In the End

“You know what time kick off is, right?” Gerard posed from his spot in the doorway, his eyes watching as Ariella gently pulled a pair of socks onto Toby’s feet. It had been a little while, after they’d agreed to start thinking about planning their wedding, a couple of weeks had passed, and with the end of Barcelona’s season having arrived, Ariella was due to bring Toby to the stadium for the first time, something which excited Gerard more than he wanted to admit. He had been looking forwards to it, since the little boy had arrived a little over five months previous, he had suggested that he and Ariella attend a match on more than one occasion, but finally she had come around, something which pleased him, even if he knew that she was merely trying to ensure that their son wasn’t overwhelmed. A small part of him was already counting down to the lap of celebration that would happen at the end of the match.

Ariella rolled her eyes, smiling a little to herself at the tone of his voice before she turned, offering him a nod. “You’ve told me at least five times since we got up this morning” she quipped “And besides, I am spending the afternoon with Antonella. Do you really think that between the two of us, we wouldn’t be able to recall the kick off time?” she added, her eyebrow lifted slightly.

Gerard merely shrugged, something which made Ariella roll her eyes before she shook her head, a soft laugh falling out of her mouth. “We’ll be there” she noted “I mean, we might not make it in time for kick off...” she trailed off, offering him a teasing smirk.

Gerard offered her a pointed look, but failed to stop the smile which itched to spread across his face, something which made Ariella grin triumphantly. Shaking his head, he admired her smile briefly before he leant towards her, gently lifting Toby out of her arms. “Your mama is mean to me, isn’t she?” he grumbled teasingly, his fingers gently smoothing out Toby’s dark hair as he peeked towards Ariella impishly.

Ariella, who was watching the two of them, rolled her eyes before she slipped her phone out of her pocket, snapping a quick picture of them.

Gerard, who’d been cooing quietly to Toby, caught the sound of the picture being taken before he lifted his head, glancing at her curiously.

Ariella caught his stare before she shrugged, a slightly sheepish smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. “You looked cute together” she mused “And I don’t think I have that many pictures of you and Toby together. I mean, we’ve got a lot of the three of us, and of me and Toby together, but you’re normally the one taking the pictures” she explained, her cheeks flushing a soft shade of pink.

Gerard looked at her, admiring the soft hint of colour on her cheeks, before he took a pace towards her, dipping down so that he could press a soft kiss against the top of her head. “Have I ever mentioned how cute you are when you get flustered?” he mumbled into her hair.

Ariella merely shook her head, something which made Gerard smile against her head before the sound of the doorbell flittered into the room, something which caused him to drop another kiss against her head before he straightened up, moving to settle Toby down into his mother’s arms. “I’ll get it” he mumbled before he padded out of the room.

Ariella smiled after him, still a little in awe of how easy things seemed to be between the two of them, before she followed him out of the room. Things seemed easy between them, since their engagement a little over a month previous, the dynamic between the two of them seemed to be better than ever, and it amazed Ariella how good things were, how good they had been since they’d gotten back together a little over eighteen months previous.

~#~
Clasping her camera in her hand, Ariella grinned to herself, her blue eyes gazing across the pitch towards where Gerard stood, Toby settled securely in his arms. It had been a tough match, with the title on line, the atmosphere in the stadium had been fraught from the moment that the game had kicked off, but thanks to a couple of goals from Lionel and one from Paulinho, Barcelona had gotten the win that they wanted, allowing them to retain their title.

Lifting her camera up slightly, she snapped a couple of pictures of her two boys together before she felt someone step up beside her, causing her to turn her head slightly, looking at Antonella who watched her with a grin. “Your boys look good” she fussed “I mean, I can’t quite get over how much Toby’s started to look like Gerard now” she added.

Ariella shook her head. “He’s got my eyes” she mused “But other than that, he’s grown to be the spitting image of his papa, something which, unsurprisingly, Gerard is thrilled with” she added, a smile passing over her face that Antonella recognized instantly. It was the one that Ariella had always had specifically reserved for Gerard.

Antonella marveled at the smile for a few seconds before she shook her head, gently nudging Ariella’s side. “Have you two picked a date yet?” she asked. They hadn’t talked about it much, since the proposal, no one had wanted to push the subject on the couple who were clearly more than happy to make the most of the novelty of being newly engaged, but she couldn’t resist, even if she did run the risk of appearing pushy. Antonella, like a lot of people, were merely excited that Ariella and Gerard were seemingly ready to take the next step in their relationship.

Ariella, who’d moved to check a couple of the pictures she’d taken, smiled coyly to herself before she gently nodded her head, not even attempting to look up towards Antonella.

Antonella blinked in surprise. “You have?” she pressed.

Ariella nodded again before she turned her head, smiling up at her friend gently. “We’ve talked about it a lot in the last couple of weeks” she mused “And both of us are in agreement that we want a date that is sooner rather than later. We were pretty quick to rule out this summer, there’s just not enough time, but we didn’t rule out the winter break. He’s got a couple of weeks off at the end of December and we were thinking about the Saturday after Christmas. I mean, nothing’s set in stone, but I think...I think we’re both pretty set on it” she babbled, trying, and failing, to hide the obvious excitement in her voice. She didn’t want to get ahead of herself, with nothing absolutely decided, the last thing she wanted to do was set her heart on anything, but still she couldn’t help but be a little excited. The idea that a wedding was something that she and Gerard were even talking about was one which still had her in awe.

Antonella quirked a small smile, not missing the tone of her friend’s voice, before she opened her mouth to say something, only to be cut off as Gerard appeared at Ariella’s side, greeting her with an enthusiastic kiss that made the brunette blush and giggle before she pulled away from him, quickly becoming distracted by their conversation.

Antonella watched their interaction, not missing the goofy loved up smiles which it up their faces, before she quietly excused herself, wordlessly fussing about how good they were for one another. They always had been, since Cesc had introduced the two of them, Ariella and Gerard had always bought the best out of one another, and Antonella was thrilled that things had worked out as they had. They were better together, happier together, and she was pleased that they’d eventually seen it before they’d made more of a mess between themselves.