Where We Are

21: We Can Learn From It

Twisting her dark hair into a loose braid, Maia allowed a tired yawn to fall out of her mouth, her eyes peeking towards the clock which sat on the end table. It wasn’t overly late, the clock on the nightstand suggested that it wasn’t a lot passed nine at night, but after a long day, Maia was more than ready to curl up beneath the duvet and fall asleep. It had been a nice day, after her brief conversation with Iker, they’d spent the day celebrating the holidays with his family, and Maia had enjoyed herself, even if she had been a little shy when it came to interacting with his parents and brother. She was pleased that she had gone along with him.

Fixing the end of her braid with hair tie, she brushed a few stray hairs off of her cheeks before she sat down on the end of the bed, her fingers messing shyly with the necklace which sat around her neck. It had been a surprise, the gift that Iker had thoughtfully bought for her had caught her more than off guard, but she adored it, even if it had caught her by surprise. She was a little impressed that Iker had come up with it.

Twisting it around in her fingers, she quirked a light smile before she spotted the door opening out of the corner of her eye, something which caused her to look up, watching as Iker ducked into the room. “You didn’t knock tonight” she pointed out.

Iker, who’d moved to push the door closed, shook his head at the sound of Maia’s voice before he turned, offering her a small smile. “You came up here a while ago” he pointed out “I didn’t want to make too much noise just in case you were asleep. I thought you’d already be curled up by now” he added, moving to toe off his shoes.

Maia, who was trying to undo the necklace, shook her head. “I don’t think it will be too much longer” she noted “I mean, I know it’s still early, but I am starting to feel pretty tired. Did your mother mind me ducking out early?” she posed, her voice slightly fretful.

“She understands” Iker returned “She knows that baba has the potential to take a lot out of you and she doesn’t mind you ducking out. Although, she has already started to make plans for next year. She’s pretty determined to be the host of baba’s first Christmas” he noted as he sat down beside, his fingers replacing hers at the clasp of the necklace.

Maia’s cheeks blushed a little as their fingers brushed before she shook her head. “She’s going to face competition” she mused “My madre is already claiming to be baba’s favourite grandmother and she’s not even here yet” she added, offering him a small smile over her shoulder.

Iker chuckled gently, but didn’t say anything, allowing a slightly awkward silence to settle over the two of them. It wasn’t the first one, after they’d said those three words to one another, they’d found themselves caught in a couple of awkward silences throughout the day, but they both knew that they needed to have a conversation, even if they were confident of what they wanted to happen next. It was simply something that they needed to say aloud.

Shifting in her seat slightly, Maia moved to fiddle with the ends of her hair before she spared a small look towards Iker, something which made the keeper chuckle lightly. “We need to talk, don’t we?” he quipped.

Maia shrugged. “It might not be the worst idea” she mused, a half smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Iker returned her smile lightly before he offered his hand out towards her, allowing Maia to lay her smaller hand in his before he curled his fingers around it, squeezing softly. “I love you” he murmured.

Maia’s smile widened a fraction at his words before she nodded. “I know that” she noted “And you know that I feel the same way about you, but the question is, what happens next? We’re a few months away from something pretty special, and the last thing I want to do is force things or move too quickly. I want things to be good when baba comes along, Iker” she explained, offering him a soft look.

Iker mirrored her look briefly before he dropped his stare, settling it on their hands which sat in his lap. “That’s what I want too” he noted “I want to make sure that the next few months are as calm and as comfortable as they can be for you, but I also don’t want to keep edging around the inevitable. We both know that this has been coming, Maia. We’ve talked, we know what we did wrong before, and I think it’s about time we worked on getting it right second time around. I want this, Maia, me and you, and I don’t want to wait anymore” he explained, tracing his thumb lightly over the back of her hand.

He understood her hesitation, with a baby due in a matter of months, restarting their relationship was risk, but it was one that he wanted to take. They were skirting around it, they had been for a while, and he wanted to take the chance, even if it did have the potential to fall apart and cause problems for when the baby arrived. He wanted them to put things back together again sooner rather than later.

Maia watched the careful movement of his thumb for a couple of seconds before she shook her head. “You’re not worried about things getting complicated?” she posed, peeking up at him hesitantly.

Iker shook his head quickly. “We’re good at figuring things out” he reasoned “I mean, we’ve made it this far” he added impishly.

Maia quirked a light smile. “You’re pretty confident” she pointed out.

Iker shrugged. “I know I made a mistake by breaking up with you” he noted “And I regret it, but I know that I want to put it right. We both made mistakes, Maia, but we can learn from them and get better at this. What do you say?” he posed, an earnest look on his face.

Maia studied his expression for a couple of seconds, her blue eyes searching his darker ones, before she quirked a hesitant smile. “We can try” she noted softly “But, Iker, it’s not going to be quick. We’re not just going to fall back into the old routine” she added, fussing with his fingers nervously.

Iker nodded his head. “I know that” he mused “And we will take our time, and be careful, but I just want to try, Maia. I’m crazy about you” he insisted, a boyish smile on his face.

Maia’s cheeks lit up with a familiar blush before she ducked her head, something which made Iker let out a light laugh before he dipped forwards, kissing the top of her head gently. He knew that she was right, their relationship wasn’t simply going to fall back into its old and familiar routine, but he wanted to give it a shot, even if it did have the potential to cause them hiccups. He wanted to at least be able to say that they’d tried.
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Thanks to FootieJo and Twisted;;Symphony for the comments :)