bésame mucho

“They should!” Eden agreed. With all the horror stories people spread, she was kind of dreading pregnancy. And childbirth –oh God, childbirth… Insert mental shudder. “It’ll probably serve me right” she laughed honestly. Freaked out as she might be about certain aspects of the aftermath of the procreation process, she could appreciate women being good sports about it and Isa’s humor and determination made her feel a little more at home really. Also, she felt like she should call her mother and thank her for the 9 months she had carried her and the last 20-odd she had put up with her, all as a single parent, and half of which as..well..the only parent.

She hadn’t realized how badly she was starving until the word burger was out in the open. Chuckling, she tilted her head to the right. “Hey, if done right, junk food is better than a fancy meal.” Pushing her lips for a second, she added “And sex sometimes” she rolled her eyes comically. Abandoning the power tool, she rose to sit on her knees. “Well, in that case…” she trailed off with a devilish smirk. Who was she to deny, one, a pregnant woman and her baby and, two, her stomach such pleasure? They had to indulge themselves while they were still young, right?

“The more the we talk about this the more I wish I could drink.” She said before shuddering herself. In truth she was petrified especially of raising this baby and being a single mother. Isabella barely spoke to her mother and father. There were things that she had experienced in her childhood, she would shield her baby from as best she could. “I can’t wait to find out the gender. I’m kind of scared to find out.”

“Oh it is better than sex, you don’t have to deal with a whiny man afterwards.” Isa laughed at the thought, and then nodded her head. “I’d say we need some junk food, oh and a chocolate shake. I want one bad. Will you indulge this crazy pregnant woman?” 

Looking around her a little, hoping their night wouldn’t end with Isa having to take her to the ER for getting a screw impaled on her hand. Embarrassingly enough, it would not be the first time something similar had happened. “I think they do; my mom said it’s some sort of ritual into prepping you for the endless pains of motherhood.” she said the last bit faking Emma’s tone. “Which is not something you say to your kid. Or an other pregnant woman for that matter but…” she chuckled and waved a hand in that fake noble handwave she saw in Bridgerton the other night.

Reaching to her glass for a quick sip, she held a fist up in victory when her friend found the bag. It would ruin both their moods losing the damn screws. “Ohhh, dirty talk!” Eden teased. Quite frankly, she’d too kill for some junk food. And if Isa and the baby were craving cheese fries… “You know I’m getting raid ideas already, right?”

“I think it’s kind of unnecessary bullshit. With all the technology in the world they should make pregnancy easier on us women. Somehow.” She rolled her eyes, looking down at her stomach. She was not big yet but she could see the baby growing in front of her eyes. “I’ll tell you this to!” she teased lightly at her stomach before looking up.

She plopped down on the pillow she had thrown on the floor, “I mean if we're talking dirty. I could definitely also go for a greasy burger.” Isa laughed shaking her head, “I’m a professional chef and all I want is junk food.” She took another sip of her drink. “Well I mean then maybe we should..If you say it then we can.. It just can’t be me and my pregnancy brain.”

Luke knew he’d made a mistake the very next morning after he and Isabella slept together. It was a drunken decision because his heart missed her and he woke up the next morning feeling like all he’d done was make his heartache worse. But then she’d called. And he didn’t know how to react to her wanting to see him again. For the last few months all he’d wanted was for Isa to give him another chance and maybe this was it. Or maybe she wanted to meet up to tell him not to contact her again, to tell him that their hookup was a mistake.

He stepped into the cafe and looked around until he found her sitting at a table alone looking…was she nervous? Why? “Hey.” Luke cleared his throat and pulled out the chair across from her before sitting down. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you.”

She smiled when she saw him, and bit her lip. The feelings were there still and she could feel it. She looked over at the counter, “Do you want a coffee or tea or something?” The brunette took a sip of her drink before offering him a small smile. “Oh, well. There’s something i just want to tell you.” Isa could felt like she was going to throw up. 

“I think it’s better for us both if I just come out and say it.” She said shaky, she reached across the table grabbing his hand before she spoke. “S-so i’m pregnant. And it’s yours. I-I want you to know, but I don’t expect you to be involved if you don’t want to. I can do it on my own.”

“Wow thanks.” Aksel grinned. “ You look rather fabulous yourself.” He said with a friendly smile. “ It is pretty awesome isnt it. I’m here with my boyfriend who is currently devouring the buffet while I get the joy of buying the most romantic, floozy pink cocktails I can find.” He chuckled and pointed to Matt. “ That poor guy over there is stuck with me now. we should pray for him.” He chuckled. “ You enjoying yourself?”

“You are so sweet! Gracias!” she smiled and did a small twirl, and squealed excitedly. “Oh goodness! I’ve met your boyfriend. He came to my restaurant, you’ll both have to come back!” Isabella laughed and shook her head, “He’s a lucky man.” She looked down at her dress and sighed. “My ex is here with a date, and i am here by myself. So i’m doing my best.” She laughed and bit her lip, “enough of my loneliness! Should we go dance?”

She had taken 12 tests over the span of the last couple of hours. Pregnant. There was a baby that would be coming into this world. She had always wanted to be a mom, but not like this. Isabella always had a plan her and Luke were gonna be married, and have time by themselves to travel and grow and then when the time is right, would work kids into their lives. Not while they were barely speaking to one another and not together. Once she had processed it enough herself, she reached out to Luke, asking for him to meet for coffee. 

She got to the cafe about 30 minutes earlier than when they planned to meet, she was so anxious she wanted to throw up. She dressed a bit more conservative than she usually did, but she was self conscious. Isa would be honest with him, and if he chose to not be a father to this baby she would respect it. She sat in the cafe, tracing the rim of her cup while she waited for him.

x

He tried to hurry away from where she was but damn those little legs were quick and before he could duck into the men’s room, Isabella was in his path. “Hey.” Luke swallowed the lump in his throat as his eyes fell on the woman he had been so head over heels in love with only months ago. If he were honest, he still was, it wasn’t like he could push those feelings away just by wanting to. 

Isabella had absolutely broken his heart and Luke had done everything in his power to avoid seeing her again since then. Initially he’d wanted to forgive her and hear her out but she’d made that too hard for him and now he was sure they were beyond repair. “How uh, how are you?”

She looked him over and sighed, he looked so good, and she just wanted to run and jump into his arms and never leave. She wouldn’t though, because he would always be at risk as long as her father continued to have the reach he had. “H-Hi.” She managed to get out, offering a sad smile. 

She wanted to tell him everything, but he was better off not knowing. “I’m surviving. I’m only here because Gemma and her boyfriend wanted me to come out with them. probably mostly Gemma though.” She chuckled at her situation, thinking her friend probably felt bad. “How are you? How’s everything?”

It’s not his intention to cause her to frown about his luck. That’s just how the dating scene is and he’s been in and out of it for years and years and years. “That’s fantastic! How long have you owned this place?” he asked, glad to not think about what brought him to this restaurant in the first place and focusing on the unexpected. “You put that tres leches in my head so why not have that? Perks of adulthood is I can have dessert for dinner.” he smiled, “but if you have a decaf coffee or espresso to go along with it that’d be perfect.” That’s a good start to turning the night around. For Matt it doesn’t take much to make him happy.

“This has been a process. I had a small cafe for some time and then almost 3 years ago, I opened this baby.” She nodded her head, and sent the bartender to the back to get him that, and she jumped up and stepped behind the bar, grabbing him an espresso. “I’m Isabella.” She made her way back to the other side of the bar. As the bartender returned she brought over the cake. “Here you go, on the house.”

.

“Isabella,” he repeated on another smile.  “I’m strict with my alcohol intake.”  It was a quick explanation, really, and he didn’t intend to go any further into it.  He eyed the dessert that appeared.  “I’m usually strict with this, too, but what the hell.”  He reached for a fork and he wasn’t sorry for the impulse.  “That is decadent.  What is it, exactly?” 

“Davion,” she smiled and then lifted her hand up and shook her head, “It’s no problem really.” She watched him eye the dessert and then grinned as the response was positive. “Tres leches. It means three milks because to make it you soak it in three different types of milk.”

The whole point of leaving Seattle had been to avoid stress and yet here Vaughn was drinking his day away due to the stress he felt as soon as he returned to the city. He had not planned on ever coming back and now thing’s were a complete mess. He thought he had matured and grown up in so many ways but as soon as he entered the doors of his family business, Vaughn felt unequipped and therefor wanted nothing more than to find chance to escape. One drink turned into two and now Vaughn was trying to fid excuses not to go back to the building today. His entire demeanor must have been easy to read, so as soon as he was given a free drink, the former fighter gave the woman a half smile before raising his glass. “ How did you know I needed this?”

Isabella had spent most of her days cooking, she had edited her restaurants menu, but she was tired. She needed a break, and having a drink out, was better than retreating home and polishing off a bottle or two of wine. “I needed it too, figured I may not be the only one.”

.

Davion moved over as indicated and graced her with his best, but also his normal, smile.  No need to push it over the top immediately.  “Davion, pleased to meet you.  And thank you for the drink, I do appreciate the gesture.” 

She chuckled and nodded her head, “Isabella, it’s a pleasure.” She smiled and shrugged, “Of course, I just thought someone might also be as in need of a drink as I was.” Running her fingers through her hair she turned as the bartender brought the cake back. “Try it and tell me what you think.” 

.

Matt’s hands went along either sides of the glass and stared down at it. He nodded to himself thinking if he should leave it at that. Maybe thank her once more and leave them to their own thoughts. But sometimes that makes things worse. Matt looked up from his free drink and over to her. “Have you been to this place before? It was recommended as a good date spot but that fell through. Still want to get a bite here, just don’t know what to pick.”

She smiled and then frowned, that he had a date that fell through here. Isa wanted everyone who came in here to have a good time. “I-I actually own this restaurant, tell me what your craving and i’ll get you something. I also just made a tres leches cake so make sure you save room for desert.” Isa hoped she could make his night just a bit better. “Please let me give you a better memory to associate with this restaurant.”