Where We Are

71: One More Thing

Pulling her dark hair up into a loose ponytail, Maia spared a quiet sigh to herself, her blue eyes scanning over the bare living room. It had taken a while, even despite the help from her parents, Alex and Will, it had taken a little over a week to get everything packed up and shipped out, and whilst she was relieved that everything seemed to be going off without a hitch, she couldn’t get rid of the knot in the stomach that twitched every time she thought about leaving. She knew that it was what she wanted, after almost six weeks apart, she had grown more and more certain that with Iker was where she wanted to be, but still the idea of leaving stuck in her throat, even if she was confident that it was the right thing. She had little doubt that she was going to miss her home.

Allowing her eyes to survey the empty room, she quietly shook her head before she felt a hand squeeze her own, causing her to startle before she lifted her head, her blue eyes peeking up towards her father who stood at her side, a comforting smile on his lips. “Are you doing OK?” he asked.

Maia offered him a small nod. “I’m OK” she noted “I mean, it’s pretty strange to think that I am not going to be coming back here tonight, but I will get over it” she added, offering him a slightly tearful smile.

Hector nodded. “Of course you will” he insisted gently “And besides, I am sure that you will forget your nerves soon enough. Isn’t your boyfriend collecting you from the airport?” he posed, trying to buoy her spirits. He could see that she was a little tearful, since he had arrived at the apartment, she had been a little distant and quiet, and he wanted to try and lift her spirits, wanting her to focus on the positive that was being with Iker rather than the negative that was leaving her home.

Maia’s face brightened slightly at the mention of Iker, something which made Hector smile before he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pressing a soft kiss against the top of her head. “Come on” he murmured “Your madre is downstairs in the car with Ella and Charlie and we need to get moving if we’re going to make your flight. You have everything?” he asked.

“I think so” Maia replied “But give me a second. I’ll do a quick once over and I will meet you downstairs?” she posed.

Hector offered her a slightly questioning look before he nodded. “OK” he noted “But if you’re not down in five minutes, I am coming back for you” he added, offering her shoulder another light squeeze before he pushed himself away, padding out of the front door.

Maia watched him out of the door before she padded through the living room, searching for anything that they’d left behind. Padding through the room, she checked behind the couch before she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, something which caused her to stand up before she settled on the arm of the couch. Shaking her head, she slipped the phone out of her pocket before she quirked a small smile, her eyes scanning over the text that Iker had sent to her. It was short, the words ‘I can’t wait to see you’ were all the message contained, but it was enough to make her smile. It had been a while since they’d been in the same place, too long for Maia’s liking, and she was excited to see him face to face.

Smiling to herself, she sent him a quick text in reply, before she moved to collect her bag, making her way out of the door.

~#~
Letting a small relieved sigh to fall out of her mouth, Maia carefully held onto Ella’s hand, her blue eyes searching the airport terminal for any sign of Iker. It hadn’t been a long flight, the flight from Portugal to Italy had only been a couple of hours long, but with both Charlie and Ella having kicked up a fuss, Maia was exhausted, something which had only increased the amount that she was looking forwards to seeing Iker.

Ensuring that she had a good hold of Ella’s small hand, she took a few steps across the terminal before she spotted a sign which had her name scrawled across it in familiar handwriting, a sight which made her stomach flip excitedly. Shaking her head, she smiled gently to herself before she padded forwards, her feet dragging her quickly towards Iker who stood ahead of her, his familiar boyish smile spread across his lips.

Hesitating for a second, he allowed his eyes to look her up and down before he shook his head, a slightly awe-filled laugh falling out of his mouth.

Maia tilted her head. “Is that all I get?” she posed “I mean, we’ve not seen each other for six weeks, and all I get as a greeting is...” Maia’s words trailed off as Iker stepped up towards her, quickly pressing his lips against hers. Maia let out a soft squeak, more than slightly surprised by the soft kiss, but she warmed to it quickly, kissing him back for a few seconds before she pulled away, a warm smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Iker marveled at her smile briefly before he lifted his hand, neatly tucking her dark hair off of her face. “Hola” he mused impishly.

Maia let out a soft giggle before she shook her head. “Hola, Iker” she greeted.

Iker’s impish smile widened slightly at the sound of her laugh before he leant into her, moving to kiss her once more before the sound the word ‘papa’ reached his ears, causing him to pull back, his eyes dropping towards Ella who stood at her mother’s side, a wide smile on her face. “Papa!” she squeaked excitedly, her spare hand reaching up towards him.

Maia followed the line of his stare before she gently moved her arm forwards, encouraging Ella to step towards him. “I think someone would like her papa to give her a hug” she mused, a soft smile on her lips.

“I think papa might like that too” Iker played along before he crouched down, allowing Ella to shuffle into his arms. Smiling, he offered her a soft hug before he pushed himself up to his feet, settling the toddler onto his hip. “My car is outside” he noted.

Maia, who’d been marveling at the sight of Iker with their daughter, nodded. “We’ve got a few bags to collect from baggage claim” she noted “Did everything else arrive OK?” she fussed, shifting her grasp on the carry cot that Charlie sat in, snoozing happily.

Iker smiled amusedly before he nodded. “There’s a load boxes cluttering up the living room” he noted “But right now, that’s not my priority. Right now, I’d like to grab your bags and head back to our home. Do you think we can manage to do that before you start fussing?” he posed playfully.

Maia scoffed. “I don’t fuss” she noted.

Iker laughed. “Of course you don’t” he replied sarcastically.

Maia merely glared up at him, something which made Iker spare another soft laugh before he shook his head. “You’ve missed me” he quipped boyishly.

Maia rolled her eyes, mumbling a comment beneath her breath, before she turned to walk away, something Iker was quick to prevent by placing his hand on her wrist. “One more thing” he noted.

“What?” Maia posed.

Iker smiled and leant into her, stealing a couple of quick kisses before he pulled away. “I’m so happy to see you, nena” he fussed before he stepped away from her, making his way towards baggage claim.

Maia stared after him briefly before she shook her head, musing that she was more than happy to see him too.
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Thanks to FootieJo for the comment :)