Maybe This Time

Chapter Six: Back To Reality

Freddie finds Nestor sitting on the floor in the hallway, his head in his hands.
"Hey." Freddie says, walking up to him. Nestor looks up, his eyes red.
"Hey." Nestor says.
"You're in doctor clothes. Everything okay?" he asks.
"We have a daughter. But...Vera lost a lot of blood in there and...they...they made me wait out here. So." Nestor says, shrugging it off when tears form in his eyes.
"So I don't know what's going on inside because...because they made me wait out here." Nestor continues, shaking his head and looking at the ground.
"It's gonna be okay. I'll wait with you." Freddie says, sitting beside Nestor.
"Vera...Vera is strong. She will be fine." Freddie tells him. Nestor nods, rubbing his jaw as if he could rub away the pain in his heart. After an hour of waiting, a nurse finally walks up to them.
"Mr. Carbonell? She's awake." she tells him. Nestor jumps up and turns to Freddie with a smile.
"I'm gonna...Im..." Nestor begins.
"Yeah go. I'll find Max and Liv and come up soon." Freddie says with a smile.
"Thank you, Freddie. For.."
"I know. Go." he says. Nestor nods and ran after the nurse to Vera's room. When he walks in, Vera is still half asleep, her eyes barely open.
"Hey, honey. You did so good." Nestor says, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"I'm so proud of you, V." he whispers into her hair.
"Can I see Anita?" Vera asks. Nestor walks over to the bed where their girl is laying and carefully picks her up.
"Here she is." he whispers, sitting in the bed beside Vera.
"Wow. She's so beautiful. She's just how I pictured she would be." Vera whispers with a smile.
"Look at her eyelashes, Nes. Wow." she says, her finger brushing along Anita's eyelashes just as she does to Nestor.
"You should see her eyes, V. They're just like yours but with brown flecks. They're so pretty." Nestor tells her, both of them so infatuated by their own daughter.
The honeymoon phase of it all wore off fairly quickly. It only took month of being back home for Vera to finally begin to feel the stress of it all. Nestor had gone back to work and was hardly ever home. Though when he was home, he was nothing but helpful, always feeding the baby and making sure Vera got lots of rest.
"I think we will be a bit longer tonight." Nestor tells her through the phone as she breast feeds Annie.
"How much longer?" Vera asks.
"Like...will you be home for dinner?" she asks after his pregnant pause.
"Not tonight, babe." he tells her.
"Will you be home to read to her?" she asks.
"I don't think so. I'm sorry, V." he tells her. She sighs, looking down at their child.
"Fine. We can...we will talk when you get home then." Vera says.
"I just...I don't want you to wait up for me. You need sleep and I-"
"Okay fine then. I won't wait up. Have fun. Bye." she says, hanging up before he can reply. She sighs heavily, shaking her head at the ridiculousness of it all. She had just had his baby and here he was staying late at work. She stood up, the baby in her arms, and walked to her record player, playing whatever record was already in which happened to be Frank Sinatra. After a few minutes, his voice seemed to calm Vera into a light sleep.
When Nestor finally arrived home, he found his daughter resting on Vera's chest, both of them fast asleep. He wanted to let Vera have this moment of sleep that was rare for her but he knew she would be upset if he didn't wake her.
"Vera." he whispers, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead. Her eyes flutter open and he smiles at the beautiful color.
"I just wanted to let you know I'm home." he whispers. She smiles sleepily and nods, grabbing his shirt and pulling him down for a kiss.
"How is she?" he asks once he pulls away.
"She's been so good today. I should probably feed her though." Vera says, sitting up. He watches her breast feed their child and his heart almost leapt out of his chest.
"What if we had another?" Nestor asks before he can stop himself. Vera looks up with surprise.
"I mean...It's just that neither of us are getting younger and...I would want another one." he tells her. She smiles, looking down at their baby girl.
"I...I would too. Eventually. It's just...you're never home and it is already difficult for me to be here by myself. And...with my career on hold-"
"I know. It's just that we don't have a lot of time." he tells her.
"Nestor, I realize that. But are you hearing what I am saying? You don't understand what it's like for me. I am rejecting offers left and right, offers that could be really good for me. I love Annie so much but I miss working. And I miss...I miss you being here. With me." she says sadly.
"I'll try harder, V. I will. I will make it home before ten every night and I...I will look for nannies so you can go back to work. Just...think about it?" he asks.
"If you can make it home before ten for the rest of the month, then we can try for another baby." she tells him. He smiles the brightest smile she had ever seen and kisses her lips before kissing Annie's forehead.
"Will you burp her?" Vera asks, pulling her shirt back up.
"Of course. Come here, bicho." he says to Annie as he takes her from Vera's arms.

The month had passed smoothly and Nestor had kept to his promise, even making it home by dinner time on some nights. And so, the day finally came that the decision was to be made. Baby, or no baby.
"Today marks one month exactly." Nestor brings up casually as he cleans the plates after dinner. Vera leans on the counter next to him, smiling softly.
"Yes, I suppose it does." she says with a nod.
"And I have kept up my end of the bargain." he continues.
"You certainly have." she agrees.
"So...is it decided then?" Nestor asks, finally gaining the courage to glance over at her.
"It...has been decided." she tells him. He sets the plates in the sink, his attention fully on her.
"Nestor, if you want another baby, then I will give you another baby." she tells him.
"No, no, no. I don't want another baby if you aren't completely sure that you do too." he tells her. She smiles widely, looking into his dark eyes. This is why she fell in love with him. He never did anything if she didn't want to do it.
"I want another baby, Nes. I want all of your babies, forever." she tells him.
"Really?" he asks with excitement.
"Really." she tells him. He grabs her hips and picks her up, spinning her around.
"Now are you going to take me to the bedroom, or not?" she asks with a laugh.
"You don't want to do it here?" he asks, jokingly serious.
"Nes." she says, slapping his arm. He laughs and carries her bridal style up to their bedroom. He sets her on the edge of the bed, the youthful banter gone, replaced by a sense of passion and hunger.
Their lips connect, sparks flying just like they did during their first kiss. She quickly removes her shirt before going for his pants.
"Slow." he whispers.
"We don't have time for slow." she tells him, pulling his shirt off of his body. He senses her urgency and pulls her pants off of her, discarding them with the rest of the clothes on the floor. She gasps, remembering that she was wearing the underwear that goes up to her belly button, holding everything in.
"Well those are very silly." he says with a chuckle, fingering the fabric.
"Nes." she says, pushing his hand away with embarrassment.
"Don't feel bad. I'm actually wearing a similar pair myself." he tells her jokingly. She giggles, pushing the underwear off of her body.
"I know I am not as skinny as I used to be-"
"Vera." he says, stopping her.
"You're beautiful." he tells her, his hand traveling down her side, making her shiver. She pushes his pants off of him, the mood quickly changing.
He pushes her onto the bed, hovering over her, their breathing rapid as if it were their first time together.
Right as he is about to push into her, the baby monitor by their bed sounds, their daughter's crying filling the air.
"Shit." Nestor says, hanging his head with frustration.
"I'll do it." she says, patting his arm.
"No. It's fine. I got it." he says, sliding off of the bed and pulling his pants on. He begins to walk out when Vera stops him.
"Nes?" she asks. He looks back at her, stopping in the doorway.
"Hurry back. I'm not getting any younger."

This is kind of a filler chapter. I have juicy things in store. Stick with me!