Like You Did Before

Absent-mindedly pushing a spoon around her mug, Matilda let out a soft yawn, her eyes staring distantly across the quiet kitchen. She knew that it would be quiet for a while. Lola, unsettled by the short flight to Madrid, had been restless all night and Iker had insisted on getting her with her more often than not, something Matilda knew would take its toll on him, meaning she had a while to herself.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to spend time with either of them. She adored seeing Iker with Lola, and things between her and him seemed to be the best it’d been a long time, but she wanted a moment of quiet to herself, wanting to try and get herself prepared to see his parents without him insisting that it’d go off without a hitch. She knew that he was trying to help. Iker didn’t want her to worry, knowing that her worrying had led them astray more than once in the past, and whilst Matilda adored him for that, she knew that completely erasing her anxieties was something only she could do.

She knew that she worried too much. Iker had been right when he’d suggested that she had a tendency to blow things out of proportion in her head, but it wasn’t something she could simply get away from. She thought that their relationship could be it for them both, the kind that led up an aisle or to Lola having a little brother or sister in the future, and she worried that another misstep could ruin it, something she didn’t see them recovering from a second time around.

Picking the spoon up, she shook it a couple of times before she settled it down onto the table, allowing her to take a couple of sips of her warm drink. Lowering the mug, she kept her hands wrapped around it before she gently pushed it forwards, creating a space behind it that allowed her to lower her head against the wood.

“You know that I am not going to force you to come with us, don’t you?”

Matilda’s head lifted slowly, her stare landing on Iker who stood in the doorway, rubbing his jaw sleepily.

Iker quirked a small smile when her eyes met his. “If it makes you this nervous...” he trailed off.

“I’m trying to get less nervous” Matilda said quietly “That’s what this is. You got up with Lola all throughout the night, so I thought you’d sleep in for a while. This is me trying to...to stop being such a wreck” she added, offering him a slightly sarcastic smile.

Iker shook his head. “You’re not a wreck, Mattie” he said “More anxious than you should be, sure. But you’re not a wreck” he insisted.

Matilda let out a little scoff, but didn’t say anything.

Iker sighed a little at the sound before he walked towards the table. Pulling out the seat next to her, he turned it slightly before he gripped hers, turning it to face him. Reaching out, he captured her hands in his before he tugged slightly. “Look at me” he said.

Matilda hesitated for a moment before she reluctantly lifted her head, her blue eyes meeting his.

Iker lifted a hand, using it to keep her from ducking her head again. “It’s going to be fine” he said gently.

“Iker...”

“You trust me, right?” Iker interrupted, his lips quirking upwards slightly.

Matilda couldn’t stop herself from smiling back at him, won over by his tender smile, before she nodded. “I do” she confirmed.

“Then trust me when I say it’s going to be OK” Iker replied “They’re not planning some kind of interrogation, Mattie. They’re not going to grill you about your intentions towards me. It’s lunch. My mama’s cooking, she’s going to joke about it being better than what your papa makes, and you’re going to have to laugh at that because she finds it hilarious. My papa’s going to want to have Lola for as long as he can, because she’s got him wrapped around her tiny finger. Mattie, sweetheart, it’s really, really going to be OK” he stressed playfully.

Matilda bit her lip, the tops of her cheeks flushing pink as she moved her hand out of his grasp. “I’m sorry” she murmured “For getting so worked up. I just...god, I really want this to work, Iker” she added, shaking her head with a slightly embarrassed laugh.

Iker moved, setting his head against hers as he squeezed her hands softly. “Me too, Mattie” he murmured.

~#~
Feeling Iker’s thumb trace the inside of her knee, Matilda quirked a soft smile, her hand gently squeezing his wrist gratefully. It had started out slightly uncomfortably. Iker’s parents had gone in for hugs when they’d arrived at the house, and Matilda had shied away embarrassedly, but it had quickly smoothed itself out. Iker’s parents had been warm. They’d fussed over Lola instantly, but had made sure that Matilda felt just as welcome, and Matilda had to admit that she had worried herself for nothing, something which was etched into Iker’s smile whenever her looked over at her, a teasing ‘I told you so’ lingering on the tip of his tongue.

“So, how excited are your parents to have this little one around, Mattie?” Jose Luis asked, glancing up from Lola who was on the floor in front of him, trying to scoot along on her stomach.

Matilda looked away from Iker’s hand on her knee, smiling at the older man softly. “Now that she’s here, they’re smitten” she replied “They love babysitting and they’re always popping around to see her. I think they were a little apprehensive before. The pregnancy was a little...” she trailed off, searching for the right word.

Iker squeezed her knee gently. “They’re excited to have a granddaughter to fuss over” he finished for her “I mean, they dropped enough hints” he added, sparing a pointed look towards his mother who rolled her eyes, turning back to fussing over Lola.

Jose Luis smiled between them before he leant forwards, smoothing Lola’s hair off of her head. “She’s worth fussing over” he cooed.

Iker’s eyes were fixed on Matilda as a tender smile curved his mouth upwards. “She is” he agreed.

Matilda ducked her head, trying, and failing, to hide her pink cheeks.

“Is your father still running his restaurant, Mattie?” Carmen asked.

“He’s going to be running it forever” Matilda replied, shaking her head amusedly “He’s the kind of guy that has to have everything just so, and there’s no one else he’d trust to run it. Why do you ask?” she posed.

“We’re planning on visiting the two of you later in the year” Jose Luis answered “And we thought we could visit his restaurant to catch up with him and your mother. Now that the two of you are together again, we’d like to catch up with the two of them” he added.

Matilda’s expression sobered a little, something Iker responded to with a gentle squeeze of her knee, wordlessly offering her his support. Taking a moment, she nodded her head gently, flashing the older man a slightly reluctant smile. “Let me know the dates” she mused “I’ll set things up for you. I’m sure that they’d be happy to” she added.

Jose Luis grinned before he turned back to Lola, affording Iker the chance to lean over, kissing the side of her head softly. “We’ll talk to them” he murmured into her hair “It’ll be fine. Trust me” he added, smiling at her softly.

Matilda quirked a nervous smile. “If you say so” she mused.

Iker wanted to say more, to offer her more reassurance that they could get her parents on board with them, but instead, he just kissed her head again, knowing that she’d have to see it before she really believed it.