Baby of Mine

Chapter Thirty-Six: Being Apart

Gabriela sighed as she climbed into bed, she looked sadly at the empty space next to her where Sergio should have been; he had only been gone a week and she missed him more than anything in the world.

The blonde knew she was being silly but she was so used to him being around that she wasn’t sure what she would do without him; they had never been apart like this before and it was even clear that Aoife-Belle was missing her father just as much as her mother was.

Gabriela was grateful that Vania had been spending a lot of time with her while Sergio was away in Brazil; she needed someone to distract her from the loneliness that she was currently feeling since she had stopped working and her friends were all really busy right now.

The blonde knew that she needed to start standing on her own two feet, she wanted to spend as much time with Aoife-Belle as possible since she didn’t want to miss anything; she was putting off finding a job until the little girl was old enough to go to school.

Gabriela stared up at the ceiling as she lay in her cream bird night shirt, she yawned as she thought about Aoife-Belle; she couldn’t believe that her daughter was born nearly three months ago and that she was a mother now.

Closing her blue eyes, Gabriela tried to fall back asleep when she heard her phone buzz; she opened them confused as she reached over wondering who could be calling her at this hour.

“Hola?” the blonde said as she cuddled into her pillow and pulled the covers around her body as she tried to settle down in bed; she closed her eyes before hearing a voice that made her smile.

***

“I’m sorry for waking you amor,” Sergio said as he looked at the clock by his bead, he knew that he was currently three hours behind his girlfriend and he hadn’t been able to resist the idea of phoning her; he knew that their daughter still woke up at four in the morning for a feeding.

“I’ve just been missing you and Aoife,” Sergio admitted as he glanced over at Fernando Torres, they were roommates for the tournament and neither of them could resist the urge to call their spouses; they had been talking about their families and the sudden need to talk with Gabriela and Olalla had arisen.

“We miss you too… Aoife wishes you were here,” the blonde said making Sergio smile, she knew that if there was some way that he could be with them right now then he would be; the footballer had made it clear that the two of them came first in his life in every way.

They were always going to be more important to Sergio, he adored being a father to Aoife-Belle and he loved spending time with her when he got the chance; he couldn’t wait to have them both in Brazil with him.

“How is she?” Sergio asked as he sat up on his hotel bed, he glanced over at Fernando knowing that he had never been gone this long and he worried that she would forget who he was; he hated to think that his little girl was ever going to leave him.

“She’s fine… missing her papa every day,” Gabriela said as she tried to reassure the footballer, she could sense his worry and she knew that it had something to do with the fact that her mother had sent that box before he had left; she knew he worried what it meant and she was curious about how to talk to him about it.

***

Aoife-Belle pouted as she was lifted into the arms of her uncle, she stared at him for a moment as if wondering why he looked so much like her father but wasn’t him; the infants eyes now resembled her mother’s while she clearly had her father’s hair.

“She’s missing Sergio,” René mused as he held his niece close, the rest of the Ramos family had arrived a few hours ago to gather together and support Sergio while he played in the world cup and Gabriela had insisted that some of them stay with her and Aoife-Belle since there was more than enough room in the house.

“I know… he talks to her every night over Skype,” Gabriela said as she crossed her arms and watched her daughter, she was aware how big a strain this was but she didn’t want to stop Sergio living his life for her and their daughter; he needed to be in Brazil and she was happy for him.

Paqui looked at the blonde and sighed knowing that her son was greatly missed here, she hadn’t spent a lot of time with Gabriela but she could tell that the blonde really loved her son and she was happy for him.

“I spoke to him this morning… he’s missing the two of you like crazy,” Mirian said as she moved to take her niece from René and held her close, she adored both of her nieces and would do anything to spend more time with them; even though she lived back in Seville while her brothers both lived in Madrid.

Gabriela smiled at the brunette knowing that she was right, Sergio had told her often enough how much he missed her and even with everything that was going on she was happy that he missed her just as much as she missed him.

“So what have you been up to while Sergio’s been gone?” Paqui asked as she watched her daughter with Aoife-Belle, she couldn’t remember a time where she had seen her son so happy like this; even when he had been with Pilar, whom she had liked.

The blonde shrugged knowing that she hadn’t really done much since Sergio had gone to the world cup; she had been focused on their daughter and hadn’t really been out much unless Vania dragged her somewhere.

“Not much,” Gabriela said as Aoife-Belle started to get fussy, Mirian moved to hand the infant over to the blonde knowing that her niece would want her mother; she smiled as she watched Gabriela with her daughter knowing that sooner or later that would be her.

***

“Come on Sergio,” Iker said as he wrapped an arm around the Sevillian’s shoulders and led him towards the training field, he knew what his friend was thinking about and he didn’t blame him for what he was going through.

Sergio was a new father and so was Iker, they had bonded over this fact in recent months and they were both away from their children for the first time in a long time but they weren’t alone.

The national team had been through some sort of baby boom over the recent year with a lot of the players having children before the tournament; a lot of the players seemed to be in the same position as them and they were all supporting each other.

“I know,” Iker said gently knowing that his friend was struggling, he had to contend with the fact that he had only been dating Gabriela for two months as well as having a two month old daughter waiting at home for him.

“I can’t wait to have them here,” Sergio muttered as he ran a hand through his hair, Spain were doing well in the group stage and there was talk about having some of the families fly out early once they had progressed to the next round.

He just hoped that he would be able to have Aoife-Belle and Gabriela in his arms sooner rather than later.