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Fabinho lay sprawled out on the sofa, basking in the afternoon sun. He was writing in his poetry book, or trying to at least—none of his ideas worked.
It didn’t help that he was thoroughly bored. Firmino and Alisson had gone to the lake together to have some bonding time alone. Fabinho knew that they couldn’t hang out together all the time, which is why he’d let them go by themselves even when they’d invited him to go along.
A shadow suddenly appeared on the wall, moving. Fabinho freaked out a bit at the size of the shadow, but he relaxed upon seeing that the shadow belonged to Klopp, who was carrying Florrie on his shoulders.
“Flaco?” Since the door was open, Klopp walked right into the room. “Can I ask you a favor, if you’re not busy?”
By now, Fabinho was ready for any kind of excitement around the place. “Sure, what’s going on?”
“I was supposed to watch Florrie today, but I completely forgot that I have some errands to run.” He handed Florrie to Fabinho, gently prying one of his hands away from his hair. “Could you keep an eye on her for a couple of hours?”
Fabinho wasn’t so sure if he could keep Florrie busy by himself. Usually when the three Brazilians watched Florrie or the other kids, Alisson and Firmino did most of the entertaining. Fabinho was more of the lifeguard, the chill one who made sure nobody got hurt and occasionally joined in on the craziness.
“I wanna play with Flaco!” Florrie decided before Fabinho could say anything in protest. “ Please?”
Fabinho gave in—he just couldn’t resist Florrie’s baby eyes. “Okay.”
*
"So...what do you want to play, Flo?" Fabinho figured that the best way to keep an eye on Florrie was to do what she wanted. Florrie wasn't exactly bossy, unlike some kids he'd seen, but she was very hot and cold. Sometimes she'd need five activities in an hour to keep her entertained, while other times she'd obsess over a single thing for what felt like forever.
Florrie frowned in thought, stroking her chin as if she had a beard with a very serious expression. “Dress-up!"
"Okay, okay, great." Fabinho put down his journal, locking it with the tiny key. "Lead the way."
Florrie ran ahead of Fabinho, stopping every so often to make sure he was following. Fabinho, of course, was following her; he knew it was Florrie's instinct to make sure she wasn't alone.
He still remembered the day that he and the other Brazilians had found Florrie in the park. Still two years old at the time and orphaned, it was due to pure coincidence and a blizzard that they'd taken her in. And the rest, as they say, was history.
Florrie paused in front of the team closets before opening a door. The good news was that it wasn't Tsimikas' door. The bad news was that that door was the third from the first one.
"Um, Florrie..." Fabinho hesitated upon seeing Florrie walk into the closet. "Those are my clothes."
"Exactly!" Florrie held up a light blue oxford shirt that must've fell from its hanger. It was about sixteen sizes too big for the toddler girl, but she didn't seem to care. "I want to look like you, Flaco."
Fabinho melted at that innocent statement, all shreds of reserve leaving his mind. "Maybe not as skinny as I am. But okay, let's get you in the shirt."
By the time they were done, the shirt looked like one giant joke of a dress. Fabinho had to fold the sleeves so much, he borrowed a couple of Van Dijk's scrunchies to hold them up at Florrie's shoulders. The shirt ended slightly below Florrie's knees, and the shirt's top was rumpled all over the place. But Florrie still twirled around in it like it was a ball gown, laughing in delight.
“You should get dressed up, too,” Florrie insisted, looking at Fabinho. “Dress?”
“No, no, no dress.” Fabinho picked up a tie from his tie rack, holding it up against a hat. “But I have an idea.”
Five minutes later, Florrie was riding on Fabinho’s shoulders, dressed in his shirt and one of Milner’s plastic mustaches. Fabinho himself was dressed similarly, the only difference being that he wore a gray fedora that he’d borrowed from Robertson.
“Next time, we should dress up as the boss,” said Florrie, holding on tighter to Fabinho’s shoulders. “Won’t that be fun?”
“Yeah, it will.” Fabinho took Florrie down from his shoulders, balancing her on his hip instead. “I gotta say it, but…thanks for playing with me today, Flo. I needed it.”
Florrie just hugged Fabinho in response.
That kid is growing to be more and more like us each day.