When You Close Your Eyes

30: Nothing Compares To It

Letting out a soft sigh, Lionel tossed onto his back, his dark eyes peeking up at the ceiling above his head. It had been a couple of days, after Isabelle had told him that she was pregnant, almost 3 days had passed, but still he hadn’t found the nerve to even call her, even if a part of him was desperate to talk to her and tell her that he missed her, he simply couldn’t seem to wrap his head around the idea that she was carrying their child.

He knew that it was something he wanted, for a while, he had pictured Isabelle and him having a baby, but the idea that it was happening so soon after they’d patched things up worried him, even if things between them had appeared a lot better since Grace’s wedding, he was worried that things would stumble between them once the baby had arrived.

Sparing another soft look towards the ceiling, he let out a gentle sigh before he pushed himself up, moving to swing his feet out of bed before the distant sound of the doorbell reached his ears, causing him to let out a soft groan. Shaking his head a little, he moved to pull on a t-shirt before he padded down the stairs, moving to pull open the front door. “Hola” he mumbled, not looking up.

Gerard, who stood on the other side of the door, tilted his head slightly at the tone of his voice before he shook his head. “Buenos dias to you too, Leo” he quipped, a bright grin on his face.

Lionel rolled his eyes slightly at his words before he shifted, moving to step out of the doorway. “What are you doing here, Gerard?” he posed, padding towards the kitchen.

Gerard, who’d stepped into the house, shook his head. “Shakira and the boys are away for a couple of days and we said that we’d grab breakfast together before we headed to training this morning. Did you forget?” he posed, his voice bright and teasing.

Lionel blinked a couple of times before he shook his head, a small sigh falling out of his mouth. “Lo siento” he mumbled “I…I’ve been kind of preoccupied for the last few days and it must have slipped my mind” he added, his voice soft and shy.

Gerard offered him a soft look before he sat down beside him, his shoulder gently nudging Lionel’s. “You need someone to talk to?” he posed gently. It wasn’t first time, for a couple of days, the argentine hadn’t quite been himself, and whilst Gerard didn’t want to pry, he wanted to encourage Lionel to talk, even if he didn’t want to talk to him, he wanted to encourage him to talk to someone.

Lionel spared him a slightly dubious look before he shook his head, his dark eyes settling on his hands which sat ahead of him, fiddling with the bottom of the t-shirt he wore.

Gerard watched the movement of his hands for a couple of seconds he shook his head. “Come on, Leo” he mused softly “There’s clearly something going on with you and I’d like to know what. You never know, I might be able to help” he added, his voice warm and encouraging.

Lionel mulled his words over for a couple of seconds before he let out a soft sigh, his dark eyes flicking up to meet Gerard’s blues. “Isabelle’s pregnant” he mumbled softly.

Gerard blinked a couple of times, surprised by his words, before he tilted his head. “She is?” he posed softly.

Lionel nodded his head softly. “She is” he confirmed gently “She’s not had a scan yet, but her doctor confirmed it. She’s pregnant” he added, a soft frown pulling at the corner of his mouth.

Gerard noted the frown on his face before he shook his head, his forehead furrowed slightly. “That’s not good news?” he posed gently.

Lionel offered him a soft look before he shrugged, something which made Gerard shake his head. “Leo” he noted softly “What’s going on?” he added, his voice caught between firm and curious.

Lionel spared another look up towards the defender before he shook his head, letting another small sigh fall out of his mouth. “I didn’t exactly react brilliantly when Isa told me about the baby” he noted gently.

Gerard tilted his head. “You didn’t?” he posed.

Lionel shook his head. “She caught me off guard, the idea of her pregnancy came out of the blue and instead of getting excited I…I asked her for some time to get my head around it, something she was more than happy to give me. She’s been in Bilbao with her parents for three days now” he explained, his voice wavering a little.

It stung him, the idea that Isabelle wasn’t at home with him was one that hurt him a little, but he knew that it was for the best, even if he did miss her, he needed the opportunity to wrap his head around the idea of the pregnancy, something he would do better by himself.

Gerard mulled his words over for a couple of seconds before he shook his head. “You asked her for some time?” he posed.

“I did” Lionel confirmed “And I know it wasn’t the best thing I could have said, but it came out of nowhere, Gerard. It wasn’t too long ago that we were on the verge of calling it quits, and now we’re going to have a baby? It’s a lot” he insisted.

Gerard shook his head. “You’ve been dating her for four years, Leo” he mumbled “You proposed to her just a few weeks ago, and you’re trying to tell me that this is too much too soon?” he added, his tone slightly incredulous.

“Gerard…”

“I know that she surprised you” Gerard interrupted “And I know that you wanted some time, but this isn’t just some one night stand, Leo, this is Isabelle, the girl you’ve told me more than once that you see your future with, and I can’t believe that you’d even need to think about it” he added, shaking his head.

Lionel allowed his words to hang around them for a couple of seconds before he shook his head, something which made Gerard pat his shoulder. “You did it, hombre” the defender noted gently “You got her pregnant, and you need to step up, even if things between you and Isabelle do break up, it doesn’t change the fact that, in a few months’ time, she’s going to have a baby, your baby, and that’s something that’s going to change your life. Nothing compares to it, Leo” he insisted, a small fond smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

Lionel admired the smile on his friend’s face before he shook his head. “My baby” he mumbled softly.

Gerard quirked another smile before he nodded his head, his hand gently patting the smaller man’s shoulder once more. “It’s going to change things” he noted softly “But, for what it is worth, I am sure that you and Isabelle will cope with it. You two are brilliant together, even if you’ve had a few bumps as of late, and I am sure that you two will make wonderful parents when the time comes” he added kindly.

Lionel shook his head, his cheeks a little pink, before he quirked a soft smile. “Gracias, Gerard” he mumbled “I…I needed to hear that” he added.

Gerard shook his head. “It was nothing” he noted softly. He knew that it would take a little work, even if Isabelle had agreed to give him some time, there was no way that she couldn’t be a little hurt, but Gerard was confident that they’d figure it out. They nearly always did.
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Thanks to Jayme112234 and FootieJo for the comments :)