In the End

Letting out a sleepy groan, Ariella stretched her arm out of bed, her hand blindly feeling across the surface of her end table in search of the phone which vibrated irritatingly against the wood. It wasn’t overly early, with Toby having had a fussy night, Ariella had spent longer in bed than she usually would have done, and she was a little irked about being disturbed, even if she knew that, with Gerard’s departure for pre-season imminent, she would eventually have to get up. She had been comfortable and happy curled up against her pillow. Letting out a small frustrated huff, she scanned her hand over the surface once more the sound of a laugh reached her ears, causing her to roll onto her back, her blue eyes glancing up at Gerard who stood in the doorway, smirking down at her amusedly. “You know that you could just look, right?” he quipped as he walked into the room, moving to hand her phone to her.

Ariella merely nodded, taking the phone out of his hand before she scanned over the text. “It’s my mama” she mused, answering the question she knew that he would inevitably ask.

Gerard, who’d settled down on the side of the bed, smirked. “It’s always your madre” he quipped “At least, it’s always been her since I proposed. It’s almost like she wants to be involved in the planning of our wedding” he added, his voice sarcastic and teasing. He wasn’t surprised, with only a few months separating him and Ariella from the wedding date that they’d chosen, he wasn’t surprised by Estella’s desire to help out, and he knew that Ariella was pleased by it, even if she hadn’t said it. He knew that she was glad that she had people around who’d help her to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

Ariella, who’d moved to type out a reply to her mother, rolled her eyes before she looked up at him. “You don’t want her to help?” she asked.

Gerard smirked. “I didn’t say that” he countered “In fact, I am glad you’ve got her and the others” he added.

“Really?” Ariella mused, gently pulling her fingers through her messy dark hair.

“Really” Gerard replied “I mean, I still want it to be our day, and I want for us to be the ones who make the decisions, but I am glad that you’ve got people who want to help. This is supposed to be an exciting time and I don’t want you to get stressed out. We’re getting married, Ella” he enthused with a soft smile.

Ariella stared up at him for a second, admiring the way his expression brightened at the mention of their engagement, before her phone let out another vibration, something which caused her to shake her head, a playful sight slipping out of her mouth. “She’s on her way over” she mused, scanning over the text message that her mother had sent to her before she looked up at Gerard, flashing him a small sheepish smile.

Gerard shook his head before he reached his hand out, offering hers a soft squeeze. “I’m going to have to get pretty used to this, aren’t I?” he quipped, happily knotting his fingers with hers.

Ariella smiled shyly, messing with his fingers for a couple of seconds before she nodded her head. “It’s what you get for asking me to marry you” she joked.

Gerard breathed out a soft laugh before he gently lifted her hand, pressing a soft kiss against the finger which sported her engagement ring. Smiling, he pressed another couple of kisses against her skin before the sound of Toby’s stirring emanating away from the baby monitor reached his ears, causing him to stand up before he leant over, pressing a quick kiss against her lips before he attempted to walk away. Ariella, however, held onto him for a couple of seconds longer, smiling into their kiss before she pulled away from him, something which made Gerard chuckle as he stepped out of the room.

~#~
“So” Estella quipped as she plopped down onto Ariella’s couch “How long is your adorable fiancé out of town for?” she added, sparing a glance towards Ariella who stood a little away from her, gently lowering Toby down into his travel cot for his nap.

It had been a pleasant morning, with Gerard having departed before Estella had arrived, the two women had enjoyed a leisurely brunch before they’d settled into the living room, and Estella had enjoyed herself, even if they hadn’t quite gotten around to talking about the wedding. She had merely enjoyed spending the morning watching her daughter who seemed to glow with happiness. It wasn’t new, as soon as Ariella had found out about her pregnancy with Toby, it seemed to have cemented the idea that she and Gerard were meant to end up together, but she was pleased to see her daughter so at ease. A small part of her, a very small part, had been concerned that Ariella would freak out when faced with the idea that she and Gerard could be together for the rest of her life.

Ariella, who’d taken a step away from the crib, shrugged. “About ten days” she mused “They’ve got a few matches dotted across America before they come back here in time for the super cup” she explained as she sat down beside her mother.

Estella nodded. “You miss him yet?” she quipped, impishly poking Ariella’s side.

Ariella rolled her eyes. “He’s been gone for nearly three hours” she pointed out.

“So that’s a yes?” Estella countered.

Ariella shook her head, but couldn’t hide the blush which had spread across her cheeks, something which made Estella smile before she gently lifted her hand, tucking some of her daughter’s dark hair behind her ear. “You two are so cute” she fussed, patting Ariella’s cheek softly.

“Madre” Ariella complained softly “Didn’t you come over with a few ideas for the wedding?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

Estella merely smiled at her, patting her cheek a couple more times before she leant forwards, moving to collect a few bridal magazines from the coffee table in front of her. “How is the planning coming?” she posed.

Ariella shrugged. “We’ve agreed one a few things” she mused “We both want something pretty small, both of ours families, a few select friends, but nothing crazy. You know how I feel about crowds. We’ve obviously settled on a date and I’ve asked Antonella to be my maid of honor whilst Cesc has pretty much just assumed that he’s Gerard’s best man. I don’t think Geri’s asked him” she babbled, a soft smile on her lips.

Estella watched for a few seconds, marveling at the words which had fallen out of her mouth, before she leant towards her, wrapping her in a tight hug which caught Ariella off guard for a second before she returned the hug just as tightly. “You OK, mama?” she breathed with a small laugh as she pulled back.

Estella nodded. “I’m fine” she mused “In fact, I’m amazing. It’s for real, isn’t it? My little girl is going to have a husband” she gushed excitedly. She knew what had happened, with weeks having passed since Gerard had proposed, she knew that her little girl was getting married, but still she was in awe of it, even if she was exceedingly giddy about the idea. She couldn’t quite believe that her little girl was sat in front of her, gushing excitedly about her own wedding day.

Ariella merely grinned and nodded. “I’m getting married, mama” she enthused brightly.

Estella let out another giddy giggle before she wrapped Ariella into another tight hug, wordlessly gushing about how proud she was of her daughter. She’d come a long way from the girl who’d messed up with Gerard the first time around and Estella doubted that she could have been happier for either Gerard or Ariella.