For The Longest Time

Chapter Twenty-Four: Resting and Surprises

“Madre, what are you doing here?” Lionel asked opening the front door of his apartment to find Celia standing outside; she huffed as she shoved her bag into his arms before walking into the apartment.

Lionel blinked confused as he watched his mother walk with purpose, he didn’t know why she was here but he hoped that she hadn’t come to cause trouble; the last thing that he needed right now was her upsetting Rosalie while she was on bed rest.

“Have the children eaten?” Celia asked looking back at her son, she smiled as she found the kitchen and quickly started to search the cupboards; she had come to Barcelona as soon as she could knowing that she couldn’t allow her son to struggle alone while he juggled his career, the children and his wife on bed rest.

“Go and set my stuff in the guest room… I’ll get to work on dinner,” Celia said moving around and collected everything that she needed; she knew that her son was confused but she was here to help, she might not have approved of his marriage but she had been impressed at how Rosalie had handled the scandal and knew that she was the only one who could help the couple right now.

“Okay…” Lionel said as he picked up his mother’s bag and headed for the guest room, the children were currently sharing one room so that they didn’t disturb their mother while she was resting; once he had set the bag in the room,

Lionel hurried to the master bedroom. Rosalie looked at her husband as she held Thiago to her, she smiled at him completely unaware of who had just arrived at her home.

“My madre is here,” Lionel said making the blonde stare at him, she blinked confused wondering why Celia was here; she didn’t want to deal with trouble right now, she wanted to focus on getting better and carrying for her unborn daughter.

***

Celia smiled as she bustled about her son’s apartment, she knew that she had yet to explain why she was there but she hoped to make up for how she had acted when she had first found out about their marriage.

Celia started to clean the dining room table as Lionel leant against the door, he watched his mother wondering what she was up to; he didn’t want her in his home if she was here to cause trouble, the footballer was going to do anything to protect his fragile family.

“Madre… why are you here?” Lionel asked making his mother pause, she looked back at him as she stopped cleaning knowing that he wasn’t going to allow her to stay if she wasn’t honest with him; the footballer loved his family and she could see that now.

Celia sighed moving to sit at the table, she looked down at her hands as she heard her son and sit next to her; he was wary about her reasons for coming here.

“You didn’t approve of my marriage six months ago, it doesn’t make sense for you to come here now and help out,” Lionel asked as he watched her, his brown eyes held confusion as Celia looked up at him; he didn’t know why she wanted to get to know her grandchildren now and help him care for Rosalie while she was on bed rest.

“I know that I was far from friendly when I first found out you had married Rosalie and I refused to be involved in anyway… but things changed and when I saw how she stuck by you after that stripper did that kiss and tell, I knew I had been wrong,” Celia admitted as she looked at her son, she hoped that he wouldn’t push her away now.

Lionel sighed as he ran a hand through his hair as he looked at his mother, he wasn’t sure what to say to what she said; he wanted to believe her but something told him that there was still a chance that she could turn on his family.

“I know you don’t have a reason to trust me… I don’t want you to, I want to show you that I’m here to help and I’ll prove that I’m here to help,” Celia said as she smiled at her son, she was here to stay as long as Lionel wanted her to be and she knew that she had a lot of work to do to build a relationship with not only Rosalie but her grandchildren.

Lionel sighed as he looked at his mother, he didn’t trust her for a moment but he knew that if she was being honest then he had to give her a chance.

“Okay… if you do anything to upset Rosa then you’re finished, I don’t care if you are my madre; you do anything to my family then I am done with you,” Lionel warned her; he knew that he was going to be protective of his family and he would do anything for them.

***

“I owe you an apology,” Celia said softly as she stepped into the master bedroom and looked at her daughter-in-law; Lionel had managed to keep her away from the blonde until now, he was readying a book to Peyton and had no idea what his mother was doing.

Rosalie looked up from the book that she was ready, her brown eyes looking at Celia confused wondering why she was her to see her; she knew that Lionel wasn’t happy about her sudden presence in their lives.

“I wanted my son to have the best in anything… I was blinded by the fact that he hadn’t come to me about you,” Celia said as she shook her head and moved to sit down; she looked at her daughter-in-law knowing that Diego and Claudia weren’t happy about this, she didn’t want to be pushed out of the picture like they had.

“I hated you because I thought you’d turned him against me… that you had stolen my little boy,” Celia said tears filling her eyes, she looked down at her hands as she thought about the seven years that she hadn’t been able to come and see her son; he had pushed her away for the blonde without a thought.

Rosalie looked at her mother-in-law, she knew that they had hurt a lot of people by doing what they had but at the time it was the only answer that they had.

“We never meant to hurt anyone… at the time we thought we were doing what was best, my parents never liked Leo and we didn’t know what they would do if they found out we were married and expecting a child together,” Rosalie said softly knowing that they had done a lot of damage.

Celia sighed knowing that she was right especially when Claudia was so against footballers because of what Diego had done to her; she painted every footballer with the same paintbrush because of this.

“Maybe we could put the past behind us,” Celia said hopefully, she wanted to get to know the family that she had here; she wanted to be able to be a part of their lives and spend time with them when they came to Argentina.

Rosalie smiled and nodded her head as she looked at Celia, she knew that right now she needed someone that she could trust; her mother was threatening to come to Barcelona and she knew that it wouldn’t end well if she did.

“So have you any thoughts on what you’ll name her?” Celia asked with a smile, she was excited about having another granddaughter; she had only spent a short time with Peyton and Thiago but she loved them as much as her other grandchildren.

Lionel smiled listening quietly at the door, he was glad that everything seemed to be working itself out; he just had to deal with Claudia when she came to Barcelona.