Ricardo finds himself already wrapping things up in Egypt. Yes, things went smoothly, there's been serious talks of expanding into other countries, but he's already missing it here. The people, his students, the passion they have to learn, how eager they would hear him out. But it's also one step closer to getting home to being with Alicia, Sofia, and Andre, so he holds on to that, staring wistfully once more at the river, greeting his students once more with a smile, one last time teaching them the basics of becoming a successful enough wrestler. He won't have much of a say in their careers, just a footnote at the very start, but he still has his pride, and he can't help how warm it makes him feel deep inside to watch them diligently learning off of his suggestions and his demonstrations.
Maybe, he thinks, someday he and Alicia will decide it's ok if Andre wants to follow in their footsteps and become a wrestler too, and then he'll take their son in hand and teach him the same things he's been teaching these people, or perhaps their son will enjoy soccer, and they'll go out in a field and Ricardo will teach him the ins and outs of another possibility that had been a huge part of his life but ultimately had fallen apart in brutal fashion beneath his feet. Or perhaps Andre will have other interests, fashion and design and it'll be Alicia sitting with him, showing him the best fabrics, and how to draw. Either way, he knows he'll be proud of his son, and he'll encourage him in ways that his family wouldn't or couldn't, and Andre will have a life so vastly different than the struggle Ricardo had as a child- with both parents, and friends, and successful school life, and extracurriculars, and so many other things that he could only dream of as a child.
He ducks his head and watches as the sun gleam over the water, exhaling softly. "I promise," he says quietly. "I promise to make things easier for him. Not harder." He taps his fingers absently against the stone wall he's leaning against and swallows, hard, ignoring the sharp itch behind his eyes that means he's close to tears. "He'll know his father loves him." His smile is a brittle, aching sort of thing, but it's there, and it's sincere, and he hopes the universe knows he means this with every fiber of his being. "Even when I have to leave sometimes to teach. I'll make sure he knows I'll be back home as soon as I can."
He knows he's not great with that, it's probably why things fell apart so horribly with Paige. And he thinks Alicia has doubts too, sometimes, and he vows to work on that as well, to communicate better with her whenever he might get these sorts of offers. He'll be leaving soon, on to Spain for a brief time, then back to the States, and then... well who knows where this nomadic life might take him. But he sense, either way, that his vow to ensure family will know where they stand with him from now on lingers in the air, as if becoming a solemn vow between him and the universe right here, right now, bolstered by something in the view of this river he has passed by for months now.
Exhaling softly, he smiles and turns, heading along the path he's taken almost daily to the school where he will spend one more day teaching and then say farewell to everyone he has grown attached to in the last few months.
It's not easy, this life. But he wouldn't change it for anything in the world, either.
