You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Thirteen: Middle of the Night

Joe blinked confused hearing movement in the kitchen, he groaned rolling over to peek at the clock and saw that it was barely two in the morning; he sat up and wondered what was going on. 

Joe carefully climbed out of bed, he knew that Gabriella had been having trouble sleeping since she couldn't get comfortable; she was thirty-three weeks pregnant now and he wished that there was more he could do that. 

Everything had been so calm for them recently and Joe was now counting down the days until their daughter would arrive in January; he couldn't wait and he knew that Gabriella was starting to get a little frustrated. 

"Gabby?" Joe asked spotting the brunette rummaging through the cupboards, she was in her pyjamas and he was concerned that something might be wrong; he padded further into the room as Gabriella turned to face him. 

Gabriella blinked surprised to see Joe behind her, she tugged at her pyjamas nervously knowing that this wasn't what she had wanted to happen; she rested her hand on her lower back since she was starting to get cramps. 

"Is everything okay?" Joe asked concerned walking over to her, he wanted to help in any way that he could and he knew that she had been avoiding asking him for anything; he wanted to help out and he wished that she could see that. 

Gabriella stared at Joe for a moment, she knew that he was just trying to help but she didn't want to annoy him by asking for anything; her stomach grumbled and she could see the amused smile on Joe's face. 

"I really want a big mac and fries and a strawberry milkshake," Gabriella explained softly, she peeked at Joe knowing that there was little that they could do about it since it was the middle of the night. 

Joe stared at Gabriella for a moment before he nodded his head and went to get dressed so that he could track down the nearest McDonalds that had a drive-through.

***

Joe chuckled as he handed Gabriella the food, it was the first time that she'd had cravings as far as he knew and he was happy to help her out; he sat down on the couch next to her knowing that this was what he wanted. 

Gabriella carefully removed the top of her milkshake, she dipped one of her fries into it before she started to eat; Joe could only watched amused since he knew that it probably wasn't the weirdest thing that she could have wanted. 

Joe stretched leaning back on the couch, he closed his eyes for his moment knowing that he had training the next morning; he yawned a little before looking at Gabriella who was happily eating her food. 

"Better?" Joe asked softly, the last couple of months seemed to be flying by and he couldn't believe that they were practically a month away from welcoming their daughter into the world. 

Gabriella peeked at Joe and nodded her head, she had been trying to find cereal since she hadn't known what to do; she hadn't wanted to wake Joe up since he had training early in the morning. 

"You should go back to bed," Gabriella murmured looking at Joe, she didn't want to keep him up when he needed his sleep; she would make it up to him, she knew how much things were going to change when their daughter was born. 

Joe ran his fingers through his hair and looked at Gabriella, he knew that he would need to be focused tomorrow at training but this was more important than anything else. 

"I'm fine," Joe replied shaking his head, he continued to watch Gabriella knowing that he didn't mind being woken up like this; it was something that he could do when it came to helping her with the pregnancy.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" Joe asked changing the subject, he removed his trainers and put them out of the way so that there was no risk of Gabriella tripping over them and hurting herself. 

Joe's parents were traveling back to Shrewsbury to spend the holidays with his older sister and her family, he knew that they would be back before his daughter was born; he was sort of hoping that Gabriella didn't have any big plans. 

"I'm spending it with my parents," Gabriella replied softly, she brushed some hair from her face and watched Joe; it was tradition and she would be there until the New Year since she would be on maternity leave. 

Catherine seemed so excited about having her daughter home for the holidays, she had everything planned out and it would be the last one that they spent together before the baby was born. 

"Oh," Joe murmured looking away from Gabriella, he had no idea what he was going to do if she was in Cheshire; he didn't fancy the idea of being stuck in Manchester alone for the holidays. 

Gabriella looked at Joe curious about what was going on in his head, things seemed to get better for them and she had noticed how at ease the two of them were right now. 

"You could join us if you like," Gabriella offered knowing that her parents wouldn't mind, it was going to be their last chance to see her before things got crazy. 

Joe stared at Gabriella a little surprised of her offer, he nodded his head slowly knowing that he had nowhere else to go and the team would expect him to travel for Boxing Day matches. 

It was the one part of his job that Joe hated, he was always traveling and he was away so much that he really got to spend time with his family or even at home. 

"Your parents would be okay with that?" Joe murmured recalling the last time that he had seen them, Charles had warned him what would happen if he ever hurt Gabriella again.

Joe had no intentions on messing things up again, he wanted to make things better and he was entirely focused on Gabriella and the baby; he was determined to make sure that his daughter had everything she wanted. 

"I'm sure they'd love to see you again," Gabriella said knowing that Joe was always going to be a big part of her life, he was the father of her daughter and that fact alone linked them together. 

Joe was always going to be around and Gabriella wasn't sure that was ever really going to change, she had no idea what was going to happen when the baby was born but Gabriella knew that life was going to change for them. 

Joe nodded his head, he wasn't sure that he entirely agreed with her but her parents had been so welcoming when he had last seen them; he was doing his best to protect Gabriella from the media back-lash. 

"I'll phone my mum and tell her tomorrow," Gabriella continued smiling, she was excited about the idea of Joe being around for Christmas; she knew it was wrong to get so attached to him, but things were slowly beginning to change between them. 

Gabriella had found herself becoming very attached to Joe, she doubted that he felt the same about her and that when he found himself a new girlfriend things would get complicated. 

"Come to the team Christmas party with me," Joe suggested knowing that it was going to be a big night and he didn't see what it could hurt to take Gabriella with him. 

Gabriella was going to have his baby and Joe didn't think he could face going to the event alone, he knew that most of his team-mates would have their partners with him. 

Joe was certain that it would be a good night out for them before the baby came.