We Took the Fall

Carefully running his fingers through Gizmo’s fur, Fernando stared at the blank notepad which sat in his lap, a small frown playing at the corner of his mouth. It wasn’t the first time, with the date of their wedding edging closer, Fernando had spent more than one hour staring vaguely at the notepad which sat in his lap, but still he hadn’t written anything, something which frustrated him. He knew that his speech wasn’t the most important one, both Sergio and Esther had insisted that the speech that they had written would be the highlight of the day, but still he wanted to get it right, wanting to ensure that Catalina knew precisely how he felt about her.

Lightly ruffling the dog’s fur, he chewed on the end of the pen he held for a few seconds before the sound of footsteps reached his ears, causing him to turn his head slightly, watching as Catalina padded into the living room, Felix settled in her arms. “I thought you were settling him down for the night?” he posed, moving to make a space for her at his side.

“I was” Catalina replied “But I thought I’d bring him through here to say goodnight to his papa. Are we interrupting something?” she posed, offering a small glance down towards the notepad which he had settled down onto the coffee table.

Fernando followed the line of stare before he shook his head, a slight amused smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. “You’re not” he noted “I mean, I was trying to get a start on my wedding toast, but I am finding making progress hard. I’m not really sure of what I want to say” he admitted, sparing her a slightly timid look.

Catalina tilted her head. “Have you got anything?” she posed, gently adjusting Felix in her arms.

“A few things” Fernando noted “I mean, I know that I am going to have to thank my mother and Esther for all of their help and that I am going to have to talk about how beautiful we both know you’re going to look, but aside from that, I’m stuck” he admitted, a sheepish smile on his face.

Catalina’s cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink at the compliment that had fallen out of his mouth before she shook her head, offering him a timid smile. “You know it’s not that big a deal, don’t you?” she asked, gently smoothing out Felix’s blonde hair with her fingers.

Fernando cocked an eyebrow. “How’d you figure that?” he asked.

Catalina shrugged. “We’re getting married, Nando” she mused “I don’t think people are going to doubt that we’re in love. Besides, after Sergio and Esther’s speeches, I think I would be more than happy with you using your speech just to thank our friends and family” she added, an amused smile passing over her face.

Fernando smirked. “You think they’ll be that bad?” he teased, gently moving to lift Felix into his arms.

Catalina shrugged. “I don’t know about Sergio, but I know what Esther’s got planned. We were at university together and I know she’s got more than one or two embarrassing stories up her sleeve” she quipped.

Fernando quirked a small teasing smirk. “More embarrassing than the stories I know about you?” he quipped, nudging her ribs gently.

Catalina scoffed. “What embarrassing stories do you know about me?” she countered amusedly.

“You vomited on me on our first date, nena” Fernando pointed out with a grin.

Catalina rolled her eyes playfully. “Other than that?” she pressed, not able to keep the amused smile off of her lips. It had been a while, between Felix’s arrival, wedding planning and attempting to make amends with her relatives, it had been a while since they had taken a moment to themselves, and she was keen to enjoy it.

Fernando admired the smile which played at the corner of her mouth before he shook his head. “What about our first six-month anniversary?” he poked “When you tore your dress without realizing and spent most of the night showing of the underwear you were wearing?” he added impishly.

Catalina scoffed. “If I remember rightly, you didn’t exactly point it out to me” she countered, nudging his shoulder carefully.

Fernando let out a laugh. “I didn’t see it” he quipped, raising his hands innocently “Not until you went to get back into the car” he added.

Catalina offered him a dubious look, something which made Fernando chuckle lightly once more before he shuffled a little closer to her, lightly brushing the blonde hair off of her face. “I can’t believe that that was over ten years ago” he murmured softly.

Catalina, who’d closed her eyes at the feel of his fingers against her skin, shook her head. “Me neither” she noted “But it was. We’ve been doing this, on and off, for a pretty long time” she mused.

Fernando marveled at the soft expression on her face for a moment before he leant forwards, lightly kissing the top of her head. “I know it’s not been the most straightforward thing” he murmured “Since I got back to Madrid, things have been pretty turbulent, and I want to say that I’m sorry for that, but also that I am so happy with the way things worked out this way. We’ve had out moments, we both know that, but I am pretty happy with the way things have worked out for us” he added, his dark eyes settled on Felix who stirred in his arms, letting out a soft yawn.

Catalina followed the line of his stare, admiring the little boy for a moment before she lifted her head, offering Fernando a doting smile. “Say that” she murmured, lightly pushing her fingers through his hair.

“Huh?” Fernando posed, a furrow in his forehead.

“You were worried about your speech” Catalina pointed out “So why don’t you just say that? It’s pretty cute” she added, tracing the furrow with her thumb.

Fernando smiled at the feel of her thumb before he gently reached his hand up, pulling her palm against his lips before Felix let out a soft cry, something which made the blonde shake her head. “I should get him to bed” she murmured “I’ll be back in a few” she added as she pushed herself up to her feet, moving to carry Felix through towards his nursery.

Fernando nodded his head in agreement before he flicked his attention down towards the notepad, a grin pulling at the corner of his mouth. Leaning forwards, he lifted the pad into his hand before he started to jot down a few notes, wordlessly musing that he couldn’t wait until the moment that he and Catalina made it up the aisle. It’d been a long time coming.