I Know I Was for a While

Stifling a soft yawn into her hand, Camila quirked a sleepy smile, her dark eyes settled on Sam who was laying on the mattress next to her, his own eyes blinking sleepily. It was late, after Oscar’s birthday party had run a little longer than she or Lionel had anticipated, they’d not been able to get Oscar or Sam to get to sleep a lot before nine at night, but she was pleased by how the day had gone, even if it had run long. She had adored watching their friends and family make a fuss of Oscar who’d seemingly enjoyed each and every second of it.

Allowing another soft yawn to slip out of her mouth, she lightly messed with the tufts of dark hair which sat on the top of Sam’s head before she gently shook her head, her eyes catching sight of Lionel who’d stopped in the doorway, a warm expression spread over his features.

Quirking a small smile, she briefly contemplated teasing him, before she gently moved her hand, patting the empty side of the bed.

Lionel tilted his head slightly, wordlessly asking if she was sure that he wasn’t disturbing her, before he shuffled towards the bed, gently settling down into the space that she had offered to him. “He’s not asleep yet” he mumbled quietly, not wanting to disturb Sam.

“Not quite” Camila replied “Is Oscar?” she asked, lifting her eyes away from Sam so that they mirrored Lionel’s.

Lionel, who’d been quietly messing with the material of Sam’s onesie, nodded. “It took some work” he mused “I mean, I managed to get through two stories before he even started to look sleepy, but he’s asleep now, unlike this little one” he added, smiling a little as Sam looked up at him, a tiny smile on his face.

Camila rolled her eyes, but couldn’t keep her soft smile off of her face, something which made Lionel grin before he lightly shifted his hand, gently pushing some of her dark hair off of her face. Allowing his hand to linger, he gently brushed his thumb along the line of her cheekbone before he dropped it down, gently tracing it up and down her side. “Did you enjoy today?” he asked quietly, disturbing the comfortable silence which had lingered between the two of them.

Camila, who’d turned her eyes back towards Sam, smiled a little at his question before she nodded. “I did” she confirmed “I think Oscar had a great time” she added,

Lionel let out a laugh, flinching slightly as he realized how loud it was, before he shook his head, sparing a glance down towards Sam in order to make sure that he’d not disturbed him.

Camila shook her head, grinning gently to herself, before shifted her hand, settling it on his which still traced up and down her side. “What about you?” she asked “My mother didn’t scare you too much, did she?” she asked, her voice caught between playful and soft.

Lionel shrugged, gently knotting their fingers together. “No more than usual” he played along.

“Leo...”

“She was fine” Lionel interrupted, knowing that Camila was about to press him for a more serious answer “She was just fussing, Mila, she does that sometimes. She’s pretty excited about us, you know” he added, his voice growing teasing once more.

Camila rolled her eyes. “I’d noticed” she played along “If it wasn’t for him, I think she would have spent the last year bombarding me with wedding magazines until I had no choice but to make plans, just to shut her up” she added warmly, gesturing towards Sam who’d quietly drifted off to sleep in between them.

Lionel snorted out a quiet laugh, his fingertips moving to brush over the engagement ring that she wore on her finger. “I’m amazed that that stopped her” he quipped “I actually think that she was more excited about me proposing than I was” he added impishly.

Camila marveled at the playful expression he wore on his face for a moment, allowing a couple of beats of silence to pass between them, before she shook her head, allowing a more timid giggle to fall out of her mouth. “Can you believe it’s been a year since you asked?” she asked quietly.

Lionel’s smile softened a little. “I still can’t believe that I actually managed to ask” he mused “The words did not come out easily” he added.

“It was perfect” Camila fussed.

Lionel scoffed, but didn’t say anything else, something which caused Camila to squeeze his hand gently. “We should pick a date” she murmured after a few moments of silence.

Lionel, who’d turned over onto his back, blinked a couple of times, before he turned back to look at her, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “What?” he asked.

“A wedding date” Camila clarified “We should choose one. We should start making some plans” she added, a shy smile growing across her face.

Lionel’s expression brightened. “Yeah?” he asked.

“You seem surprised” Camila commented, her voice caught between teasing and shy.

“I am” Lionel replied.

“That I want to marry you?” Camila retorted “Because, I would have thought that me saying yes when you asked would have given it away” she teased uncertainly.

It wasn’t something they’d talked a lot about, with her falling pregnant with Sam very quickly after Lionel had asked her to marry him, the topic of their wedding was one which had very fleetingly come up in conversation, and she felt a little wary about talking about it, not quite sure where it was that both of them stood. They hadn’t talked about it, after the proposal, they’d taken a lot of time to get used to the idea and that had been quickly followed by the discovery that she was expecting Sam, and it meant that they’d never really discussed wedding plans, something which made Camila apprehensive, not sure whether it was something that Lionel saw in their near or distant future.

Lionel smirked, not missing the shyness in her voice, before he turned onto his side once more, his hand gently moving to push a few more loose hairs back off of her face. “I’m surprised that you’re thinking about making plans right now” he clarified “I mean, you did only have a baby two months ago. No one would blame you for wanting some more time before we started to plan a wedding” he added.

Camila looked up at him. “You don’t want to start making plans?” she asked.

Lionel shook his head, a crooked smile on his face. “I didn’t say that” he retorted before Sam let out a small sound, something which caused him to shuffle back to his feet. Leaning back across the bed, he lifted the baby into his arms before he stepped across the room, settling him down into his crib.

Camila watched him for a few seconds before she shuffled back to her feet, padding over to him before she settled her arms around his waist, cuddling into him for a few seconds. “I want to marry you” she murmured, pressing a kiss to a spot just below his ear “Sooner or later, I don’t care, I just...”

“We’ll pick a date” Lionel interrupted, settling his hands over hers “The sooner the better” he added, turning his head so that he could offer her a soft smile.

Camila admired his smile before she leant forwards, pressing their lips together happily.