And I Love Her

Chapter 13 - First Issue

"Whoa," Davi muttered and smiled.

"Merry Christmas," I smiled at him then at Neymar as they took in the Rockefeller Christmas Tree for the very first time.

I held back the chuckle forming on my lips as Neymar also looked at the tree in awe.

"So," I begin. "Are we gonna ice skate or not?"

"Of course," Neymar shakes his head as he gets out of the trance they were in.

I begin walking down the steps to get to the ticket booth and before I know it Davi takes my hand in his.

I look down at him and smile, I get a smile back. Then I turn around and catch Neymar holding back a smile before rushing over to us and taking Davi's other hand.

"Two adult and one child, please," I smile at the salesman.

We pay for our over priced tickets and have to wait awhile for the new session to start, but in the meantime we rented our skates and put them on.

"I'm terrible at this just so you know," Neymar tells me.

Davi is sat in between us on the bench and we find ourselves talking over his head.

"I'm no professional," I begin to chuckle.

Neymar and I wait as Davi finishes tying his laces, just as he does so, people begin leaving the rink.

"Let's go," Neymar sticks out his hand for Davi to take.

We stomp our way to the entrance and stop as we reach the door.

"Go on," I urge Neymar to go first.

"Ladies first," he begins to laugh, making me roll my eyes.

I step onto the ice and slide forward, keeping calm. I hear Neymar and Davi step on and Davi lets out a scream.

"It's okay, Davi," I yell. "If I'm good, you're good."

I lose my balance right after I speak, yet somehow am left standing.

Neymar begins to laugh at me.

"Alright then," I call him over. "Show me what you got."

Davi begins to laugh at the both of us.

"Come on," Neymar sticks his hand out for me to take.

"What?" I ask cautiously.

"Take my hand," he nods.

I do as I'm told and he pulls me closer to him. Now, Davi is starting to skate ahead of us as Neymar and I try to balance each other out.

"We got this," I speak confidently, gaining a laugh from him.

"We got this," he nods and repeats. "Listen, Kat. Are you okay with taking care of Davi tomorrow-"

"Oh God, yes," I speak. "You don't even have to ask, Ney."

"Okay, okay, I just feel bad. We dropped in on you and now I'm asking you to take care of my kid for a day, you know..."

"Davi is like family to me, please," I tell him.

"Okay, well one more thing. Davi is probably gonna ask to visit me at my photo shoot, but it's better if he doesn't."

"Alright," I shrug. "We'll be having lots of fun without you anyway."

"Is that so?" Neymar smirks.

"That is so," I smile.

We turn to spot Davi fall, face up, and we both rush over.

Neymar rushes over a bit before I do and then we notice we are still holding hands. As he rushed over and I held him back for that one second before I thought of moving my feet, he looked down at our hands- then up at me- and let go.

There was that feeling of loss, for a quick second. Then it faded.

"Davi," I say as I head over.

"I'm good, you guys," he speaks as Neymar helps him get up. "Go back to whatever you two were doing."

I let out a scoff as a smile creeps on my face and Davi skates away.

"What am I gonna do with that kid?" Neymar rubs the back of his neck.

"Kid?" I ask. "He's hitting double digits in two years, you know that right?"

"Very funny," he says.

I catch him look at the hand of mine he was holding, then I speak before he could.

"Pizza? After?" I ask.

"Sounds good," he smiles.

"Mmmmm," Neymar and Davi hum and turn to face one another as they take the first bite of their plain slice.

I laugh at the two before I take my first bite of my slice.

When we're finished with our food, Davi stands up on his chair and begins to point at things on the map of New York next to our table.

"And here?" He asks.

"That's the Chrysler Building," I smile up at him.

"Dad, can we go?" He looks down at Neymar.

"Maybe if you sit down," Neymar smiles up at him.

"Wait, there's more," Davi pleads and points at the next thing on the map as Neymar nervously grabs onto Davi's hips to keep his son from falling.

By the time we get back to my apartment, Davi is fast asleep in Neymar's arms and we make our way up the stairs slowly and quietly.

Neymar wakes Davi up to change him quickly and then Davi manages to fall asleep on my bed right after.

"Okay, here," I hand Neymar a Metro Card. "If you need it."

"Thanks," he almost laughs as he finishes folding Davi's clothes.

"You got your things ready for tomorrow?" I ask him.

"Yep," he says. "Driver will be here at 7 am sharp."

All I do is smile at him.

"I'm doing good aren't I?" He asks.

"Very," I smile.

My phone begins to vibrate on the kitchen counter and I turn to pick it up.

"Jen," I smile.

"Katalina..."

"Oh no."

"Yes, look at the time," she instructs me.

I do so and curse myself mentally.

"No more football articles!" Jen yells through the phone before hanging up.

"Whats wrong?" Neymar asks as I rush to get my laptop.

"The first issue of the year," I mindlessly explain. "The deadline for my piece is in half an hour."

"Oh," was all Neymar could say.

"Go to bed," I tell him. "I'm gonna be up."

"O-okay," he speaks as he hesitates to go into my room.

As the computer starts up I turn to him and wish him a goodnight and good luck at his photo shoot tomorrow morning.

"Sweet dreams," he says.

"Sweet dreams," I get up to kiss him.

And I did. I gave him a peck- on the lips.

When I turn around to head back to the couch I stop in my tracks and bring my hand up to my lips.

"Oh my- I'm sorry, Ney," I turn back towards him. "I wasn't thinking."

He bites his lip and laughs at me.

"It's okay, Kat. Have fun," he smirks.