The Things That You Do

Turning on the tap, Alexa moved to splash some cool water over her face, a soft sigh falling out of her mouth. It had been a few days, after the negative pregnancy test, a little over a week had passed, but still the sensation of nausea hadn’t faded completely, something which irked Alexa slightly, even if she was confident that it would go away eventually, she wanted it to pass sooner rather than later.

It had surprised her, when the sickness had started, a small part of her had been almost convinced that it was a sign that she was expecting her second baby, and the negative result had surprised her, even if she was a little relieved that she wasn’t expecting again so soon after Zachary had arrived. Her stomach had dropped a little when she had spotted the negative result.

Huffing out a soft sigh, she splashed a little more water over her cheeks before she reached her hand up, gathering her blonde hair up into a loose ponytail.

“Have you thought about making yourself an appointment with a doctor?”

Alexa, who’d moved to slip a couple of clips into her blonde hair, sighed a little at Lionel’s question before she shrugged. “It’ll pass” she quipped, not looking at him.

Lionel, who stood in the doorway with Zachary in his arms, shook his head. “You’ve been saying that for a week” he pointed out “And yet, you’ve still spent most of the morning sat in here. I’m sure it is just a bug, Alexa, but maybe it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world if you did make an appointment” he fussed gently.

Alexa glanced at him, not missing the soft tone of his voice, before she let out a soft sigh, gently nodding her head in agreement. “If I am not any better by Monday, I will make an appointment” she mused as she stepped towards him, happily scooping Zachary out of his arms.

Lionel smiled at the two of them, allowing a momentary silence to pass over the room, before he stepped towards her, settling his arm around her waist. “Are you still going to come tonight?” he posed quietly.

“To the match?” Alexa posed.

Lionel nodded. “I know that you said that you wanted to come” he mused “But I thought, since you’re not quite feeling yourself, that maybe you’d prefer to stay here. I’d not mind it if you do” he added as he lifted his hand, gently pushing Zachary’s dark hair away from his eyes, something which made the little boy smile softly.

Alexa marveled at the soft smile on Zachary’s face before she shook her head, turning to look up at Lionel. “I’ll be fine” she mused.

“You sure?” Lionel fussed “I mean, you know that I’d love you both to be there, but if you’re not feeling right...”

“I’ll be fine” Alexa interjected “And even if I’m not, Marco, Isabel and the children are tagging along. They’ll be able to keep an eye on me for you” she added, her voice warm and teasing.

Lionel scoffed playfully. “Excuse me for worrying about you” he quipped.

Alexa giggled gently before she pushed herself up onto her toes, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek. “You’re sweet” she fussed “And I love that about you, but I am certain that I will be fine and that means you don’t need to worry about it. Marco and Isabel will be there if I need them” she added, pressing a kiss against his other cheek.

Lionel smiled at the feel of her lips against his skin before he shifted slightly, pressing a soft kiss against her lips before he ducked down, kissing the top of Zachary’s head. “We’re having dinner at Marco’s, aren’t we?” he posed as he stepped back slightly, moving to pad out into the bedroom.

“That’s the plan” Alexa retorted, following after him “How soon after the game has finished do you think you’ll make it?” she posed.

“It shouldn’t be too long” Lionel replied “An hour and a half at the most” he added.

Alexa nodded.

Lionel wrapped his jacket around his shoulders before he stepped back towards Alexa, pressing a quick kiss against her cheek. “I’ll see you later” he noted before he stepped towards the door, flashing her a small smile over his shoulder.

Alexa caught his grin before she shook her head, smiling down at Zachary who grinned up at her. “I love your papa, you know that?” she fussed happily.

~#~
“Are you sure that you don’t want anything to eat, Alexa?” Marco asked as he padded back towards his seat, his eyes settled on his sister who hadn’t moved from hers. It had been a good half, with Barcelona in good form, they’d managed to score a couple of quick goals in the first period, and Marco knew that Alexa had enjoyed it, even if she had tried to stifle her smile when Lionel had scored. He had seen the way that she grinned when her fiancé had celebrated his goal.

Alexa, who was gently cooing to Zachary, jumped a little at the sound of Marco’s voice before she shook her head, offering him a pleasant smile. “I’m alright” she mused “Besides, we’ll be eating after the game and I don’t want to spoil my appetite. I don’t think Isabel would forgive me” she added, sparing a look towards her sister-in-law who sat a couple of seats over, trying to encourage Ariana and Adrian to sit down.

Marco snorted playfully. “Suit yourself” he quipped before he unwrapped the hotdog he’d purchased.

Alexa rolled her eyes at her brother’s reaction before the smell of the hotdog reached her nose, causing her stomach to give a familiar lurch. Swallowing, she shifted in her seat slightly, before she shook her head, quickly holding Zachary towards Marco. “Can you take him?” she spluttered.

Marco blinked, but nodded his head, quickly wrapping his arms around his nephew before Alexa sped away, jogging up the stairs. Watching her run off, he frowned to himself before he turned, settling his eyes on Isabel who frowned at him. “Is she alright?” she asked.

“I don’t know” Marco replied “She just handed me Zach and ran off. Could you go and check on her?” he posed.

Isabel nodded before she jogged up the stairs, quickly locating the nearest toilet. Ducking inside, she padded through the room before she spotted Alexa resting against a sink, something which caused her to clear her throat. “You alright?” she posed.

Alexa, who’d been staring down at the sink, jumped at the sound of Isabel’s voice, before she lifted her head, offering her a faint smile. “Marco sent you?” she posed.

Isabel nodded. “He was a little surprised when you handed him Zach. You left pretty swiftly” she mused.

Alexa simply nodded.

“Are you alright?” Isabel pressed “You look a little peaky” she added.

Alexa breathed out a small laugh, refraining from making a sarcastic quip, before she nodded. “I’m fine” she mused “The smell of Marco’s hotdog made me feel little nauseous, but it’s fine. It’ll pass in a second” she added.

Isabel looked at her dubiously. “Is there something you want to share?” she asked.

Alexa smirked, but shook her head, knowing precisely where her sister-in-law’s mind had jumped to. “We did a test” she mused “But it was negative” she added.

Isabel frowned. “You did one test?” she posed.

Alexa nodded. “I had one left over from when I thought I was pregnant with Zach” she mused “We did it about a week ago” she added.

Isabel looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, mulling over her words, before she gently shook her head. “I think we might need to get you another one” she mused.

“Why?” Alexa countered.

“Because” Isabel replied “There is a chance that the result of the one test you did was wrong. I don’t pretend that I am any kind of expert, every pregnancy is different, but the symptoms you’re describing, the nausea and the sensitivity to smell, they’re things I had when I was pregnant with the twins. Maybe I am wrong, maybe the test you took is correct, but maybe we should get you another couple of tests on the way back to ours, just to be sure. It won’t hurt to be sure” she added. She knew that it wasn’t very likely, the chances were that the result that Alexa had gotten when she had taken her pregnancy test had been correct, but she wanted to encourage Alexa to take another one, even if it was likely to show the same result. She thought it was better to be on the safe side.

Alexa looked at Isabel dubiously for a moment before she nodded. “I suppose you’re right” she quipped “I’ll drop into a chemist on the way over to yours and get a couple” she added.

Isabel offered her a warm smile before she stepped away, padding back towards the door. “Are you OK to come back with me or do you need a minute?” she posed.

“I’m Ok” Alexa replied.

Isabel smiled at her warmly before she offered her arm back to Alexa, something which made the blonde giggle before she stepped forwards, gently wrapping her arm around Isabel’s as she led her out of the bathroom.

~#~
Twisting her blonde hair around her finger, Alexa stared down at the screen of her phone, watching as the seconds of her time ticked past. It had taken her a little while, with Marco and the twins keen to keep her attention, it had been a little more difficult to slip away for a few minutes than she had thought it would be, but thanks to an intervention from Isabel, she had been able to slip away into the bathroom, affording her the opportunity to take the two pregnancy tests that she had purchased on her way back to her brother’s home.

Shifting her weight slightly, she stretched her legs out ahead of her before the sound of her phone vibrating against the tiled floor filled her ears, causing her to let out a soft sigh before she reached her hand up, lifting the two tests off the counter. Hesitating momentarily, she turned the two of them over in her hand a couple of times before she shifted them into her eye line, her eyes widening a little at the two results which looked up at her.

“So?”

Alexa, who’d been staring wide eyed at the tests, jumped at the sound of Isabel’s voice before she looked up, peeking at the older woman who stood in the doorway, Zachary rested against her hip. “I didn’t mean to intrude” she quipped “But Zach was looking for you and I said I’d come up and find you to stop Marco coming. I didn’t think you’d want to share this moment with him” she added.

Alexa waved a hand, wordlessly telling her that it was fine, before she turned her attention back down to the tests, something which caused Isabel to take a step closer to her, peeking at the results over her shoulder. “Alexa...”

“I need to speak to Leo” Alexa interrupted, the tone of her voice hard to place “I...I need to tell him that...that he’s going to be a papa again” she stumbled out.

Isabel smiled at the confirmation before she nodded. “He’ll be here soon” she mused reassuringly “And you can tell him then, but for now, I think someone would like the attention of his mama” she added before she leant down, carefully settling Zachary down into Alexa’s arms.

Alexa blinked a couple of times before she dipped forwards, pressing a soft kiss against the top of Zachary’s head. “Guess who’s going to be a big brother” she murmured, her voice soft and awed.