You Took My Heart by Surprise

“Where’ve you been?”

Sergio, who had just wandered into his home, sighed, the sound of Pilar’s voice snipping into his ears. He hadn’t expected that she would be there, after her performance at the dinner with his parents, Sergio hadn’t seen her for a couple of days, but he had figured that she would be back at some point. She wasn’t just going to walk away from him.

“I was at training” the defender replied, setting his kit bag beside the door “Where else would I be?” he added.

“I thought maybe you’d be with her” Pilar mused as she stepped into the hallway.

“If by her, you mean Emmy, I’ve not seen her in a few days, but I am due to see her tomorrow. She’s got an appointment with her midwife” he explained softly. It had been curt, after he’d had dinner with Emilie, she’d called him briefly the following morning to inform him of their midwife appointment, but it hadn’t quite felt right. She had been short with him, her words were stiff and didn’t carry the same affection as they had before, something which hurt him. He knew that she was right, he couldn’t try and play her and Pilar off against one another, but it still stung him. He wanted to keep her close.

Pilar nodded her head slowly. “You’re really going to stick around for that baby, aren’t you?” she posed, leaning against the door frame.

Sergio nodded his head gently. “I am, amor” he confirmed gently “Regardless of my relationship with Emmy, this is my baby and I can’t just pretend that it isn’t. I want to be there for them” he insisted softly. He knew what she was going to say, she was going to ask him to keep a distance between himself and his ex-girlfriend, but he didn’t know that it was a promise he could keep. Emilie might have been firm with him, but he’d seen the look on her face and knew she didn’t quite mean what she’d said.

Pilar shook her head. “Why’d you have to get her pregnant?” she murmured gently.

Sergio sighed and moved through to the kitchen, Pilar following along behind him. “It wasn’t like it was planned” he noted as he moved to collect a bottle of water “And now that it is happening, it’s going to make things a little different. Pilar, I know that you’re worried, but you don’t have to be. Emmy’s already been clear, she’s got no interest in me. She just wants me to do right by our baby” he added, offering his girlfriend a soft look. He knew that she was worried, it had been more than evident in the way she’d left the restaurant when he’d revealed that Emilie was expecting, but he wanted to put her mind at ease. Emilie wasn’t going to let him in easily and he didn’t want to push it. He didn’t want to ruin their relationship any more than it already was.

“You believe that?” Pilar posed, moving to sit on the counter.

“She’s not some homewrecker, Pilar” Sergio noted.

Pilar offered a non-committal shrug.

“She’s not” he defended gently.

“Why do you still call her Emmy?” Pilar posed.

“It’s her name” Sergio replied, moving to stand ahead of her.

“Her name is Emilie, not Emmy. She calls you Sergio” Pilar pointed out.

Sergio let out a little sigh.

“I just want to know that this is going to be Ok, Sergio” Pilar murmured “I don’t want to lose you again” she added, her arms wrapping gently around his neck.

Sergio looked at his feet for a second before he leant up, kissing her gently something which she greeted with a smile, telling him that she’d taken it as the answer he hadn’t quite been able to find the voice to give her.

~#~
“You told him to back off?” Isla posed, her blue eyes fixed on Emilie who sat ahead of her, quietly eating the freshly made chocolate cake that Isla had bought with her from her mother’s home. It had been impromptu, Isla had been on her way home when she’d decided to visit Emilie, but she didn’t regret it. Emilie’s being pregnant had put Isla on edge and she wanted to make sure that at least someone was keeping an eye on her, something she knew that Emilie wouldn’t let Sergio do.

“What was I supposed to say?” Emilie countered “I want you to dump your girlfriend?” she added.

“Well, yeah” Isla countered “We both know that you’d jump if he said he wanted you back” she added.

Emilie sighed. A small part of her knew that Isla had hit the nail on the head.

“Come on, Em” Isla mused softly “You’ve regretted the way things ended since the second it happened” she added softly. She wasn’t stupid, as much as Emilie liked to deny it, Isla knew she wanted the defender back, but she also knew that Emilie wouldn’t let it happen easily. Her nerves were still there and, as much as it frustrated Isla, she knew that Emilie thought she was doing the right thing by allowing Sergio to move on.

Emilie shifted a little in her seat. “I do regret it, Lala” she murmured “I just don’t want to drag him back into something we messed up before. He’s got someone who I think does care about him now and that’s how I want it to stay. He can be around for the baby without having to be around me” she noted.

“But Em…”

“It’s just better this way, Lala” Emilie interjected as she stood up, moving to place her plate in the sink.

Isla watched after her and sighed before she got to her feet, following Emilie into the kitchen. “Do you really think that you two can just pretend that the last year didn’t happen?” she posed, leaning against the counter whilst Emilie prepared to fill the dishwasher.

“I am not pretending it never happened, Lala” Emilie retorted, not looking towards her friend “I’m just not going to fight for something that I don’t think I can go through again. It is over, there’s no need to try and fix it” she noted.

Isla sighed. Sometimes Emilie could be too stubborn for her own good.