Can’t Look Away

“Are you dressed yet?”

Lionel startled, his sleepy stare drifting towards the partially closed bedroom before he let out a sigh of relief, glad to find that Sasha wasn’t in the doorway. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. With Sasha’s family due to come over to meet the baby, she had sent him upstairs to take a shower, but it hadn’t taken him long to drift off. They were both exhausted. The baby didn’t like to sleep at night. Once he was settled, he barely mustered an hour at a time before he was crying for his parents, and it meant that, whenever they could, Lionel and Sasha took the chance to nap.

Pushing himself up, he let out a soft yawn before the door swung open, causing him to quirk a sheepish smile up at Sasha who stood in the doorway, the baby settled in her arms. “I might need a few more minutes” he quipped.

Sasha’s lips quirked slightly. “Did I wake you?” she asked.

“What makes you think that?” Lionel countered.

“He spit up on that t-shirt an hour ago” Sasha pointed out, gesturing to a stain on his chest “You didn’t even make it to the shower?” she asked.

Lionel glanced down at the stain on his t-shirt before he let out a soft sigh, shaking his head slightly. “I just sat down for a moment” he mused “I must have drifted off. Are people here yet?” he prodded.

Sasha padded further into the room, carefully sitting down on the edge of the bed next to him, before she leant close to him, touching a gentle kiss to his temple. Lionel let out a contented sigh at the contact before he shook his head, a soft smile brightening his features as he looked down at the snoozing baby. “Do you want me to take him for a bit?” he asked “I’ll change t-shirts and then I can take him downstairs. You could get a little more sleep” he offered.

Sasha shook her head, her eyes not moving away from the baby. “Everyone will be here soon” she mused “And as much as they love you, I think they’d like to see me too. I mean, I think he’s going to take up most of the attention, but I don’t relish the idea of waking up to my mother hovering over our bed” she added, a teasing smile quirking up the corner of her mouth.

Lionel let out a laugh that was slightly too loud, something which caused the baby to stir and Sasha to lift her head, levelling a playful glare in his direction. Quirking a sheepish smile, he held up his hands innocently before he lowered them, carefully scooping the sleeping baby out of Sasha’s arms. Lifting him up, he pressed a soft kiss to the fine layer of dark hair that covered the top of his head before the doorbell chimed, something which caused both him and Sasha to sigh lightly.

They had put it off for as long as they could. After the baby had arrived, they’d plied their friends and families with pictures of him, hoping it would keep them at bay for a little while, but they knew that they couldn’t keep them away forever. They wanted to meet him. They wanted to hold him and coo over him whilst they were in the same room, and whilst Lionel and Sasha would have been more than happy to keep him to themselves for longer, they had eventually relented.

“I still need to change” Lionel noted.

Sasha nodded before she collected the baby out of his arms and stood up again. “You won’t fall asleep again, will you?” she quipped as she stopped in the doorway, a teasing smile on her face.

Lionel shrugged, smiling back at her boyishly. “I make no promises” he retorted.

“I’ll send my mother after you” Sasha teased.

“Then, I will see you in a few minutes” Lionel quipped, causing Sasha to laugh as she padded down the hall.

~#~
Smothering a yawn in his hand, Lionel leant back against the kitchen counter, listening to the soft rumble of the kettle and distant sound of Sasha’s laughter. She was happy. As much as they had loved having their son to themselves, Lionel knew that she had been itching to introduce him to the important people in her life, and the experience hadn’t let her down. She was proud of their son and she wanted to show him off to people she knew would love him too.

Closing his eyes, he ran a hand over his face, trying to stave off his fatigue until he heard someone clear their throat. Slowly, he lowered his hand, his eyes narrowing on Leila who stood on the other side of the kitchen. They hadn’t wanted to invite her. After the kiss, they had seen very little of her and Olivier, and they had made little effort to bridge the gap that they had grown between them, but Carina had insisted and eventually, Sasha had relented and convinced Lionel to let her come.

Leila held up her hands, offering him an innocent smile. “I just came to tell you that my father changed his mind about having a drink” she mused “He would have come himself, but he’s holding your baby” she added.

Lionel’s expression remained wary, but he nodded his head, moving to collect another mug from the cupboard.

“He looks like you” Leila chirped, desperate to break the silence that had settled between them “Your son” she added.

“You think so?” Lionel’s voice was even, his stare didn’t move away from the kettle which still rumbled softly.

Leila sighed. “Leo...”

“Don’t” Lionel interrupted “Don’t try and apologise. We’ve done this before, and you didn’t mean it then. I don’t expect this time to be any different” he added, his hands gripping the edge of the counter.

Leila shook her head. “We were friends, once” she pointed out.

“Were we?” Lionel countered “Or did we just share some friends in common and take advantage of one another when we were both on the back of bad breakups?” he added.

Leila blinked a couple of times before she shook her head. “I’m just trying to make things better” she murmured

“Make things better?” Lionel’s voice grew louder before he shook his head, taking a calming breath.

“Leo...”

“Sasha ended up in hospital” Lionel interrupted “I tried to be a good potential brother-in-law. I tried to comfort you when you were crying, and you repaid that kindness by doing something that almost broke me and Sasha up. She got so upset, she stopped taking care of herself properly whilst she was pregnant and she ended up in hospital, and still you didn’t make a move to clear the air with her. You keep trying to make things better, but after you do, you screw them up again, and then you expect me and Sasha to want to make them right again? Not this time, Leila” he added.

Leila was quiet for a moment, taking in what he had said, before she shook her head, tucking her hair back behind her ear. “Why couldn’t you just be with someone else?” she asked quietly “You could have anybody. Why has it got to be my little sister?” she added.

Lionel shook his head. “I don’t know why, but it is her” he replied.

“I wish it wasn’t” Leila muttered “I love my husband, but you are...the one who got away. The one I always wonder about, and you’re everywhere now. You’re at every family party, you’re the father of my nephew. Sometimes, I wish you’d never met her” she added.

"But I did" Lionel countered "And she makes me happy, Leila, and I like to think I make her happy, too. We're not doing this to hurt you, but it's not going anywhere. I love her, she loves me. We've got a son together. You're stuck with us" he added.

Leila opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off as Sasha appeared in the doorway, her eyes flitting anxiously between them.

“Sasha?” Lionel prodded.

Sasha’s stare moved back to him. “Are you OK?” she asked.

Lionel offered her a small, comforting smile before he nodded. “I’m fine” he mused “Did you need something?” he asked.

“I want to share the name” Sasha replied “I figured you ought to be in there, too” she added.

Lionel didn’t hesitate. He pushed away from the counter and crossed the room, following Sasha back towards the living room without so much as a glance back at Leila who stared after the two of them, a soft frown on her face.

Entering the room, he watched Sasha collect their son from her father’s arms before stepped close to her, his arm settling comfortably around her waist.

Sasha smiled bashfully, the tops of her cheeks flushing a gentle shade of pink, before she cleared her throat. “We’ve picked a name” she revealed “We’re going to call him Arlo” she added.

The room erupted in soft chatter, everyone cooing over the name, something which caused Lionel to bend over, touching a kiss to the top of Sasha’s head. He knew that things with Leila would never be easy. They had a history, one that Leila didn’t seem to want to let go of, and it was always going to make things tense, but Lionel knew that he could put up with it, and that he would put up with it, for Sasha.