Kyle Walker gently lifts his son off a slide during a family outing to the park. He looks every bit the devoted father.
Kyle Waker supports the toddler as he goes down the slide
The English footballer grabs the toddler’s arms and supports him as he descends, then chases him across the grass.
In other touching scenes, the Manchester City star pulls his baby son onto his lap for a cuddle. And, dressed in a navy jacket and baseball cap, the 34-year-old can be seen throwing his son into the air.
However, these photos will not be appreciated by everyone.
To Walker’s wife Annie Kilner, with whom he has four children, it was probably not even clear that this meeting took place last September.
The curly-haired three-year-old in these photos is Walker’s son Kairo, his child with influencer Lauryn Goodman. At the time of this trip, Ms Kilner – like the rest of the world – was unaware that Walker had fathered a second baby with Ms Goodman, Kinara.
Their afternoon in the park in Hale, Cheshire – which friends of Mrs Goodman described as the “perfect” day – marked the first time Walker met his then three-month-old daughter in real life.
During the week-long trip, Walker and Kairo’s bond was evident as they visited the Tumble Jacks play centre in Stockport and Wheelock Hall Farm, near Sandbach.
While the two played, little Kinara was sleeping off-screen in a £1,500 Egg2 buggy.
Dressed in a navy jacket and baseball cap, the 34-year-old is pictured throwing his son into the air
Mrs Goodman, 33, was staying in an Airbnb in Cheshire with her two children at the time so they could, friends said, ‘enjoy some family time’.
In the luxurious rented property, they watched movies together, with Walker introducing Kairo to the 1988 dinosaur cartoon The Land Before Time, which he “loved.”
The innocent family photos are doubly so for everyone involved in the long-running saga that began shortly after Christmas, when Mrs. Goodman told Walker’s wife that he was the father of her baby daughter.
It will come as no surprise that for Mrs Kilner – the woman Walker describes as his “soulmate” since they began dating as teenagers in Sheffield – this was one humiliation too many.
Shortly afterwards, she kicked him out of the family’s Cheshire home and he moved into a flat nearby.
This shocking revelation also marked the end of Walker’s relationship with Kairo and Kinara.
Since then, the now four-year-old Kairo has had to watch his father’s matches on TV.
The closest bond between father and son came during the European Championships in June, when Mrs Goodman took their son to Germany for the England-Denmark match, where he cheered him on from the stands.
No wonder Mrs Goodman looks back fondly on that last trip together. ‘It was an idyllic time that they will all cherish,’ a source said.
Lauryn Goodman, 33, with their two children
“Lauryn wanted to give Kyle the opportunity to have a relationship with the kids and be a part of their lives. It was so nice for them to have that bond with their dad, because every kid deserves that.
“It’s heartbreaking for the children that they don’t see their father anymore. It’s all so incredibly sad – none of it is their fault.”
Walker has not seen his children with Mrs. Goodman since then, and he insists he has no relationship with them as he fights to save his marriage.
The situation came to a head in July, when the couple clashed in court in London, seeking a financial settlement for her and the children.
The curly-haired three-year-old in these photos is Walker’s son Kairo, his child with influencer Lauryn Goodman
The experience was particularly painful for Mrs Goodman, whose exorbitant demands – including a £33,000 air conditioning unit and a £31,000 Astro Turf football pitch for the £2.4million house Walker had already bought for them in Sussex – were revealed for the first time.
Judge Edward Hess accused Mrs Goodman of “spending money like it was going out of style” and treating the footballer like an “unlimited cheque book”.
Some claim Kilner, 31, will not allow Walker to see Kairo and Kinara, but sources close to the Manchester City defender say he would like to see them but that Goodman is making it difficult for him.
The Manchester City star pulls his son onto his lap for a hug
A friend said: ‘Who can blame Annie for not wanting Kyle to see the children? It’s horrible for her to have to go through this. After all, she’s done nothing wrong, she didn’t ask for this.’
The one thing no one disputes is that it is an unbearably sad situation, and one that shows no signs of being resolved anytime soon. One friend said, “Who knows if Kyle will ever be in Kairo and Kinara’s lives again, but at least they’ve had these memories to make.”