You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Three: Slowing Coming Around

"I can't believe that you are going to be a mummy," Francesca gushed smiling as she set down a drink in front of Gabriella, it hadn't taken long for the news to get out especially after Gabriella had told Theresa what was going on. 

Gabriella had of course kept the identity of the father a secret, she didn't want to tell anyone about that until she knew what Joe was going to do; at the moment it looked like he wasn't going to do anything. 

Everyone had been so supportive when the news had gotten out that Gabriella was going to have a baby; they were all curious about the father but could see that Gabriella wasn't going to be sharing that piece of information. 

"Have you thought about names?" Francesca asked, she had two boys herself and she adored them so much; she knew that Gabriella was going to be a wonderful mother. 

Gabriella shook her head, it was still a little too early for her to be doing that, she was only ten weeks in and she didn't want to make any big decisions just yet. 

"I want to wait until I know the gender," Gabriella replied knowing that she couldn't admit that she was sort of waiting for Joe to make up his mind on what he wanted to do. 

Gabriella didn't want to exclude him from any decisions and she knew that there was a chance that he could refuse to have anything to do with the baby but that would be his own decision. 

Francesca moved to say something when there was a knock at the door, she furrowed her brow moving to answer it and paused at the sight of Joe Hart standing outside. 

Joe blinked staring at Francesca for a moment before she quickly excused herself leaving Gabriella alone with the footballer; he stepped into the office and firmly shut the door behind them. 

Gabriella could only stare at him, she didn't know why he was here and she doubted that the visit had anything to do with the wedding he was planning.

"How are you?" Joe asked stuffing his hands into his pockets, he knew that things weren't going to be easy; she was going to have his baby no matter what he said and that alone worried him. 

Joe had done a lot of thinking in the four weeks since Gabriella had told him that she was pregnant, he knew what he needed to do and he hoped that he had come to the right decision. 

"I'm good," Gabriella murmured watching as Joe sat down across from her, she had no idea what was going to happen but it looked like he had come to his decision and that worried her. 

The last time Gabriella had seen Joe, he had been with his fiancée and she could only imagine what was going through his mind right now; she just hoped that he wasn't going to do something he would regret. 

Joe nodded his head, he felt so awkward and he wished that he knew what to say to the woman that was carrying his baby; he couldn't imagine this getting any easier for them anytime soon. 

Joe opened and closed his mouth trying to ask about the baby, he could barely remember the image that he had been shown and his mind had tried to picture it several times since he had bumped into Gabriella two weeks earlier. 

"You don't have to look so awkward," Gabriella teased a little, she doubted that things would get any better if he kept trying to put distance between them; she wanted him to relax since she wasn't trying to steal his money or ruin his life. 

Joe smiled weakly, he felt so nervous and he didn't want to say something that would send Gabriella running to the press; he knew she'd get a lot of money if she sold her story. 

Georgina still had no idea about what was going on and Joe knew that she was going to be furious when she found out.

The two sat in silence for a moment not sure what to say to one another, they had things to talk about but they weren't sure what to do; they had to talk if they were going to sort this out. 

"I have another sonogram picture if you want to see," Gabriella said smiling a little at Joe, she'd had another scan last week to keep the baby's heartbeat; it had been an amazing moment and she wished that she could have shared it with Joe. 

Joe nodded his head, he watched as Gabriella moved to search through her bag and he couldn't help but be a little excited about this; he had been so shocked last time that he could barely remember what he had been looking at. 

Gabriella handed over the scan, she smiled watching Joe's face as he stared down at the image of his baby; it was a lot easier now to see the small bean that was their baby. 

Joe stared at the image, his stomach twisted at the thought of this being his baby, he felt warmth fill him and he had no idea what to say about what he was looking at. 

"You can keep it if you like," Gabriella offered knowing that it was only far, she knew this wasn't easy for him and she wanted him to have a picture of their little baby. 

Gabriella had put together a small box of things in case Joe missed anything, it was filled with letters and information about the baby and she was going to keep it going until she knew what was going on. 

"Are you sure?" Joe asked looking at Gabriella, he was sure she'd want to keep the scan picture since he wasn't really doing much; he had thought he knew what he wanted to do but now he wasn't so sure. 

Gabriella nodded her head, she wanted him to have something and this picture was a lot better than the last one; their baby didn't really look like a jellybean as much now as it had done. 

Joe swallowed looking back down at the picture, he felt a bond forming between him and his unborn child; it scared him and he knew this would change everything for him now.

***

Joe sighed stepping into his home, he ran his fingers through his hair as he wondered what he was going to do now; he had the scan picture in his pocket and he knew that he couldn't let Georgina find it. 

Joe was relieved to find that Georgina wasn't home, he pulled the scan from his pocket and stared at it; this was his baby and he couldn't believe that he was actually going to be a father. 

Joe groaned setting down the picture, he pulled a cheque out of his jacket pocket and stared at it, he had planned on paying Gabriella off and forgetting about all of this but he felt incredibly guilty now for even considering it. 

Joe ripped the cheque up and binned it, he was going to have to tell his fiancée that he had gotten another woman pregnant and he knew that it could end things between them. 

Joe picked up the sonogram picture, this was his baby and he couldn't just ignore that fact now that he had seen this picture; it looked so human now compared with that last picture and he couldn't forget that. 

"Joe are you home?" called a voice making Joe quickly hid the picture in a book, he smiled getting up to greet his fiancée; now was not the time to drop the bomb on her. 

Joe had no idea how he was going to tell his family and friends about this, his life was going to change so much and he knew that the media would have a field day about this. 

Joe wanted to reveal the truth when the time was right, he didn't know when that would be but he did know that he had to take this slow. 

Georgina smiled walking into the living room with a load of shopping bags, she had spent the day buying clothes for her already overly full wardrobe; she moved to kiss Joe pleased that he was home already.