You Loved Me Once

98: The Day You Want

“How is wedding planning coming, Leo?”

Lionel, who had his attention fixed on the text he had been preparing to send to Alba, lifted his head, his eyes peeking over at Andres who grinned at him kindly. It was late, after a late kick off against Real Betis, they’d not made it back to the coach much before midnight, and Lionel wanted to text Alba goodnight, even if the chances were that she wouldn’t see it until the next morning, it was merely something he always liked to do.

“It’s coming” Lionel shrugged, stowing his phone into the pocket of his jacket “We’ve got some things sorted out, like a date and a guest list, but we’re struggling with others like a venue. We’ve been to 3 or 4 viewings and each time, Alba seems remarkably unimpressed” he mused.

“That doesn’t surprise me” Gerard contributed.

“I think she knows what she is looking for and thus far, we’ve not found it yet” Lionel explained gently.

“You’re going to do it in Barcelona?” Andres posed.

Lionel shrugged. “We’ve not really looked at doing it in Rosario” he mused “I think it something Alba wants to avoid” he added, his hand fishing his vibrating phone out of his pocket.

“Why would she want to avoid it?” Andres posed “You’re both from there, aren’t you?” he added.

“We are” Lionel confirmed, his eyes not moving away from the text he was sending “But Alba’s determined to avoid any overlap with the last set of wedding plans she made for us. Last time we were supposed to do it in Rosario, it was supposed to be this big wedding with all of our relatives and friends, and this time, Alba wants to do something smaller” he explained.

“And you?” Gerard posed.

“I want to make Alba happy” Lionel replied with a small shrug “But I do worry. When she planned our wedding before, it was full of details and ideas that she had had since we were kids. When we were younger, she used to talk about things that she wanted, the type of dress she wanted and so on, and I worry that because of last time, she is skipping out on things I know she wants” he explained gently. He didn’t want to push the issue, whenever he tentatively brought up their past wedding plans, Alba tended to shut down, but it upset him a little. She had always had an idea of what she wanted, a venue and the type of dress amongst other things, and it perturbed him a little that she didn’t even want to discuss them, even if he did understand why. He worried that the day that they were going to have was not going to be the one she wanted.

Gerard, who was sat ahead of him, shook his head. “You know if she wanted any of these things, she would say, don’t you?” he posed gently.

Lionel shrugged. “I don’t know that she would” he mused “And I don’t like bringing it up, if I even mention last time, she just changes the subject” he added.

“Leo, she’s not going to a plan a day that she hates” Andres contributed.

“I know that” Lionel agreed gently “But I just worry that it might not be the one she necessarily dreamed of” he noted softly.

“I am sure that it will be amazing nevertheless” Gerard mused “Besides, if Alba wanted it, she would get it. You know her” he enthused with a reassuring smile.

Lionel offered him a small smile and nodded his head, wordlessly agreeing with the defender. He knew how Alba could be, if she really wanted something, she would tell him, but still it worried him slightly. He merely wanted to give Alba the day she deserved.

~#~
Shrugging out of his jacket, Lionel moved to hang it up before he padded towards the stairs, trying to avoid making any noise. It was late, the trip home had been longer than he remembered it being, but he was merely counting down the seconds before he could find himself in bed. Pushing a hand through his hair, he frowned a little at the sound of Isabella’s cries before he padded towards the nursery, tilting his head at the sight of Alba who sat in the rocking chair beside Isabella’s crib, trying to soothe her.

“Is she OK?” he posed softly.

“She’s teething” Alba murmured, her blue eyes peeking up at him sleepily “She’s been fussy all day” she added.

Lionel nodded his head and stepped a little deeper into the room, something which made Alba tilt her head. “Aren’t you going to go to bed?” she posed softly.

“Not right now, no” Lionel mused softly “But you should. I can watch her for a little while” he offered.

“You’re the one who played a match a few hours ago” Alba countered softly.

Lionel offered her a small smile before he stepped towards her, carefully collecting Isabella from her arms. “Go back to bed, Alba” he mused gently.

Alba offered him a slightly dubious look before she shook her head, something which made him roll his eyes as he moved to carefully sit down beside Isabella’s crib. “We were talking about our wedding plans on the way home” he mused, breaking the silence which had fallen over them.

“You were?” Alba posed.

“They wanted to know if we’d made much progress” Lionel confirmed gently.

“And what did you tell them?” Alba posed, sparing a yawn into her hand.

“That we’re making some sort of progress” Lionel noted “But that we’re still struggling with some pretty big details” he added.

“Like a venue?” Alba mused, offering him a small smile.

“Like a venue” Lionel confirmed “Are you sure that you don’t want to do it at home?” he posed gently.

Alba offered him a look, something which made him sigh. “You know I just want to give you the day you want, don’t you?” he posed gently “I want you to have the day you deserve, Alba, and the fact that a lot of what we planned last time is what you still want shouldn’t matter. I want us to have the best day, Alba, and last time shouldn’t be a factor in it. This is our day” he explained softly.

Alba offered him another look before she bit down on her lip, causing him to stretch a hand up to hers, gently squeezing it. “Don’t think about the last time” he murmured “Do it how you want to do it” he enthused.

Alba chewed her lip for a second before she peeked down at him, her expression a little soft. “I’d like to do it at home” she murmured softly “But I still want something smaller. Perhaps when you go out for internationals at the end of month, me and Bella could tag along?” she suggested.

“You could look at venues with my mother and Eva” Lionel enthused warmly.

Alba nodded her head, a small smile on her face. “That sounds like a plan” she agreed gently.

Lionel offered her a small smile before he kissed the back of her hand, hoping that their wedding plans would start to make a little more progress.
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Thanks to Jayme112234 & FootieJo for the comments :)