If It Gave Us Time

Carefully smoothing out the material of her t-shirt, Isla spared a cautious glance towards the mirror, meticulously scanning her reflection for any obvious sign of the small bump which had started to develop on her stomach. It had been a while, after they’d visited their midwife for the first time, a few weeks had passed, and with her having moved into the second trimester of her pregnancy, a small bump had started to appear, something both Gerard and Isla adored seeing, even if they had been trying to hide the news of her pregnancy until she’d passed the twelve week mark. Neither one of them could quite contain the smile that itched to grow across their face at the sight of their little bump.

Gently tugging on the bottom of her shirt, she ensured that it fell a little better against her stomach before she caught sight of Gerard in the mirror’s reflection, something which caused her to shake her head, a small smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. “I don’t want to ruin the surprise” she mused, messing with her shirt a little more.

Gerard, who was watching her from the doorway, shook his head. “I don’t think you will” he quipped “I mean, we’ve seen both of our parents in the last few weeks, and they’ve not noticed. I doubt today will be any different” he added as he stepped towards her, happily settling his hands against her stomach.

Isla smiled a little, admiring their reflection in the mirror, before she shook her head, gently lifting her hands to cover his. “You know, my parents, my mother especially, are going to go crazy over this, don’t you?” she mumbled.

“Your mother goes crazy over everything” Gerard pointed out with a smirk.

Isla rolled her eyes, something which made Gerard chuckle before he dipped forwards, kissing the top of her head gently. “They’re about to be grandparents again, Lala” he murmured “I think they’re allowed to be a little crazy about that. I mean, the idea of you carrying Sprout, that’s pretty exciting, no?” he asked, smiling a little at the nickname that they’d started to use to talk about the baby.

Isla’s expression softened a little, a soft smile flitting around her lips. “I guess so” she teased.

Gerard scoffed playfully, something which made Isla giggle gently before she leant up, kissing his cheek softly. “Are you still sure about today?” she asked.

Gerard nodded. “Certain” he quipped “Both sets of parents are going to be in the same place at the same time. It makes sense, no?” he asked.

Isla nodded. “It does” she agreed “I just thought I’d offer to postpone. I mean, you said it yourself, they’ve not noticed my bump yet” she added.

Gerard shook his head. “We can’t hide Sprout forever” he noted “And I want to tell them, rather than have them figure it out for themselves, something we can only really do whilst no one really notices that you have a bump. I mean, in a few weeks, there’s not going to be much room for denying it” he added, carefully drawing his thumb over her stomach.

Isla watched the movement of his thumb, briefly contemplating making a teasing retort, before she nodded her head slowly. “We should go then” she mused “I mean, if we’re late, my mother won’t let us hear the end of it” she added with a small smile.

Gerard rolled his eyes slightly. “She knows it’s just dinner, right?” he asked.

Isla smirked. “My mother’s a fusser” she pointed out “And you know that. You think she’s been bad until now? You’ve not seen anything yet” she quipped before she stepped away from him, ducking out of the room as he shook his head to himself.

~#~
“Has everyone got enough food? Montserrat? Joan?” Eva fussed as she walked around the table, topping up Daniel’s glass of water. it had been a good evening, despite both Isla and Gerard being a little nervous and distracted, they’d both been quick to notice how easily both sets of parents had gotten on with one another, and it was a relief to the couple, even if their parents had known each other for as long as Isla and Gerard had known each other. It was a relief to them that there was still a good rapport between the two sets of parents.

“We’ve got plenty” Joan replied “Why don’t you sit down, Eva? I don’t think you’ve actually done that since we got here” he joked politely.

Eva smiled and padded towards her seat, sitting down beside Gerard’s mother. “I just wanted to make sure that things went well” she mused “I mean, with things going so well between these two, the chances are that we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other” she added, sparing a glance towards Isla and Gerard who sat on the opposite side of the table, mumbling between themselves.

“It’s been lovely” Montserrat mused “I mean, it’d be a bit better if our children could pull themselves away from each other long enough to join in, but...” she trailed off, smiling playfully.

Eva laughed gently. “Don’t take it personally” she mused “When Gerard is around, I’ve grown accustomed to Isla barely looking at me” she quipped, noticing that neither Isla nor Gerard made an attempt to look over at her.

Shaking her head, she offered a pleasant smile to Gerard’s parents before she shifted her foot beneath the table, gently bumping it against Isla’s leg.

Isla, who’d been talking quietly to Gerard, visibly jumped at the feel of the slight kick before she turned towards her mother. “What?” she pressed.

“We were just wondering if you’d noticed the rest of us” Eva chirped “You two seem more wrapped up in each other than normal” she added.

Isla shook her head. “Sorry” she mumbled.

“Don’t worry about it” Daniel quipped “We’re used to it” he added with a smirk.

Isla rolled her eyes before she gently shifted in her seat, something which caused Gerard to reach over, gently squeezing her hand. “We were actually talking about something to do with you” he announced, smiling a little at Isla.

“You were?” Eva pressed.

Gerard nodded. “Isla’s been working on something” he noted “And we were trying to find the right moment to bring it up. Now seems good to me. Isla?” he asked.

Isla nodded, a nervous smile on her face. “Now seems good” she agreed.

Gerard offered her another small smile before he shuffled his seat back, ducking out of the room for a few seconds before he returned, a neatly decorated scrap book held in his hands which he was quick to present to Isla’s mother. “Isla loves pictures” he announced “I mean, you’ve seen our place, right? It’s covered in them and we thought it’d be nice to start putting together a few albums. We were wondering if you had any pictures you wanted to add” he added.

Eva, who was looking down at the book, glanced up at him. “Can we look at what you have so far?” she asked.

Gerard and Isla shared a look, odd expressions on their faces, before the defender nodded. “Of course” he confirmed.

Eva frowned a little, not missing the strange expressions which had passed over the younger couple’s faces, before she turned to the book, flicking it open. Flipping through the first few pages, she and Montserrat exchanged a few smiles and comments, gushing about how sweet both Gerard and Isla looked as children, before they reached the last page, something which caused them both to pause, their expressions softening slightly.

Daniel, who’d been watching them, tilted his head. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

Eva didn’t look at him, instead glancing across the table at Gerard and Isla. “You...?”

“What?” Daniel pressed.

Eva shook her head and lifted the book up, showing off the page which featured two pictures, a photograph of Isla and Gerard showing off a pregnancy test, and the baby’s latest ultrasound photo.

Daniel blinked a couple of times before he let out a soft laugh, shaking his head to himself. “I owe Rodrigo money” he announced.

Eva scoffed. “That’s all you can say?” she pressed “Our daughter’s pregnant and all you can say is that you owe Rodrigo money?” she added.

Daniel shook his head. “I thought my being over the moon went without saying” he quipped “I mean, how could I be anything but that?” he added as he turned towards the younger couple, grinning.

Isla chewed on her lip gently. “You’re really happy?” she asked hesitantly.

“Of course we are, baby” Eva breathed “How could we not be?” she added.

Isla shrugged, something which made Eva shake her head before she stood up, quickly pulling both Isla and Gerard into a tight hug.

Montserrat followed suit, hugging Isla carefully before she grinned up at Gerard, patting his cheek softly. “Congratulations” she gushed.

Gerard just grinned sheepishly, something which made his mother laugh softly before she turned back to Isla, happily fussing over her with Eva who was already fussing about how she was hoping for a granddaughter. Shaking his head, he watched both his and Isla’s fathers offer their congratulations before he caught her eye, something which made them both smile, both relieved and excited by how well the news had gone down.