You Loved Me Once

Wrinkling his nose a little, Lionel quirked an eye open, his ears doused by the soft sound of Isabella’s cries from the monitor which stood on the end table. Letting out a small yawn, he checked the clock on the end table for the time before he sat up, his dark eyes glancing at Alba who was still contently huddled up beneath the blankets, small snores falling out of her mouth.

It felt a little odd, the idea that Alba had actually said yes to him was one that was going to take more than a little while to settle in, but the thought was a welcome one, one that had him smiling as soon as it entered his head. It hadn’t been how he had expected it to go, when he’d found Alba with the engagement ring in her hand, he had expected her to reject the notion before he had had the chance to get a word in edgeways, but he was pleased that she hadn’t. The fact that she had agreed to marry him marked a large step forwards in their reconciled relationship and whilst he was surprised, he doubted that he could have been happier.

Moving to collect a clean shirt, he pulled it swiftly over his head before he bent down, pressing a soft kiss against Alba’s bare shoulder.

Alba shifted a little at the contact, but didn’t wake up, instead snuggling a little closer to her pillow.

Lionel smiled against her skin for a moment before he pushed himself away, padding towards the nursery which stood across the hall. Gently, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, smiling softly at the sight of Isabella who whimpered softly. “Buenos dias, princesa” he mumbled as he padded towards the crib, carefully moving to lift Isabella against his chest. “You must be hungry, little one” he fussed softly.

Isabela let out a small whimper, resting her head against his shoulder. “We should go and get you some breakfast before we wake up your madre. She would never forgive us for disturbing her sleep” he teased as he collected a blanket, wrapping it around the baby. Isabella snuffled a little before she nuzzled her head into his shoulder, something which made him smile gently as he cooed to her softly. It wasn’t usual, since Isabella had come along, Alba had developed a habit of being the first one out of bed to check on her, but Lionel adored doing it when he got the chance. He enjoyed the quiet little moments he got with their daughter.

~#~
Letting out a small grown, Alba stretched her limbs before she tossed onto her side, peeking at the clock which sat on the end table. She knew that it was late, she had briefly woken up when Lionel had stepped out of the room to check on Isabella, but she knew that she couldn’t stay in bed all day, no matter how tempting it seemed, she knew that she would have to get up eventually.

Pushing the blonde hair out of her face, she moved to sit up slightly before she caught a sight of the ring on her finger, something which caused her to quirk a small smile. It was a little odd, for a long time, Alba had doubted that she and Lionel would reach a point where she would be alright with the idea of marrying him, but when she’d held the ring box in her hand, she had known that there was only one answer that she could give him, even if she did have slight doubts about it, she knew that she didn’t quite have the heart to turn him down. Admiring the ring for a second, she grinned to herself before she pushed herself up, collecting a shirt from Lionel’s suitcase before she padded out of the room.

“Look who’s finally out of bed, Bella”

Alba shook her head a little at the sound of Lionel’s voice before she padded towards the fridge, pouring herself a cup of juice. “How long’ve you been up?” she posed softly.

“Bella woke up just after seven” Lionel noted gently “I would have woken you, but you looked more than content where you were” he added.

“I was comfortable” Alba agreed softly “And I needed to sleep. Yesterday was a long day” she mused as she sat down, gently moving to lift Isabella into her arms. “How’s she been this morning?” she posed softly.

“She’s been fine” Lionel mused “We’ve already had breakfast and I got her dressed before your sister called. She and Riley are going to pop by this afternoon” he noted as he to pack away the breakfast things which still littered the table.

“They are?” Alba posed.

Lionel nodded. “She said something about wanting to see you and Bella” he quipped “Was I wrong to agree to see her?” he posed.

Alba shook her head. “Of course not” she noted “I just didn’t think that we would. Usually Callie and Riley arrive on Christmas Eve and leave as soon as they can” she quipped.

“Well, she sounded pretty excited on the phone. Perhaps Riley finally proposed to her” Lionel shrugged.

Alba shrugged softly before she peeked down at the ring which sat on her hand, a small frown playing at the corner of her mouth.

Lionel, who’d moved to place a plate of food ahead of her, shook his head. “You’re having second thoughts?” he quipped.

“What?” Alba spluttered “No, I’m not, I was just thinking about telling people” she babbled gently. She knew that it was going to be an issue, her parents already disliked the idea of her dating Lionel, let alone being engaged to him again, and Alba wanted to avoid the conversation for a little while. She wanted to get used to the idea herself before she started to tell people.

Lionel nodded his head and moved to sit down, taking Alba’s hand in his. “You know, we don’t have to tell people right away” he mused, toying with her fingers.

“You’d be alright with that?” Alba posed softly.

“I’m still a little amazed that you actually said yes” he countered, a small laugh falling out of his mouth.

Alba shook her head. “We can tell people if that’s what you want to do” she offered softly “But I think we both know that the news of our engagement is going to get a mixed reception, especially from my relatives, and I think that that is something I’d like to put off for a little while” she explained softly.

Lionel nodded his head. “I think we can keep it to ourselves for a while” he mused with a small smile.

“Gracias” she murmured appreciatively.

Lionel offered her another soft smile before he pushed himself to his feet, moving to kiss the top of her head before he padded out of the room, leaving Alba sat with a small smile on her face. She knew that it would come out eventually, Alba had never been particularly good at lying or changing the subject, but for a little while, she merely wanted to enjoy the feeling of being newly engaged.