The Only Exception

Part Two - Chapter Nine: A Night with You

“Don’t forget the charity auction tonight,” Gerardo called as he brought an end to the training session, he looked around knowing that he expected a lot of his footballers to be there since it was for charity and he didn’t want any excuses this time about why they couldn’t do it.

Lionel paused as he looked over at the manager, he had completely forgotten about the auction and Lucia was going to have to come with him; the couple hadn’t really been out a lot in the two weeks since Lucia had come home.

“You forgot didn’t you,” Cesc teased as he walked passed Lionel on the way to the locker room, Lionel had been busy wooing Lucia and had completely forgotten about his work commitments that weren’t mandatory.

Lionel nodded his head as he ran a hand through his hair, he hoped that Lucia wouldn’t mind them going out; she had a lot of maternity dresses that she had yet to wear that would be lovely enough to attend the charity auction with him.

“How are things at home?” Cesc asked curiously, he knew that Lucia rarely left the house since her pregnancy was coming to an end and Lionel was working extra hard to earn her forgiveness.

Everyone knew just how sorry the footballer was for his emotional affair with Antonella, they just hoped that he would be able to fix the damage that he had caused.

“Better,” Lionel said with a smile, he was surprised about the improvement that had happened since Lucia had cried in front of him; it was slow but he was just happy that things seemed to be getting better between them.

There was only three weeks left until their baby girl was due and Lionel wasn’t going to waste a moment of it.

***

Lucia grumbled as she dressed for the charity auction, she was thirty-seven weeks pregnant and was a little annoyed that Lionel had waited until the last moment to tell her about this.

Lucia was just glad that she’d had a couple of dresses left over from a couple of events that she had not worn yet; she’d gone and bought quite a few dresses when she had started getting bigger.

Lucia was wearing a purple maternity maxi dress with sheer overlay and embellished waist paired with silver heeled sandals; her bump felt huge right now and she knew that her baby would be arriving soon.

Lucia sighed as she stepped out of the wardrobe after she grabbed her silver beach woven clutch bag; she had spent the last hour getting ready and she still didn’t feel right.

Lucia walked over to the mirror and looked at herself, she nibbled on her lip for a moment as she heard Lionel knock on the bedroom door before he entered.

“You look beautiful amor,” Lionel said with a soft smile on his face, he was wearing a suit and he knew that he had never seen a more beautiful sight than his wife right now.

Lucia blinked for a moment before she burst into tears making Lionel stare at her surprised before he hurried over to her.

The footballer certainly hadn’t been expecting her to burst into tears because he told her that she was beautiful; he moved Lucia to sit down on the bed wondering what was going on.

“I’m fat,” Lucia cried making Lionel look at her and shake his head, he knew it was the hormones talking and he hated that she thought that about herself.

Lionel loved her bump and not just because it was carrying his unborn child, he happened to think Lucia looked beautiful while she was pregnant.

“You are not fat amor,” Lionel argued as he got down on his knees in front of Lucia and tried to calm her down, he brushed away her tears knowing that it hurt him to see her cry.

Lucia sniffled as she looked at him, she swallowed as he offered her a small smile as she continued to cry; she hated that she was crying over something so stupid and that she would now have to redo her make-up.

“I am… I’m so fat I can’t see my feet anymore and they hurt, so does my back,” Lucia whimpered as she continued to cry as Lionel looked up at her and rubbed his hands up and down her legs.

The footballer sighed knowing that he couldn’t allow her to suffer just because he had a work commitment; there was nothing that he would rather do than be here with here.

“Why don’t we stay home and I’ll run you a bath, give you a foot passage and I’ll order us some pizza while we watch some films in bed,” Lionel suggested as he smiled at Lucia, he wanted nothing more than for Lucia to be comfortable; she was heavily pregnancy and that was all that mattered to him right now.

Lucia sniffled as she looked at him, she really liked the sound of what he was offering but he had to go to this charity event.

Gerardo wouldn’t be pleased if his star player skipped out and Lucia was willing to put up with a couple of hours if it made Lionel happy; he’d done so much for her in the last two weeks.

“What about the charity auction?” Lucia mumbled as Lionel continued to comfort her, she was so grateful that he was ignoring the fact that she was probably a mess right now.

Lucia swallowed as Lionel moved to wipe away more of her tears, she couldn’t believe how tender he was being with her right now; she knew that this wasn’t the same Lionel she had left behind.

“It doesn’t matter… I would rather be home with you,” Lionel said as he brushed his fingers along her cheeks, it wouldn’t be a big thing for him to miss the auction.

The footballer had done the charity football match, it would be okay for him to miss the auction; Gerardo would understand that Lucia was expecting in a few weeks, he couldn’t deny his star player this.

Lucia swallowed as she stared at Lionel, she felt a rush of emotion through her as she looked at her husband.

Lucia couldn’t resist the urge to run her fingers through Lionel’s dark brown hair; she’d been hard on him lately and she hoped that he had learnt his lesson.

Lucia ducked down and kissed Lionel, her fingers buried in his hair as she held him to her; she smiled into the kiss as she felt Lionel cup her face in his hands.

The footballer kissed her back eagerly knowing that this was the first time that she had shown him any real affection since she had come back from Rome; the kiss on the cheek had been nice but this was so much different.

“Lia,” Lionel murmured as he pulled back slightly from his wife, he stared up at her tear filled eyes knowing that this was something that he hadn’t thought that she would ever do anything like that.

The footballer rested his head against his wife’s head, he brushed some hair from her face as he wondered what had brought on that kiss; there was something going on.

“I forgive you,” Lucia whispered as she looked into Lionel’s eyes, she knew that he had worked so hard the last two weeks and he wouldn’t be making the same mistake again.

Lionel stared at her for a moment before a smile formed on his face, he leant forward and kissed Lucia again he was still going to treat her as if she was the most precious thing in the world to him.

The footballer wouldn’t risk his marriage again over anything stupid nor would he risk losing her again.