[ einundzwanzig ]

Thomas left for practice with his club, Bayern Munich around noon, leaving Lolita in the ranch by herself for a few hours until his return. She was only seventeen and didn't need much supervision, but she had the house cook Gretta and her grand daughter Elsa to keep her company. She assisted them in getting some of the house chores done, and then convinced Gretta to allow Elsa to go horseback riding with her. Since she was on vacation in Germany, she did not need to have equestrian training. But now, ever since she had started seeing Erik, she was thinking of going back to equestrian training in Germany.

The girls spent about three hours horseback riding and going down to the lake since it was a warm day. When they returned, Thomas was already back from his daily training at the club, and he smiled wide when he saw Lolita. She was sitting on the living room couch, having a conversation with Elsa when Thomas entered the house. Elsa quickly got up and returned to her work in the kitchen after excusing herself in front of her boss. 

"How was your horseback ride?" He asked her with a tired smile. Sometimes training sessions weren't so bad at the club. But with everything including taking care of ranch business all on his own since Gabriella was still in the hospital, he found himself a little more tired with each passing day. 

Lolita smiled and lightly gave a shrug of her shoulders. "We kinda just went to the lake because I didn't want to get us lost."

With a sheepish smile and scratching the back of his head, he made her an offer that he hoped she wouldn't refuse. "Maybe after my game this weekend we can go horseback riding together around the ranch. I could show you around. I do a general wellness check every morning with your mother and every afternoon by myself. It would be nice if you came along." As the words left his lips, he couldn't help but hear the eagerness in his own voice. He wanted her to accompany him. 

She crinkled up her nose at his words and he felt a prick in his chest at the thought of being rejected. "Wouldn't you be really tired after your game? I don't want to slow you down." Now that they got along, Lolita had to admit she had a lot of love for Thomas. He had been her first real friend in Germany when they moved. He was like an older brother who bought her presents and always concerned himself with her well being. After realizing that the love he had for her mother was real, she found herself trusting him again. The last thing she wanted was to be a burden to him, after playing a full on football match in the city, he probably wanted to come back and relax at home, not concern himself with a little girl like her. 

What she didn't realize was that Thomas wanted nothing more than to spend time with her.

Which was why he was adamant, and he insisted. "Its really no trouble at all." He told her. "Like I said, the company would be nice. Your mother doesn't accompany me in the afternoons because she likes helping Gretta in the kitchen. Sometimes I go with one of the employees. But its not the same. Plus, you could learn about the land that will be yours to take care of some day."

At that, Lolita seemed to feel bad for declining. She had reasons for declining. But after hearing his reasons for wanting her to go, she was convinced. A smile forming on her lips, she finally said with a nod of her head. "Yeah, I guess I could go with you."

"Great." He grinned at her, happier than he should have been.

-

Thomas rested for a bit over an hour in his bedroom before changing into something comfortable and emerging from his room. Lolita was usually either in her bedroom with Gena, in the living room watching television, or in the kitchen passing time with Elsa and her grandmother. As he emerged from the room, he went to the living room first in search of his step daughter. It was empty. He passed by her bedroom next to see if he could catch the sound of two girls talking. They were close in age--Lolita on her way to turning eighteen and Gena was around twenty years old. But they got along really well.

When he heard no animated chatter from her bedroom, he decided to check the kitchen last. And there she was, leaning with her elbows on the kitchen table, having an animated conversation with Elsa and Gena while Gretta did some cleaning. Elsa straightened up nervously, her smile fading from her face and she grabbed a rag to start helping her grandmother clean. It wasn't that she had ever gotten a scolding from Thomas. He was very understanding that Elsa was only seventeen and sometimes she just wanted to do girl stuff. Still, as her grandmother's employer, and hers too, she didn't want him to see her slacking off. Gena offered Thomas a warm smile.

She couldn't understand before why Lolita hated him so much. He was a great guy, a good husband, and a kind boss. He treated all of his employees with respect and he seemed to be crazy in love with Gabriella. Now him and Lolita were inseparable too. Lolita had come to realize all the great qualities Thomas had and she didn't see before because of her hatred towards him.

"Ready to go pick up your mother?" He asked Lolita with excitement. It had been days since Gabriella had been horseback riding with him in the mornings, and days since they had shared a bed together. He missed his wife, and he wanted to have her home more than ever. Having her around made him forget about Lolita and his obsession with having her approval. Looking towards Gena, he added with a smile. "You should come too. I know Gaby will love to see the both of you there. You've become like another daughter to us."

Gena nodded, perking up at the idea. "Yeah I'd love to!"

Bringing her hands together with excitement, Gretta gushed happily. "I'm so happy Miss Gaby is coming back already. We missed her so much! I'm going to prepare her a special dinner so that we can celebrate."

"That won't be necessary." Thomas shook his head. His words made the smile drop from Gretta's face, but he continued. "Lolita and I were thinking of taking her to this really nice restaurant we saw the other day. We're going to spoil her. And I was thinking it would be a great idea if we all went--Lolita, Gena, you, Elsa, and me." Looking towards Lolita for her approval, he asked. "What do you think?"

Lolita beamed with happiness. She no longer became bothered whenever Thomas made decisions around the house. Now she supported most of his decisions. "I think that's a great idea. I'm going to call Erik so he can meet us there."

Thomas heaved a sigh of frustration at that, clearly upset. But he said nothing. He didn't want her to resent him again when things were going so well. But he also didn't want to see Erik there, holding Lolita. He felt like his team mate didn't deserve her. No one did. But now that she was maturing and becoming a beautiful woman, he knew he would have to deal with all kinds of men buzzing around her. He would just need to find a way to make her understand that she didn't need anyone else. All she needed was her mother, and him, and she could be happy. 

Lolita grabbed her phone out of her pocket and started calling Erik. As he answered the phone, she greeted him with excitement and skipped out of the room like a teenager. That was exactly what she was. Gena excused herself shyly to go get ready and left the kitchen to return to her room. Now it was only Thomas, Gretta, and Elsa. The older of the two employees tried to decline at first, telling her boss that it was not her place to sit at the table with her employers. But Thomas insisted that he wanted them to accompany the family. The two soon relented and left the kitchen as well to go get dressed into something other than their work clothes. 

-

The five of them were on their way out of the house and into one of the cars. As they were about to leave, Erik pulled up in the rental he had gotten at the airport. Along with him was his team mate Mats Hummels. The two Borussia footballers emerged from the car to greet the two girls. Genavee shyly walked up to Mats, greeting him with a light hug and a kiss on the cheek. Lolita's reaction was entirely opposite. 

She pulled away from Elsa's side and ran into Erik's waiting arms, jumping into him. She had taken him by surprise and knocked him onto the ground even, placing soft kisses on his face. Erik groaned and winced at the gravel floor beneath him. He would need to probably go inside her house and clean himself off for a minute before leaving. He didn't want to be seen with his clothes all gravelly and dusty from having been knocked to the ground by his girlfriend. 

Thomas stood by with Elsa and Gretta, sulking. Mats waved a friendly wave towards his team mate from the national team, but Thomas didn't seem to notice. 

After their moment was over, Erik excused himself for a few minutes and Lolita went in to help him as well. It was then decided that Lolita and Gena would be going in the same car with Mats and Erik. While Elsa and Gretta would be going with Thomas. Thomas tried to protest the idea, but was out numbered. They needed a second car anyway, since they were going to pick up Gabriella, so it ended up working out for everyone. 

But Thomas couldn't bear the thought of Lolita and Erik being together.

-

i have not updated this in like FIVE years. that's hella crazy. but i remember i really used to like writing this story. i think it was my favorite footballer story to write. so i went back and re read all my chapters, and the notes for this story in my notebook. so i think i remember what i wanted to go down in this story.

so im going to try to continue this. sorry if the chapter is a little confusing. i dont remember a lot of what i intended to write before. 

and sorry to those of you who used to read this. yall are probably gone and dont care about this book anymore. but i guess i will finish it for myself. i had a lot of fun and a lot of ideas. so hopefully i can finish it this time around.

happy holidays everyone !

-clary