"New House, Old Rules" Part 1
Title: "New House, Old Rules" Part 1
Characters: Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, everyone else Schleck
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Unreal, untrue, all made up.
Warnings:none
Summary: Andy and Alberto have bought the house they mean to start their married life into and they're showing it to Andy's family. This is happening sometime during the last week of September, in Luxembourg.
Previous parts of the renewed Andy/Alberto saga are:
Words Don't Bridge the Gap
What's Really Important
Andy Baby
The Proposal
Me, Myself and I
Eavesdropping Will Get You Nowhere
I'm sorry
Plus these fics, from the Main Verse that started last year: Turn of the Tide 1 and Turn of the Tide2 are worth having another look at.
“Alberto!” Andy called out for his lover, but the big, empty house sent back nothing except an echo of his own voice. “Hm, maybe he stepped out in the back yard. Come on, let me show you around,” Andy motioned his brothers and his parents to follow him inside.
He'd signed all the papers, together with Alberto, and then they'd gone to the bank to take care of the payment for their new house. Their house that they'd chosen together and where they were going to live as a married couple! The mere thought of it made Andy all giddy and barely able to refrain from jumping up and down. He rushed his family from one room to the other, filling all the empty spaces in each room with things they were going to buy and what would go where. Except for the kitchen, there was nothing in the way of furniture anywhere in the house, but Andy didn't mind. He looked forward to making the house his and Alberto's home, although realistically speaking, they were so not getting away with decorating the house on their own. Not if Andy's mum and Martine had any say in it.
The house was about 45 minutes away from Mondorf-les-Bains, far enough from Andy's family to prevent them form hovering nearby all the time (as per Alberto's request) and in an area full of trees, grass, peace and quiet (also per Alberto's request). But where was Alberto? Andy had let him explore the house and gone ahead of his family to show them the way. Without a car, Alberto can't have gone too far. He was probably outside, investigating the back yard that stretched all the way to a little creek.
I was a wonderful property, ridiculously expensive but worth every cent. Alberto had fallen in love with it on the spot and he didn't have to say anything, Andy had seen it in his eyes. So they'd told the agent to draw up all the papers and in less than a week, they were the proud owners of their first home.
“I don't know if there's any fishing to be done in that creek, but if there is...,” Andy was telling his father. He stopped in mid-sentence when he entered the living room and saw Alberto sitting on the window-sill. He was looking outside through one of the three enormous windows that made the room appear even more spacious than it was, arms folded on his knees and head resting on them.
A pang of... Andy had no name for it, but something seized his heart when he saw Alberto there, framed by the window, so small and lonely and lost in thought. He fell quiet and Steve fell quiet and even his mum stopped talking when they walked inside the room and Alberto seemed none the wiser. Before it occurred to him that something might be wrong, Andy fished his phone out of his pocket and took a quick picture of Alberto, because it was a meaningful view and Andy looked forward to telling Alberto how the house didn't need anything else as long as he was in it.
“Alberto?” Gaby Schleck pushed past her photographer son. “Are you alright?”
Finally, Alberto stirred and sat up, turning around and giving the Schlecks a wide-eyed, vacant stare. He seemed miles and worlds away, struggling to come back to himself and the effort was obvious. But the Spaniard managed a small smile, hopping off the window-sill and stretching his limbs.
“Hi. Uh... sorry. I didn't hear you,” he said to no-one in particular.
“I thought you were asleep,” Andy gave him a warm smile, immediately followed by an even warmer hug. He chuckled when Alberto rubbed his cheek against his and wanted a kiss, but then remembered that Andy's parents were in there and jumped back.
“So… what do you think about the house?” the Spaniard asked. His eyes skipped Frank’s hostile look and stopped on Johnny Schleck’s much friendlier face.
“It’s nice… from what I’ve seen so far,” Andy’s father replied. “But isn’t it a bit too big for just two guys? I mean, Andy said you’ve got four bedrooms upstairs.”
“We do, but we’ve talked about turning the biggest one into our training room,” Andy explained. “Oh, just wait until you see what they’ve done with the attic,” he smiled secretively, remembering the bar and the snooker table that he hadn’t breathed a word about.
“Attic?” Steve’s eyebrows rose.
“We’ve got something like a lounge up there. You’ll see. OK, you’re right, the house is big, but we both like it a lot and hey, it’s good to have people over. It’s going to fill up so fast when you’re all visiting.”
Something in Alberto’s head screamed RUN, and it wasn’t the first time that voice had made itself heard. But he ignored it again and held onto Andy instead. His lover interpreted it as excitement and pressed a quick kiss on Alberto’s forehead.
“You’ve got an amazing kitchen, too,” Andy’s mother observed. “I hope that at least one of you can make good use of it,” she smiled at Alberto, obviously meaning him, because Andy and cooking did not go well in the same sentence.
“I’ll try,” the Spaniard nodded. “Maybe you can help me sometime,” he suggested, making Gaby’s smile grow and sensing Andy all happy about it.
“I’d love to help you boys, you’re going to need it.”
“Thank you,” Alberto replied politely, making Frank groan and roll his eyes behind his mother’s back.
“I’m going to eat his food when I have a death wish,” Frank muttered to his older brother, in their native tongue.
“Oh, shut up, Alberto is not a bad cook. Remember when he…”
“No, and I don’t want to remember. When I come here, I think I’m just going to play football in this room,” Frank looked around himself and appeared quite serious about the idea.
“Guys! Speak English!” Andy threw them both an admonishing look.
“It’s alright,” Alberto told him. He had a pretty good idea that Frank wasn’t sharing niceties with his brother, but he wasn’t going to let that get to him. “I don’t mind. Besides, I should start learning your language, since I’m going to live here and everything. Will you teach me?” Alberto smiled hopefully, making Andy hold him tighter and literally beam.
“Of course I’ll teach you. Anytime you want.”
Frank rolled his eyes and towed Steve out of the room, in spite of Steve’s interest in the fireplace.
“Andy, where can I find a bathroom?” Gaby asked her son.
“Next door to your… um, left. I think. I’m not sure,” Andy cocked his head and closed one eye, trying to remember.
“”I’ll find it,” his mum nodded. She took her husband’s hand and motioned him to follow her, eying him meaningfully. It looked like Andy and Alberto needed a moment to themselves.
“We’re going upstairs after that… huh? Where did they go?” Andy looked around and saw none of his family members anywhere.
“I think they left to give us a little bit of space.”
“For what?”
“For this,” Alberto put his arms around Andy’s neck and kissed him soundly.
“Oh. I have a clever family,” Andy grinned happily.
“You do.”
“Mmm... But, Alberto? Are you OK?” Andy remembered how they’d found Alberto so completely lost in thought.
“Yeah, why?” the Spaniard let his hands slide down Andy’s sides and then he wrapped his arms around Andy’s waist. He moved closer and put his head on Andy’s shoulder in a gesture that gave him comfort and made Andy very protective. “I’m just a bit…”
“Overwhelmed?”
“A little. Aren’t you?”
“I think I’m more crazy happy than overwhelmed. But I haven’t stopped to think about all this too much.”
“I have.”
“Is that why you were sitting there, so lost in thought that you didn’t hear us coming?”
“Yeah… But to be honest, I was thinking about which of my things to pack and move from Spain and how much work it’s going to be… furnishing this huge house. Not to mention that I’d like to have it done before we get married. See… when we come back from our honey-moon, it would be nice if we could continue it in our house.”
Andy made a happy sound and hugged Alberto tight. Obviously, the idea pleased him.
“We’re going to need a lot of help,” Alberto smiled at Andy’s excitement. “You think your mum would mind if we asked her…?”
“Are you kidding? She’d love it. You know what? Ask her. Today. Right now. She is going to love you forever and ever.”
“Are you going to love me forever and ever too?” Alberto moved back a bit and smiled expectantly.
“I already do. But yes, I am going to love you forever and ever and in extremely dirty ways if you let mum in on this and manage to not go crazy when she tries to decorate our house the ways she likes it.”
“Extremely dirty ways?” Alberto’s smile turned suggestive.
“Oh, I should have known you’d fall for that. You’re so easy,” Andy shook his head, but he kissed Alberto and pawed him a bit, to underline his promise.
“Easy… hahaha. We should go and find your people before things get hard,” Alberto disentangled himself from Andy’s hold and motioned a laughing Andy to follow him out of the room.
Characters: Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, everyone else Schleck
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Unreal, untrue, all made up.
Warnings:none
Summary: Andy and Alberto have bought the house they mean to start their married life into and they're showing it to Andy's family. This is happening sometime during the last week of September, in Luxembourg.
Previous parts of the renewed Andy/Alberto saga are:
Words Don't Bridge the Gap
What's Really Important
Andy Baby
The Proposal
Me, Myself and I
Eavesdropping Will Get You Nowhere
I'm sorry
Plus these fics, from the Main Verse that started last year: Turn of the Tide 1 and Turn of the Tide2 are worth having another look at.
“Alberto!” Andy called out for his lover, but the big, empty house sent back nothing except an echo of his own voice. “Hm, maybe he stepped out in the back yard. Come on, let me show you around,” Andy motioned his brothers and his parents to follow him inside.
He'd signed all the papers, together with Alberto, and then they'd gone to the bank to take care of the payment for their new house. Their house that they'd chosen together and where they were going to live as a married couple! The mere thought of it made Andy all giddy and barely able to refrain from jumping up and down. He rushed his family from one room to the other, filling all the empty spaces in each room with things they were going to buy and what would go where. Except for the kitchen, there was nothing in the way of furniture anywhere in the house, but Andy didn't mind. He looked forward to making the house his and Alberto's home, although realistically speaking, they were so not getting away with decorating the house on their own. Not if Andy's mum and Martine had any say in it.
The house was about 45 minutes away from Mondorf-les-Bains, far enough from Andy's family to prevent them form hovering nearby all the time (as per Alberto's request) and in an area full of trees, grass, peace and quiet (also per Alberto's request). But where was Alberto? Andy had let him explore the house and gone ahead of his family to show them the way. Without a car, Alberto can't have gone too far. He was probably outside, investigating the back yard that stretched all the way to a little creek.
I was a wonderful property, ridiculously expensive but worth every cent. Alberto had fallen in love with it on the spot and he didn't have to say anything, Andy had seen it in his eyes. So they'd told the agent to draw up all the papers and in less than a week, they were the proud owners of their first home.
“I don't know if there's any fishing to be done in that creek, but if there is...,” Andy was telling his father. He stopped in mid-sentence when he entered the living room and saw Alberto sitting on the window-sill. He was looking outside through one of the three enormous windows that made the room appear even more spacious than it was, arms folded on his knees and head resting on them.
A pang of... Andy had no name for it, but something seized his heart when he saw Alberto there, framed by the window, so small and lonely and lost in thought. He fell quiet and Steve fell quiet and even his mum stopped talking when they walked inside the room and Alberto seemed none the wiser. Before it occurred to him that something might be wrong, Andy fished his phone out of his pocket and took a quick picture of Alberto, because it was a meaningful view and Andy looked forward to telling Alberto how the house didn't need anything else as long as he was in it.
“Alberto?” Gaby Schleck pushed past her photographer son. “Are you alright?”
Finally, Alberto stirred and sat up, turning around and giving the Schlecks a wide-eyed, vacant stare. He seemed miles and worlds away, struggling to come back to himself and the effort was obvious. But the Spaniard managed a small smile, hopping off the window-sill and stretching his limbs.
“Hi. Uh... sorry. I didn't hear you,” he said to no-one in particular.
“I thought you were asleep,” Andy gave him a warm smile, immediately followed by an even warmer hug. He chuckled when Alberto rubbed his cheek against his and wanted a kiss, but then remembered that Andy's parents were in there and jumped back.
“So… what do you think about the house?” the Spaniard asked. His eyes skipped Frank’s hostile look and stopped on Johnny Schleck’s much friendlier face.
“It’s nice… from what I’ve seen so far,” Andy’s father replied. “But isn’t it a bit too big for just two guys? I mean, Andy said you’ve got four bedrooms upstairs.”
“We do, but we’ve talked about turning the biggest one into our training room,” Andy explained. “Oh, just wait until you see what they’ve done with the attic,” he smiled secretively, remembering the bar and the snooker table that he hadn’t breathed a word about.
“Attic?” Steve’s eyebrows rose.
“We’ve got something like a lounge up there. You’ll see. OK, you’re right, the house is big, but we both like it a lot and hey, it’s good to have people over. It’s going to fill up so fast when you’re all visiting.”
Something in Alberto’s head screamed RUN, and it wasn’t the first time that voice had made itself heard. But he ignored it again and held onto Andy instead. His lover interpreted it as excitement and pressed a quick kiss on Alberto’s forehead.
“You’ve got an amazing kitchen, too,” Andy’s mother observed. “I hope that at least one of you can make good use of it,” she smiled at Alberto, obviously meaning him, because Andy and cooking did not go well in the same sentence.
“I’ll try,” the Spaniard nodded. “Maybe you can help me sometime,” he suggested, making Gaby’s smile grow and sensing Andy all happy about it.
“I’d love to help you boys, you’re going to need it.”
“Thank you,” Alberto replied politely, making Frank groan and roll his eyes behind his mother’s back.
“I’m going to eat his food when I have a death wish,” Frank muttered to his older brother, in their native tongue.
“Oh, shut up, Alberto is not a bad cook. Remember when he…”
“No, and I don’t want to remember. When I come here, I think I’m just going to play football in this room,” Frank looked around himself and appeared quite serious about the idea.
“Guys! Speak English!” Andy threw them both an admonishing look.
“It’s alright,” Alberto told him. He had a pretty good idea that Frank wasn’t sharing niceties with his brother, but he wasn’t going to let that get to him. “I don’t mind. Besides, I should start learning your language, since I’m going to live here and everything. Will you teach me?” Alberto smiled hopefully, making Andy hold him tighter and literally beam.
“Of course I’ll teach you. Anytime you want.”
Frank rolled his eyes and towed Steve out of the room, in spite of Steve’s interest in the fireplace.
“Andy, where can I find a bathroom?” Gaby asked her son.
“Next door to your… um, left. I think. I’m not sure,” Andy cocked his head and closed one eye, trying to remember.
“”I’ll find it,” his mum nodded. She took her husband’s hand and motioned him to follow her, eying him meaningfully. It looked like Andy and Alberto needed a moment to themselves.
“We’re going upstairs after that… huh? Where did they go?” Andy looked around and saw none of his family members anywhere.
“I think they left to give us a little bit of space.”
“For what?”
“For this,” Alberto put his arms around Andy’s neck and kissed him soundly.
“Oh. I have a clever family,” Andy grinned happily.
“You do.”
“Mmm... But, Alberto? Are you OK?” Andy remembered how they’d found Alberto so completely lost in thought.
“Yeah, why?” the Spaniard let his hands slide down Andy’s sides and then he wrapped his arms around Andy’s waist. He moved closer and put his head on Andy’s shoulder in a gesture that gave him comfort and made Andy very protective. “I’m just a bit…”
“Overwhelmed?”
“A little. Aren’t you?”
“I think I’m more crazy happy than overwhelmed. But I haven’t stopped to think about all this too much.”
“I have.”
“Is that why you were sitting there, so lost in thought that you didn’t hear us coming?”
“Yeah… But to be honest, I was thinking about which of my things to pack and move from Spain and how much work it’s going to be… furnishing this huge house. Not to mention that I’d like to have it done before we get married. See… when we come back from our honey-moon, it would be nice if we could continue it in our house.”
Andy made a happy sound and hugged Alberto tight. Obviously, the idea pleased him.
“We’re going to need a lot of help,” Alberto smiled at Andy’s excitement. “You think your mum would mind if we asked her…?”
“Are you kidding? She’d love it. You know what? Ask her. Today. Right now. She is going to love you forever and ever.”
“Are you going to love me forever and ever too?” Alberto moved back a bit and smiled expectantly.
“I already do. But yes, I am going to love you forever and ever and in extremely dirty ways if you let mum in on this and manage to not go crazy when she tries to decorate our house the ways she likes it.”
“Extremely dirty ways?” Alberto’s smile turned suggestive.
“Oh, I should have known you’d fall for that. You’re so easy,” Andy shook his head, but he kissed Alberto and pawed him a bit, to underline his promise.
“Easy… hahaha. We should go and find your people before things get hard,” Alberto disentangled himself from Andy’s hold and motioned a laughing Andy to follow him out of the room.