In the End

Lightly shading part of her sketch, Ariella let out a quiet sigh, trying to swallow the slightly nauseous sensation which twitched in her throat from time to time. It wasn’t uncommon, for a few weeks, the desire to throw up had become a routine part of almost every day for her, and whilst she knew that it was merely a sign of her pregnancy, she couldn’t wait for it to pass.

Shifting her grip on her pencil, she leant away from her desk slightly, trying to settle her stomach, before she let out a small sigh, pushing herself up to her feet. Almost running, she ducked out of the room and straight into the bathroom, crouching over the toilet just as the wave of nausea hit. Pausing for a moment, she waited for the sensation to pass before she gently slipped down to floor, resting her back against the cool wall which sat behind her.

“You need me to do anything?”

Ariella, who’d squeezed her eyes closed, visibly startled at the sound of Gerard’s voice before she lifted her head, offering him a half-hearted smile. “Unless you can throw up instead of me, I don’t think there’s much you can do” she mused, gingerly pulling her dark hair up into a loose ponytail.

Gerard, who stood in the doorway, quirked a sympathetic smile. “It’s that bad?” he asked.

“Today it is” Ariella replied as she closed her eyes once more “I mean, I’ve had days where I’ve felt sick, others where I’ve been sick and even some where I’ve felt fine. Today’s just a bad one” she explained.

Gerard nodded his head thoughtfully, allowing a brief moment of quiet to pass between the two of them, before Ariella looked up at him, a curious expression on her face. “What are you doing back so soon?” she asked “I thought, with the final at the weekend, that your coach would be keen to keep a hold of you for as long as possible” she added, grimacing a little as her stomach gave another flip.

Gerard noticed her grimace, but didn’t comment, instead offering her a small shrug of his shoulders as he sat down beside her. “He was” he retorted “But, seeing as we have an appointment in a bit, I told him that I needed to leave early. I had to make up some excuse, but he bought it and here I am” he explained, his hand gently finding its way to sit on her stomach.

Ariella lifted an eyebrow. “You lied to your coach?” she asked, a slightly amused smile on her lips.

Gerard let out a small laugh before he nodded. “I could have told him the truth” he quipped “But, seeing as we don’t even know how far along you are, I didn’t think you’d really want me sharing the news of your pregnancy with anyone. Besides, if I had told him, Leo would have inevitably overheard and then it would be everywhere before we even knew what was going on. I figured I ought to play it safe for now” he added, his thumb lightly brushing over the front of her shirt.

He had been tempted, in the week that had passed since she had told him that she was pregnant, he had found himself on more than one occasion tempted to share the news with those around them, but he had managed to keep it himself, even if there was a large part of him that merely wanted to yell it from the rooftops. He knew that, until they knew what was going on, it was for the best that they kept it to themselves.

Ariella, who’d been watching the small movements of his thumb, smiled. “You’re useless at keeping secrets” she pointed out.

Gerard snorted out a laugh. “I know I am” he quipped “But, this is important. I don’t want this getting out before we’re ready for it to. Besides, one of the things I like most about it right now is that we’re the only two who know about it. Once other people know, there’ll be a lot of people wanting to fuss over you and it won’t be something which is unique to me” he added, his voice softening slightly.

He knew that they couldn’t hide it forever, with Ariella’s bump growing, he knew that they’d have to share the news of her pregnancy eventually, but he wanted to put it off for as long as he could, wanting to enjoy the fact that there was a secret between just the two of them that no one else had any idea about.

He knew that people would be excited, Ariella’s parents and their friends were more than likely to want to kick up a fuss about the idea that they were expecting, and a small part of him worried about being nudged aside, even if he was the baby’s father, he worried that people would want to try and take over the things he was looking forwards to most. It wasn’t the biggest deal, decorating a nursery and buying all the things a baby would need were relatively insignificant in relation to actually being the father, but still they were moments he was looking forwards to and he didn’t want them to be taken away from him, even if he did want people to be excited about the idea of the pregnancy.

Ariella, who’d moved to rest her head against his shoulder, turned slightly, pressing a soft kiss against his shoulder. “You are unique” she mumbled as she gently trailed kisses up the side of his neck, reaching his jaw “You’re baby’s papa and that’s special. People will make a fuss, I can already picture my madre’s reaction, but no one is going to change that. You’re the father, Geri, and that’s something only you can be to this baby” she added, smiling against his skin.

Gerard smiled at the feel of her lips against his skin before he spared a quick glance down towards his watch, something which caused him to push himself back to his feet, offering his hand back towards her. “We need to get going now if we’re going to be on time” he noted.

Ariella nodded her head before she placed her hand in his, allowing him to gently pull her up to her feet before they padded out of the bathroom.

~#~
“Are you going to throw up again?”

Ariella, who was vacantly staring around the consultation room that she sat in, jumped at the sound of Gerard’s voice before she turned to look at him, not missing the boyish grin which was stuck to his face. It wasn’t the first time, since they’d arrived at their midwife’s office, Ariella had been quiet and distracted, and Gerard had taken it upon himself to lighten the mood, even if he was slightly nervous himself. He wanted to try and encourage Ariella to relax a little.

“I’m alright” she replied “I mean, I’d kind of like to get this over and done with, but I am OK” she added.

Gerard merely flashed her another soft smile, something which caused Ariella to smile back at him for a moment before the sound of the door opening and closing reached her ears, causing her to look up at the woman who had padded into the room, a welcoming smile on her face. “Miss Montoya?” she mused.

Ariella nodded. “Ariella” she corrected.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ariella” the woman replied “I’m Jessica and I am going to be your midwife. This is the papa?” she posed, gesturing towards Gerard.

Ariella smiled and nodded her head. “He is” she confirmed, her voice slightly giddy.

“Gerard” The defender introduced himself, sticking a hand out.

Jessica shook his hand quickly before she stepped up towards the bed, gently rolling Ariella’s shirt away from her stomach. “One of the other nurses checked you over before I got here, didn’t they?” she posed.

Ariella nodded. “She did” she confirmed.

Jessica nodded. “That means I got left with the best part” she noted “This is your first?” she added, flashing the couple a soft smile.

“It is” Gerard grinned.

“You must excited” Jessica mused as she gently smoothed a little gel over Ariella’s stomach.

“A mix between excited and terrified” Gerard retorted “But I think we’re leaning more towards excited right now” he added.

Jessica nodded her head wordlessly before she gently lifted the scanner from its position, running it over Ariella’s stomach a few times.

Ariella and Gerard both watched her, nervous expressions etched onto their faces, before Jessica made a small sound, lifting her head to look at the two of them. “I’ve found a heartbeat” she breathed, flicking a switch on the monitor which allowed a clear and distinct thumping to fill the air “This, as well as the size of the baby, means you’re probably further along than we thought you would be. More like twelve or thirteen weeks” she explained.

“Thirteen weeks?” Gerard breathed, unwillingly pulling his eyes away from the screen.

“It looks that way” Jessica confirmed “But you don’t have to look so worried. The heartbeat is strong, the size is good, and all in all, I’m happy with how the pregnancy is progressing right now. I’m going to make you an appointment to see me again next week, just so that we can check Ariella over again, but I am very happy, and you two should be too. Congratulations” she grinned before she stepped out of the room, musing about making them the appointment.

Gerard watched her out of the room briefly before he turned back towards Ariella, a grin appearing on his face as he noted that she hadn’t moved her eyes away from the screen. Smiling, he gently moved to take a hold of her hand before he pressed a kiss against the back of it, something which made Ariella jump before she shook her head, offering him a slightly sheepish smile. “I can’t stop looking at it” she murmured “I mean, it sounds stupid but...”

“It’s not stupid at all” Gerard interrupted “I feel the same way. That’s the most beautiful blob I’ve ever seen” he added softly, his eyes marveling at the image which filled the screen, the first image that they’d seen of their son or daughter.