Shoulder to Shoulder

It was the next day, and Juan, Elena stood in the lobby of the hotel, saying their goodbyes to Dan and Robin. Just before they left the hotel, Juan handed them an envelope, when Dan had it in his hands, he looked over at the Spaniard confusedly.

“I- we just wanted you to start your lives together properly.” He stated simply, as he watched Dan open the envelope.

“Oh my god, thank you!” Robin said, hugging the pair of them at the same time.

Juan had delayed the date of Dan and Robin’s departure from Las Vegas for three days and paid for the hotel costs.

“There’s something else in there too,” Elena prompted when she noticed they hadn’t seen something yet.

“Are you two kidding, this is ridiculous!” Dan said when he pulled out two tickets.

“Well, we can’t have the newlyweds flying home in Economy, can we Elena?” Juan grinned and Elena shook her head, playing along.

“But, you didn’t have to buy us First Class flights home, this is too much.” Robin said, trying to hand the envelope back – but Juan refused.

“No, this is our wedding gift to you.” Juan said sternly. “And we’re not leaving until you accept it.”

“Actually we have to leave in a minute…otherwise we’ll miss our own flight.” Elena said under her breath.

Robin sighed, “Thank you so much, it’s really nice of you both to spoil us like this.”

She kissed Elena and then Juan on the cheek. “You’re more than welcome. It was actually Juan’s idea, so you should really thank him more than me!” Elena revealed, making her boyfriend blush.

“You really are a good man, Juan. Thanks a lot, man.” Dan said, embracing the younger man.

“Now, have a safe trip home. Send me a text when you’re back!” Robin called after them as they left.

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“Um, well, we have something to tell you.” Elena said to her parents. She suddenly came over all nervous, so she took Juan’s hand into her own. “Well, we actually have two things to tell you.”

She looked over at her parents and neither of them had harsh expressions on their faces, but she was still terrified of telling them the news.

Elena took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”

A few beats of silence passed before anyone else said anything. “That’s wonderful news!” her mother shrieked, pulling her daughter into a tight hug.

After the congratulations were given, her dad went into Parent Mode. “So, are you two getting married then?” Emma gave him a stern look before Juan answered.

“We decided not to get married…yet. We want to enjoy this period of time without the added pressure of planning a wedding.” He spoke calmly, despite being under Joe’s intense gaze.

“And I’m moving in with Juan, in Battersea.” Elena added on, before she forgot.

Juan fidgeted before he explained himself again, wanting to make sure that Elena’s parents knew he wasn’t messing around with their daughter. “As you know, I’m away a lot with the team, and that means I’m going to miss more of Elena’s pregnancy than I want to.” He took a breath, and Elena noted that Juan avoided Joe’s still intense stare. “I want to be around Elena as much as possible and help her as much as I can and be there for my family. And my flat has three bedrooms, so we can turn one into a nursery. We also would live close to Lila, so if I wasn’t around someone is close to help Elena if she needs…” Juan babbled a little, evidently still nervous around Elena’s parents.

Emma placed a hand on Juan’s arm, “Don’t worry, we’re excited about this! You’re both going to be great parents.” She smiled reassuringly at them.

“It means a lot to me that you’re okay with this,” Elena said to her parents. “It means a lot to us.”

“As long as you’re willing to prepare yourselves. This isn’t going to be easy – having a child never is. You’ve both got to be ready to be in charge of another human being 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s going to be even more difficult seeing as you’ll be apart a lot, but as long as you don’t mind working at your relationship – everything will be fine.” Emma said sagely.

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“Wow,” Elena let out a sigh of relief. “That went a lot better than I imagined it would.” She placed her hand on top of Juan’s on the gear stick and he smiled warmly at her.

“So, when do you want to move in – officially?” Juan asked as they went through London, whizzing past the Olympic Park.

“Maybe some time next week?” Elena pondered seeing as it was Saturday. “Would you mind dropping me off at Lila’s so I can tell her that I’m moving out?”

Juan obliged and dropped her off at her and Lila’s flat, before he went home.

Lila took the news a lot better than she had hoped – she was ecstatic that her friend was truly becoming a WAG. Oh my god, please don’t call me that Elena had groaned.

“I have surprise for you too, my friend.” Lila said, as she brandished two tickets from her bag.

“Beyoncé?!” Elena gasped, “How the hell did you get these? They sold out within seconds of going on sale!”

“Being the receptionist at Radio 1 has its perks…” Lila grinned slyly.

“This is tonight? I have nothing to wear!” Elena gasped running into her room.

After she chose a hot pink dress, that wasn’t too tight around the midriff – her clothes had been becoming tighter by the day – Elena ran into Lila’s room and asked if she looked okay.

“You look gorgeous!” Lila said, giving Elena a cheeky wink.

Lila surprised me – we’re going to see Beyoncé tonight! I’ll be home late. Love you x Elena sent a quick text to Juan, to let him know where she was.

Have fun! Just so you know, Fernando and his family are coming over tomorrow, if that’s okay? Love you too x His reply came within a few minutes.

Elena grinned that he was asking her if it was okay that his friend was coming over to his flat. That’s fine! It will be a lovely day – I’ll finally get to meet Olalla properly! x

She managed to send the text before Lila dragged her out of the apartment and to the closest tube station.