Shoulder to Shoulder

A few days later, Elena and Lila were back in London. It had been easy for the two to move Elena’s things in, it had taken them less than a day. Which wasn’t a surprise Elena was there often enough that she had cupboards with her food in them and all of her favourite programmes on Series Link on Lila’s Sky +.

It was Thursday evening and while watching the TV, Elena’s worries about telling Juan were beginning to surface. I the dark of the living room, Elena had been able to hide her rising anxieties from Lila. However, when the blonde realised that Elena hadn’t laughed at Joey from Friends’ poor attempt at speaking French, she knew something wasn’t right.

“El, are you okay?” she asked, turning her back away from the television and to her friend.

Elena absently picked at the piece of skin near her fingernail. “I’m alright, just a bit nervous…about everything.”

“You’re not nervous about telling Juan, are you?”

“No, that’s not what I’m scared about – well, I am a little bit – because once I tell him, that’s it. It all becomes real then.” Nervously Elena tucked her curls back, behind her ears. “I’m just terrified of how much my life will have changed by this time next year. I’ll have a baby, but who knows how everything else will turn out? I mean, I might not be with Juan anymore.” Lila opened her mouth, ready to interject and rubbish Elena’s claims, but she continued. “I love him so much, but sometimes that’s not enough is it? Sometimes kids change everything.”

“I think you two are the real deal.” Lila smiled, rubbing Elena’s arm soothingly. “But if anything did ever happen, you know I’d be here for you and that baby.” Elena couldn’t even reply, her throat had tightened at her friend’s words and tears threatened to spill from her eyes. So instead of thanking her, she pulled Lila into a hug.

“But I haven’t got a job. If anything were to happen, I’d have no income and I don’t want to have to rely on Juan for everything.”

“If you ask me, you can still look for work while you’re pregnant, you could do some freelance stuff? Or maybe find a job you could do from home? But you might just have to give in and let yourself be looked after for once. El, I know you hate it, but its not always bad to accept help. You know he’d do anything for you; so looking after you and your child will be a joy for him. He’s an angel and you know it.”

Elena blushed a little, but couldn’t argue because she knew what Lila had said was completely true.

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Sitting with a glass of orange juice (her customary coffee now off the table), Elena relaxed in Juan’s living room, waiting on him to return from his Europa League tie. She knew that Chelsea had won, but she’d been so wrapped up in leaving university and moving in with Lila that she hadn’t been able to watch the match live.

Faintly, she could hear someone put a key in the lock and open the door. From the footfall alone, she could tell it was Juan and that he was in a good mood.

“Mi amor,” he smiled when his gaze fell upon his girlfriend sitting on the sofa.

“Juan,” she greeted. He dropped his bag on the floor, the duffle hitting the floor with a dull thud.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she pressed a hungry kiss to his lips. It had been a month since they had seen each other.

Straddling his lap, Elena looked right into his eyes and couldn’t help but let a grin spread over her lips. He was so beautiful; his deep blue eyes were just incredible. All day long she’d been fretting about how to tell him. But now that he was here, in front of her, she realised it didn’t really matter how she chose to do it.

Elena placed a hand on each of his cheeks, cupping his face in her palms. Her thumbs grazed over his cheeks, the prickle of his beard familiar to her touch. His eyes slipped closed and he hummed in sheer comfort.

“I’m pregnant.” The words fell from her mouth like a secret, causing Juan’s eyes to snap open.

“Que?” He asked, eyes widening. Elena noted that in moments of heightened emotion, he always reverted back to his mother tongue.

“I’m going to have a baby. Your baby.” She reiterated, still cradling his face in her hands.

“Really?” he asked, his voice low and soft in wonderment at the prospect of his own child.

Elena nodded enthusiastically as she watched tears spring to his eyes.

“Dios mio, I’m going to be a papa?” he didn’t even attempt to stop the tears of joy from sliding down his face. Juan kissed Elena’s lips so softly that it sent her over the edge too; huge waves of tears were coming from her eyes.

“Te quiero. Te quiero tanto.” (“I love you. I love you so much.”) He whispered as she rested his forehead against his.

After almost half an hour of them sitting together, wrapped in each other’s arms, limbs tangled together, they decided to go to bed.

Upon Elena’s request, they’d come to the decision not to tell anyone about the pregnancy until she had passed the first trimester whereafter the chances of miscarrying depleted significantly. They didn’t want to jinx anything.

Juan was already in bed when Elena came back from brushing her teeth in the bathroom. She stood by the bed, tying her hair up and taking out her earrings when Juan began making grabby hands towards her. With a smile, she indulged him and got into bed.

As they spooned, Jun rested his hand on her stomach, his fingers splayed wide across her abdomen. His thumb rubbed backwards and forwards over the thin strip of skin between her sleep top and bottoms, soothingly lulling her to sleep.