Half a Heart

-Maria:
After spending some nights in Argentina, Leo and I went back to Barcelona. There I met the Anna and broke down when they asked me how I was. Needless to say they all sort of hate Leo now, however I don't. I'm still hurt, but we're taking each day as it comes. And today it's time for my first doctor's appointment. I was a little bit nervous for the exam, Anna described it as being the most uncomfortable thing in the entire world until she heard her baby's heartbeat.

"You're quiet amor." Leo said and I sighed, moving away from his touch, it was still difficult to let him touch me, he frowned but shook it off.

"I'm just nervous about the exam." I said and he nodded before shyly reaching out for my hand, I let him grab it and he squeezed softly.

"Miss Tabrizian?" a woman asked and I nodded.

"You can get changed and the doctor will be with you shortly." she said and I gulped before moving behind the curtain and changing into the thin hospital gown that she gave me. I came out and saw Leo shaking hands with the doctor. I smiled at her and reached out my hand.

"Hello Miss Tabrizian, I'm doctor Ramirez and I'll be your midwife." she said and I smiled.

"Ok can you please sit here and put your legs up the stirrup?" she asked whilst she put some gloves on and I nodded, getting on the bed and lifting my legs up on the stirrup. She sat right in between my legs and I grimaced, this was so awkward. Leo sensed me being uncomfortable and held my hand, smiling encouragingly at me.

"So with the blood test that you took earlier I can confirm that you are indeed pregnant, and by my calculations you're about a month along and you're due date should be sometime in November." she said and I nodded.

"Ok I want you to relax, if you're tensed then it'll just be uncomfortable." she said and I almost rolled my eyes, relax now? She started the exam and I closed my eyes, wincing slightly as it was very uncomfortable, I felt Leo squeeze my hand. After some time, the room was suddenly filled with a small thumping sound.

"That's you baby's heartbeat, congratulations!" she said and I smiled,tears running down my face already, it was so beautiful. I looked over at Leo and gasped, he had an unreadable facial expression and there were tears evident in his eyes, threatening to spill. I reached out and grabbed his hand and he smiled at me, the tears spilling over and he leaned down and pressed a small kiss to my forehead.

"Thank you for carrying our baby, and I'm so so sorry for what I did, our baby's heartbeat is so beautiful." he whispered and I smiled at him, pecking his lips softly, tears of my own running down my face.

"You're going to be an amazing papa Leo." I said and smiled at him genuinely, it didn't matter how mad I was at him, I couldn't deny the truth. He smiled at me and kissed my cheek softly.

"You're already an amazing madre mi amor, and I'm so lucky to have you both in my life." he said and I smiled. Doctor Ramirez cleared her throat and I smiled at her sheepishly.

"I see that you're amazed by your little miracle's heartbeat, trust me all new parents are." she said and we laughed. After the exam she told me to change back into my clothes. I went and changed and came back, eager to know more about our little miracle.

"But what about the ultrasound?" I asked as I had read up on pregnancy before this. Leo nodded and grabbed my hand.

"Well as of right now it's a bit early to see anything, so I'll schedule a new appointment in a month, now I need you to take these vitamins every day and avoid to eat everything that's in this brochure." she said and smiled at us, I smiled back and we left her office, feeling rejuvenated now that we had heard our baby for the first time. We made our way to the car and I took my seat, buckling up. Leo looked at me before starting the car and I raised an eyebrow. He smiled at me shyly.

"Tomorrow's a really important game for Argentina and I was hoping for you to be there, only if you want of course." he said and I smiled.

"I'd love to see you play, and cheer for Argentina since the world cup's coming up very soon." I said and he smiled brightly at me. I looked down at my thighs and frowned, for some reason they'd seemed to get bigger already. I sighed and Leo raised an eyebrow at me whilst he was driving.

"It's just that my mom got huge when she was pregnant with me and I feel like I'm gonna be huge as well, my thighs have gone bigger already." I said softly and he laughed, shaking his head.

"Amor, you're carrying my baby, that's the sexiest, most beautiful thing in the entire world, besides you're supposed to get bigger." he said and I sighed but smiled at him.

"So you'll still love me when I become a whale?" I asked tentatively, every since what happened I'd been feeling overly self conscious and just doubting if he really loved me. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"I know I hurt you mi amor, but I love you more than anything in this world, and I'll do whatever it takes for you to realize that, and yes I'll still love you because you'll be beautiful whilst carrying the biggest most important thing in our lives, our, my baby." he said and I blushed. We drove home and he placed his hand on my knee whilst driving and I let him.

We got home and I plopped down on the couch, feeling bloated already. I turned on the tv and Leo turned up in the living room, smiling at me.

"Hey amor." he said, sitting down next to me and wrapping his arms around me. Suddenly I felt sad for no reason and started crying.

"What's wrong querida?" Leo asked frantically and moved in to wrap his arms around me.

"It's just that I feel so bloated, and the hormones are raging and I'm scared that you'll stop loving me and find someone else." I said, sobbing and generally feeling pathetic. He sighed and wiped the tears away from my face.

"You are by far the most beautiful, sexy, selfless, amazing, confident woman I've ever met in my entire life, why would I find someone else when I've already got my entire world sitting here with me?, and nena you're so beautiful right now, carrying my child and I'm going to be here every step of the way." he said and I stopped crying and hugged him, burying my head in his chest.

"Ok nena, why won't we spend the rest of the night watching tv and I'll order some pizza." he said and got up to order pizza.

"Won't that ruin your diet, you have a big game tomorrow hombre." I said and he smiled.

"You're far more important than football." he said simply and I smiled, was I going to hard on him? Maybe I should forgive him...

I woke up on the couch next morning by feeling nauseous, Leo was snoring next to me and I got up as quietly as possible, he deserved to get some sleep. I ran to the bathroom, keeping a hand in front of my mouth. As soon as I reached the toilet, I threw up. Suddenly I felt Leo holding my hair back, kissing my shoulder and muttering soothing words in my ear, like he always did when this happened. When I was done, I quickly brushed my teeth and Leo leaned down and put his head against my stomach, I smiled, I loved seeing him talk to the baby.

"Amor, please stop making your mama sick?, she can hardly keep anything down and this way you'll be hungry as well." he said and I laughed. He put his hear against my stomach and listened before looking up at me.

"He says he's sorry." he teased and I giggled. I placed a hand on my stomach and smiled.

"It's ok mi amor, mama loves you." I cooed and Leo wrapped his arms around me. My phone rang, breaking my trance with Leo, it's sort of good because any minute longer and I'd kiss him.

"Hola?" I answered and Leo laughed.

"Midget!" Anna squealed and I laughed.

"What is it Anns?" I asked and she just laughed.

"Would you mind me, Xavi and the rest coming over?" she asked and I looked over to Leo, he didn't mind so I said yes. We spent lunch with them and I had a blast.

"So Maria, have you forgiven Leo entirely?" Daniella asked and I sighed before shaking my head.

"He's been really sweet all this time and tomorrow he asked me to come for an important game, do you think I'm being a bit to hard on him?" I asked and they sighed.

"In my opinion no, because what he did was horrible and he needs more than just being a bit sweet to get you back entirely, you should let him work a little more." Shakira said and I nodded, but I still felt awful.

"However do you realize what game he's asked you to come watch?" Daniella asked and I shook my head.

"It's the game that determines if Argentina gets qualified to the world cup, it's a big deal and he obviously wants you there to show you off." she said and I raised an eyebrow, I hadn't thought about it that way.

"But why would he want to show me off?" I asked curiously and they sighed again.

"Because silly, everyone knows that football is his passion, in this way he shows that you're more important than football to the entire world, now I just don't know how he's gonna do it." Anna said and my eyes widened.

"Does that count as him working himself to me forgiving him?" I asked and they all nodded. I smiled but was a bit worried at what he'd do, I knew Leo would do anything and stop at nothing, I just hope it wasn't something way too huge.