“Liebe you need to wake up,” Marco murmured kissing Aoife softly, he hated to wake her now but they had to get up; he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep himself but it wasn’t possible.
Aoife wrinkled her nose cuddling closer to Marco, she didn’t want to get up and she was sure that whatever it was couldn’t be that important; she wrapped her arm around Marco’s waist making him sigh.
“Aoife… your sister is in labour,” Marco muttered feeling bad for waking her up for this, he had to go to the hospital and he wanted to tell Aoife instead of leaving a note; he wasn’t sure if she wanted to come to the hospital with him.
Aoife kept her eyes closed as his words registered in her mind, she had known that this day was coming but it didn’t make it any easier; she held onto Marco as he whispered reassuring words.
“I have to go liebe… I need to have a swab done for the paternity test,” Marco whispered not wanting to upset her, it had to be done and he wasn’t going to let this change things; he still wanted little to do with Belle after everything that had happened.
Aoife opened her eyes and peeked at Marco, she wished he didn’t have to go but she knew that he had to; they needed to find out if the baby was Marco’s so that he could decide what he was going to do next.
There was no doubt in Aoife’s mind that if the baby was his that Marco would step up, she wouldn’t stop him if he did but it would make the situation awkward.
Pushing back the covers, Aoife climbed out of bed making Marco look at her; he watched his wife as she slowly started to get dressed causing him to frown.
“You don’t have to come with me,” Marco said gently, he knew how hard this was going to be and he feared that Belle would do something that could cause him to lose her.
Aoife shook her head, there was no way that she was going to let Marco go through this on his own; she was going to support him no matter what happened today.
***
“Good you’re here,” Irene said spotting Marco walking into the hospital with Aoife, she was surprised to see her other daughter and hadn’t expected her to show up now that Belle was having her baby.
It had been months since Irene had seen Aoife, she had feared that her younger daughter would never speak to her again and she hoped that it would change when Belle had her baby.
“Of course I am,” Marco muttered blocking Irene’s view of Aoife, he had no interested in playing nice with the woman that had turned her back on his wife in favour of her sister.
Aoife laced her fingers with Marco’s, she didn’t need him to protect her and she doubted that they would be here long; they had been told that Belle’s labour was pretty advanced when they had called from the car to see how things were going.
Irene was silent not sure what to say, she wanted things to go back to normal and she hoped that Aoife could put all of this behind her; she eyed the bump knowing her second grandchild lay inside.
“Belle wants to see you Marco,” Irene murmured turning her attention back to the footballer, her eldest had expressed her want for Marco and David to be in the room when she gave birth and she was sure the footballer would want to be there.
Marco nodded his head before he turned to kiss Aoife, he wouldn’t be gone long and he had no intentions of sticking around Belle; he would pop in to see her now and then wait until the baby was born to see her again.
It wasn’t going to be easy and Marco wasn’t going to get sucked in, in a couple of days he would know for sure if the baby was his and that’s what mattered.
Aoife watched Marco as he headed for Belle’s hospital room, she crossed her arms and took a deep breath to steady herself; she prayed that the baby wouldn’t be Marco’s, she didn’t think they would survive if it was.
“How are you?” Irene asked curiously, she stepped closer to Aoife and smiled weakly thinking about how much she had missed her youngest daughter; she hated that she was missing out on sharing Aoife’s first pregnancy with her.
Aoife looked at her mother, she had very little to say to the woman and she wasn’t going to pretend that everything was alright between them; Irene had made her decision and that was it.
“Aoife please,” Irene pleaded wanting to have her daughter back, she couldn’t understand why her daughters couldn’t get along; she didn’t care about Belle’s debt and she wished that Aoife could let it go, it wasn’t as if Aoife was in happy in her marriage to Marco.
“I have nothing to say that hasn’t already been said, you choose Belle over me after everything that I did for you,” Aoife muttered staring at his mother, she rested a hand on her bump knowing she was going to do better for her daughter than her mother had done for her.
Irene sighed, she didn’t want to think about what Aoife had sacrificed for her, she had married Marco so they wouldn’t be sued and had been helping them pay off debts that belle had caused before they had fallen out and she had stopped doing that.
“I want us to be a family,” Irene pushed stepping closer to Aoife, she had missed her daughter in the past few weeks and she wanted to be there for her while she was preparing to have her first child.
Irene felt blessed that she was going to have another grandchild and she was sure that Aoife would be a wonderful mother when the baby was born.
“We will never be a family until you start treating both me and Belle the same,” Aoife murmured shaking her head, she wasn’t going to let anyone walk all over her like her sister had done to her parents.
***
“She’s perfect Belle,” David whispered staring down at the beautiful baby girl in his girlfriend’s arms, he couldn’t believe that she was here and that everything had worked out so well.
Belle smiled kissing her boyfriend, she was so happy right now and she doubted that anything would take that away from her; she peeked down at the newborn that was cuddled in her arms.
Marco crossed his arms and leant against the far wall, he had been ushered inside of the private hospital room after the baby had been born and he hated that he had to watch Belle with her boyfriend it made him uncomfortable after what had happened.
“Marco,” Belle mused turning her attention to the other man, she was pleased that he had come to the hospital even if she was disappointed that he had refused to be in the room when she had given birth.
Marco nodded his head, his heart pounded in his chest at the sight of the small pink bundle that made him feel sick; he had already given his swab over to the paternity testing and now that all needed to be done was to wait and see.
“Come and meet Lola,” Belle gushed knowing that he would adore the little girl as much as she did, there was a 50% chance that Lola was his daughter and she wanted him to bond with her because even if she wasn’t then she was going to be Marco’s niece.
Marco wrinkled his nose in distaste, he would never have chosen the name Lola for a child of his and it was one that he had quickly vetoed when it came to choosing a name for his and Aoife’s daughter.
Slowly making his way over to the bed, Marco tried to calm his nerves knowing that there was no way he could get attached to Lola; he wasn’t going to bond with her until he knew that she was his.
“Would you like to hold her?” Belle asked smiling moving to show Marco, the newborn that was wrapped up in her arms; she ignored the noise of annoyance that David made at how she acted towards Marco.
Until they knew for certain who Lola’s father was, the two men were going to have to get along for Lola’s sake; she was going to need her father in her life no matter who it was.
“I’d rather not,” Marco murmured shaking his head, he peeked at the newborn and swallowed feeling his stomach churn; he wanted the first baby that he held to be his daughter with Aoife and he hoped it would be.
Belle blinked surprised that Marco had turned her down, she had hoped he would want to bond with Lola as soon as possible after she was born; they wouldn’t know for a while whether the baby was his or David’s.
“I had something that I wanted to ask,” David announced stealing Belle’s attention from Marco, he had waited until now to do this and he wanted Marco to see that they were happy together so that the footballer would back off and focus on his life with Aoife.
Marco was the one thing that the couple kept fighting about and while David knew deep down that the footballer didn’t care for Belle anymore; Belle on the other hand still seemed very attached to him.
“Belle Millie Beckan we’ve been together for three years now and I love you so much, will you marry me?” David asked producing the engagement ring that he had been carrying around, he smiled at her knowing that he had picked the right moment now that Lola was here.
Belle stared at David, she blinked shocked that he had asked her to marry him; she hadn’t been expecting this and she didn’t know what to say to him.
Marco silently excused himself, he didn’t want to stick around and watch this now that he had done what he had come to do; in two days they would know who Lola’s father was.
***
Aoife peeked at Marco as he walked towards her, she had no idea what had been going on and she doubted that they would be moving past this anytime soon; she had been waiting patiently since he had been called inside.
“Belle had a healthy baby girl… Lola,” Marco revealed gently, he knew deep down that Aoife cared about her sister even if she was angry at what Belle had done in the past.
Marco gently wrapped his arms around his wife, he couldn’t wait for everything to change; soon that would be them celebrating the birth of their daughter instead of Belle and David.
“David asked her to marry him,” Marco continued relieved that he wouldn’t have to deal with Belle, he was happily married and there was nothing going to change that.
Aoife felt a weight lift from her shoulders, if Belle was going to marry David then she wouldn’t be a threat to her marriage; there was no doubt that the older woman had feelings still for Marco.
“Let’s go home,” Marco whispered glad that he would never have to deny with any of this again, he would deal with the paternity of Lola another day when he was sure who was her father.
Marco wasn’t sure yet what he would do if Lola was his daughter and it would change everything, he wanted his wife home and rested after the early morning rush; she deserved a break especially while pregnant.
Aoife nodded her head, she kissed her husband hoping that they would be okay when they found out who Lola’s father was; she wanted everything to be okay for them, even if Marco did turn out to be her niece’s biological father.