The Things That You Do

Yawning quietly to himself, Lionel snuggled a little closer to his pillow, his brown eyes peeking sleepily at Alexa who was curled up at his side, a sight which caused a soft smile to pull at the corner of his mouth.

It wasn’t the first time that he had woken up beside her, since she had invited him to stay over for the first time, it was something which had become a more and more frequent occurrence, but he had to admit that he had grown to love it, even if it did mean that mornings were often rushed. He knew that it wasn’t something that he would give up lightly. Watching her sleep for a few seconds, he smiled warmly to himself before he shuffled a little closer to her, placing a light kiss on her forehead.

Alexa, who’d been soundly sleeping, stirred a little at the feel of his lips against her forehead before she blinked her eyes open, peeking up at him sleepily, a sight which made Lionel’s soft smile widen slightly. “Lo siento” he murmured gently “I didn’t mean to wake you. You can go back to sleep if you want to” he added, lightly brushing a few loose hairs off of her face before he leant down, pressing another kiss against her forehead.

Alexa offered him a sleepy look before she shook her head, gently readjusting the duvet to hide some of her bare skin. “What time is it?” she mumbled through a yawn.

Lionel smiled amusedly, just about keeping in a comment about how it was nothing he hadn’t seen before, before he peeked over his shoulder, sparing a glance towards the alarm clock which sat on the end table. “It’s a little after half past eight” he noted “But I thought you had the day off?” he posed.

“I do” Alexa noted “But I promised Poppy that I would take her to breakfast. It’s a birthday tradition we have. I’ll take her out this morning and in a couple of weeks, she’ll return the favour” she explained, trying to smooth out a few of the knots which had appeared in her blonde hair.

Lionel, who was watching her from his pillow, lifted an eyebrow. “A couple of weeks?” he posed.

Alexa scoffed playfully. “My birthday is in two weeks” she quipped “And I would have thought that you, my lovely boyfriend, would have known that” she added with a teasing smile.

Lionel admired her smile for a moment before he shook his head, a small grin tugging at the corner of his lips. “I knew it was coming up” he defended boyishly.

“Of course you did” Alexa teased impishly.

Lionel simply rolled his eyes, something which made Alexa giggle before she gently leant over the bed, sneaking a couple of quick kiss. “It’s OK” she mused as she gently pulled away, her expression softening slightly “I didn’t make too much of a fuss of your birthday, and so I am not expecting you to make a big fuss of mine. A present, a card and dinner will be pretty amazing” she added before she leant forwards, kissing him once more.

Lionel held onto her for a couple of seconds, kissing her softly, before he gently pulled away, resting his forehead against hers. “I think I can probably manage that” he murmured, brushing their noses together.

Alexa smiled at the soft touch before she leant into him, pecking his lips swiftly before she pulled away, quickly tossing his t-shirt over her head before she stood up, making her way into the bathroom. Lionel, who was still rested against his pillow, watched her go before he shook his head, smiling happily to himself. He knew that they were still in the honeymoon phase, aside from the small disagreement that they had had about Andres, their relationship had been remarkably smooth sailing, and whilst he knew that it wouldn’t always be the case, he was hopeful that the good feeling lasted for a while yet. He liked that things between them felt easy and comfortable.

~#~
“You know, half of me wasn’t expecting to see you this morning”

Alexa, who’d moved to shrug out of her coat, rolled her eyes slightly at Poppy’s comment before she stepped towards her, greeting her with a swift hug. She was running a little late, with Lionel around, she had been a little reluctant to leave, but she had made it, even if the offer of spending a little more time curled up in bed with Lionel had been tempting. She hadn’t wanted to let her friend down. “You thought I wouldn’t make it to the breakfast that I had arranged?” she quipped as she pulled back, moving to sit down.

“I saw you and Leo sneak out last night” Poppy quipped as she retook her own seat “I’m guessing that he stayed over, no?” she added, a slightly suggestive look crossing her features.

Alexa’s cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink, something which made Poppy smirk before she shook her head, her hand gently patting Alexa’s which sat on the table, fiddling nervously with a menu. “Don’t worry” she quipped “I am not going to push you on it” she insisted warmly.

Alexa flashed her a small grateful smile before she lifted the menu up, perusing its contents.

“Did Leo enjoy the party last night?” Poppy asked, breaking the comfortable silence which had settled over them “I mean, it was a little out of his comfort zone, wasn’t it?” she added.

“A little” Alexa replied “I mean, he’s met my friends before, but only fleetingly and not as my boyfriend, but I think he enjoyed himself, at least that’s what he said when I asked him” she added, a small grin pulling at the corner of her mouth.

It wasn’t something she talked about a lot with Poppy, with things between her and Lionel still in their early stages, she tended to be a little cagey when it came to discussing them, but a part of her wanted to talk to Poppy, even if she didn’t want to get too far ahead of herself. She wanted to make a little bit of a fuss of how well things seemed to be going between the two of them.

“You’re smiling” Poppy pointed out warmly “Are things going that well?” she asked.

Alexa shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s going pretty well” she quipped “I mean, I’m pretty pleased with how it’s going, but I am still quite keen to avoid getting ahead of myself. We’ve been together for a few months and those few months have been pretty amazing, but I don’t want to start thinking too far ahead of where we are. Where we are is quite amazing right now” she insisted, shyly tucking a few hairs behind her ears.

Poppy looked at her, listening to her attentively, before she shook her head, a warm grin on her face. “I’ll put dress shopping on the backburner then” she teased.

“And baby shopping” Alexa contributed “I don’t think they’re things that are going to be happening in the near future” she added with a smile.

Poppy’s cheeks warmed a little before she cleared her throat, something which caused Alexa to tilt her head. “Pop?” she posed.

Poppy shifted a little in her seat before she took in a breath. “I...I do actually have a little news” she babbled nervously.

“You do?” Alexa posed.

Poppy nodded. “It’s still early” she noted “I mean, I’ve not even told Danny yet, but I want to tell someone, just to get it out there and off my chest. I wasn’t well recently, I felt off for a few days and so I paid a visit to my doctor. He made me take a pregnancy test and it came back positive. I’m going to be a mama” she explained, her voice shaking both with nerves and excitement.

Alexa stared at her wide eyed for a second, surprised that those words had fallen out of her mouth, before she shook her head, a wide grin spreading across her features. “You’re pregnant?” she spluttered.

“About 8 weeks” Poppy replied with an equally wide smile “Danny’s coming over in a couple of weeks to see me, and I am going to tell him then, but I’ve got my first midwife appointment in couple of days and it’d be pretty great if you’d come along with me. What do you say?” she asked.

“Of course I’ll come” Alexa replied warmly “I’d not miss it” she insisted.

Poppy offered her a small grateful smile, something which caused Alexa to push herself up out of her seat, quickly wrapping Poppy in a soft hug as she mused her congratulations.