The Perfect Combination

"And this… is the game room. I don’t really hang out in here a lot but when my team mates come over, we never leave this place." Fernando explained as he concluded the tour of his London home.

"It’s nice. Everything here is just sooo nice.” I answered without trying to sound bored.

Fernando laughed at my statement and questioned. “Nati, Am I boring you?”

"No No No. It’s just that… I’m five months pregnant, in the middle of preparing for London fashion week, extremely hungry and all you can offer me is a tour of your massive mansion?!." I rambled.

"Natalia, why didn’t you just say you wanted to eat?" he answered slightly mortified that he had put me through the 30 minute tour of his house on an empty stomach.

"Well for one I didn’t tell you this because I’m always hungry" I joked as we made our way to the kitchen. "And secondly I didn’t want to sound rude.

"Natalia, you could never sound rude. You’re carrying two little people in there so you have every right to demand food whenever you want" he assured me as he began whipping up a meal.

He ended up making me paella with Orange juice as my beverage. He suggested we eat the meal in his living room where I would feel more comfortable, rather than sitting on his steel kitchen stools.

Once we were settled in and a few bites into our meals, Fernando began to speak.

"So do you like it?"

"Yeah who doesn’t like paella" I answered innocently.

"Nat, you know I’m not talking about that" he answered with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh your house? Like I said it’s very nice." I commented

"But?" he intercepted

"No Buts"

He scoffed at this obviously sensing that I was keeping something from him.

"Nati?" he called my name as I looked up at him, "I want you to like this place because this is where we will raise the kids once you move here and we become a family".

SHIT

"What?" I squeaked out as I tried to register everything Fernando just said.

"Nat come on. I know that you’re still trying to make up your mind about whether to let Sergio help you raise your kids but I really don’t think there’s a lot to think about. Cut Sergio loose and be with me. I promise I’ll take care of you" he confessed truthfully.

I took a deep breath as I asked something that had been on my mind for a while.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you, a rich good looking footballer, want to be with me? A woman who is five months pregnant with your best friend’s baby." I questioned, genuinely interested in his answer.

"Because I love you" he admitted honestly. "When I was with Olalla, I was truly happy until I saw you that day at the game between the national team and the USA. You spent the whole game booing the other team’s players even though you had no idea what the rules of the game where." he laughed.

"And then after the game I saw you and Sergio together and I tried to convince myself that you were his girlfriend and I had no right to have feelings for you because I had my own girlfriend. But when Sergio confirmed that there was nothing going on between you, I felt so happy even though I shouldn’t have. When I told Sergio that I thought I was having feelings for you, he told me to forget them because a girl like you could never like a guy like me."

I bowed my head at his confession but I let him continue despite the many questions I wanted to ask.

"So I continued my relationship with Olalla. After a while I knew she was unhappy because I never gave her any attention but I refused to fix things because I hoped you’d somehow come around to the idea of me and you being together."

"Is that why you were never angry with her when she told you found out she was having an affair?"

He nodded his head.

"I’m sorry for dumping this all on you now Natalia but I want you to see that for me, having you - even if you’re pregnant with Sergio’s children - is better than having nothing at all."

"Fernando", I began to say but was interrupted by his door bell ringing.

"Hold that thought" he smiled as he kissed me on the cheek. "I need to get the door"

~

Sergio’s POV

After my visit to my parent’s house, I knew how important it was for me to be in my kids and Natalia’s life. It’s not that I was in love with her but I knew that in order for us to raise a happy family, me and her would need to maintain the great friendship we had always had. But I knew that this couldn’t happen if Fernando was around, seducing her with his promises of forever and security.

I had a suspicion that because she was in London for fashion week, Fernando would somehow find a way to see her and continue his mission to keep her away from me. So when I was once again wrongfully red carded against Malaga and had a week off from training, I knew where I had to be. I took the next flight out of Madrid to London and after some initial language struggles I found myself on the doorstep of Fernando’s Chelsea home.

"Hello, Can I hel…..Sergio?’ Fernando asked, shocked to see me.

"Hola Amigo. Can I come in?" I asked with a smile on my face. "Or do you have company?"

"Uhhm" he stuttered. "Nati’s here and…" I didn’t let him finish as I walked into the house looking for Lia.

"Hey pregnant lady" I joked with Lia, who seemed a little preoccupied.

"Sergio?" she asked with the same shock written on her face as Fernando just had. "What are you doing here?"

"I had a couple of days off so I thought I’d come visit my best friend" I answered while glancing at Fernando. "And I also had a feeling you’d be here, with it being London fashion week and all" I told her.

"Well that’s nice. You visiting Fernando I mean not the fashion week thing." she spoke rapidly

"Yeah it is Serg." Fernando agreed with Lia.

I tried hard not to roll my eyes knowing that Fernando didn’t agree with what Lia had said but was just trying to get on her good side.

"So is there an extra room in this mansion or am I going to have to stay in a hotel?" I said trying to lighten the mood.

"You can stay here. You don’t mind do you Lia?" he asked her.

"Wait? She’s staying here…with you?" I questioned completely flabbergasted that she would stay with him rather than a hotel.

"Uhm yeah… It’s just that with the pregnancy and the stress of the line. Fernando suggested that I stay with him so he can keep an eye on me" she tried to explain.

"I bet he did" I commented under my breath.

"Well good for him" I faked enthusiasm. "I’m glad someone is here to take care of you and our kids” I emphasized. Making sure Fernando knew that no matter what happened between the two of them, I’d always somehow be in the picture.