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Jordan Henderson was exhausted. He had played in all of the February games, and had worked his butt off to get Liverpool where it was. And everybody was beginning to notice the usual signs of their skipper overworking himself.
After the match, James Milner decided to check on Henderson. Klopp had hooked him off at the hour mark, and since that day he was covering for TAA, he hadn’t had the opportunity to see how he was doing. Milner was the only player older than Henderson on the squad, and he was more than capable of using it to his advantage.
He knew Henderson would be in the locker room, maybe running on a treadmill or soaking in an ice bath to prepare for the next game. What he saw instead was the most adorable sight of his life.
Henderson had fallen asleep on the bench, and Milner couldn’t help but wonder if he was finally following Lallana’s advice or he was too tired to stay awake. But that wasn’t the cute part. The cute part was that Florrie was on top of him, snoozing as well.
Of course, Henderson could tell Milner was inside the room. He slowly came to, groaning as he realized he had fallen asleep.
“Great, I fell asleep,” he muttered. “Sorry, Milly.”
“Sorry?” Milner frowned. “Jordan, if you’re that tired that you fell asleep, you certainly needed it. And I don’t know if you noticed, but Florrie’s on top of you like a blanket.”
Henderson chuckled as Florrie shifted places, yawning in her sleep. Diaz came into the locker room, chuckling when he saw the toddler draped over Henderson.
“Ay, que linda!” he whispered. “Ella es como una pequena arepa.”
“Arepa?” Milner raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“A, how do you say it, tortilla…made of maize. But kind of like cornbread.”
Florrie rolled over again so she was now on her back, making grabby hands to thin air. “Daddy.”
“Huh?” Diaz was confused. “Who’s her papa?”
Florrie finally found what she seemed to be looking for: Henderson’s shirt. “Daddy Hendo.”
“Awwww…that’s so cute, Hendo!”
“Florrie.” Henderson couldn’t help but smile, though, as she woke up, rubbing her eyes with a balled fist. “I keep telling you, I’m not your dad.”
Florrie looked around, wide eyed at the attention. “Then who’s my daddy?”
Henderson groaned. “How will we explain this to her?”
“Well.” Milner decided to change the subject as he fished out something from the bench seat. “Would you look at that! Florrie, your lion is here!”
“Sage!” she squealed, grabbing the lion. “Sage, Sage, Sage!”
“Alright, now, what do you say?”
“Gracias.” Florrie stumbled over the new Spanish word she’d picked up from Thiago. “Papi.”
Henderson was in stitches, while Diaz just shook his head. But undoubtedly, Milner was the most surprised of all. “What the--”
“Ay, Florrie!” Diaz chuckled. “Now you have two dads?! Make up your mind!”
Florrie just laughed. “Papi, papi, papi!”
“Great.” Milner groaned, glaring at Diaz while Florrie bounced around him. “Luiz, you have got to stop reading to Florrie. Now she won’t know if she’s speaking Spanish or English.”
But Diaz just shrugged. “Vale, Florrie, which one’s your daddy?”
“Hendo!”
“And papi?”
“Milly!”
“See?” Diaz smirked. “Ella es una niña brillante. She knows her Spanish.”
“And you two,” Henderson pointed to Diaz and Milner, “certainly don’t help.”
“What? Jordan! You can’t throw me under the bus like that!”
“I certainly can.”
“You like being called her papi.”
“Okay, Luiz, I do! Big deal! But please.” Henderson glanced around to make sure nobody was listening. “Don’t tell.”
Milner winked. “Your secret is safe with us.”
“Papi, up!”
Milner hoisted Florrie on top of his shoulders. “Alright, Flo, what next!”
“Horsey-back ride!”
Milner couldn’t believe his bad luck. He reluctantly accepted while gritting his teeth.