When We Were

Still fiddling with her hair, Emilia jogged through the apartment, her ears listening to the insistent knocking which emanated away from the front door. It wasn’t like the knocking had woken her up, with Luca due to be with Isaac until the middle of the morning, she had woken up early to make the most of the couple of hours of quiet she had before the little boy came home, and she was irked that it appeared to be over so soon. She didn’t have much planned, only a quiet breakfast in front of the television to catch up on shows she didn’t watch with Luca around, but still she was disappointed that it’d been interrupted. It was a part of the weekend that she looked forwards to.

Holding a couple of hairclips in her mouth, she hurriedly fixed her ponytail before she pulled the front door open, her eyes widening a little at the sight of Isaac and Luca who stood in the hallway. Blinking a couple of times, she collected the clips out of her mouth before she tilted her head, offering them a slightly confused smile. “You’re not supposed to be here yet” she quipped.

Isaac shook his head before he gently patted Luca’s shoulder. “Why don’t you get inside, Luca?” he asked “I need to have a word with your mama” he added.

Luca tried to move away, but Emilia quickly stopped him, turning him back towards Isaac. “What do you say to your papa?” she quipped.

Luca didn’t hesitate, his arms almost instantly wrapping around Isaac’s middle. “I love you, papa” he mumbled softly.

Isaac’s face lit up with a soft smile before he dipped down, kissing the top of the little boy’s head softly. “I love you too, buddy” he mumbled “I’ll see you next week, yeah?” he added as he stood back up, straightening out the pajama shirt that the little boy still wore.

Luca offered him a sleepy smile. “Adios, papa” he mumbled before he stepped inside, allowing Emilia to tug the door to behind him before she turned back to look at Isaac, her arms folding over her chest.

Isaac watched Luca shuffle into the apartment before he glanced up at Emilia, a faint smirk tugging the corner of his lips upwards. “Interrupting something, am I?” he asked impishly.

“No” Emilia replied “I mean, unless you’re interested in hearing about the coffee I was planning to make. What are you doing here, Isaac? I thought the two of you had plans for this morning?” she added, her voice softening a little.

Isaac shifted his feet slightly, his stare falling down to his feet. “We did” he confirmed “But I got a call from the hospital this morning and they need me in to cover for one of the others doctors whose wife’s having a baby. You know I wouldn’t do this lightly, Emmy” he added, glancing up at her awkwardly.

He could tell that she was disappointed to see him so soon, as much as she had tried to hide it with her smile when she had opened the door, he knew her well enough to know that he’d seen hints of disappointment in her eyes when she’d looked at him, and he wanted to make it clear to her that he didn’t have a choice. He wanted to stay home, he wanted to spend the morning with Luca doing all the things that the little boy loved doing, but he couldn’t, no matter how much he wanted to, and he wanted Emilia to know it. He didn’t want her to think that he was opting out of spending time with Luca.

Emilia met his stare, searching his eyes for a second before she nodded. “Has he had breakfast?” she asked.

“He was still half asleep when I got him into the car” Isaac replied.

“His bag?” Emilia prodded.

“Still at my place” Isaac replied “I can bring it by after I’m done at work” he added.

Emilia shook her head, fiddling with the bottom of her t-shirt. “It wouldn’t hurt you to have more of his stuff at your place” she mused “I mean, you’ve seen how messy he gets. A few more changes of clothes would be handy to have, no?” she prodded, offering him a small shy smile.

Isaac nodded his head slowly. “It can’t hurt” he mused “And talking of ‘messy’. Your...friend, Leo. He’s not here?”” he added.

Emilia fought the urge to scoff and roll her eyes, instead simply opting to shake her head. “No” she replied “And even if he was, I don’t think that that would have anything at all to do with you, Isaac. Last I checked, my dating life didn’t have anything to do with my ex-boyfriend” she added.

Isaac shook his head. “If he’s going to be around, shouldn’t I know?” he asked “I mean, I’d like to know if he’s going to get to meet Luca again before he goes back to Spain. Is he?” he added.

Emilia glanced down at her feet before she gently shrugged her shoulders, a soft sigh falling out of her mouth. “We’ve not talked about it” she admitted gently “I mean, there’s a lot we’ve not talked about yet, Isaac, but I would suggest that it will be a while before introduce the two of the properly” she added.

Isaac lifted a curious eyebrow. “Really?” he asked.

Emilia rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what we’re doing yet, but as soon as I do, I’ll be sure to let you know, Isaac, after all, you’ve always been so quick to tell me about your love life” she grumbled sarcastically.

Isaac snorted. “You act like I have a love life, Emmy” he countered, a boyish smirk on his face.

Emilia shook her head, not wanting to rise to his bait and admit that she knew about the two other women that he had seen since things between them had ended. She hadn’t wanted to know, after the way things had worked out between the two of them, the last thing she had wanted was to hear about how easily Isaac had moved on, but Jordi had inadvertently told her, blurting it out whilst he had been ranting about how much he, and the rest of Emilia’s family, disliked the doctor.

Taking a breath, she composed herself before she lifted her hand, tucking her hair off of her face. “I’ll tell you if I decide to introduce Luca and Leo” she mused “But I don’t think it’s going to be something that happens for a while. Me and Leo...it’s up in the air at the moment and I’d hate for Luca to get used to him only for things not to work out. Our little boy loves easily” she cooed, her expression softening at the mention of Luca.

Isaac reached his hand out, tucking aside a few stray hairs that she had missed. “He gets that from you” he mumbled softly.

Emilia’s head jerked backwards at Isaac’s touch before she shook her head, staring down at the floor. “You’ll bring his bag back?” she asked.

Isaac let out a breath before he nodded. “Sure” he confirmed “And Emmy, with Leo...”

“Don’t” Emilia interrupted “I’ll see you next week, yes?” she asked.

Isaac smirked before he nodded his head. “Like every other week” he chirped, not being at all subtle in reminding her that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Emilia nodded. “Adios, Isaac” she muttered before she stepped inside the apartment, closing the door with a soft thump. Resting against it, she took a couple of calming breaths before she progressed through towards the living room, dropping a kiss on the side of Luca’s head which caused the little boy to look up at her, his eyes soft and sleepy. “Hungry?” she asked.

Luca nodded. “Pancakes?” he asked softly.

Emilia grinned, kissing his head again. “Coming right up” she mumbled into his hair.