This Isn't My Idea of Love

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Unexpected

Lionel sighed as he carried Estella into the doctor’s office; Antonella had had some hair appointment and hadn't been able to take the little girl for her check-up at the doctors and had begged Lionel to take her instead.

“Mr. Messi it’s nice to see you,” the doctor greeted as he smiled at the footballer; he tilted his head as he looked at the little girl in his arms for a moment confused for a second.

Lionel furrowed his brow wondering why the doctor looked confused to see him holding Estella; he knew that most of Barcelona now knew about his separation from Viola and that she had disappeared with Thiago after they had done so.

“So what can I do for you today Lionel?” the doctor asked as he tilted his head, he eyes the little girl that the footballer was holding curiously; he licked his lips wondering why she was with Lionel.

The argentine swallowed as he shifted his hold on the little girl in his arms.

“Estella has an appointment,” Lionel answered softly he noted the look that the doctor had on his face.

The doctor nodded as he removed his glasses as he accessed Estella’s file on his computer, he then moved to check the little girl over with all of the usual tests.

“Estella looks perfectly healthy for a sixteen week old,” the doctor said making Lionel stare at him, he shook his head knowing that it wasn’t possible for Estella to be sixteen weeks old; it would mean that she was five weeks older than Thiago and that she wasn’t his.

“Estella’s only six weeks, she was a big baby and was born the 25th of August,” Lionel said as he remembered Antonella’s explanation about why Estella looked over than she was; the doctor stared at Lionel confused.

“I have Estella’s medical records here… she was born the 17th of June,” the doctor said making Lionel stare at him; a sudden wave of nausea hit him as he started to realise that the child couldn't be his.

Licking his lips, Lionel handed the doctor the paternity tests that he had received for both Thiago and Estella; the doctor looked at him confused wondering why he was being given the pieces of paper.

“If Estella is sixteen weeks old then she can’t be mine, that paternity test says that she is,” Lionel said softly making the doctor furrow his brow as he opened the paper that held Estella’s paternity notes; he frowned before looking at Thiago’s paternity test.

Lionel felt dizzy as he realised where this could be going, he watched the doctor for a moment waiting to hear what the doctor had to say.

“Estella’s paternity tests indicates that she is male, while Thiago’s paternity test indicates that he is female; I’m afraid someone has either mixed up the tests or switched them,” the doctor informed Lionel.

The footballer stared at him as he realised what this meant, Thiago was his son and he had lost Viola for nothing.

***

Antonella frowned when she spotted all of her things packed and by the door when she returned from her hair appointment; she looked around confused before her eyes landed on Lionel.

“Leo, what’s going on?” Antonella asked before she noticed that he wasn’t alone, a couple of his team-mates were there and none of them looked happy to see her.

Lionel stared at the woman, who could have had a part in destroying his life with Viola and caused him to lose his son.

“Did you switch the paternity tests?” Lionel asked as he looked at her disgusted, he didn't know how he was going to make it up to Viola; he hoped that she would take him back after what he had done to her.

Antonella licked her lips wondering how he could possibly know about what she had done; she shook her head preparing to blame someone else.

“I phoned the place that did the paternity test since the doctor told me that Estella is sixteen weeks old and we both know that there is no way that she is my daughter if she’s that old,” Lionel said as he stared at the woman that he had once loved; he couldn't believe that she could have done something like this.

Antonella licked her lips as she opened her mouth as she prepared to lie, she knew that she couldn't allow her life to full apart now when she had everything that she wanted; the brunette knew that it was only a matter of time before Lionel was hers again.

“I want the truth Antonella; did you switch the paternity tests?” Lionel asked as he felt his blood boil, he needed answers; he needed to know that she hadn't destroyed his life with Viola over this.

Antonella stood quietly as she watched him for a moment, she could see what would happen if she admitted that she had switched the tests; she wasn’t going to allow Lionel to discover the truth.

“No, there must have been a mix up at the clinic,” Antonella lied making Lionel glare at her, he knew that there was no way that this was an accident; it was too much of a coincidence and it was becoming clear that she had been behind all of this.

“They also told me… the two tests for Thiago and Estella looked like they were tampered with before they were delivered,” Lionel said crossing his arms, Antonella stared at him like a deer in headlights as she realised that this was over.

There was no lying now, even if she didn't admit the tampering, Lionel knew that Estella wasn’t his and he wasn’t likely to raise her as his own.

“You destroyed my relationship with Viola; you caused me to throw her and my six week old son from this house into the pouring rain, for what?” Lionel snarled as he stepped towards her.

He couldn't believe that she had done this to him; he had lost the two things that meant everything to him.

***

Staring at the positive pregnancy test, Viola wondered how this could be happening to her; was she being punished for something that she didn't know about.

The brunette felt tears burn her eyes, Thiago would no longer be her only connection to her soon to be ex-husband; she now had another connection growing inside of her.

Blinking back the tears that threatened to spill, she couldn't believe that she was pregnant to a man that hated her; she had hoped that she would be able to move on with her life with Joseph.

It was slowly becoming clear that Lionel would be forever a part of her life; she had expected that with Thiago but now she was carrying his third child, the brunette didn't know what she was going to do.

Viola knew that he wouldn’t speak with her if she called him to tell him that she was pregnant again.

The brunette knew that the last time she had been intimate with her estranged husband was around five weeks ago and it had never crossed her mind that he could have gotten her pregnant.

Shaking her head as Thiago’s cries filled the apartment, Viola knew that she was going to have to do this on her own; Lionel wasn’t going to be there to hold her hand this time around.

Viola headed out of the bathroom and hide the pregnancy test in the bedside table by her bed, she was going to have to be honest with Joseph.

 She didn't want to trick him into being with her while she was not only a single mother but she was now also expecting a second child with her estranged husband.