You Loved Me Once

“Are you warm enough?” Lionel posed gently as he walked alongside Alba, their hands swinging quietly between them. It was a little tense, since they’d left her office, they’d barely spoken two words to one another, but he wanted to break the ice. He wanted to encourage Alba to talk to him.

Alba nodded. “I’m fine, thanks” she mused softly, her eyes fixed on the path ahead of them.

Lionel watched her for a moment before he sighed. “Are we going to talk, Alba, or are we just going to wander around?” he posed gently.

“What do you want me to say?” Alba posed as she led him towards a bench, carefully sitting down.

Lionel shook his head. “Alba, things were fine until last night and I am still none the wiser to what I did that made that change. When I left you yesterday morning, you were your usual grinning self and by the time I saw you last night…I just want to know what’s going on, Alba” he pressed as he sat down beside her.

Alba sighed. “It wasn’t you” she noted “It was me. When I went out with Shakira, she started talking about a future for me and you and it got into my head. These last few months, they’ve been amazing, Leo, but I got scared” she admitted softly.

“Scared?” Lionel pressed as he leant a little closer to her, his hand taking hers “Nena, what on earth could you be scared of? You said it yourself, these last few months have been amazing…”

“So were the 6 years we dated before you left” Alba interjected, her blue eyes peeking up at him.

Lionel blinked.

“I know it was a long time ago” Alba mumbled, messing with his hand gently “And I am trying my hardest to forget it, but it scares me, Leo. You were so sure last time, at least that’s how you came across, and I don’t have it in me to go through it again. I want to be with you, I don’t doubt that, but I worry that if we tried to move forwards, I would mess it up” she explained softly, her eyes fixed on anything but his which she knew were fixed on her. She knew that she was getting ahead of herself, they’d only been dating for 6 months and a talk about the future was something which they could afford for a while, but she didn’t want to lead him on. If it wasn’t going to work, she wanted to make it clear as soon as she could.

Lionel watched her, not missing the nervousness on her face, before he let out a sigh. “Alba, I don’t know how many times I have to say that I am sorry for what happened” he mumbled.

“Leo…”

“I’d do anything to change it” he interrupted softly “You know that I would, but at the time, it seemed like the right thing. I wasn’t sure, I couldn’t be the husband that you wanted, the one you deserved, and so I left. I didn’t want to hurt you, Alba, but in my mind, it was right thing. You deserved…deserve the best and then, that wasn’t me, but 5 years, almost 6, is a long time, Alba” he insisted softly.

“I know that” Alba mumbled “But I didn’t exactly see it coming the first time” she pointed out.

“There is nothing coming this time, Alba, I promise you” Lionel insisted, his hand squeezing hers.

“How can I believe that?” Alba posed “Leo, I trusted you so completely before…”

“And things went wrong” Lionel interjected “But this isn’t last time, Alba, this is something new and I don’t know what more I can do to show you that this, us, it’s what I want. I want you. I want to marry you, I want to have a family with you, I want everything that I know you’ve wanted since you were 3 years old and starting playing bride. Alba, mi amor, I love you” he insisted, his voice slightly frustrated.

Alba nodded her head quietly, trying to ignore the slightly nauseous feeling which twitched in her stomach.

“I want you to be happy” Lionel continued softly “I want to ensure that you’re as happy as you can be and…” his words tailed off as Alba pushed herself to her feet, making her way towards a bin which stood nearby before she threw up, something which made him jump up, quickly pulling her blonde hair aside.

Alba held onto the cold metal of the bin for a moment before she pulled herself away, wiping her mouth.

“You should drink this” Lionel noted, pulling a bottle of water out of her handbag.

Alba nodded and took it, gratefully sipping at the cool liquid.

“Have you seen a doctor?” Lionel posed softly as he tucked her blonde hair away from her reddened cheeks.

“It’s nothing” Alba insisted, shaking her head.

“You just threw up, Alba” Lionel countered “We should get you to a doctor” he added.

“You’re worrying over nothing” Alba protested.

“And I will keep worrying until we’ve seen a doctor. I’ll call ahead” he insisted as he offered his hand back to her “And as for what we were talking about before, we’ll finish later” he added.

Alba nodded her head gently before she followed after him, knowing better than to fight him on it.

~#~
Bouncing his leg, Lionel peeked up at the clock on the wall, a little perturbed by the length of Alba’s consultation. It had been a while, almost 20 minutes had passed since she had entered the doctor’s office and with each passing minute, he began to worry a little more. He knew that it was nothing bad, Alba’s vomiting, twinned with a few other fleeting symptoms were nothing majorly concerning, but still it worried him. He’d never been the best at looking after Alba when she was unwell.

“Senor Messi?”

Lionel, who’d been staring at the clock, jumped a little at the sound of his name, his dark eyes settling on the nurse who looked down at him, a kind smile on her face. “Miss Nunez is asking after you. She’s just in there” she smiled with a gesture towards a room which stood to the side of him.

Lionel nodded his head and offered her a small smile before he pushed himself up, stepping into the room where Alba sat, her hands nervously messing with the front of her sweater.

“Alba?” he posed softly.

Alba shifted a little at the sound of her name, but didn’t look at him, something which made him tilt his head. “Is there something wrong?” he posed.

“That depends on how you feel about waking up at 2 in the morning” Alba mumbled.

Lionel frowned. “What?” he posed.

Alba, who was tugging at a loose thread on her sweater, shook her head slightly before she looked up at him. “How do you feel about sleepless nights?” she posed, the corner of her mouth twitching a little with what appeared to be a small smile.

“You’ve lost me” Lionel quipped as he moved to sit down beside her, his hand taking hers.

Alba looked at their hands for a second before she pulled his closer, resting it against the front of her shirt. “What I am trying to say is that, in a few months’ time, you’re going to have someone else to take care of” she murmured “Leo, you’re going to be a papa” she added, her hand holding his over the front of her shirt.

Lionel blinked a little.

“We’ll need to see a midwife, they’ve set me up an appointment for a couple of days’ time, but you’re under no obligation…” Alba’s words fell away as Lionel leant towards her, pressing a warm kiss against her lips.