There Was You

Wrinkling her nose a little, Riley peeked one of her eyes open, her ears filled with the distant sound of knocking at her front door. It wasn’t overly early, but with Iker having a weekend off for the international break, the two of them had opted to sleep in, something which made the knocking more annoying to her. It was rare for them, with Iker usually having a match over a weekend, chances for them to spend two whole days together were few and far between, and she didn’t like the idea of something or someone intruding on it.

Shifting her legs, she untangled them from Iker’s before she attempted to sit up, only for Iker’s arm to pull her close. “Leave it” he mumbled, burying his face into her hair.

Riley smiled sleepily before she shook her head, gently lifting his arm off of her waist. “I can’t” she mumbled “It could be important” she added, shuffling up to her feet.

Iker grumbled, but didn’t say anything more, something which made Riley giggle before she leant over, pecking his lips a couple of times. “I’ll try my hardest to get rid of them” she mumbled.

Iker smirked. “You’d better” he quipped.

Riley returned his smile impishly before she stepped towards the bedroom door, stopping only to collect her dressing gown before she proceeded out into the hall. Making her way towards the door, she fastened the belt of her dress gown around her waist before she pulled the door open, her prepared greeting faltering as her eyes landed on her brother who stood outside, checking something in the backpack that Matilda wore.

Garrett heard the door open before he looked up, his eyebrow lifting slightly. “Why aren’t you dressed?” he asked.

Riley opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she let out a soft sigh, her fingers messing with the belt of her dressing gown. “I kind of forgot that I’d agreed to watch her” she admitted “I mean, you asked me a couple of weeks ago and I guess it just slipped out of my head” she added.

Garrett shook his head, zipping up Matilda’s backpack. “Is Iker here?” he asked.

Riley’s cheeks flushed pink before she nodded, her eyes fixed on her feet.

“I can give you five minutes” Garrett quipped, just about keeping the teasing smirk off of his face “She’s left one of her dolls in the car and if I take it with me, she’ll be a nightmare all day. We can go downstairs and look for it whilst you...make yourselves decent” he added.

The blush on Riley’s cheeks worsened before she nodded her head, gently pushing the front door closed. She had forgotten about it, with Eva and Garrett expecting their second baby in a matter of months, her older brother had asked her a couple of weeks previous if she would mind watching Matilda whilst they went to the hospital for a checkup, but with her and Iker having made plans, it had slipped her mind.

Shaking her head ruefully, she padded back towards the bedroom before she stepped towards her dresser, pulling out a clean set of clothes.

“You’re getting dressed?”

Riley nodded, collecting a clean set of underwear. “We don’t have much of a choice” she mused “I kind of agreed to watch Matilda whilst Garrett and Eva are at the hospital having a checkup with their midwife” she added.

Iker frowned a little. “You did?” he asked.

Riley turned to look at him, her expression apologetic. “He asked me a couple of weeks ago” she noted “And I kind of forgot, but now it’s too late to ask them to find someone else, so...do you mind?” she asked, a hopeful smile on her lips.

Iker studied the look on her face before he sighed playfully, a faint smile twitching at the corner of his lips. “It’s not like you’ve left me much of a choice” he teased.

~#~
“You’re it!”

Riley, who was sat on a bench, quirked a small smile to herself, her eyes watching as Matilda ran through the park ahead of her, nimbly avoiding the half-attempts that Iker made at catching her. It had been his idea, after Garrett and Matilda had reappeared at her front door, they’d had a quiet breakfast together before Iker had suggested that they go to a local park, and Riley had to admit that there was something about watching Iker chase after her neice, even if it wasn’t how she’d expected that they’d spend their day. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling at how sweet he was with Matilda who seemed completely smitten with him.

Messing with zip of her coat, she felt her grin widen as Iker easily swept Matilda off of her feet, something which made the little girl let loose a flurry of giggles before he set her back on her feet again, allowing her to run back towards Riley. “Do you want something?” Riley asked.

“My drink, please” Matilda replied politely.

Riley smiled and handed over the carton of juice, watching as Matilda sat down next to her.

Matilda took the carton and poked the straw into it, sipping on it quietly as Iker padded towards the bench, falling into the seat on the other side of Riley with a playful huff.

Riley shook her head. “You play football for a living” she teased “How could one game of tag possibly exhaust you?” she added.

“I play in goal” Iker corrected “How often do you seem me running?” he added with a playful smirk.

Riley rolled her eyes before she turned back towards Matilda. “Your papa just texted” she mused “He and your mama should be back in a little while. Apparently, baba’s doing really well” she added, gently tucking Matilda’s hair behind her ear.

Matilda grinned around her straw. “Baba’s here?” she asked.

Riley shook her head. “Not quite yet” she mused “You’ve still got a few weeks to wait yet” she added.

Matilda sighed. “It’s taking forever” she mumbled.

“Are you hoping for a brother or sister?” Iker asked.

“A sister” Matilda replied without hesitation “I don’t want a brother” she added, wrinkling her nose slightly.

Iker and Riley laughed, already knowing that Eva was due to give birth to Matilda’s little brother in the first few weeks of the New Year.

“Are you going to have a baby?” Matilda asked.

Riley, who’d been sipping on her own carton of juice, choked. “What?” she croaked out.

Matilda shrugged. “Papa’s always saying that you and Auntie Mia should have babies so nana won’t fuss about me and baba so much” she replied innocently “Are you and Iker going to have a baby, Auntie Riley?” she prodded.

Riley just stared at her wide eyed for a second before she lifted her head, her eyes meeting Iker’s. Swallowing a little, she searched his eyes for a few seconds before she turned back towards Matilda. “Not any time soon” she noted “I mean, maybe, one day, but it’s not going to be soon, Tilly” she added.

“Why?” Matilda pressed.

“Because we’re not ready” Iker answered “And you have to be ready. Your mama and papa were entirely ready for you to come, and now you’re all ready for baba. Me and Auntie Riley, we’re not quite ready yet” he added.

Riley flashed him a small, grateful smile, glad that he had come up with an answer when she hadn’t.

Matilda seemed to think for a moment before she nodded. “Ok” she noted simply.

Riley let out an audible sigh of relief, glad that the little girl had opted not to probe any further, before she lifted her hand, gesturing to the unoccupied slide a little away from them. “Why don’t you go and play on that for a few minutes before we head home?” she asked.

Matilda grinned before she jogged away, affording Riley the chance to turn towards Iker, a sheepish look on her face. “I’m going to kill Garrett” she mumbled.

Iker laughed. “For which part?” he asked “Saying that you and Mia ought to get pregnant so your mother has someone else to fuss over or for having a seven year old who asks questions like that?” he added impishly.

“Both?” Riley played along, smiling softly.

Iker shook his head, gently patting her hands which fidgeted in her lap. “I think we handled it OK” he mused.

Riley turned her hand over, allowing him to slip his fingers through hers. “You handled it OK” she noted “I almost choked” she added.

Iker just squeezed her hand comfortingly, something which made Riley’s soft smile widen a little, still a little in awe of how easily he seemed to calm her nerves with something as simple as a soft squeeze of her hand.