Love Me Until My Heart Stops

“This place isn’t awful” Gerard commented as he spared a look around the hotel ballroom, admiring the clean modern design to it. It wasn’t the first venue they’d looked at, that afternoon, they’d been to four or five, and whilst he was excited at the prospect of finding the base for their reception, he was starting to get a little tired. He didn’t blame Esmé, she clearly had an idea about what she wanted and how she wanted the day to be, but it was a little frustrating. He’d not exactly envisaged that Esmé was going to be the picky type.

“It’s isn’t” Esmé agreed, sparing a look around the room “In fact, it’s quite nice” she enthused.

“Nice enough that we can find someone to talk to about a reservation?” Gerard posed, his arms wrapping around her waist gently. It had been a pleasant couple of weeks, after he’d returned from London, things seemed to have picked up where they’d left off and despite the added pressure of planning a wedding, he was pleased with where they were.

“I kind of like it” Esmé admitted softly “It’s quite a nice mix of contemporary and classic and I can see us up there” she noted, her hand gesturing to the dancefloor which stood a little away from them.

“You’re really going to make me dance?” Gerard teased, pressing an affectionate kiss to her head.

“My mother’s already decided that she’s going to teach you. You’ve got about a week between the end of the season with Barca and your training camp with Spain ahead of the Euros and she’s insisting that that will be used to teach you how to slow dance” Esmé grinned.

“Your mother would end up killing me” Gerard chuckled.

Esmé smiled. “I made her promise not to” she enthused.

Gerard smiled at her softly before he took her hand, leading her a little further into the room. “You have a lot of planning done?” he posed, his blue eyes inspecting the room as they wandered around. He wanted to be involved, he wanted Esmé to come to him with the bigger decisions that needed to be made, but he was more than happy to take a backseat for a while. The first couple of weeks had mostly been ideas and when the calls needed to be made, he had little doubt that Esmé would come to him.

“A little. My mother would like to see a guest list in the near future so that she can get a start on invitations, but until we have a venue for the ceremony and the reception, there’s little she can do. I chose Eloisa to be my maid of honor so that it works out that each of us does it once. Ella’s doing it for Eloisa, Eloisa is doing it for me and when Isaac finally gets up the balls, I will do it for Ella” she explained.

“That sounds like a plan” Gerard enthused.

“Have you thought about a best man?” Esmé commented softly.

“I’ll probably go with my brother” Gerard replied, a small sideward smile on his face. They both knew that it wasn’t his first choice, Gerard had always anticipated that Cesc would be at his side when he got married, but both opted against mentioning it. Cesc was a topic neither mentioned anymore.

“I am sure Marc would be thrilled” Esmé commented “Though, you’ll probably have to explain it to Leo” she added.

“He’ll be fine as long as I promise him dibs on godfather to our first child” Gerard shrugged.

“First?” Esmé posed, tilting her head slightly as they reached the stage, sitting down quietly on the edge.

“Of 3” Gerard answered “I’d like a son, obviously, and maybe a couple of girls” he enthused.

“You want more than one?” Esmé enquired.

Gerard nodded his head. “I grew up with a brother and I can’t imagine not having that playmate. Imagine not having your sisters” he reasoned gently.

Esmé nodded in understanding before she placed her hand in his, lacing their fingers together. “I think I want to have the reception here” she mused softly “It’s a nice place and I am sure that we could do something about security. What do you think?” she posed.

Gerard glanced around the room, admiring it for a second before he turned back to Esmé, offering her a reassuring grin. “I’d do it anywhere” he mused “Just as long as it was you I was marrying, but I like this place. Do you want me to go and find someone to talk to about making a reservation?” he posed. Esmé smiled a little and nodded, causing him to push himself back to his feet, pressing a soft kiss to her head. “I will be right back” he grinned.

~#~
Staring at the picture that his mother had on her mantel piece, Roberto Suarez sighed, his brown eyes admiring the youngest of the 3 daughters he had left behind.

“She’s getting married, Roberto” Amelia mused “Ella and Eloisa say she’s marrying some boy she’s been friends with for years, a footballer” she noted.

Roberto nodded. “I’ve seen the magazines, madre” he commented.

“Have you thought about talking to Delia?” Amelia posed.

Roberto scoffed. “You know what she is going to say, madre” he muttered “It’s the same thing she’s said for the last 20 years. She returned all of my letters for the girls, every present I sent them, she’s hardly going to welcome me showing up at Esmeralda’s wedding” he muttered. It had been a mistake, leaving behind his wife of 7 years and their three young daughters, but Roberto knew that he couldn’t change it. Delia had made it clear, she didn’t want him near the three girls and he knew he had little right to argue. He’d hurt Delia, left them behind without so much as a second thought and he didn’t blame her for wanting to keep them away from him. He had a track record for hurting people.

“She’s your daughter, Roberto” Amelia commented.

“One of 3 that I left behind, madre. I want to be there, I want to meet the man who’s going to marry my little girl, but do you honestly think Delia or Esmeralda is going to want me there. You know how she is about me” he reasoned. He had heard about his daughters, Amelia had made a point of talking about them to him for years, and he knew that if one of the three girls was more upset than the others about his departure, then it was Esmé. She had only been a year old when he’d gone, barely walking and talking, and Roberto knew that she had little interest in meeting him.

“Then don’t go to her” Amelia suggested gently.

Roberto tilted his head. “What?” he posed.

“Don’t go to Esmeralda, go to Gerard” the older woman mused.

“Gerard” Roberto sighed gently.

Amelia nodded. “From the way Ella and Eloisa speak of him, he’s probably the only one who could get through to her. They’re very much in love, Roberto and if there is one person who can convince your youngest to talk to you, then it is the man who she is about to marry” she noted gently.

Roberto listened to his mother for a moment before he spared a little nod of his head. He knew that Delia wasn’t going to speak to him, he knew that Esmé wouldn’t either, but he held out hope for Gerard. The man his youngest daughter was going to marry was probably the only person who could get through to her and Roberto wanted the chance to meet him. He wanted to know the man who’d stolen the heart of the little girl he’d left behind.