my dad was the same." I said and she laughed.

"Well you're lucky, it takes me an eternity to get one shade darker!" she said and I laughed.

"Can I ask you something?" Celia asked when Leo made his way back to the boys.

"Of course!" I said, smiling at her.

"You know I love you already, right?." she said and I smiled at her.

"So will you promise me to not take this offensively?" she asked again, looking at me. I nodded, curious about where she was going with this.

"It's just that, Leo is eight years older than you, there will be a day when he'll want to settle down and have children, get married." she said and I nodded.

"And I feel that it isn't fair to you, you're so young and you have your entire life in front of you, do you really want to settle down and meet Leo's demands?" she asked softly and I smiled at her.

"I might be younger Celia, but I love Leo and there isn't anything I'd want more than settle down with him someday, I've realized that he's the one, and there isn't anything in the entire world that I'll want more than I want to be with Leo." I assured her and she smiled widely, hugging me tight.

"I'm sorry for asking this, it's just that Leo looks like you as if his entire life is in front of him, and I was just a little worried that he'll have his heart broken again, his past girlfriends have all found a way to hurt him, and I was just worried." she said and I smiled at her.

"You're his mother, it's in you nature to worry, I'd worry about my son too, so there's nothing to be sorry about, in fact I have a huge amount of respect for you since you asked me and showed me how much you care about your son, that's irreplaceable and Leo is lucky to have an amazing mother like you." I said and she just hugged me.

"You are truly amazing Maria, and I can't wait to have you as my daughter officially!" she said and my eyes widened. She laughed at my reaction and kissed my cheek.

"I already see you as my daughter, and I bet that Leo will ask you to marry him sooner or later, I hope it's sooner rather than later." she said winking at me and I laughed.

"It means the entire world to me that you see me as your daughter, and I can only say that you've been more like a mother to me than my real mother ever was." I said and hugged her. After that I laid down to sunbathe a bit longer and also let my mind wonder. Marriage? Does he really love me that much? I felt giddy at the thought of marrying Leo someday, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to marry him anytime soon. I brushed the thought away and focused on what was happening right now.

I watched as Leo played football with the others, and I smiled. He seemed so happy with his family and I could tell that he'd be an amazing father one day, he seemed to spend most his time with his nieces and nephews. I was broken out of my reverie as my phone rang. The caller was unknown but from Sweden, so I answered.

"Hello?" I said and both Celia and Maria Sol looked at me.
"Hi Maria it's Magnus." my old history teacher said and I raised an eyebrow, what did he want.
"Hey Magnus, what's up?" I asked and by now Leo and the others were surrounding me, Celia and Maria Sol.
"Well the trip to Kenya has been canceled." he said and my eyes widened.
"What?!" I almost yelled, feeling disappointed, Leo and the others looked at me weirdly as I spoke swedish.
"Well the trip's not entirely canceled, we just moved the date." he said and I sighed in relief.
"Well when are we going then?" I asked and Leo raised his eyebrow curiously.
"In february." he said and I agreed, all I needed to do was to reschedule, it was actually better this way,now I could stay with Leo all through September and start school earlier.
"Sure that'll work perfectly, I just have to reschedule." I said and Magnus agreed and hung up.

"Who was that amor, and you sound sexy when you speak swedish." he said making me slap his arm.

"What?, everyone was thinking it, I just have the privilege to say it." he smirked and I rolled my eyes at him.

"For your information, that was my old history teacher, and he said that the trip to Kenya's been moved from September to February, it makes no difference to me what so ever, I just have to reschedule." I said and Leo nodded. After a while we decided that it was time to go back home. This time me and Leo were in the same car.

"So nena, I saw that mama talked to you alone for a bit, did she say anything weird?" Leo asked, tracing my arm with his fingers.

"No not really, she just told me something that made me realize how amazing she is, and you're really lucky to have such an amazing mom Leo." I said and he smiled and didn't press it any further. We arrived at the house and Leo pulled me to the bedroom.

"I missed you today nena." Leo said and wrapped his arms around me. I laughed.

"I missed you too, but it was amazing to spend time with your mom and your lovely sister." I said and he smiled.

"I'm glad you enjoy spending time with my family, it means a lot to me querida." he said, looking into my eyes. I smiled at him and hugged him tightly.

"I know it does amor, and how can I not love your family, they're truly the most amazing people I've ever met, and I can't wait to see more of them." I said and he kissed me.

"You're all I could ever ask for and more." he breathed out when we pulled away and I smiled.

"You mean everything to me Leo, you brought me back to life." I said and he kissed me passionately again.