Baby of Mine

Chapter Forty: Shock Phone Calls

Gabriela sighed relieved as she took her seat, she quickly set down her white fishnet beach bag and settled Aoife-Belle on her lap; the blonde cuddled her daughter close as she took a deep breath, Sergio had insisted that she be at the stadium with their daughter.

Gabriela had chosen to wear a blue floral china print bandeau jersey playsuit paired with strap white sandals because of the warm weather; the blonde had been a little surprised about how warm it was and she had even dressed Aoife-Belle in a red check dress and white shoes to keep her cool.

“It’s so hot,” Sara muttered as she sat down next to Gabriela, she had been sticking close to the blonde since Lara had appeared; she didn’t trust the other brunette and she knew that if she was going to attempt something then they all needed to be careful.

Gabriela nodded her head as she watched Sergio on the pitch, it wasn’t often that she got to see him play like this since they didn’t want Aoife-Belle constantly in the lime light; so the blonde often watched her boyfriend play from home.

“So how are things between you and Sergio?” Sara asked as she looked at Gabriela, she worried that the footballer would start pulling away from her since she knew that Lara would always have some sort of hold over the Sevillian; they had been on-and-off for years and just because Sergio had a family now wouldn’t stop Lara from coming back.

“Things are fine… he’s been spending every spare moment with me and Aoife,” Gabriela said with a smile, she trusted her boyfriend and she knew that even with her small doubts; he had no intention of leaving her and their daughter, he loved them too much to do that.

***

Sergio grinned as he lifted Aoife-Belle out of Gabriela’s arms and cuddled her close, the team had won the match and were going to the finals; he knew that this was special and he hoped they’d do their country proud again.

“Did you like watching papa?” Sergio asked as he held his daughter, she pouted at him before she clapped her hands against his cheeks while Gabriela smiled as she watched him; the blonde moved closer knowing that this was her family and were she belonged.

Gabriela laughed softly as Sergio grinned at her, she knew that Aoife-Belle hadn’t truly known what was going on but she had known that her father was playing; she had got excited whenever he had run past them while he played.

“So what do you want to do for dinner?” Sergio asked as he shifted his hold on their daughter, he was okay with whatever Gabriela wanted to do; he just wanted to spend time with his family, the Sevillian had been busy with training and had been stealing moments with them when he could.

Gabriela smiled at him and shrugged, she didn’t really mind but Aoife-Belle looked like she could use a nap before dinner; the couple prepared to head back to the hotel when the blonde’s phone rang.

Sergio furrowed his brow as he looked at her, he didn’t know who could be calling her since most of the people they knew were either at the tournament or back in Spain; they all knew she was with him and was okay.

“Hola?” Gabriela said as she pressed the phone to her ear, she nibbled on her lip wondering who could be calling her; she didn’t recognise the number and it worried her slightly who it could be, she knew that Sergio wasn’t going to relax anytime soon if there was a threat to his family.

Gabriela swallowed as the person on the end of the phone, it was a doctor from a hospital in Madrid; she glanced at Sergio as she raised a finger to him to wait a minute, she didn’t understand why they were calling her.

“I’m still her next of kin?” Gabriela asked confused as the doctor mentioned that this was about her mother, she did thought that her mother would have changed that detail after she had disowned her daughter; Sergio looked at his girlfriend concerned wondering what was going on, he had a horrible feeling that this was about her family.

“Is she okay?” Gabriela said as she felt sick, she couldn’t believe that her father had put her mother in hospital; she glanced at Sergio knowing that he was listening, he had moved closer to her and he was watching her concerned.

Sergio tilted his head as he watched her, he didn’t know what was happening but he could see that Gabriela was upset about whatever she had been told; he glanced at Aoife-Belle knowing that everything was going to be okay, he would make sure of it.

Gabriela carefully came off the phone and looked at Sergio, she swallowed heavily as she tried to wrap her head around what she had just been told; she needed to think for a moment so that she could cope with the information.

“My padre has put my madre in hospital… she’s in a coma,” Gabriela whispered as she allowed Sergio to pull her close, she looked at her daughter knowing that she would do anything to protect her from the childhood that she’d had; the blonde wished that her mother had been strong enough to walk away from her father before it became like this.

***

Sergio watched Gabriela prepare for her trip back to Madrid, he had insisted that she went home to see her mother; he knew how much his girlfriend had missed her mother after she was disowned.

The footballer watched her for a moment before he pushed himself to his feet and stepped onto the balcony, he glanced behind him as he pulled out his phone and closed the glass door behind him; he took a deep breath as he called his brother.

“René I need a favour,” Sergio said softly as he moved away from the door, he didn’t want his girlfriend to know what he was telling his brother; he had already called René earlier to arrange for him to pick up Gabriela and Aoife-Belle up from the airport when they arrived back in Madrid.

The footballer didn’t trust Gabriela’s parents and he wanted to make sure that this wasn’t some sort of trap to steal her and Aoife-Belle away from him; he was going to make sure that they were safe no matter what.

“I need you to keep an eye on Gabby when she returns… I don’t trust her parents,” Sergio said as he leant against the railing of the balcony and looked out over the city, he sighed as he wondered what Josep and Andria were up to but he hoped they weren’t going to endanger his small family.

“I know her madre is in hospital… but something just doesn’t feel right,” the footballer said, he knew that there was every chance that this was nothing but he had a horrible feeling that there was something going on.

Sergio thanked his brother softly as he looked back at the hotel room, he wished that he could go back to Madrid with her but it wasn’t possible and he had to stay in Brazil for a couple more days.

Disconnecting the call, Sergio took a deep breath and headed back into the hotel room; he wanted to spend the night with his girlfriend and their daughter before she left for the airport the next morning and he wanted to ensure that she knew that he loved her no matter what happened when she went back home.