Ricardo blinks blurrily at his phone. There's a lot on his mind right now. They've been quaratined for over two months, with no certain end date in sight, but some sports in Europe are coming back and he looks forward to being to watch them, even if it messes with his sleep schedule worse than it is already.
Alicia is asleep next to him, her lips parted slightly as she breathes in and out gently. She still feels nauseous sometimes and he wonders about so many things- doctors appointments, and what it's like going through pregnancy during a pandemic, and so many little difficulties that could easily become big problems if not careful. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, wishing that the timing had been better, that maybe it had happened sooner, or a little later, or...
"I can hear you thinking from here," she grumbles suddenly, startling him. He's about to apologize when she sits up, brushing her hair out of her eyes and squinting at him. "Can't sleep?"
"Not really," he admits and she exhales slowly. "I'm sorry I woke you up-"
"You didn't, not really." She gets up and stumbles into the bathroom and he closes his eyes, trying to relax enough to doze off himself. It doesn't work all that well and she clicks at him as she returns, settling in next to him. "I'm not even showing and this pregnancy is already putting me through the ringer."
He hugs her and whispers soothingly into her hair, running his hand slowly up and down her stomach. "It might be the stress of everything."
She nods slowly. "Could be." Lacing their fingers together, she leans into him and stares up into the darkness. "Have you told Del Rio?"
He shakes his head, not really looking forward to the conversation. Things are still strained between them, now more than ever, and he's not sure how much he even cares to inform the man of what's going on with his life. "I'm not sure I'm going to."
She squeezes his hands. "I understand. Maybe Sofia though?"
The thought makes him smile- the housekeeper had become like a second mother to him when he was so far away from his own, when things were so terrible for him. "Yeah, I should."
They doze restlessly off and on until morning dawns and the dogs begin demanding attention. Alicia sips at ginger ale and eats some toast while Ricardo takes them out, kissing her on the cheek when he returns. "How are you feeling?"
"Not as nauseous but I think I'm just gonna lay down." She kisses him and pulls away to walk off. "Tell me how it goes with Sofia," she requests, smiling at him when he nods in agreement.
He procrastinates, cleaning her glass and saucer the toast had been on, before wiping up the dog's area, giving them fresh food and water. Even sorts some of the mail, tossing away junk and piling up the bills and other important looking things for later perusal. Finally running out of things needed done, he tugs his cell phone out and frowns at it, taking a deep breath. "Alright," he mumbles. "Here we go."
Sofia's cell phone rings a few times before it finally clicks and a smile crosses his face as soon as he hears her gentle voice. "Hola?"
"Hola, Sofia," he greets her.
"Mi hijo! How are you?" Immediately his nerves relax and he's relieved he's called her. They avoid discussing Alberto, Sofia understanding. Ricardo circles the topic awhile, eager to hear how Sofia's been taking quarantine, and telling her about his experiences. She giggles at his claim he's going to start a Netflix diary, and then takes a slow, quiet breath. "How is Alicia doing with all of this? Must not be easy so soon after leaving WWE. I know she had high hopes to get her designs off the ground as fast as possible."
"Well, that's what I'm mostly calling about," Ricardo admits. "She, uh." He exhales. Outside of telling his mother and sister, he hadn't been able to just tell somebody, either Alicia had told or they'd decided it was too early to say anything while still so early on into the pregnancy. Especially with how things are shaking out. "She's pregnant, Sofia. I'm gonna be a dad."
Sofia falls silent. Quiet for so long that Ricardo thinks she's hung up, it's almost a relief when she chokes out some muffled Spanish. "Rica... Ricardo? You both are having a...?"
"Si," he says with a small laugh, emotions choking him as well as she babbles and cries.
"I'm so happy for you both! Congratulations!" But she falls sober when the initial awe passes and she remembers the circumstances. "It must be very stressful, right now," she says once they've both stopped crying. "Mi hijo, I wasn't going to say anything, but... I think my time here is almost done."
Ricardo frowns. "What... what do you mean?" he asks, breathless, and Sofia hesitates.
"Things aren't working out well anymore. I haven't felt comfortable here in awhile, and..." She exhales. "I was going to quit soon anyway. Now I have a good reason even he can't talk his way out of."
"What are you talking about?" he asks quietly and she sounds much happier when she next speaks.
"I can perhaps come to California and help you and Alicia out with everything. I know I'll have to quarantine myself for awhile after I travel out, but that's ok, I'll figure it out. And then in a couple weeks, I can be there for you both. What... what do you think?"
Ricardo's sister was unable to help, busy with her own children, and his mother was leery of going anywhere, just in case, so it truly had just been the two of them through all of this. He smiles, in awe that she'd be so willing to help them out. "I mean... if you're sure that's what you want to do," he says softly. "We'd love to have you. As for quarantine, I'll talk to Mike and AJ for you, I'm pretty sure they have a guest house you can stay in until you feel safe enough."
"Perfect," she says. "I'll let you know later how it goes when I talk to Senor Del Rio."
"Ok," he responds, trying to ignore the odd mix of guilt and confusion at getting to have Sofia come stay with him so easily. "I'll let Alicia know when she wakes up, she's going to be thrilled."
Sofia's smile is audible in her simple response. "So am I."
They talk for a little while longer and then Ricardo hangs up the phone, staring blankly at the wall. "Wow," he whispers, still in awe that Sofia will be here so soon to help with everything Alicia is experiencing and whatever else may come up.
He smiles, bright and hopeful, and then goes back to the TV to watch more older sports games while he waits for word from Sofia, or Alicia to wake up.
