You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Thirty-Seven: England vs Slovakia

Smoothing out the baby kit that Elena was wearing, Gabriella smiled following Coleen and the others to their seats; they would all get to see their spouses soon and she was looking forward to seeing Joe. 

It had been a strange couple of days since she had arrived in France and Gabriella felt bad for lying to him, he had no idea that she was in France and it had been hard not telling him when he talked about how much he missed her and Elena. 

However, Gabriella knew that it would be worth the surprise when Joe saw her at the end of the match; she'd had a great time with the other women and she was glad that she had come with them. 

It was nice to be included in plans like this, Gabriella had been a little worried that she would be ignored and talked about like she was by the other women of the Manchester City team. 

With the exception of Hollie, she was pretty much on her own and Gabriella knew that her friend had enough on her plate right now; she didn't want to bother her with her own problems. 

"She looks adorable," Melanie Walcott gushed admiring Elena, she fussed over the little girl unable to believe that Joe had helped create something so perfect. 

Elena babbled happily, her eyes taking in everything around her and she clapped her hands; she had never experienced a match from the stands like this before and there was so much going on. 

They quickly hurried to their seats so that they didn't miss the start of the match, everyone knew how important it was for England to win this match so they could move to the next round.

***

Half-time couldn't have come quick enough and Gabriella stretched glad for a break, she had leg-cramp and she was sure that the match would start again soon; England were winning 2-1 and were doing well. 

Elena seemed to be enjoying herself even if the five-month old had no idea what was going on around her; only that everyone seemed to be happy around her for some reason. 

"As much as I love football... these seats are so uncomfortable," Emily Lallana muttered standing and stretching herself, she grumbled feeling sore and she hoped that they wouldn't have to stay her into extra time; she didn't think she'd be able to handle that. 

Gabriella nodded her head in agreement, she picked Elena up and balanced her daughter on her hip allowing her eyes to sweep over the pitch that moments before had been played on. 

It was strange and Gabriella was hoping that Joe would be pleased to see them, she had no idea how this could play out with still another forty-five minutes left to play. 

Kissing the top of Elena's head, Gabriella rocked her daughter back and forth waiting for the next half of the match to start; she didn't have to wait long before the players returned to the pitch. 

"Look there's daddy," Gabriella whispered to Elena pointing out Joe to her, she smiled at the look on her daughter's face knowing that she missed her father a lot. 

It wasn't something that Elena was used to, being parted from her father for such a long period of time; even if it did help that she got to see Joe over skype every night. 

Elena beamed happily at the small sight of Joe, he had no idea that his daughter or girlfriend were in the stadium watching him play with the team. 

Moving to the goal-posts, Joe prayed that the match would end well for England knowing just how much of a nightmare, things would be if England didn't get through to the next round.

***

Stepping into the tunnel after the match, Joe couldn't keep the smile off his face at what had happened; England had beaten Slovakia and they were going on to face Iceland in the next round of the Euros. 

He paused as he heard a bit of a commotion ahead of him and it took him a moment to realise that the footballers weren't the only people in the tunnel at that moment. 

"Gabby?" Joe breathed in surprise at the sight of his girlfriend, a smile formed on his face as he hurried forward to greet her; he had no idea how she had managed to keep this a secret from him.

Gabriella grinned kissing Joe, it had been nearly two weeks since they had seen each other face to face; it had been the longest that the couple had been apart since they had started dating. 

Elena pouted at being ignored by her father, she tugged on his hair making Joe laugh and lift her from her mother's arms; he kissed her chubby cheeks pleased that they were both here. 

"What are you doing here?" Joe asked drawing Gabriella close, he peeked around seeing that he wasn't the only one being reunited with his family right now. 

He held both Gabriella and Elena close to him, it felt like a lifetime since he had seen them instead of the two weeks that it had been. 

"We thought we'd surprise you," Gabriella replied with a smile, she brushed her fingers through his hair and cuddled into his side; it had all worked out well and she was sure he'd be surprised to hear that she'd enjoyed a small break away with the other women. 

It had been nice and Gabriella knew it had been the perfect way to start the trip, she was looking forward to spending more time with Joe; even if they weren't able to share a hotel room.

Joe kissed the top of Gabriella's head and led his girlfriend down the tunnel knowing that he wanted to keep them out of the spotlight while they were here; he could already see the look on Roy Hodgson's face. 

The manager looked far from pleased that the women had descended when they had and he had a feeling that his anger was going to be directed at anyone that was in his way. 

The last thing that Joe wanted was for the anger to be directed at Gabriella, he could already see that Roy was readying himself to speak with Coleen; it wasn't going to be a pleasant chat. 

"How has Elena been?" Joe asked shifting his hold a little on his daughter, she looked adorable in her kit and he was so happy that she was here right now. 

Elena rested her head on his shoulder and rubbed her eyes tiredly, it was getting late and she was more than ready to go to bed; she was just happy that her father was here. 

"She's been fine," Gabriella replied gently, she brushed her fingers through Elena's blonde curls; she was just glad that everything had worked out so well. 

The trip hadn't been an easy one for them but Gabriella was just glad that they didn't have to do much flying; she couldn't imagine how upsetting that would be to Elena. 

Joe nodded his head, he wasn't quite ready to let Gabriella or Elena go and he knew that he had a little bit of time before he had to get changed and headed back to the hotel. 

He hoped that they had managed to get a reservation close to where the team were based and Joe dreaded to think of a long trip from where they were staying to the England base camp. 

"You should go and have a shower," Gabriella mused wrinkling her nose a little, she loved her boyfriend but he was all sweaty from the match and he had to go into the locker room. 

Joe rolled his eyes and kissed Gabriella, he was in no hurry and he could already see some of his team-mates dying to interrupt them so they could coo over Elena.