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“Shh!” Antonella whispered as her children giggled while she led them down the hallway towards her bedroom, “You’re not supposed to wake your dad yet.”
“But I can’t wait any longer,” Mateo said, letting go of his mother’s hand and rushing down the hall.
“Mateo!” Antonella whisper-yelled. She managed to catch her second son by his upper arm after taking a few long steps. She gently pulled him back from the bedroom door and pressed her ear up against it. A sigh of relief left her lips as she heard Leo’s soft snores echoing in the otherwise quiet space. Somehow, he was still asleep to which Anto was thankful. She wasn’t about to have her surprise for Leo ruined because Mateo’s patience had run thin.
“Alright,” Antonella spoke softly, turning around to face her three sons, “You all remember the plan?”
“Yes mama,” they all whispered in confirmation.
“Good,” Anto said before she turned away from her children again. She put her hand on the doorknob and slowly twisted it. She then gently pushed the bedroom door open, ensuring that didn’t creak. Antonella turned her head back around and held a finger up to her lips. With her free hand, she then gestured for her sons to tiptoe into the room. Thiago nodded and went in first, followed by Mateo and then Ciro.
Once they were inside, Antonella poked her head in. She smiled at the sight of her husband still sound asleep in the bed, oblivious to what would soon occur. Mateo reached out to poke Leo’s face but the glare Anto levelled him with made him quickly retract his hand. That caused Thiago and Ciro to silently giggle. Mateo huffed and crossed his arms and Antonella blew him a kiss.
“Remember, five minutes,” she mouthed, holding up five fingers for emphasis. Thiago nodded his head and gave her a thumbs up. She watched her sons for a few moments longer before gently pulling the door closed. Antonella then took a deep breath to re-center herself and headed downstairs.
Her footsteps echoed as she padded through the house and towards the kitchen. A smile grew on Antonella’s face the closer she got to her destination. She paused in the archway to admire the hard work she and her boys had done in decorating the space. Almost every corner of the kitchen was adorned in sky blue and white streamers, balloons and other paraphernalia. However, it all paled in comparison to the main attraction.
The cake.
Antonella licked her lips as she walked around the kitchen island to its other side. She carefully spun the large plate the Balcarce cake she made was on and gave it a final scrutinizing look. Anto pursed her lips as she did so and ended up adjusting one of the unlit sparklers three times only for it to end up back where she had originally placed it. She wanted everything to be perfect. After all, every day isn’t the one-year anniversary of your husband becoming world champion with Argentina.
The sound of four pairs of footsteps thumping upstairs reminded Antonella of what she had left to do. She quickly crossed the kitchen to where her phone was set up on a tripod and fussed over it. She adjusted the angle it was pointing at the kitchen island and triple checked that it did indeed have a full battery. Anto then took a deep breath to steady her growing excitement as she heard her husband and children coming down the stairs. She briskly walked back to the kitchen island and spun the cake back around so that Leo would be able to read the words she wrote on it when he came in.
Happy one year my world champion.
“Ciro,” Leo’s voice echoed faintly, “don’t cover my eyes. I need to see where I’m going.”
“Mateo will make sure you don’t fall papa,” Ciro replied.
“That fills me with such confidence,” Leo said sarcastically, which caused his three sons to laugh. Antonella softly chuckled too as they drew closer.
The first to come through the archway was Thiago. He smiled at his mother before going over to the tripod. He hit record and took up his jumbo party popper before giving Anto another thumbs up. Next was Mateo followed closely by Leo and Ciro, who was still covering his father’s eyes from where he was sat on his shoulders. Antonella locked eyes with her second-born child and nodded.
“Stay here papa,” he said, letting go of Leo’s hand and scurrying off to get his jumbo party popper ultimately leaving his dad standing in the middle of the kitchen. Ciro laughed as Leo reached out to grab onto his second eldest again only to grasp nothing.
“Mateo!” Leo said a bit frustrated as he was truly left in the dark now. Ciro was still covering his eyes, Mateo just left him stranded in what he thinks is the kitchen and he was sure that Thiago had wandered off somewhere else. Not to mention, he hadn’t seen nor heard from his wife since his boys woke him up instead of his alarm. He was beyond confused; Antonella could tell. Things were going exactly as she wanted them to.
Antonella grabbed the lighter she had taken out before deploying her boys and lit the sparklers on the cake. She then took one last look around the kitchen. All of her children were waiting with bated breath for the signal. Thiago and Mateo to set off the jumbo party poppers all over their father and Ciro to uncover Leo’s eyes. With one last smile, Antonella mouthed, “Now!”
Leo jumped as Thiago and Mateo set off the jumbo party poppers with a loud bang! At the same time, Ciro uncovered his eyes and nearly fell off of Leo’s shoulders due to his father’s sudden movement. Leo managed to catch Ciro and set him down on the floor although his vision had yet to adjust to the light. Antonella resisted the urge to laugh as her husband’s wide, confused eyes darted around the kitchen trying to make sense of the sky blue and white raining down all around him. Soon, his eyes landed on her and Anto could see the moment that everything clicked inside his mind. She smiled brightly at him as he walked around the island to stand beside her. A small smile of his own curled his lips upwards.
“Blow out the sparklers my champion,” Antonella said, stepping aside a bit so that Leo stood directly behind the cake. Leo let out a breathy laugh and did as requested. Cheers erupted from Anto and their sons as he blew them out. She gestured with her hand for Thiago to stop the recording and he did.
“Cake! Cake! Cake!” Mateo and Ciro chanted as they bounded over to the island and were soon joined by Thiago. Both Leo and Antonella laughed at their children’s antics.
“In a moment,” Anto said still laughing as she removed the sparklers from the cake and set them aside on the counter. She went into one the kitchen drawers and took out a knife to cut and serve everyone a slice. She gave Leo his plate first although she knew that he wouldn’t touch it until their sons started eating theirs. She was, of course, proven right as Leo didn’t even poke at his slice with his fork until their children were stuffing their faces with the rare sweet treat for breakfast.
“You know I can’t eat this right?” Leo asked, the playful undertone in his voice letting Antonella know that he fully intended to eat it, “The club dietician will kill me.”
“Screw the dietician!” Anto replied just as playfully, “My champion deserves to indulge in some cake on such a special occasion.”
Leo lightly laughed at his wife’s response and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. After which, he finally took a bite of the cake. He closed his eyes and hummed in delight as soon as the cake graced his taste buds. Antonella laughed and her chest swelled with pride as Leo eagerly went to take a second bite and then a third. She smiled once more and finally dug into her slice of cake after cutting another for Mateo. Her sweet surprise was nothing short of a success.