The Perfect Combination

"Say something" I say to Terry as she gives me a blank stare.

"Congratulations" she shrugs as she continues to help me pack my bags.

"Is that all?" I answer back slightly shocked at her nonchalance towards my big news.

"What else do you want me to say?" she begins ranting. "For 3 years I’ve been telling you that Sergio is the perfect man for you but you never listened. Then said Sergio sends you one text, ONE TEXT, and it’s like TADA your eyes have been opened” she concludes and I smile at her.

"Are you jealous?" I tease.

"NO"

I raise my eyebrow at her and she relents.

"Ohkay fine maybe I’m a little jealous. I already feel like you are taking his word over mine and that’s not a good start to any relationship. When a girl starts taking the word of her boyfriend over her best friend AND assistant, you know things are headed for trouble".

I laugh at her suggestion before I stand up and walk to her.

"Terry I promise" I begin to say as I hold her hands and look her in the eyes "to always take your word over Sergio’s. Even though he is the father of my children and the man I will most probably spend the rest of my life with" I add dramatically.

Terry starts off with a snigger before she bursts into full on laughter.

When she has collected herself she hugs me.

"That’s very sweet" she says as she pulls away. "But you’ve got something special with that idiot. So don’t screw it up"

"I won’t" I say as a smile begins to form on my face at the sound of Sergio’s name.

I walk back to my closet to pack a few more clothes that I will be taking with me to Madrid for my doctor-ordered 1 month bed rest. It’s 2 more days until I leave and in the week and a half I’ve been here I’ve been preoccupied with dealing with difficult clients as well as reassigning people into positions they must occupy while I’m away. Terry meanwhile has been off gallivanting at some island and arrived back to ‘work’ today.

As I continue to pack the realization of what I’m about to do hits me. I’m about to become a mother. And rather than being scared of the thought of parenthood I’m pretty excited because I know I’ll be sharing the responsibility with a man I trust completely. I can’t help but snigger at that thought. A few months ago I wouldn’t have trusted that man with a pot plant but now here I am considering spending the rest of my life with him.

"Earth to Nati" Terry calls me when she realizes I’ve been starting at an empty cupboard for the past few minutes.

"Mmmm"

"What are you thinking about?" she asks as she zips up the last of my suitcases.

"Just how things have changed over the past few months" I comment nostalgically.

"Yeah. But all change is good, especially this one" she says as she rubs my tummy.

"Yep definitely this one"

"For the record" she says as she walks towards the bedroom door "if one of those babies isn’t named after me I’ll be very pissed" she says before she walks out.

I laugh at her comment as I follow her out and prepare to join her for lunch.

~

SERGIO’S POV

"Now are you sure these won’t injure anyone?" I ask the repairman over the phone about the burglar bars he has just installed.

"Yes sir. Usually most parents only install them once their children start crawling" he says irritably.

"Well excuse me for just being cautious" I snap as I hang up the phone.

It’s not like it’s my fault that I want the house baby proofed before the children come. I want to make sure they are safe and I’m so sorry that people have a problem with that.

My checking of all the new installations in the house is interrupted by a knock of the door.

I walk gingerly towards the door and once I get there I’m surprised by who is standing behind it.

"Fernando?" I say slightly shocked.

"Hey amigo" he says with a smile. "Can I come in?"

I rub my neck, slightly nervous at what he wants before I make room for him to walk in.

He walks straight to the living room, like he owns the place, and takes a seat in front of the TV.

I cough to get his attention before I start to speak.

"Uhm what are you doing here?"

"Can’t a friend just come into town to check in on another friend" he says with no malice.

"I wasn’t aware that we were friends again" I snap back.

He takes a deep breath before he answers me.

"Yeah, I guess I deserve that… Look Sergio I know I’ve been a jerk and I apologize for what I did to you and Nati. But I came here to see if maybe we could work on fixing our friendship?" he says hopefully.

I give him the once over before I turn around and walk to the kitchen. When I got there I take two bottles of beer out the fridge and walk back to the living room to hand Fernando one. I sit on the couch next to the one he is occupying; open my bottle, take one big gulp and then turn to him.

"Just tell me why you acted the way you did"

He takes a deep breath before he answers me.

"I guess I was jealous. Not of you but rather what you were about to have. Come on Sergio" he says loudly “you never wanted commitment or kids until Nat asked for you to help her fall pregnant. Then all of a sudden I see you start to change and actually become responsible. And even though I was happy that you’d finally decided to grow up, I couldn’t let you have Natalia. Not when I was in love with her".

"She wasn’t yours to give away" I say angrily as I listen to him speak.

"I know that now but you have to understand when you love someone you don’t think rationally. All you want them to be is yours and if anyone threatens that you do everything you can to make them suffer" he continues to justify.

"So you shacking up with her was just a ploy to make me suffer?"

"Partially. But I also wanted to prove to Nat that I could be the man that she needed. That you and her could raise your children together but I was the man that she really wanted to spend her life with".

I shake my head at his admission.

"So you still think I’m not good enough for her?" I ask interested in what he had to say.

"Honestly no. But I don’t think there’s a man who is good enough for that woman, not even me"

After his admission we are both left silent and I begin to maul over what he just said.

"Look Sergio" he says, interrupting my thinking "I’m not here to cause more strife between us. I’m here to mend a friendship that means a lot to me. I know I’ve done a lot of messed up things and I’d understand if you never forgive me but I want you to know that I am truly sorry"

I think about what he says before I ask.

"Are you still in love with her?"

He nods his head.

"Fernando…" I begin but he interrupts me.

"But she doesn’t love me back" he answers firmly.

"But that doesn’t mean anything. You tried to make her fall in love with you once and that didn’t work. What guarantee do I have that you won’t try to do it again?"

"Because this time you and her will be together. And no matter my feelings towards her, seeing her happy and in love is more important to me than my own selfish needs."

"I’m gonna hold you to that" I joke as I stand up and walk to the couch he is sitting on.

When I am close to it he stands up as well and offers me his hand to shake.

"Friends?" he says.

I stare at his out stretched hand for a few seconds before I interlocked it with mine so we can shake hands.

"Best friends" I affirm as I gave him a hug.

After a few minutes of joking around and foolery we both sat back on the couch and turn on the TV. And like some sort of cynical joke the news is running a story about Nati’s pregnancy and our newly formed romance.

"You better get used to having your face in the news everyday now Mr. Ramirez" Fernando jokes as a multitude of paparazzi pics of Lia started appearing on screen.

"Mr. Ramirez?" I fire back slightly insulted. "Never in a million years. I’m all for feminism but if anyone is going to be changing their surname it’s Lia" I state and Fernando looks at me with a grin.

"Something to tell me?" he asks.

"Not yet but soon" I say with a mischievous grin.

"A little fast there aren’t we? You two haven’t even been dating a full month but you are already making wedding plans" he teases.

"Well we already know everything there is to know so why wait? And anyway, if I don’t get Lia tied down some other guy much just come in and try to swoop her away from me" I joke as I gave Fernando a friendly nudge.