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Gavi stays the night.
It‘s become a routine by now. Once or twice a week, he’ll sit in the passenger seat of Robert’s car after training and come home with him.
The girls are delighted by his presence, eager to play with somebody who “isn’t old” (Robert tries and fails not to be offended by that) and hogging Gavi to themselves until bedtime.
According to Klara, Gavi is the best tea party guest ever. Robert has to agree. Gavi looks very pretty with a shiny plastic tiara on his head.
Honestly, Robert enjoys the domesticity of it all. He loves seeing Gavi bonding with his daughters, sitting next to him at the dinner table, eating the food Robert prepared, and lying next to him in his bed.
“You know,” Robert starts as Gavi makes himself comfortable among the pillows. “I’m starting to think that the girls like you more than they like me.”
“Why wouldn’t they?” Gavi snickers. “I’m very likable.”
He really is. It’s no wonder why Robert fell for him.
“Careful. Klara is going to ask you to move in soon.”
“Then Pedri won’t have to drive me to training anymore,” Gavi replies. “Plus, I’m a great roommate.”
The thought of Gavi living here permanently is a pleasant one. “You, Klara, and Laura are going to give me headaches every day.”
“But I’m such a good boy, daddy,” Pablo says, making his eyes wide and innocent. “I promise I‘ll behave for you.”
The cheeky little thing always knows which buttons to push. “Are you sure?” Robert asks, manhandling Gavi to sit on his lap. “Because daddy thinks you’ve been very naughty.”
Smirking, Pablo moves his hips against Robert’s crotch. “I’ll show daddy that I’m a good boy.”
Laura is making a mess of her mashed carrots in her high chair by the time Klara trots into the sunny kitchen.
The little girl climbs up a chair to sit between Gavi and Robert. “Daddy?”
“Yes?” Robert hums, flicking through the sports section of the newspaper. He isn’t surprised to find a picture of himself mid-celebration, Gavi draped over his back with his lips pressed to Robert’s neck. It was a good goal and he was rewarded with a special reward from Gavi.
“I have a question.”
Robert puts the newspaper down. Klara is at that age where she can’t stop asking how and why questions. “What is it?”
“Is Gavi my brother?”
”What?” Robert isn’t sure if he heard that right. Kids always ask weird questions, but he wasn’t expecting this one.
“Is Gavi me and Laura’s brother?” Klara repeats. “Is he your kid too?”
Robert turns to Gavi for clarification, thinking that this is some kind of inside joke between Gavi and Klara, but Gavi looks just as perplexed. “Why do you think Gavi is your brother, Klara?”
“Because I woke up last night and I heard Gavi crying daddy daddy daddy but you were the only one there,” Klara says, and Robert nearly chokes on his saliva. “You also called Gavi ’baby’, so that means he’s my brother!”
Gavi looks like he’s about to start laughing. He doesn’t even look embarrassed. If anything, he looks extremely pleased with himself.
Meanwhile, Robert has never felt so mortified. He knew Gavi was loud, but he didn’t think that he was that loud.
“No, sweetheart, Gavi isn’t your brother.” There is no way Robert is going to explain what he and Gavi did last night to his small child. “But I love Gavi very much.”
Klara looks confused. “Is Gavi our new mommy?”
“No!” Robert answers quickly. His ex-wife would actually kill him if she heard the girls calling Gavi ‘mommy’.
Oh God, he really hopes Klara doesn’t mention the ‘daddy’ thing to Anna when she sees her this weekend.
“Gavi isn’t related to us,” Robert starts, slowly and surely to make sure that Klara understands. The last thing he needs is Klara telling her kindergarten friends all about her new eighteen year old male ‘mommy’. “But he is really important to me.”
“Gavi is family?”
“Yes,” Robert nods. He looks at Gavi before looking back at Klara. “I’d really like Gavi to be part of our family. Is that okay with you?”
Klara nods quickly. “Yeah! Me and Laura love Gavi too!”
”Wuv!” Laura squeals from her high chair, her chubby cheeks stained orange from carrots. “Wuv Gafee!”
“Love?” Gavi repeats, like he can’t believe it himself. “You mean that?”
“Uh-huh!” To emphasize her point, Klara leans over to press a kiss on Gavi’s cheek. “If you’re family, then we can have more tea parties together! We can invite daddy but we have to teach him more Spanish because he’s bad at it!”
Gavi smiles, big, bright, and oh so beautiful.
Robert's heart swells with bliss. He’s never felt so happy in his life.
“Wait!” Klara suddenly exclaims, frowning at Robert. “You didn’t answer my question. If Gavi isn’t our brother, then why does he call you daddy?”
Robert awkwardly clears his throat. “You’re asking too many questions, sweetheart.”