When We Were

Carefully lifting up Lionel’s arm, Emilia settled it back around her waist, allowing her to snuggle close to him again. She hadn’t left him for long, it had taken her only a matter of minutes to change Maisie and settled her back down for a little more sleep, but still Emilia had been more than a little keen to get back to bed, wanting to make the most of the quiet morning that they had planned before they made their way to his parents’ home for Christmas dinner. It seemed like they hadn’t had much quiet time. Since they’d both been in Argentina, the majority of their days had been filled with one wedding task or another, and whilst they were both glad that there was items being ticked off their list, she knew how anxious Lionel was to take a step back, something she intended to make sure that they did that morning.

He tried not to show it. He knew that she was only growing more and more excited as their wedding plans progressed, and she knew that he didn’t want her to see how overwhelmed he was, but Emilia had still caught on, regardless of how many bright smiles he pasted onto his face. There was something in those smiles that Emilia, who liked to consider herself and expert on all things Lionel, could spot a mile off. She didn’t push it, though, knowing that if it was a huge problem, then Lionel would come to her without her prodding.

Feeling his arm tighten around her, she quirked a soft smile before she leant forwards, pressing a soft kiss against his chest. “You’re not waking up, are you?” she mumbled quietly.

Lionel smiled, but didn’t open his eyes. “You’re not as delicate as you like to think” he teased, his voice rough and sleepy “You practically pulled my arm out of its socket” he added, laughing when Emilia pushed his shoulder playfully.

Emilia huffed, but stayed cuddled into him, something which allowed Lionel to gently twine her messy hair around his fingers. “Do we have to get up soon?” he asked, breaking the comfortable silence which had settled around the two of them.

Emilia shook her head against his chest. “We’ve got a while yet” she mused “Maisie’s gone back to sleep, and I made all of my relatives promise not to bug us much before ten. I even got Isaac to delay Luca’s call so that you and I could just…lay here” she added, pulling her head back just far enough to offer him a soft smile.

Lionel’s smile was a little confused. “Why would you do that?” he asked.

Emilia shrugged. “Maybe I wanted you all to myself for a little while” she suggested with a coy smile.

Lionel couldn’t stop a little laugh from bubbling out of his mouth, something which made Emilia push his shoulder again, laughing along with him. “It might have been for that” she quipped.

“I know you love me, but you’d never put off a call with Luca so that we could…” Lionel trailed off, allowing the rest of the sentence to fill itself in.

Emilia just grinned at him, something which made Lionel leant forwards, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “What’s going on?” he mumbled, his kisses gently moving to her temple and the side of her nose.

Emilia let out a little sigh. “I thought you might like a break” she said softly “Things have been full on since we touched down and I thought you might appreciate a couple of hours where we can just, you know, do nothing. Jordi mentioned that you had a little moment when you were getting your suit fitted” she added, shyly playing with the bottom of his t-shirt.

Lionel exhaled, ending the breath with a little laugh. “I forgot how much of a gossip your brother is” he quipped.

“It’s a Moretti thing” Emilia replied, her shoulders lifting and falling in a nonchalant shrug.

Lionel sighed, tugging out of their embrace slightly. “I wouldn’t call it a moment” he noted.

“I’m not asking for an explanation” Emilia countered as she followed him, cuddling into him again. “I just thought, a couple of hours, curled up with your beautiful and doting fiancée would do you some good. We can stay here for a bit, maybe have some breakfast and open a few presents when Maisie wakes up again, but I thought you’d appreciate it” she added.

“Beautiful and doting fiancée?” Lionel asked impishly.

Emilia grinned at him. “I’m a catch, Messi” she chirped playfully.

Lionel nodded his head. “Yeah, you are” he agreed.

Emilia tilted her head. “No playful comeback?” she quipped.

“Nope” Lionel replied, popping the ‘p’.

Emilia giggled, settling into his embrace for a few quiet moments, before he dipped down, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. “Have you chosen a dress yet?” he asked quietly.

Emilia shook her head. “No wedding planning now” she mumbled “It’s all we’ve done for days” she added.

Lionel smiled into her hair. “What do you want to talk about then?” he asked.

“I don’t know” Emilia replied “Talk about anything. How’s the season going at Barca?” she prodded.

Lionel laughed. “You don’t care about that” he quipped.

“That’s not true” Emilia retorted “I’ll admit, I’m not an avid fan, but I watch some of your games with Luca. You score a lot of goals” she added.

Lionel lifted an eyebrow. “You’ve never told me that before” he quipped.

“You should know how many goals you score” Emilia pointed out with a grin.

Lionel offered her playfully unimpressed look. “That you watch my matches with Luca” he pointed out “I thought you just left him in front of the television to watch them whilst you were busy with other things” he added.

Emilia shook her head, her cheeks a faint shade of pink. “I didn’t think I had to mention it” she noted “Luca’s always asking me to put them on, and I sit with him and watch them. Even Maisie claps when we do” she added.

Lionel’s smile was soft and happy. “You should come to a match in the new year” he quipped “I can get you some pretty good tickets” he added.

“Only pretty good?” Emilia prodded impishly.

“You pick a seat, and I will get you the ticket” Lionel played along.

“I’d like that” Emilia mused “And Luca would love it. He’s been asking me to take him for ages” she added.

“I’ll set it up” Lionel mused “A belated Christmas present” he added before Maisie’s cries filled the air, causing Emilia to pull away from their embrace, shuffling back to her feet.

“I’ll go and get her” Emilia mused “Why don’t you go and grab the presents from downstairs. We can open the ones you didn’t just think off” she added with a grin as she swanned out of the room.

Lionel took a second to just smile as she left the room. It was a common effect that she had on him.