Like You Did Before

Letting out a soft huff, Matilda allowed the bottom of her dress to slip through her fingers, grimacing when it settled against her stomach, highlighting her baby bump. It was bigger than it had been at the same point when she was pregnant with Lola. She had been told that it would be, Louisa had been quick to go over all of the things that would be different in her second pregnancy than in her first, but still Matilda had been surprised by how quickly the bump had appeared. She had been almost eighteen weeks pregnant when she had started to show properly with Lola, and even then, the bump hadn’t been quite as prominent as the one she was carrying that time around.

Sighing softly, she smoothed her hands over her bump before she stepped out of the bathroom, making her way back into the bedroom.

Iker, who was helping Lola to play with one of her toys on the bed, looked up at the sound of her footsteps, his easy smile fading when he spotted the expression on her face. “Everything alright?” he asked.

Matilda, who’d moved to slip her feet into her shoes, hesitated for a beat before she nodded, another soft sigh falling out of her mouth. “I’m OK” she answered “Just feeling a little...hormonal. I love our bump, but this morning, it feels a little huge. This is the loosest dress I have for work, but you can still see it” she added, gesturing to her stomach.

Iker didn’t respond for a moment. He just stared at her, his forehead furrowed, something which caused Matilda to shake her head, letting out a slightly rueful laugh. “Don’t look so worried” she mused “I’m not expecting you to come up with a solution. I’ll be fine. It’s just going to take some getting used to” she added.

Iker made sure that Lola was safely settled in the middle of the bed before he shuffled towards the end of it, extending a hand out towards Matilda. Matilda’s lips quirked amusedly before she put her hand into his, allowing him to draw her close enough that he could dip his head forwards, kissing her stomach softly. “Be nice to your mama” he murmured softly “She’s so excited about you, you know” he added.

Matilda laughed softly. “Do you think that’s going to work?” she asked.

Iker’s grin was wide and bright when he tilted his head up to look up at her. “It already has” he quipped “It made you laugh, didn’t it?” he added.

Matilda rolled her eyes, but couldn’t stop herself from grinning down at him. “Have I told you lately how glad I am that you’re here?” she asked.

“Not in the last week or so” Iker played along.

Matilda leant forwards to steal a kiss. “Well, I am glad” she said.

Iker wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing it briefly before Lola made a noise behind him, causing him to pull away from their embrace, quickly scooping the little girl into his arms.

Matilda took a second to watch them. She was just as smitten with the sight of Iker with Lola as she had been the first time he had held her in his arms as a newborn. Shaking her head, she reluctantly pulled her attention away from them, moving to collect her briefcase from it’s spot by the bedroom door.

“Don’t forget, we have plans tonight” Iker announced.

Matilda, who’d moved to collect her phone from the bedside table, offered him a nod and a smile. “Are you going to tell me what restaurant you’ve picked?” she asked.

“I’ll pick you up from your office” Iker answered “I want it to be a surprise” he added.

Matilda’s forehead furrowed slightly, but she didn’t question it. Instead, she pressed a quick kiss against Iker’s lips and Lola’s forehead before she padded out of the room. Iker listened to her footsteps as they moved away from the bedroom before he heard the soft thump of the front door, something which allowed him to lean forwards, picking his phone up from it’s spot on the bedside table. Quirking a soft smile, he sent a text to Luis, asking if the restaurant was ready for that night.

~#~
“Is today some kind of special occasion that I have forgotten about?”

Iker, who had his hands over Matilda’s eyes, chuckled amusedly. “If you’d forgotten it, what are the chances I would remember it?” he teased, carefully guiding her forwards through the door that Luis was holding open for him.

“I’m just trying to figure out why you’re making such a fuss” Matilda protested.

Iker caught Luis’s eye roll, causing him to laugh again, before he slowly pulled Matilda to a stop. “Can’t I just want to make a fuss every now and then?” he asked.

Matilda let out a quiet huff, but didn’t say another word.

Iker’s teasing smile softened a little before he leant forwards, kissing her shoulder softly as he took in the room around them. He knew what would happen. As soon as he pulled his hands away from Matilda’s face, she would take in the scene ahead of them, and then there would be no backing out. He knew that she would recognise it. He knew that she would see that the only table with a candle in the centre of it was the one he’d been sat at the first time he’d seen her, and that tucked beneath one of the napkins was a receipt that was almost identical to the one she had given to him with her phone number on the back of it, and he knew that once the memory clicked into place, it wouldn’t be the biggest jump in the world to figure out why they were there, something that terrified him.

He wanted to ask. He had wanted to ask for a long time, but the last time they had properly talked about the prospect of them getting married, Matilda had rejected the idea, something Iker was scared could happen again. Things were different than they had been. Their relationship was different, their entire lives had changed since Lola had come along, and he knew that that could have been enough to convince Matilda that they were ready, but until he had asked, and she had given him an answer, there was no way to know. He had to take the leap and hope that the outcome was the one he wanted.

Letting out a shaky breath, Iker leant his head against Matilda’s. “I’m going to pull my hands away now” he murmured.

“Are you OK?” Matilda asked.

Iker kissed the top of her head before he slowly slipped his hands away and took a step back from her.

Matilda blinked a few times, adjusting to the light, before she felt a soft smile blossom across her features. Without thinking, she took a couple of small steps closer to the table in front of her. “I saw you before you sat down, you know” she quipped, lightly brushing the tips of her fingers over the back of one of the chairs.

“I wanted you to be my waitress” Iker retorted “I was going to ask whoever came over to swap with you” he added.

Matilda laughed. “I asked for your table” she quipped.

“You did?” Iker asked.

Matilda didn’t turn to look at him, but she did smile fondly. “My mother was originally going to take your order, but I asked if I could do it” she replied “I don’t know if she regrets that or not, now” she added.

Iker laughed before he took a pace towards her, gently guiding her hand, which had been almost reverently tracing the table cloth, to the piece of paper that he had placed under the napkin. Matilda followed his movement easily, offering him a curious look over her shoulder, before she slipped it out of its place. Turning it over, she let out a quiet gasp at the two words which were scrawled onto the paper in thick black marker, just like the phone number she had written down years previous.

Feeling tears start to burn her eyes, she turned around, finding Iker on one knee in front of her, a nervous smile on his face. “So?” he asked.