"No, it isn't. And I couldn't agree more." Isabelle agreed with a slight nod of her head.
She would imagine that they'd both be delighted or okay with it. Or, at least that was what she was hoping. Children could be unpredictable at times. And she didn't know too much of how Bianca would like it, yet it was the same with Noah for her. It would take him a little time to wrap his head around the concept of his mother being in a relationship.
But he really liked Ethan, and she was certain that Bianca really liked her. So, she didn't worry too much. She couldn't. She was filled with too much joy to worry.
"We can tell them tomorrow." She slid her arms down from his neck and wrapped them around his waist instead. It would be hard finding a way to go to sleep after this. Still, she happily laid her head against his shoulder. "Better sooner than later."
They ended up falling asleep on the couch together, with Isabelle laying on top of Ethan and his arms laced securely around her waist to keep her close.
They woke up before the kids did, thankfully, and a messy-haired Ethan decided to make pancakes for the kids, so they'd be happy when he and his new girlfriend broke the news to them. Soon enough, a bleary-eyed Bianca came down with Noah and a bouncing Poppy in tow.
"Morning Daddy."
"Good morning, gorgeous," Ethan crooned, kissing his daughter on the forehead and handing both children plates. "Morning, mate," he added to Noah.
Ethan licked his lips and glanced at Isabelle, giving her a small nod out of the corner of his eye.
Isabelle leaned over and dropped a kiss on top of her son's head while he ate. He was a morning child, often waking up before her. So, he was quick to become aware of his senses and surroundings.
"So, Ethan and I have something wonderful we wanted to tell you." She moved to sit across from both children and smiled pleasantly.
Noah looked at her curiously and allowed her to go on.
"We are now in a relationship. We're dating." She watched as the little boy processed it, though he looked slightly confused. So, she thought to be more precise."I'm his girlfriend and he's my boyfriend now."
"Oh. Okay, I see." Noah nodded his head, and blinked a couple of times.
Ethan chewed on his bottom lip and watched Bianca as she listened to Isabelle. The little girl wore a blank expression, as if she didn't know what Isabelle meant.
"You okay, Princess?" Ethan asked, standing beside his daughter and stroking her hair like a cat.
"Izzy's your girlfriend?"
"Yes. Is that okay?"
"What about Mommy?"
Ethan licked his lips. "Your mummy is still your mummy. Isabelle is my girlfriend. It's like having two mummies."
Bianca glanced at Isabelle. "Are you my second mommy now?"
"Only if you want me to be. I would be delighted to be your second mommy," Isabelle said genuinely.
She didn't want to push the eight year old girl into anything she didn't like or made her uncomfortable. She only wanted both children to be happy and content with everything. She knew it would be a change for them to adapt to, but she had confidence they would.
"If not, I would still be happy to stay as your friend, Sweetie."
Noah silently watched and awaited Bianca's answer curiously just as his mother did. The young Spanish woman smiled, but she had never felt more nervous in a child's presence before.
"Does this mean you don't love Mommy anymore?" Bianca asked Ethan, and the male's face dropped at the sadness in her tone.
"Bee ... Mummy and I didn't work out. But I still love her, she's your mum. I love her like a friend." Ethan hadn't been in a serious relationship since Jessa and he could understand why Bianca was so confused.
"You like Izzy, right?" Bianca nodded and Ethan squatted down to her eye level. "So you think you can give her a chance? For me?"
Bianca looked at Isabelle and nodded. "Okay. You can be my second mommy."
Isabelle exhaled a breath of relief. She had never been so happy to hear those words come out of Bianca's mouth. She was able to smile more at the girl.
"That's -"
"That's unfair." Noah interjected, frowning in his spot. "I don't like this, not even little."
Her gaze fell to the smaller boy, staring up at her with unhappy eyes. It made her heart ache, the same it had when Bianca asked about her mother. "Noey, sweetheart, what's not fair? I don't understand."
"Bianca has her mommy and her daddy and now she has you? I only I have one mommy and now I have to share you with Ethan and Bianca."He looked at incredulously, his eyes heavy with sadness and glossy with tears. But he didn't cry. "It's not fair. I want to go home."
"Listen to me, Noah." She scooted out of her seat and reached out to hug him. He denied her any affection and crossed his as, eyes on the floor, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.
Ethan felt his heart break a little when he saw how upset Noah was about the entire thing. He knew the little boy was unlucky in that way. He only had one parent, and Ethan could understand why he'd be upset that that parent would be spending a lot of time with another child.
"Noah," said Ethan quietly, coming around the bench to squat in front of the little boy and look up at him with sad but sincere eyes.
"Mate ... I know you don't know your dad. And I know that must be very hard for you. But ... if your mum can be Bianca's mummy, does that mean I can be your dad?"
He hoped so. Because he really liked Isabelle and he wanted this to work out. He wanted his daughter to have a brother.
"I'll do my absolute best to be the best dad I can be to you."
"He's a very good dad," Bianca added matter-of-factly.
Isabelle watched as Noah shifted in his seat, rather uncertain of the whole ordeal. But she could see his resolve melting away, steadily, but quickly. Because more than anything he did want a father, and Isabelle knew that. She simply never had the means to fix that before.
"Okay. I guess." He mumbled, his voice hardly audible."I never had a dad before."
Isabelle pulled him into a hug in her lap from his side. "See, everything is all okay. More than okay." She kissed his cheek.
"You're still my mom."
"I'll always your mom." She said just as he pulled away.
"Does this mean you guys won't play with us as much anymore?"
Ethan sighed in relief. "We won't stop playing with you, I promise," he chuckled, ruffling Noah's hair. "In fact, we'll play with you two even more."
"Does this mean Izzy and Noey are moving in with us?" Bianca asked with a small smile.
"Woah, it's way too early --"
Bianca didn't listen and grabbed Noah's hand. "Come on, Noah, I'll show you which room you can have."
Ethan chuckled, rolled his eyes and put his arms around Isabelle's waist, kissing her on the top of the head and then the cheek. "That went reasonably well."
"Very reasonably." Isabelle laid her head against his chest and put her arms around him securely. She closed her eyes briefly, basking in the warmth and happiness of it all.
Honestly, she couldn't remember the last time she had ever felt this happy, romantically. After having Noah, relationships were the last thing on her mind. Besides, even though she was young and pretty, no one really wanted a father or father figure. Once they saw the kid, it was over. Just as it was with his actual father.
"It means a lot to me, that you'd father Noah." Especially when he didn't really have to. It was a lot of work parenting children, she knew. And she had to do herself on behalf of of both sides.
"I'm more than happy to do so," Ethan assured his new girlfriend, rubbing her back affectionately as he smiled down at her. "Just because his father doesn't deserve him, doesn't mean he doesn't deserve a father."
In truth, it would be an honour to act as a father of sorts to such a wonderful boy.
"Thank you for agreeing to mother Bianca," Ethan murmured, leaning in and returning her quick kiss to the lips. "She's really going to love it. She misses Jessa like crazy when she's not there."
He knew his daughter loved him a lot but there were some voids Ethan couldn't fill, those voids left whenever he had Bianca and Jessa did not.
"Well, I'm happy to fill in those blank spaces for her. She's a sweetheart." Isabelle had been fond of the little girl since day one. And she only grew to like her more. She wanted to have a daughter of her own somewhere in the far future. So, she couldn't have been happier with helping with Bianca now.
"I'll do my very best." She said with a slight nod of her head. "And it'll be fun."
"In the mean time, what are your plans for today?" Isabelle looked up at him, sincerely curious.
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something."
Ethan poured them both a hot chocolate and took her hand, leading her into the living room and sitting her down on the couch. He sat beside her and took her hand, squeezing it gently.
"So ... I wanted to know if you wanted to go public or not," he said, a serious tone in his voice. "You haven't been in the spotlight for very long and I don't want to make you uncomfortable or feel like I'm pushing you into anything you don't want to do. And Noah. I don't want to negatively affect Noah."
That was the absolute last thing he wanted. Bianca had been raised with the paparazzi and in the spotlight. Noah was new to it all.
"It's entirely up to you. I won't be mad, no matter what you choose."
Isabelle pinched her lips tightly, watching the hot steam rise from mug as she contemplated hard on the so subject. "I want to go public."
She did want to go public. It wasn't something she wanted to hide when she was so happy she wanted to tell anyone and everyone. But she knew she couldn't only think if herself with having Noah involved. She had or responsibilities.
"But I think we should wait a little while first. Noah is still adjusting to everything and I don't want him to be overwhelmed." She shook her head with a slight.
Ethan understood completely. There were some days where he wished that he could erase Bianca from the public view but that was impossible without socially isolating her, and Ethan would never torture his daughter like that. So he just tried to make sure that anything the public saw of her was wholesome and optimistic so no one would think bad of her or her parents.
Ethan leaned in and gave Isabelle a swift kiss to the lips. He absolutely adored his new girlfriend.
"I love you," he whispered. "I know we've been dating for about twelve seconds but ... I think I knew that ages ago. I was just too nervous to tell you." He gave her a crooked grin and pulled her closer.
He was telling the truth. Ever since that first kissing scene, he had known he loved her and he wanted to be with her.
He loved her. Ethan loved her. And he was being sincere.
Isabelle couldn't do anything but stare at him blankly. She could remember very clearly the last time someone had said that to her. And it was so long ago to. But back then, she wasn't sure she believed it.
Here and now with Ethan, she was certain it was the truth. It was more than what was in his blue eyes, it was just him in general. Caring, kind and thoughtful Ethan. And she loved him.
"Well, I wish you had told me sooner. It would have stopped me from over thinking every little thing I did in front of you," She was sure she had been obvious, but it was clear to her she had not been. "I don't know. I never thought you could love me."
She leaned in and kissed him, cupping his face. "I love you, too."
At first, Ethan had thought he'd said the wrong thing by telling his girlfriend how he felt. That was understandable, of course. After all, they had only been together for just over twelve hours. But Ethan knew how he felt, and he also knew that he had never felt his way about anyone else, except maybe Jessa.
But Isabelle loved him back and a smile cracked across Ethan's pretty face. "That's wonderful," he whispered, leaning in and very swiftly kissing her back.
He had just deepened and slowed the kiss when their children burst into the kitchen. "Ewwwwwwww!"
Ethan jumped and turned to look at the kids, standing in the doorway behind the couch. "Hi."
Isabelle would have laughed if she hadn't been enjoying that kiss so much. Admittedly, she was just as startled as he was than appeared out of the blue, interrupting the two. But she didn't fail to offer the two young children a smile, always happy to see them.
"If I may intervene." She raised a finger, turned on her side so she could look at them from her place couch.
She cleared her throat as if to gather the attention of the room. "We are not moving in sillies. It's too early to do something so big." Even if they were standing on the grounds of love, she still wanted to give it time.
"Awww, but I really like that room. It's big!" He opened his arms, emphasizing his point.
"You mean the study?"
"Yep."
"Don't worry, I'm sure if we all gang up on him, he'll have to give in to our charm." She winked mischievously.
"No one is having my study," Ethan insisted sternly, but he smiled at the two children and jumped over the back of the couch to meet them.
"Come on, you little pests," he teased, scooping them both up and holding them to his sides with his long arms. "We'll put a movie on and you two can watch it with Poppy."
"Will you and Izzy watch it with us?"
"Izzy and I need to clean up after your birthday party, Missy."
Bianca pouted but didn't complain when he put Madagascar on for the kids and went back downstairs to Isabelle. "You don't actually have to help, I'll clean it up," he told her, taking her hand and pulling her outside.
"Sit." He sat her down in a deck chair and began to toss all the garbage from last night's party into a large bag. Immediately, he regretted not doing it the night before.
