Love Me Until My Heart Stops

“What do you think about St. Tropez?” Gerard mumbled from his spot on the bed, his blue eyes watching Esmé who stood at the end of their bed, swaying Ava whose soft cries had begun to quieten slightly. It was early, Ava had awoken at just after 5 in search of another feed, and Gerard hadn’t been able to ignore it, even if Esmé had insisted that she would handle the crying infant, he hadn’t found it in himself to fall back to sleep.

“What are you talking about?” Esmé mused, her arms gently swaying Ava back to sleep.

“Our belated honeymoon” Gerard replied, nestling his head a little closer to his pillow “It’s only a few months before the end of the season and I want to have something in place. I was thinking we could take a week for ourselves and then come back to collect Ava so that we could have a family one. There’s no tournament this summer which means I ought to get a decent period of time away from Barca and you’ll still be on maternity” he enthused gently.

Esmé smiled. “You think about that at 5 in the morning?” she teased as she sat down on the end of bed, resting Ava against her chest.

Gerard shrugged. “I don’t tend to, but seeing as 5 in the morning is our new wake up time, yeah” he enthused, his hand gently patting the space on the mattress that she had vacated. Esmé smiled gently and shuffled up the bed, laying Ava in between them.

“St. Tropez is very much about yachts” she commented gently, her fingertips brushing over Ava’s stomach gently “You know my feelings on boats” she added softly.

“I am sure we could find a hotel or a villa” Gerard mused “I’d settle for anywhere that had a bed and you” he added, a small smirk on his face.

Esmé’s cheeks warmed as she shook her head. “I am fairly confident that that look is half of the reason she’s here right now” she mused with a little smile towards Ava who had fallen asleep again.

“The other half would be that you tend to find me utterly irresistible” Gerard teased.

“Perhaps” Esmé mused “Do you still find it odd that she is here?” she added as she turned her eyes to their sleeping baby. Ava was a couple of weeks old and Esmé still couldn’t quite wrap her head around the notion that she was a mother. It was unfamiliar, Ava spent nearly every moment with her mother, and whilst it was still new to Esmé, she was learning to love it. Every slight move Ava made or every sound that she made was fascinating to Esmé.

Gerard smiled. He had quickly fallen in love with the expression that Esmé wore whenever she looked at their daughter. “I’ll admit, I could do without the waking up three times a night, but I think I love us as a family more than I loved it before” he enthused gently, his eyes moving towards the baby who’s chest rose and fell quietly “I mean, I loved it when it was me and you, and we could do whatever we wanted, but I have to admit, she’s pretty amazing” he mused.

“You’re amazing with her” Esmé enthused as she curled up against her pillow, her brown eyes blinking a little tiredly.

“I read the books, just like you did, and the guys gave me a few tips, but I have nothing on you. You’ve been a natural from the second that the midwife put her in your arms” Gerard quipped, his fingers gently tucking a loose strand of her dark hair behind her ear.

Esmé shook her head. “She’s completely a papa’s girl” she teased “She quietens down the second you pick her up” she added.

Gerard shrugged, trying to appear at least slightly nonchalant. “What can I say?” he teased “Clearly, like her mama, she finds me amazing” he teased.

Esmé let out a laugh. “Yeah, sure, that’s it” she teased.

Gerard scoffed. “You know you think I’m great” he mused “You married me and allowed me to get you pregnant” he grinned.

Esmé smiled softly. “I suppose you have a point” she teased, a small yawn falling out of her mouth “You’re not the worst man in the world that I could have ended up with” she added before she allowed her eyes to close, a timid snore falling out of her mouth.

Gerard admired her for a moment before he turned his eyes back to Ava, offering the beautiful little girl a small smile. “We should get you back to your room” he murmured as he carefully sat up, collecting the blanket that Esmé had left on the side “You can get some sleep and your papa can hug your mama for a little while, something he likes very much” he enthused as he wrapped the blanket around Ava, allowing the little girl to snuggle into his chest for a moment. Gerard watched her move, his blue eyes entranced by the tiny flexing of her hands and stretching of her legs. She was fascinating, even if she didn’t exactly do much, and Gerard doubted that he would ever find himself bored of admiring the beautiful daughter that Esmé had given to him.

Sparing a little yawn, he carried Ava across the hall towards her nursery and quietly stepped inside, placing the little girl down in her crib. “Buenos noches, mi princesa” he murmured gently “I will see you in a couple of hours” he added as he leant over the railing, pressing a kiss to Ava’s forehead. The little girl stirred a little, her nose wrinkling, but Gerard merely smiled, admiring her for a second longer before he padded back into his room, slipping back into bed beside his wife. “I love you, Esmé” he murmured gently as he cuddled up against her, his arm wrapping around her waist. Esmé shifted back into him and smiled.

She had grown used to sleeping at his side.