In the End

“Do you feel any better?”

Ariella, who’d moved to step back into her hospital room quietly, looked up at the sound of Gerard’s voice, her expression immediately brightening at sight of him sat up on the bed, their little boy rested in his arms. It still felt odd, the idea that she and Gerard had been parents for a matter of hours was one which still hadn’t quite settled in for Ariella, but she couldn’t stifle the smile that itched to spread across her features whenever she set her eyes on Gerard and their son, a sensation she was sure wasn’t going to wear off for a while.

Smiling a little to herself, she spared him a soft nod before she padded around the bed, collecting her dressing gown which she had left at the foot of the bed. “A little” she replied, gingerly wrapping the dress gown around her shoulders “I mean, I’m still pretty tired, but I feel a little less gross now. What about you? Have you put him down yet?” she asked as she stepped towards the bed, sitting down beside him.

Gerard, who’d shuffled over slightly to make room for her, smirked. “What do you think?” he quipped.

Ariella rolled her eyes, but couldn’t stop the smile which was quick to spread across her lips, something which caused Gerard’s smirk to soften into a tender smile. “You’ve got a lovely smile, you know that?” he complimented.

Ariella’s cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink, something which made Gerard chuckle before he carefully readjusted himself against the bed, trying not to disturb the baby who had fallen asleep quietly in his arms. “Come here” he mumbled, gesturing to the space that he had made beside him with his head.

Ariella hesitated for a second before she shuffled up the bed, allowing him to gently settle his arm around her shoulders as she rested her head against his. “Can you quite believe that he’s here yet?” she murmured, her fingertips gently straightening out the feet of the onesie that the little boy wore “I mean, I am thrilled that he is, he’s more beautiful than I imagined he would be, but...”

“But it’s still pretty hard to get your head around” Gerard finished for her, smiling a little at her babbling.

Ariella nodded against his shoulder. “He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” she mumbled.

“Of course he is” Gerard replied “I mean, you’re his mama after all. I had no doubt that he’d be perfect” he added nonchalantly.

Ariella sat up and quirked an eyebrow, an amused smile on her face. “Do you know how cheesy that was?” she asked.

Gerard laughed before he nodded. “That was the point” he quipped.

Ariella rolled her eyes playfully before she leant her head against his shoulder once more, cuddling into his side as a moment of quiet settled over the two of them. Gerard smiled a little at the feel of her embrace before he dipped his head, pressing a soft kiss against her temple. “He does look like you, though” he mumbled against her skin “More like you than me, anyway” he added.

“Yeah?” Ariella queried as she pulled her eyes away from their son, smiling up at him gently.

Gerard marveled at her smile for a moment before he nodded. “We made a beautiful baby” he mused.

Ariella nodded her head in agreement before the baby stirred a little, something which pulled both his mother and father’s attention down towards him. Stirring a little, he briefly opened his blue eyes before he let out a soft yawn, quietly falling back to sleep against Gerard’s chest.

Both Ariella and Gerard watched him in silence for a few moments, captivated by the tiniest sound and movements that he made, before Ariella breathed out a soft laugh, something which made Gerard chuckle. “That’s a happy sound, right?” he asked.

Ariella simply nodded, her eyes not moving away from the baby.

Gerard watched her quietly for a few seconds, a warm grin playing on his lips.

“I know you’re smiling at me” Ariella mumbled, still not looking up at him.

“Can you blame me?” Gerard countered “I mean, you look happy and that makes me happy. Is it such a bad thing that I want to smile at you?” he added, his voice warm and light-hearted.

Ariella looked up at him before she shook her head. “Not at all” she mused “I kind of like your smile” she added.

Gerard quirked a teasing eyebrow, but didn’t say anything, instead opting to lean towards her slightly. Ariella giggled gently before she reached up her hand, cupping his cheek before she pulled him into a soft kiss. Gerard leant into her hand slightly, enjoying the soft kiss for a few seconds before the sound of a small squeak reached his ears, causing him to gently pull back, his eyes settling on Jessica who stood in the doorway, her eyes sheepishly averted away from the couple.

“Jessica?” he quipped.

“I didn’t mean to intrude” the midwife apologized “I did knock” she added.

“It’s fine” Gerard replied, smirking a little as he caught sight of Ariella’s blushing cheeks out of the corner of his eye “Is everything OK?” he added.

“I just had a few things I wanted to check over with the two of you” Jessica noted “Firstly, there’s a few people waiting outside. If you two aren’t ready for visitors, I can send them home and they can come back in the morning” she explained.

Ariella and Gerard shared a look before the defender shook his head. “It’s OK” he noted “We’ll invite them in for a little while. An hour or so?” he added, looking towards Ariella for confirmation.

“An hour sounds fine” Ariella agreed “Though, once my madre has seen him, she won’t leave easily” she added with a grin.

Jessica smiled pleasantly. “I’ll send them through on my way past” she mused.

Ariella nodded her head. “You had something else you wanted to talk about?” she asked.

Jessica nodded before she padded towards the foot of Ariella’s bed, quickly looking over the chart which hung there. “I’m happy with your progress, both you and baby, but I would still like you both to stay here overnight, just to be sure. You’ll be discharged in the morning” she explained.

Ariella nodded again, something which made Jessica smile gently. “Just one more thing” she mused “I was wondering if you had a name yet. There’s a few more pieces of paperwork to fill out and it would make things easier for the two of you if I had the name to write on the paperwork. It’s more than OK if you don’t...”

“We do” Gerard interrupted “We’ve had a name in mind for months” he added with a slightly sheepish smile.

Jessica smiled encouragingly.

Gerard spared a brief look back towards Ariella, wordlessly asking her if she was still sure about the name they’d picked out, before he turned his stare downwards, marveling at the little boy who laid in his arms, still snoozing happily. “Toby” he murmured “Tobias Francesc Piqué Montoya” he repeated with a warm smile.

Jessica nodded. “It’s a beautiful name” she enthused gently before she excused herself, ducking back out of the room.

Ariella watched the midwife out of the room before she turned back towards Gerard, gently resting her head against his shoulder. “You know that Cesc’s never going to shut about this, right?” she mumbled, gently pushing her fingers back through Toby’s dark hair.

Gerard watched her fingers with a smile, his stare not moving away from Toby. “That’s unavoidable” he quipped “But I don’t care. I like the name” he insisted.

Ariella nodded against his shoulder. “I do too” she agreed as she turned slightly, looking up at him.

Gerard turned his head, meeting her stare before he dipped down, pecking her lips quickly before the sound of a knock echoed, causing him to let out a laugh. “You ready?” he asked.

Ariella smiled at him before she nodded. “As I will ever be” she mused.