There Was You

Resting her shoulder against the bedroom doorframe, Riley quirked a faint smile, her grey eyes watching as Iker padded around the room, gathering things he wanted to pack for their trip back to Spain. It was a trip they liked to take, with the season having finished, both she and Iker liked to head back to the Spanish capital for a couple of weeks, wanting to spend time with their friends and family in city, but she knew that that year it held more significance, the weight of the conversation that they had had about the prospect of Iker retiring resting in her stomach. She knew that he hadn’t brought the topic up out of the blue, from the way he had spoken about it, she knew that it was something that had been on his mind for a while, but that hadn’t made responding to it easier. For the few days that had passed since he had first bought it up, Riley hadn’t quite known what to say to him.

“Have you seen a pair of my trainers anywhere?”

Riley blinked a couple of times before she lifted her head, glancing at Iker who stood a little ahead of her, a half-amused smile on his face. “Huh?” she asked.

“I can’t seem to find a specific pair of shoes” Iker replied “I wondered if you’d seen them anywhere” he added.

Riley shook her head. “I don’t remember tripping over any” she noted with a slightly shy grin.

Iker breathed out a soft laugh before he turned back to his bag, placing a couple more t-shirts inside as a slightly awkward silence fell between them. It wasn’t the first, since he had told Riley that he was thinking about the prospect of moving back to Spain, she had appeared tentative around him, as though she wasn’t quite sure of what to say to him, and whilst Iker wanted nothing more than for the two of them to talk, he had opted against pushing her, knowing that it was a big thing that he had dropped on her and that she probably needed a little time to get her head around it.

Placing a few more items of clothes into his suitcase, he peeked up at Riley, watching her shift her feet before he shook his head, breathing out a soft laugh. “You know that you can talk to me, don’t you?” he prodded.

Riley startled a little, not quite having expected him to speak, before she nodded. “I know” she confirmed “I’m just...we both know that I am not necessarily the best with words. I’m trying to think about how to say things without saying the wrong thing or tripping over myself” she explained carefully.

Iker nodded his head slowly before he stepped around the bed, perching on the edge of it. “You don’t always say the wrong thing” he teased softly, patting the empty space next to him.

Riley shook her head. “Iker...”

“I wasn’t trying to put you on the spot, Ry” Iker interrupted, hearing the slight frustration in her voice “It’s just...it’s been on my mind for a little while, and I thought that we, as husband and wife, could talk about it. I don’t want you to worry about saying the wrong thing or falling over your words, you’ve always done that, I just want you to be honest. What are you thinking?” he asked.

Riley, who’d slipped into the spot on the bed next to him, was quiet for a moment, allowing the question to hang in the air before she gently reached up, tucking her hair off of her face. “Honestly?” she asked.

Iker just flashed her an encouraging grin, nodding his head slightly.

“Honestly” Riley repeated uncertainly “The decision about whether or not you play next season is yours. You know your body, you know whether or not you still love it, and I don’t want to be the one pushing your decision on that one way or the other. I love that you love spending time with me and Leo, since he’s come along...I don’t think I’ve ever seen you happier, and I love that, but you can’t just give this up all of a sudden. I’d hate for you to have regrets” she explained, her voice soft and tentative as she spared a brief glance up towards Iker, trying to gauge the expression on his features.

Iker just kept his eyes on hers, wordlessly encouraging her to keep talking.

“Would I like to move to Madrid?” Riley continued “I think I would. I know I’ve been in Porto forever, but now that Leo is here, I think I’d want him to grow up with his grandparents around. I know my mama and papa would love it, yours too” she added.

“We’d never get rid of them” Iker contributed, smiling fondly.

Riley laughed, nodding her head in agreement. “I’d probably not mind that” she mused “But Leo...he’s only a couple of months old and we have nothing ready for him in Madrid. We’d have to fix up the house, we’d have to pack up everything here and get it shipped over...I just...maybe right now, it’s too much?” she added, more asking Iker for his agreement than stating that it was what she thought.

Iker nodded his head slowly, something which caused Riley to shake hers. “If that’s the wrong thing to have said...”

“There is no wrong thing to say, Riley” Iker interrupted softly “I want to know what you think. This isn’t about me, it’s about us, you, me and Leo, and I want your input. I’m not going to make this decision without you, nena” he insisted.

Riley’s eyes searched his face for a few moments before she nodded slightly, her eyes timidly dropping down towards her lap. “Then I say we stay” she murmured softly “Even if it is just for now, even if we revaluate in six months, I think, for now, this is...”

“This is the right place for us” Iker finished for her.

Riley peeked up at him through her eyelashes, her expression softening as she marveled at the tender grin he wore. Feeling her cheeks warm, she nodded her head in agreement with how he had finished her sentence before she watched him lean down, kissing the top of her head softly. “Ok” he mumbled into her hair.

Riley closed her eyes, relishing the feeling of his lips against her head, before the sound of Leo’s cries filled the air, causing her to pull back, gently pushing herself back up to her feet. “We can talk more later” she noted.

Iker nodded, smiling up at her. “Sure thing” he noted.

Riley hesitated for a split second before she leant into him, stealing a quick kiss before she stepped out of the room, feeling the knot which had lingered in her stomach for days loosen slightly.