Slow Dancing in the Darkness

“How are you feeling, Gabriela?” the midwife mused, her eyes glancing at Gabriela who sat on her bed, Amelia in her arms. It had been a quiet night, after Amelia had been born, both Gabriela and Lionel had sat around, admiring the beautiful little girl that they had made, but Gabriela was glad that she was being allowed home. It may have only been one night, but she missed Noah and couldn’t wait to introduce him and Thiago to their baby sister.

“I’m a little sore” Gabriela noted “But otherwise, I feel pretty good” she noted gently.

The midwife nodded. “Well, both you and Amelia appear to be alright, so I am going to sign your papers and send you home” she smiled kindly “Congratulations, Gabriela. She’s a beautiful girl” she added before she scrawled her signature across the bottom of the discharge papers, stepping outside and allowing Lionel to step back inside.

“So?” he posed, trying to stifle a yawn.

“We’re going home” Gabriela noted “But you should have done that hours ago. You look wrecked” she added, sparing him a small smile.

“That’s nice to hear” Lionel teased, sparing another yawn into his hand “But I wasn’t going anywhere after she made her appearance. I didn’t want to leave the two of you alone” he added, his hands slipping beneath Amelia’s body and lifting her up, cuddling her to his chest. She was stunning, it was the only word that Lionel could conjure to describe her, and a little part of him didn’t want to share her with anyone. He liked the quiet, the peace that he and Gabriela had had with Amelia since she was born, and he knew that as soon as they stepped outside of that room, there would be people just itching to fuss over the baby who was only a few hours old.

Gabriela watched Lionel with Amelia for a moment before she stood up, pressing an affectionate kiss to lips. “You know it’s going to be Ok, don’t you?” she mused, gingerly moving to collect her clean clothes from the bag that Gerard had dropped off the previous night.

Lionel nodded. “Of course” he noted “But I like having her to ourselves. She’s amazing and I kind of just want to wait for a little while before I have to share her” he admitted gently.

“I still have to get changed” Gabriela noted with a shrug “Perhaps you can get her ready and spend a last few minutes alone with her before we go home?” she suggested gently.

Lionel nodded. “I would love that” he enthused softly.

“Then enjoy” Gabriela teased, kissing his cheek softly before she stepped into the bathroom.

Lionel watched after her for a moment before he turned his eyes back down to Amelia, offering her a tender smile. He still couldn’t quite believe that she had come along.

~#~
“You ready to go in there?” Lionel posed as he looked over at Gabriela, his hand squeezing hers lightly. It was mid-morning and after a further hour in the hospital, they’d made the journey home, something which Lionel knew Gabriela was waiting on. He knew that there was person that she was particularly nervous about introducing to Amelia and he wanted to make sure that she was alright before they made their way inside.

“We can’t exactly keep her out here” Gabriela noted, peeking over her shoulder at Amelia who cooed softly in her car seat, her blue eyes peeking at her mother.

“Noah’s going to love her, Gabby” Lionel commented, brushing a thumb over her hand “He’s been talking about baba for months and he’s going to be brilliant. He’s already a great brother to Thiago and I know he will be the same for Amelia” he assured her.

“What if he isn’t?” Gabriela murmured.

“He will be” Lionel repeated “And you’re only going to get into your head more if we sit here. Come on, nena, we have a little girl who needs to meet her brothers” he noted with a small smile.

Gabriela spared him a little look before she nodded her head, moving to collect Amelia before they made their way towards the house. Lionel smiled at the sight of their baby girl before he took Gabriela’s hand, unlocking the front door carefully and leading her inside.

“Mama!” Noah’s voice was loud as his little footsteps sped down the stairs, stopping just short of Gabriela who smiled at him.

“Hola, sweetheart” she mused gently.

“I missed you, mama” Noah noted softly “You were gone ages” he added.

Gabriela nodded. “I had to spend some time at the hospital” she explained softly “Where’s Thiago?” she added.

“Here” Gerard mused as he stepped out of the living room, Thiago at his side “Welcome home you two” he added.

Lionel, who stood at Gabriela’s side, dropped her hand and stepped around her, carefully lifting Amelia out of her car seat. “Why don’t we go through?” he posed “Me and Gabriela have someone we would like to introduce to you all” he smiled, leading the small group into the living room where Shakira sat, already waiting to coo at the new addition.

“Mama?” Noah mused.

Gabriela smiled and carefully lifted him up into her lap, settling him down before Lionel sat beside her, showing off the little girl whose eyes were starting to droop sleepily. “Noah, this is Amelia” Gabriela noted gently “She’s your new little sister” she added carefully.

“Baba” Thiago grinned.

Noah looked down at the baby, his little forehead furrowed a little as he watched her.

“Noah?” Gabriela posed.

“She’s my sister?” Noah posed.

Gabriela nodded her head. “She certainly is. She’s very pretty, isn’t she?” she encouraged, trying to get some sort of reaction of him. It concerned, the idea that Noah could have disliked Amelia had been on her mind since she had told the little boy that she was going to have a baby, and she wanted him to say something, anything to put her mind at ease.

Noah looked up at his mother before he turned his eyes back to Amelia. “Can I hold her?” he posed.

“I…”

“Of course” Lionel smiled, cutting Gabriela off “Your madre will have to help you, but of course you can Noah” he noted.

Gabriela shot her husband a slightly dubious look before she placed her hands beneath Noah’s arms, helping him to position his arms before Lionel carefully placed Amelia into them. The little girl stirred a little, her feet kicking as she tried to get used to Noah, but eventually she settled, something which made Noah grin. “She likes me” he grinned.

Gabriela smiled. “Of course she does. You’re her big brother after all” she cooed.

“I like her, mama” Noah grinned.

Gabriela smiled and kissed the back of his head, her blue eyes peeking at Lionel who grinned at her, letting her know that there was nothing to be worried about. Noah and Thiago were going to be wonderful brothers and whilst it would take a little getting used to, Lionel wanted his wife to know that there was no need to worry. They all had to adapt to the new addition.