When You Close Your Eyes

Nibbling on the side of her thumb, Isabelle peeked around the small waiting room, a small sigh falling out of her mouth. It had been a couple of days, after her conversation with Grace, she’d been quick to take three pregnancy tests, all of which had given her the positive result which had led her to visit her doctor, something which had her more than slightly nervous.

It had caught her off guard, the idea of her pregnancy had come out of the blue, and whilst she was slightly excited by the idea of having a baby, a small part of her was nervous, not quite sure that Lionel would take the news of her pregnancy as well as she hoped he would. She knew that she had to tell him, regardless of her nerves, she knew that she couldn’t hide it from him forever, but she had opted to keep it to herself for a couple of days, not wanting to broach the subject before she was certain that there was something to tell him.

Shifting her hand away from her face, she spared another soft look around the room before she shook her head, another soft sound falling out of her mouth.

“You’re not going to throw up, are you?”

Isabelle, who’d been peeking around the room, jumped slightly at the sound of Grace’s voice before she lifted her head, offering her sister a soft look. “I’m not” she murmured.

Grace, who’d moved to sit at her side, offered her a slightly dubious look before she reached out her hand, gently squeezing Isabelle’s which fiddled nervously with her phone. “You’re nervous?” she posed gently.

Isabelle scoffed a little before she shook her head, something which made Grace squeeze her hand once more. “It’s going to be fine, Belle” she mused softly “I mean, I know that it’s not exactly what you and Leo had planned, but I am sure that it will work out. You two are too good together to let it fall apart now” she added, her tone soft and reassuring.

She knew why Isabelle was nervous, as soon as the positive result had appeared on the pregnancy tests, the blonde had been quick to share her concerns with her, and whilst Grace understood which she was nervous, she wanted to offer her a little reassurance, not wanting Isabelle to worry over nothing.

Isabelle offered her a slightly dubious look before the sound of footsteps reached her, causing her to look up, her blue eyes settling on the nurse who stood ahead of her. “Isabelle Pereira?” she posed softly.

Isabelle nodded. “Hola” she squeaked softly.

“Hola” the nurse mused “My name is Alexa and I’m just going to take some blood from you so that we can run a couple of tests. If you’ll follow me, we can get started” she added, gesturing towards a small room which stood away from them.

Isabelle offered her a slightly uncertain look before she pushed herself up to her feet. “How quickly can you get the results back?” she posed softly.

“We can have them in a couple of hours” Alexa noted “But once I’ve taken the sample, you can go home and we’ll call you back to collect them” she added, nudging the door open.

Isabelle mulled her words over for a couple of seconds before she nodded her head, trying to swallow the lump which existed in her throat.

~#~
Settling his bag down beside the door, Lionel spared a soft sigh, glad to be home. It had been a long morning, with training and a couple of meetings, he’d barely had a second to relax since he’d woken up that morning, and he was glad to be home, even if Isabelle was likely to still be at work, he couldn’t wait to sit down and relax for a few minutes.

Ensuring that he’d moved his bag out of the way of the door, he toed off his shoes before he padded into the living room, his forehead furrowing a little at the sight of Isabelle who sat on the couch. “Isa?” he noted.

Isabelle, who’d been quietly sat on the couch, jumped at the sound of his voice before she turned around, offering him a small smile. “You’re back early” she quipped gently.

“I could say the same thing to you” Lionel countered “I thought you’d still be at work” he added, moving to settle down on the couch beside her.

Isabelle shook her head softly. “I called in a favour” she noted “One of my colleagues owed me after I covered her sick day recently and I called in the favour. I had somewhere I needed to be this morning” she added, her tone soft and slightly shaky.

Lionel noted the tone of her voice before he tilted his head. “Isa?” he posed softly, his hand gently moving to rest on hers which fiddled nervously with the bottom of the shirt she wore.

Isabelle spared a soft glance down towards their hands before she let out a soft sigh. “I need to talk to you about something” she murmured softly.

Lionel frowned. “You do?” he posed gently.

“I do” Isabelle confirmed “And I need you to let me get through it before you say anything, Ok? Can you promise me that?” she added, her blue eyes mirroring his darker ones for a second.

“Isa, what’s going on?” Lionel pressed gently.

Isabelle offered him another soft look before she shifted her eyes, fixing her stare on her lap.

“Isabelle, are you having second thoughts about our engagement?” he pressed, trying to get her to say something.

“No” Isabelle squeaked “Of course I am not, I just…”

“You just what, Isa?” Lionel interrupted softly “Nena, whatever you have to say, you have to know that you can say it to me. We’ve been doing this for a long time now and you must know that you can talk to me” he added, his hand gently squeezing hers.

Isabelle mulled his words over for a brief moment before she sighed gently. “You know that I’ve not been very well?” she posed gently, her blue eyes briefly scanning his face.

“I do” Lionel confirmed “You said that you had a stomach upset” he added.

Isabelle nodded her head before she closed her eyes, trying to calm her nerves. “I thought I had a stomach upset” she murmured softly “But…but it turns out that it isn’t that, it’s something else. Leo, I…I’m pregnant” she breathed, her voice quaking a little.

Lionel stilled at the sound of her words before he dropped his stare, his dark eyes peeking at her stomach as the word ‘pregnant’ whirred around his head.