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Milestones.

The day Ale returned to training was hard, she hated the idea of leaving Jordi and me, and I was nervous about being on my own with him for the first time. It had been two weeks of us at home, spending lazy mornings in bed loving on our little boy and long nights of being up every couple of hours looking after him as he struggled to adjust to the idea of nighttime, but most importantly it had allowed us to build a bond with him. In the last few days his bond with Ale had grown, he settled for her now and to be honest, I think he was starting to prefer being in her arms.

"I don't want to go, what if he does something new and I miss it?" Ale pouted as she slowly made her way towards the front door dressed in her training kit with her bag slung over her shoulder.

"He's 2 weeks old, all he does is eat, sleep and poop... what milestones do you think he'll be hitting in the few hours that you'll be gone?" I teased, wanting to keep things light hearted.

"I don't know... he could laugh or smile"

"Impossible! Because as you've told me sooo many times I'm not funny" I joked, stepping closer to her and wrapping my arms around her waist.

"You're right... you aren't!" She chuckled, leaning down to place a kiss onto my lips.
"I'm just going to miss you both, that's all"

"We're going to miss you too, but I promise you aren't going to miss much. He's just gone down for a nap, so he'll be asleep for a few hours and when you get back he'll be more than ready for some Mama snuggles"

"I love you" she whispered before kissing me again.

"I love you too, now you really need to get going of you'll be late!" I said gently pushing her towards the door.

She didn't leave though, instead she dropped her bag on the floor and began walking down the hall back into the house.

"Ale, you need to go" I quietly called out after her.

"I need to kiss Jordi goodbye first, he'll be upset if I don't..."

"You already have, twice..." I giggled at her cuteness, as she almost skipped down the hall to where Jordi was napping.
"I swear to god you better not wake him up" I mumbled under my breath.

She appeared back into view not long later, a big smile on her face as she made her way back towards me, leaning down to collect the bag from the floor brefore opening the front door.

"Do I not get a kiss goodbye?" I pouted, reaching for her hand.

"You already have, twice..." She smirked, using my own words against me before slipping out of the door and heading towards her car.

Ale's POV

Training felt different now, I don't know whether that was because of Jordi's arrival, the injury, or the fact Isy wasn't here, but my mind was somewhere else. My body was here... I did the running, the drills, and the shooting practice that we were asked to do, but my mind was at home. I'd gotten so used to Jordi's schedule over the last couple of weeks that all I could think about was what Isy and him were doing every second that I was here. As the passing drill started Jordi was due another feed...  as I jogged down the side of the pitch with some of the other girls he would be going down for another nap and Isy would be trying to do the same.

Irene was the first to notice my absentmindedness, jogging up beside me as we made our way back into the locker room.

"It gets easier, I promise," She said as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

"Does it? Because all I can think about is how much I'm missing out on whilst I'm here"

"I felt the same when Mateo was first born, but as he gets a bit older and you and Isy get used to being parents, everything- well everything just clicks"
"How is Isy doing?" She asked as we got closer to the main building.

"She's amazing... dont get me wrong she's exhausted and still adjusting to the tiny human that has suddenly turned our lives upside down, but she has just taken everything in her stride"

"And how are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm ok... I'm good. Isy is the one that's been through it all, I just need to be there for her and Jordi"

"It's alright to feel a bit overwhelmed you know? You're being pulled in so many different directions right now and it's a lot. If you ever want to talk, I'm here ok?"

"Thank you, I really appreciate it" I smiled, grateful to have Irene's support given that she's been through all of this before.

"How's my little Mateo doing?" I asked as we stepped inside the building.

I didn't shower and change after training like I usually would, instead I shoved everything into my bag and got out of there as quickly as I could so that I could see Jordi before he went down for a nap. When I walked into the house I was met with the sound of Jordi crying upstairs, I threw my bag onto the floor by the door and quickly made my way upstairs, taking two steps at a time to get to them as quickly as I could. Isy was pacing around the bedroom, cradling Jordi in her arms as she rocked him back and forth. The moment she saw me, her face turned from stress to relief as she smiled widely.

"Look Jordi, Mama's home!" She smiled down at him, before walking over to me.

"Give me my baby" I joked, reaching my arms out to take Jordi from her. Isy passed him straight to me, obviously seeing how much I needed a cuddle from our boy after leaving him for the first time.

"Oh I missed you pequeño" I smiled, cradling him close to my chest and kissing the top of his head.

"He's missed you too, I've been trying to get him to settle for nearly half an hour and all it took was a cuddle from his Mama"

Irene was right, it did get easier. Jordi settled into his routine more which meant Isy and I were managing to get about six and a half hours of sleep a night, which was a huge improvement. I had gotten used to going to training in the morning, I'd wake up with Jordi and give him his first feed so that Isy could get an extra hour of sleep before I left and when I got back we would spend the afternoon as a family. It felt normal now, it was like he had been with us forever, I couldn't imagine life without our Jordi.

A couple of weeks after my first day back at training I was finally ready to play again. Jonatan pulled me into his office after our gym session on the Thursday and told me that if I felt ready then I would be in the squad for the game at the weekend and finally get my first minutes back in a Barca shirt. I was over the moon, ten months after the injury, a whole pregnancy and the first month of our son's life later I was ready to be a footballer again.

"About this weekend..." I started as we settled down on the sofa that evening, Jordi was in bed and the house was quiet, now felt like the right time. I knew that I probably should have told her as soon as I got home, but I needed a bit of time for it to sink in myself.

"Ale no, the team could win the league this weekend and we said that we would be there. I know that it's going to be hard, but you need to be there... you're the captain and your mum has already agreed to look after him for a few hours"

"I know, I'm not saying that I'm not going, it's just that the plans have changed slightly..." I smiled, taking her hand into mine and intertwining our fingers.

"What do you mean?" She turned to me and asked, her face a picture of confusion.

"Do you know where Jordi's Barca shirt is?... because he's going to need it on Saturday"

"You're playing?! Are you serious?" the confusion on her face was immediately replaced with excitement and pride as she climbed on top of me, holding my face in her hands.

"I'm playing" I nodded, tears welling up in my eyes as I leaned forward and captured her lips in mine.