You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Twenty-Five: Gabriella's Decision

"Have you told Joe yet?" Francesca asked peeking at her friend, she knew that there was no way that Gabriella was going to be able to hide this from Joe; it was a big decision that her friend had made. 

It had been strange not seeing Gabriella all the time but she knew that Gabriella deserved time with her daughter, she just hoped that things weren't going to change too much. 

"Not yet," Gabriella said a little nervous about what Joe would say about her decision to return to work, she'd been requested for a large wedding that was coming up and the couple weren't taking no for an answer. 

It was just the one job and Gabriella knew that it would attract a lot of attention for her business, they needed a little boost after the bad year they'd had after it had come out that she'd gotten pregnant by Joe. 

The company was still feeling the aftereffects of Georgina's lies about what had happened, no amount of damage control had been able to fix everything and Gabriella was just relieved the company hadn't gone under. 

"I'm just waiting for the right moment to tell him," Gabriella said shifting her hold on Elena, she wasn't going back to work full time and she was sure that she could handle this with a little help from Joe and their parents. 

It wasn't going to be easy, Elena had barely been born a month before but the call to return to work made Gabriella worry a little; she had no idea how Joe was going to take her decision to organise someone's wedding. 

"You'll have to do it soon... they want to see you next week," Theresa murmured knowing that there was no way that Gabriella could hide this from Joe, it would only end badly if she tried to do so and she had to think about Elena. 

Looking down at her daughter, Gabriella wondered what she would say to Joe when she got home; she was going to have to tell him what was going on.

***

"We're home," Gabriella called walking into the apartment, she fussed over Elena glad that they'd had a good day; she couldn't remember the last time that she'd been able to go out with her friends and she was glad they had met up. 

It was strange to think that she was a mother now, so much had changed for Gabriella and she was trying to find balance in her life again. 

"Great. I'm just finishing dinner," Joe called back to her, he poked his head around the door frame and smiled at the sight of his girlfriend and daughter; he was glad that they'd been able to go out and spend time with other people for a little while. 

Moving to take Elena from Gabriella, Joe fussed over his daughter knowing that he couldn't wait for things to calm down; he wanted nothing more than to be able to take his family out and enjoy their time together. 

The media were practically stalking the couple for pictures of them and their daughter, Joe had been doing his best to keep things calm when it came to them. 

Gabriella raised an eyebrow at the fact that Joe was wearing an apron, she couldn't help but smile at how domestic he was and she was glad that he was doing the cooking tonight. 

"I'll put her down... why don't you set the table?" Joe offered wanting to spend a little time with Elena, he barely saw his daughter because of training and he couldn't wait until the summer where he could relax and spend more time with his family. 

There were the Euros to think about of course but Joe was determined to enjoy himself, he wanted to take his little family away on holiday and relax for a while without having to worry about anything. 

Gabriella nodded her head, she chewed on her lip knowing that she had to tell him today about the decision that she had made.

***

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you," Gabriella murmured watching Joe as he sat across her at the dining table, she couldn't put this off and she wasn't going to hid this from him. 

Things hadn't exactly been easy for them recently and Gabriella knew that he was being stressed out with how Manchester City were doing right now; she just knew that this wasn't going to help them. 

Joe looked up from his dinner, he frowned seeing the nervous look on Gabriella's face and he hoped that everything was okay; they were doing well when it came to Elena even if he was a little stressed out. 

"I have to go back to work next week," Gabriella mumbled not wanting to fight with Joe about this, she was meant to have another couple of months' maternity leave but that clearly wasn't going to be happening. 

It would only be part-time and Gabriella was worried what Joe would think about her decision to return to work less than two months after they'd had Elena; it all seemed to be happening so quickly. 

"Okay," Joe replied with a nod of his head, he had no idea what she was so nervous about; he knew that things hadn't been easy for her business since Georgina had sold that story and he wasn't going to demand that she stay home. 

Gabriella was doing what she thought was right and Joe would support her every step of the way, he wasn't going to be the person who ruined things between because he wanted things to happen a certain way. 

"Okay?" Gabriella mumbled a little surprised how calm he was being about all of this, she had expected him to be a little upset that she was going back so soon. 

It hadn't been planned, Gabriella had expected to return to work in maybe late July when Elena would have been six months old; she wasn't able to turn down work right now when everyone else at the company was working so hard.

"I know you have to go back Gabby... you wouldn't have agreed to return if it wasn't important," Joe reassured smiling at her, they would work out how they were going to cope with Gabriella going back to work. 

Their parents were always offering to look after Elena for them and Joe knew that they would be more than happy to help out when they found out what was happening. 

Gabriella was silent for a moment, she honestly didn't know what to say and she was so relieved that Joe was being understanding about this; she had been so worried that she was going to disappoint him. 

"It's only part-time... this job will bring in so much work," Gabriella said shaking her head, it still worried her how things could change in a moment and all her hard work could be lost because of how things had begun for them. 

Georgina's actions were still haunting them nearly a year on and Gabriella knew that there was no way to truly fix what had happened, she just hoped that in time all of this would pass. 

Joe nodded his head, he didn't mind and he knew that it would take time for things to be okay; her business had struggled a lot since Georgina had sold her story to the press and they hadn't really bounced back yet after what had happened. 

"I'll support you no matter what," Joe insisted wanting to help, he didn't know much about event planning but he was determined to help out; he wasn't going to just stand by and watch Gabriella's life collapse around her after everything that had happened.