His eyes stayed on her.

"And I’m not ready for whatever this is supposed to become. Maybe I never will be."

Jane’s breathing shook slightly now.

"I spent my whole life believing my mother was dead," Lukas said quietly. "It’s difficult to suddenly change that and start seeing you as my mother."

Silence filled the room again.

Long.

Heavy.

Then finally Jane nodded weakly.

"I understand."

Her voice was barely above a whisper now.

"...I do."

She wiped lightly at one eye before continuing.

"I didn’t come here expecting everything to suddenly become normal. I just... I wanted to see how you were doing."

She let out a shaky breath.

"I think about you every day."

Lukas stayed silent.

"I dream about you almost every night," she admitted quietly. "Ever since I found out... ever since I saw you on television for the first time and realized..."

Her voice broke again.

"I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry."

She looked down at the table again.

"At that time, I genuinely thought I was doing the only responsible thing possible. I wasn’t capable of raising a child. I could barely raise myself back then, let alone another human being."

Her fingers tightened together harder.

"I know it doesn’t excuse anything. I know that. But I really am sorry for leaving you with your father."

But then—

CLICK*

The door swung open sharply as Javi stepped into the room.

Lukas immediately looked up in surprise. "Dad—"

He stopped midway through the word.

For the first time in a very long time, his father looked genuinely angry.

Not loud. Not explosive. Javi had never been that kind of person. The image Lukas had always known growing up was of a calm man. Patient. Quiet. Even during difficult periods of their lives, even when work exhausted him or money became tight, Javi rarely ever raised his voice.

But now there was tension in his face that Lukas had almost never seen before.

"What do you think?" Javi asked Jane, his voice controlled but hard. "Do you think I was ready for that responsibility either?"

Jane lowered her eyes immediately. "Michael—"

"You didn’t even tell me you were pregnant," Javi continued. "You didn’t tell me why you left. You just disappeared."

The room had gone completely silent.

"Then one day you appeared at my parents’ house, dropped off a baby, and left."

Jane’s fingers tightened together. "I’m sorry," she whispered. "I didn’t know what else to do. I was too young."

"I’m younger than you," Javi replied immediately.

That stopped her.

"You’re older than me," he continued, his voice quieter now but no less sharp. "So if you were too young to handle it, how capable do you think I was at the time?"

Jane couldn’t answer.

"The least you could have done was talk to me. When you found out you were pregnant, you should’ve talked to me. And when you realized you couldn’t handle it alone, you still should’ve talked to me."

Jane swallowed hard before speaking again. "I know."

Javi exhaled slowly through his nose, forcing himself to calm down before continuing.

"I’ll always be grateful to you for deciding to keep him

I know it must have been difficult for you to make that decision, but I really am thankful everyday that you didn’t decide to terminate the pregnancy," he said at last. "But that’s where my gratitude ends."

Jane looked up slightly.

"Because after keeping him, you still decided to give him away."

His eyes stayed fixed on her for another second before he finally looked toward Lukas.

"Do you have anything else you want to say to her?"

Lukas remained quiet for a while. He looked at Jane sitting across from him, at the redness in her eyes, at the guilt written all over her face. Then he slowly shook his head.

"I don’t know what else to say right now," he admitted quietly. "I really don’t."

Javi nodded once and stepped back toward the door. "You heard the kid. We’re leaving."

Roger stood immediately as Lukas rose from his chair. Before Lukas could walk out, Roger stepped toward him.

"Thank you for this," Roger said sincerely. "I really am grateful."

Lukas gave a small nod. "It’s nothing."

He started toward the door, but before leaving, he stopped and turned back one last time.

Jane looked up at him immediately.

"I’ll let you know next time I’m ready to talk," Lukas said quietly. Then after a brief pause, he added, "If I’m ever ready to talk."

Jane nodded quickly, tears finally beginning to gather properly in her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Then again.

"Thank you."

Lukas turned away before she could say anything else. As the door closed behind him, he could still hear her repeating it over and over, her voice beginning to crack apart as she finally broke down crying inside the room.

Outside, Lukas walked through the restaurant hallway beside Javi without saying a word. His face remained completely expressionless as they made their way toward the parking lot and entered the car.

Lukas slid into the back seat first. Javi entered beside him while the driver started the engine quietly.

For a while, nobody spoke.

Then Javi finally let out a long breath and rubbed a hand over his face. "What else did she say?" he asked softly. "I only heard the last part."

He turned toward his son.

"What did she tell you?"

And then he froze slightly.

Lukas was hunched forward now, one hand covering his face completely. His shoulders trembled faintly as tears streamed silently through the gaps between his fingers. He was trying to stop himself from crying, trying to hold everything in the way he had throughout the entire conversation, but now that it was over, the emotions were spilling out all at once.

Javi’s expression softened instantly.

His heart broke at the sight.

Because Lukas had stayed composed through everything. Through the questions, the apologies, the hurt. And only now, when nobody else could see him anymore, was he finally falling apart.

Immediately, Javi moved closer and placed a hand gently over his son’s hair.

"It’s okay," he whispered. "It’s gonna be okay."

That was enough to completely break whatever restraint Lukas still had left. The sounds he had been trying to suppress finally escaped him as he bent further forward into his palm. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Emotions kept bottled deep down over lifetimes flowed out more strongly that it had ever did.

Javi didn’t say anything else after that.

He simply sat there beside him in silence, slowly stroking his hair while his son cried.

The world might know a highly talented upcoming great of the beautiful game, but to Javi, he was still his little kid he had to protect and look after.

The car remained parked there for what felt like forever.

Eventually, the sound from his crying faded away. Javi glanced down again and realized Lukas had fallen asleep from exhaustion, still slightly hunched from where he had been sitting.

Carefully, Javi adjusted him properly against the seat, pulled the seatbelt across him, and fastened it gently.

Then he leaned back quietly and nodded toward the driver.

The car finally pulled away.