Chapter Twenty-One: Merry Christmas

                                    

                                          
Lionel grinned opening his eyes and staring at the bedside clock, it was Christmas morning and he was excited; he had been so nervous and he wasn’t going to let anything ruin the day. 
                          
Lionel lay back in bed for a moment, he felt a little sad about the fact that Sergio and Martha wouldn’t get to spend the day with Sophie but he was going to make today special. 
                          
After the bump to his head, Lionel had embraced things better now that he felt that he wasn’t replacing Sergio in Sophie’s life; he was happy and he was going to make Sophie happy. 
                          
Hearing movement in the kitchen, Lionel sat up and smiled knowing that it would be Katania; there was quite a bit of cooking to be done and he was determined to help out. 
                          
Lionel climbed out of bed and slowly set about getting ready for Christmas, he changed out of his pyjamas and pulled on his Christmas jumper and his jeans; he didn’t care what people thought of his dress sense it had gotten better in the past couple of years. 
                          
Lionel ran a hand through his hair and stared at himself in his bedroom mirror, he was going to make things good for Sophie and he was going to make himself happy; that was what was important to him right now. 
                          
Walking out of the bedroom, Lionel padded towards the kitchen and grinned at the sight of Katania putting the turkey into the oven. 
                          
“Feliz Navidad,” Lionel greeted with a smile, he watched as Katania jumped in surprise since she hadn’t heard him coming; he chuckled when she turned to glare at him before she continued on with what she had been doing. 
                          
Lionel moved to put the kettle on, he smiled to himself not able to stop himself checking Katania out; she was a beautiful woman and he had been noticing a lot more recently.
                          
***
                          
Katania raised an eyebrow as she watched Lionel with Sophie, she didn’t know what had happened when he had been unconscious but he was different now; she just wasn’t sure what to make of this change. 
                          
“Are you sure that you’re okay?” Katania asked concerned, she had never seen Lionel so relaxed with Sophie and she wondered what had changed; he had been so tense after Sophie had called him papa and now nothing seemed to faze him. 
                          
“Of course,” Lionel replied with a smile, he looked at Katania knowing that this Christmas was going to be a good one; everything was ready and he was excited about it. 
                          
Lionel hadn’t told anyone about what he had seen when he had been unconscious, he doubted that anyone would believe him if he told them that he had spoken with Sergio; it was his own private blessing and no one would tell him otherwise. 
                          
Katania just nodded her head, she moved to sit down on the couch as she watched Lionel with Sophie; the two were playing on the living room floor with Sophie’s new toys and seemed quite happy with what they were doing.
                          
 “I think she liked everything that she got,” Lionel mused setting Sophie down on his lap, he grinned as she squealed happily; he couldn’t believe how cute she was and he was glad that he had managed to keep her away from Allison. 
                          
Katania nodded with a smile, they had decided to keep this Christmas simple since it was the first after what had happened; but Sophie had enjoyed herself and that was what mattered. 
                          
“Papa,” Sophie whined making Lionel look down at her, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and cuddled her sure that things were going to be okay now that he felt more relaxed.
                          
Katania smiled watching Lionel with Sophie, he was so cute with her and he looked happier than he had done in months when he was with the infant; he was finally getting over what had happened with Antonella. 
                          
Katania swallowed feeling a warm feeling filling her, she looked away knowing that it wouldn’t be right for her to start falling for Lionel; she had grown attached to the footballer and it wasn’t a good thing. 
                          
“I’m going to make a drink,” Katania said getting to her feet, she walked out of the living room and headed for the kitchen; she wanted to clear her mind before she did something stupid and drove Lionel away. 
                          
Katania turned on the kettle and took a deep breath, she had slowly gotten used to having Lionel around her all the time; she had even noticed how much like a couple they acted now that Lionel was single. 
                          
“Get it together Kat,” Katania whispered to herself, she felt bad that she was thinking of Lionel as more than a friend; they were co-parenting Sophie together and she knew it was natural for her to grow attached to the man that she was sharing all of this with. 
                          
Katania closed her brown eyes, she doubted that Lionel would ever see her as more than a friend and she needed to get over the feelings that had she had started to develop. 
                          
Lionel was off limits and Katania didn’t want to mess things up between them, she had to bury her feelings for Sophie’s sake since the little girl mattered more than anything else. 
                          
***
                          

                          
“Today was nice,” Lionel mused after putting Sophie down to bed, it was getting late and the little girl was exhausted after the day that she’d had; it had been a good Christmas and that was what mattered. 
                          
Katania nodded her head, she was curled up on the couch flicking through a book that she had gotten as a present; she was going to keep her promise from earlier not to react to her developing feelings for Lionel. 
                          
“It was,” Katania agreed peeking at Lionel, she felt a little nervous about being alone with him and she doubted that it would do any good for her feelings. 
                          
Lionel sat down next to Katania, he enjoyed spending his evenings with her and they had taken to spending the evenings after Sophie had gone to bed watching films and such together. 
                          
“What shall we watch tonight?” Lionel asked smiling at Katania, the last few days had been amazing since he had been knocked unconscious and he was still pleased that she had been so worried about him when it had happened. 
                          
Lionel hadn’t forgotten about his little slip up, he had kissed her knee and he knew that it had been the beginning of something between them; he had feelings for Katania and wasn’t sure what to do next. 
                          
“I’m good with anything,” Katania replied simply, she returned to her book making Lionel stare at her and nod his head; he could tell something was bothering her and he wished that she would tell him what was on her mind. 
                          
Lionel got to his feet and walked over to the stack of DVDs that he had gotten for Christmas, he was sure that one of them would be perfect for a Christmas evening.
                          
 “What about Captain America 2?” Lionel asked having never seen the film, he had barely got a chance with his busy schedule and all that had happened in the past five months. 
                          
Katania looked up from her book and nodded her head, she loved the film and was sure that it was something that Lionel would enjoy; she watched Lionel pop the movie into the DVD player before she took a deep breath, it was going to be hard to ignore the feelings that she felt. 
                          
Lionel moved to sit down again, he knew that he was going to have to move on and his friends all kept telling him that Katania would be the best choice; he just wasn’t sure if she felt that way.