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This had to be more rewarding than playing a match of his own, but Jannik would be lying if he said it wasn’t a little stressful. Jannik and Carlos both loved that Luna was just as obsessed with tennis as they were, and they loved watching her practice but when she had woken up that morning, she had turned to Jannik over breakfast and said “I want to train with you today, papa!” Jannik had felt his heart ache. He still remembered the day they had brought her home from the hospital and she had wrapped her tiny fingers around Jannik’s pinky. That was who he thought of whenever he looked at this growing girl. She was already four. Carlos couldn’t train her right now because he was six months pregnant with their second daughter.
“Okay, baby. We’ll head over to the courts after breakfast.” Jannik smiled. Carlos couldn’t help but wipe a tear. His hormones were all over the place and he was crying at everything these days.
“I’ll stay here and catch up on some sleep if you’re going to keep Luna busy for the day.” Carlos said. He really wanted to go and watch, there was nothing he loved more than watching Jannik with their daughter. He was such a good papa. He loved being a papa and Luna adored him, too. Yes, tennis was his career but nothing, not even tennis came before Luna. She was their everything and they knew that baby sister would be, too.
Ever since Luna had started walking, she’d often be found with a tennis racquet in her hands. Even before then. It was funny, the first time she had got her hands on one of Carlos’s. He was getting back in shape to return to the tour, having had to take longer than he had hoped to return after her birth. Luna was crawling by this point and had gone straight over to his tennis bag, sat down, pulled one out of the bag and started to play with it. Carlos had practically melted at the cuteness of baby Luna, with her bright red curls, clutching a tennis racquet that was the same size as her. He’d quickly snapped a few photos and sent them to Jannik as well as posting them on his instagram. Everyone knew that this girl was going to be a force to be reckoned with by the time she joined the WTA tour. As she had grown, all Luna wanted to do was be on a tennis court. Jannik and Carlos were only too happy to share their love of the sport that had brought them together with their daughter.
After breakfast, Luna headed upstairs to get changed, with some help from Carlos. She had lots of tennis dresses. Luna’s favourite colour was blue and she loved to match the dress she was wearing to whatever Jannik or Carlos were wearing when she went to support them in the box. Today though, Jannik was wearing a green shirt at breakfast, already in his kit to go and meet Simone, so that was the dress that she put on. She wanted to match with her papa. Jannik hadn’t cleared it with his coach to bring Luna along to this morning’s session but Jannik knew that Simone wouldn’t mind. His coach loved Luna almost as much as Jannik and Carlos did. Everyone had such a soft spot for her, they were all wrapped around her little finger and Jannik knew he and Carlos would be in trouble as soon as Luna joined forces with her baby sister.
Carlos attempted to calm her unruly curls and put them in a bobble to keep them out of her face, it was a bit futile but the effort was there. Luna grabbed her tennis bag before heading back downstairs to join her papa. Jannik couldn’t help the blinding smile on his face when he looked at his mini me. “I need a picture of this, matching kits with our baby.” Carlos said, pulling his phone out. Luna took her bag off so Jannik could pick her up for the photo. Now that she was four, she often insisted that she was too big to be picked up, no matter how many times Jannik and Carlos told her she would always be their little baby.
“I’m not a baby, I’m a big girl.” Luna stated.
“You are, but you’ll always be our baby.” Jannik reminded her, pressing a kiss to her curls before putting her down. Jannik helped Luna put her tennis bag back on before grabbing his own. He pressed a chaste kiss to Carlos’s lips before taking Luna’s hand and heading out of the door.
As their house wasn’t too far from the club where they trained, they walked. Jannik was soaking in all of the moments that he could with Luna. Firstly while she still allowed him to and secondly, because everything was going to change when baby sister was born. Luna understood that the baby was going to need more attention than her. She was a big girl and she wanted to help papa and papi look after the baby. Simone’s eyes lit up when Luna walked through the door with Jannik. “You didn’t tell me we had a special guest today!” Simone exclaimed. Luna let go of her papa’s hand to run over to Uncle Simo. He quickly scooped her into his arms and lifted her off the ground.
“Thought I’d surprise you.” Jannik smiled.
“It’s the best surprise.” Simone agreed, placing Luna back on the floor. “No Carlos today?”
“He’s catching up on some sleep since I’m keeping big sister occupied.” Jannik explained. It wasn’t uncommon for Carlos to join them even though he couldn’t play right now.
“Who’s ready for a warm up?” Simone asked.
Once Jannik and Luna were both warmed up, Simone took up the spot on the opposite side of the net and Jannik stayed with Luna. Jannik was probably going to enjoy this training session the most. Getting to spend uninterrupted time with his daughter was priceless. Nothing would ever beat quality time with his daughter. Simone was offering instructions from where he was standing, Jannik was repeating them to Luna and she was hitting the ball exactly where Simone had told her too. Luna did work with a coach of her own, although with her only being four, it was more of a part time thing for now. As she got older, if she still wanted to play tennis then they would find someone to do it full time. Even though it helped you to start young when becoming a professional athlete, they still wanted Luna to be a child for as long as possible. Free from the constant pressure. They would still nurture her natural skill. “Papa! Look how good I got!” Luna shouted, hitting forehands with frightening accuracy for someone her age.
“Maybe I should be getting tips from you.” Jannik smiled.
“I bet her first serve is better than yours.” Simone joked.
“That’s not difficult.” Jannik laughed. Jannik and Simone took turns giving Luna instructions, Simone had a lot more patience than Jannik did, having to put up with Jannik himself that a mini version of him was no trouble.
“She takes instruction better than you, too.” Simone chuckled.
They took a short break for a breath and a drink before heading back onto the court. By now, Luna had attracted quite a crowd. She usually did, wherever they went the other players wanted to see her, give her hugs and high fives. “You didn’t say you were bringing Luna today.” Daniil smiled, making his way over to their court.
“I didn’t know until she asked to come while we were having breakfast.” Jannik replied, watching her run drills with Simone.
“She’s improved so much since the last time I saw her.” Daniil commented.
“She’s going to be better than me and Carlos by the time she starts playing professionally, that’s for sure.” Jannik laughed.
“I’ll warn Mirra to keep an eye out for Luna Sinner Alcaraz. I’d be scared to play against her.” Daniil remarked. “She’s gonna give you both a run for your money.”
“I can’t believe this is the tiny little baby we brought home four years ago. I still remember the first time I held her and now look at her.” Jannik smiled, fondly.
“At least you get to start all over again in three months.” Daniil joked.
Jannik bid goodbye to Daniil, he could tell Luna was starting to get tired now. “Is it time to head home?” Jannik checked.
“No! I want to play with you, first.” Luna demanded. Jannik laughed as he took his place opposite her on the court, Simone off to the side, with his phone out. He was probably recording a video to send to Carlos. It was the most fun Jannik had had on a tennis court in a long time. Luna did a great job of hitting a variety of different shots, even though they were on one of the courts with the right sized net for her, not Jannik. He was sure Carlos had taught her his drop shot when Jannik hadn’t been looking because she kept catching him out with it. It was only when she could no longer run for the ball that Jannik knew that was enough for today. It might not have been the training session Simone had planned for them today but it had been very successful either way. Luna laid herself down on the bench at the side of the court while Jannik packed up their belongings. He then grabbed both of their bags before picking up Luna, her head resting on his shoulder as he set off home. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep in his arms. Jannik couldn’t wait to do this all over again with baby girl number two.