The Perfect Combination

"Lia before we walk in…" I begin to speak as we enter the driveway. "I think you should know…"

But before I can finish my sentence she is out of the car and heading to the front door.

I get out of the car as fast as I can in the hope that I can get her to calm down before she walks inside but I’m too late because when I finally reach her I can already hear the chorus of ‘surprise’ ringing out.

"Lia I can explain" I begin uttering as I see her eyes begin to water.

"Aah Mija why are you crying?” My mother says as she walks up to us.

"She’s just so overwhelmed with happiness" I answer before she can reveal the truth.

Lia gives me a threatening look after my answer and I take that as an opportunity to head into the kitchen to avoid getting yelled at.

When I walk in there I see my father, brother, brother-in-law and Alvaro all sitting around the counter, drinking beer.

"The women chase you out?" my father comments as I head for the fridge to grab a beer.

I gulped down a large portion of the beverage before I answer.

"Nope. I just thought it was best I leave them to it".

Everyone looks at me skeptically before they burst out laughing.

"What it’s true?" I answer defensively.

"We aren’t laughing at that" Rene, my brother comments. "We are just laughing at that scared look you have on your face right now"

I nod my head at his answer before I walk over and open the sliding door that leads to the patio. They all follow me outside and sit down.

"So what happened with Nati?" Alvaro asks when I down my second bottle of beer.

"If I knew the answer to that I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be here racking my brain trying to finding ways for her to forgive me" I declare as I reach for my third bottle.

My father moves the bottle out of my reach as he encourages me to explain what happened.

I re-tell them the story of what happened in the mall and once again they all burst into laughter when I’m done.

Once they have collected themselves my father is the first to speak.

"You fell into the dreaded word-implication trap" he states in between giggles.

I look at him so he can explain further what he means.

"I mean you fell into a trap of you saying one word and her translating it into something else"

I nod my head at this before I speak again.

"I didn’t mean to call her a load and in all honesty when I was using that word I wasn’t referring to her but rather her pregnancy".

"Hey you don’t have anything to explain to us" my brother-in-law Carlos chimes in. "But you are going to have to sort it out with Nati".

I nod as an assertion to what he has said before I say.

"I know I have to apologize but when I speak to her she either bursts into tears or gets angry at me".

"Then don’t say sorry with your words show her with your actions" my father says wisely.

"And how do I go about doing that?" I ask.

"Well you first run her a bath…" he begins as he starts giving me advice on how to fix things with Lia.

~

Natalia’s POV

I knew my reasons for being angry with Sergio were stupid but I just couldn’t help but be offended when he used the word ‘load’. Even though I knew the word wasn’t related to how he thought I looked, it still made me mad at him for using it.

But when I walked into the house to see our family and friends hosting a baby shower that I knew he planned, I couldn’t help but forgive him.

Despite the evil glare I gave him when he answered his mom’s question, I secretly wanted to wrap my arms around him and thank him for being so thoughtful. This is despite me insisting on no baby shower, he still had one hosted in my honor and it was exactly what I needed despite what I claimed.

"Nat, we’re leaving now" Carlota says as Alvaro put her jacket on.

"Well thanks for coming" I say from the sofa which I am currently struggling to get off from. "I would walk you out but well…you know…" I comment as I point to my belly.

Both of them laugh at my comment before walking up to me and kissing me on the cheek as they say their goodbyes.

They are the last of the guests to leave and I know Sergio is somewhere in the house, probably trying to avoid me.

I decide that me and him needed to talk and I made an attempt to finally get off the sofa but before I make any sort of progress a smiling Sergio walk’s into the living room.

"Hey" he greets timidly.

"Hey" I answer back in the same tone.

"Now before you yell at me for organizing a baby shower you told me specifically you didn’t want, I just want to say I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used words that made you feel insecure and despite my intentions being pure when I said them I should have been aware that right now you are very sensitive to anything you hear"

I nod my head at this knowing very well that he is right but I also add in something.

"I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have overreacted to what you said and despite what you think, I know in my heart that all your intentions are pure and I just wanna say I’m really lucky to have you"

He gives me a weird look before he answers.

"Wait, who are you and what have you done with Lia?!" he teases.

"Don’t make me regret my apology buddy" I say as I finally get up from the couch and walk towards to him to give him a kiss.

When we pull apart we both have the biggest grins on our faces and Sergio is the first to break the silence.

"I have a few more surprises for you Ms. Ramirez?" he says as we start to make our way towards the stairs.

"Please say Gerard Butler is naked and waiting for me upstairs" I say seriously.

Sergio turns to face me with a disappointed expression and I can’t help but laugh.

"I joke baby" I say as I give him a kiss on the cheek.

We make our way up the stairs and into the bedroom before he stops by the door of the bathroom to hand me a gown.

"Why you giving me this?" I say as I know he has already seen me naked.

"Because I know how uncomfortable you feel about your body right now. Personally to me you’ve never looked sexier but I thought I just give this to you to make you comfortable" he says with no malice.

I smile at him before I drop the gown and start to unzip my dress on the side. Sergio watches me in admiration and I suddenly realize I’ve never felt more beautiful.

Once all my clothes and underwear is off, he takes my hand and leads me into the bathroom where I find a bath filled with bubbles and candles around it.

Sergio holds my hand and I climb into the bath and once I’m settled he switches on the CD player.

The first song that comes up is the Backstreet Boys ‘Shape of my Heart’ and I can’t help but laugh.

"You found my mix?" I say as I remember the mix I gave him on my 18th birthday, a few days before I went to America to study fashion design.

"Yeah. I didn’t get it then but know that I listen to it now, you were telling how much you liked me" he says while leaning close to my face to give me a mind numbing kiss.

When he pulls away I take a deep breath before answering him.

"Well Sherlock, it took you long enough"

He laughs at my sarcasm before he decides to take of his own clothes and join me in the tub. He sits behind me and begins massaging my shoulders as he hums some of the tunes that are playing.

"Sergio"

"Mmmm" he answers lazily as he now moves his hands to massage my belly.

"I love you … and no matter how mean and difficult I get I hope you always know that" I confess as I lean back on his chest.

He moves his mouth close to my ears as he answers.

"I know you love me and I know the reason you sometimes fight with me is because you are scared but I want you to know that I’ve faced a lot of scary things in my life but nothing scares me more than losing you" he states as he put his hand on top of mine on my pregnant belly.

"You not gonna lose me. I promise"

"How do you know that?" he asks.

And like some sort of physics the twins start to kick and me and Sergio laugh.

"Because for me, non of this" I say, not just referring to the twins but the life I’ve built for myself. "Would be worth it if you weren’t here to share it with me".

I declare as I turn my body to give him a kiss.