"How're things going in here?"

Esté gently pushed open the door with her elbow, a homemade pastrami sandwich in one hand and a cold bottle of Diet Coke in the other.

Tony lifted the small mattress up from the floor and slipped it into the frame of the crib, sighing with slumped shoulders before dusting off his hands and turning to her with a smile.

"All done, piece of cake."

"Piece of cake? It took you three hours."

He rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively, "Whatever, that was only because I couldn't find the little screws."

It was a hot summers day in mid July and the sun was relentlessly beating down across New York City. The air was thick at the best of times in the summer months but throwing being five and a half months pregnant into the mix made Estélla feel like she was on fire most of the time.

She'd been sitting in the garden in the shade all morning, swaying back and forth on a wooden porch swing with a book in her hand and the biggest glass of iced water she could carry. Tony spent most of his free time decorating the baby's nursery and building furniture for the room which in hindsight seemed fine, only he wasn't used to reading small instruction pamphlets and ciphering through plastic bags full of bolts and screws when he usually built things.

Still, he did it all without too much moaning. The room was light and airy with a huge open window in the centre, a nursing chair to the side with soft pillows and a cashmere blanket folded over the arm. The crib was white with a mobile hanging above it and the walls were painted a pale blue colour, clouds and hot air balloons embellishing the space.

There was a dresser and a changing station and a wardrobe already filled with tiny clothes. Aside from picking out the decor for the room, the only other part Esté played was organising their baby's closet. She'd spent hours splitting outfits into seasons and folding vests and sleep suits, stacking diapers into drawers and making sure they had absolutely everything they could possibly need, and then a little bit more.

"Here, you must be starving."

Tony wiped sweat from his brow with his wrist, nodding before grabbing the drink and chugging half of it.

"Thank you, sweetheart," he said, one hand on her waist as he kissed her cheek before taking a bite of the sandwich, "How are you feeling?"

The first few months of Estélla's pregnancy had been unforgiving to say the least. Her morning sickness made it impossible for her to get anything done for at least half of her day and tiredness exhausted her by the middle of the afternoon. She didn't feel like herself, her hormones pulling her in every possible direction besides the one she wanted to go in, and a lack of being able to do the job that she loved so desperately only made her feel worse.

That being said, the second trimester had, so far, been a dream. The morning sickness had gone and she felt more energised, sleeping better and having less vivid dreams. Esté worked as much as she could, but never once pushed herself too far, always conscious about her health and well-being above getting a project finished or attending a shoot she maybe didn't need to oversee.

Tony would've moved heaven and earth for Estélla before she fell pregnant with his child, but after watching her begin to grow their baby, everything changed for him. He'd never really given pregnancy a second thought at any point in his life and none of his friends had ever had children of their own either, and so the entire experience was brand new.

He watched Estélla struggle through the first trimester. He watched her sob uncontrollably without reason, spend hours sitting on the bathroom floor with her head over the toilet bowl and lose days worth of sleep because she couldn't get comfortable.

It seemed like torture at first, and as he watched his partner endure it all for the sake of their child, he vowed to do everything he possibly could to help her. He read endless parenting books in his spare time, reached out to professionals to learn how he could best support Esté, hauled boxes of furniture and clothes deliveries up the stairs and rearranged the nursery a million times until she was happy.

Tony didn't care, he would've done anything for Estélla at that time. Whatever she asked of him and whatever she didn't ask, but he could tell she wanted, he did.

"I'm good," she smiled, "Hot, but good."

Estélla wore her hair up in a ponytail that day, sporting a white sundress that curved with her small baby bump and flat sandals, her face bare of any makeup but a radiating, natural glow made her fuller cheeks shine and her eyes sparkle.

To Tony, she had never looked more beautiful.

"It looks perfect in here, thank you." She continued, gazing around the nursery with a hand resting on her stomach.

Tony furrowed his brows, "You designed it all, I just...built the stuff."

She smiled and walked over to him, one hand resting on his cheek as she kissed his lips, "You're already the most wonderful father."

He turned red at her words, smiling at the compliment and washing the colour away from his cheeks with another swig of Coke. Tony had never thought he'd become a father, but now that he was, having a child with Estélla made more sense than anything else ever had.

"Had any more weird cravings?"

Esté shook her head and brushed some dust from the arms of a golden teddy bear sat on top of the dresser, "Nope."

"I'm convinced it's a boy," Tony said as he finished his sandwich.

Esté turned to him with a raised brow, "I'm not. Some days I think it is, but I've felt like it's a girl for a week straight now."

"What do you mean you feel like it's a girl? How can you feel that?"

She laughed quietly and shrugged, "I have no idea, it's just an instinct that I have. Either way, I don't care. So long as they're happy, healthy and-"

"And look exactly like you and nothing like me, we're all good."

She rolled her eyes and laced her arms lazily around his neck, letting his hands cradle her waist and pull her closer for a kiss.

"Am I done for the day?" Tony mused, "Can the grafting end now?"

Esté bared her teeth and raised her brows, "There might be a delivery coming this afternoon that might be the bassinet. And a stroller. And also a car seat."

Tony just sighed with a shake of his head, lips falling into a breathless smile as he looked into her blue eyes. He could tell she felt guilty about all the heavy lifting and building that Tony had done recently, and as much as he enjoyed teasing her, there was no hesitation in his core towards any of it.

"Have you bought the entire damn baby store? Wait, didn't I give you my card the other-"

Esté grinned and kissed him before he could finish talking, quickly spinning around on her heels and walking out of the room.

"Don't check your bank statement, Anthony."

++

It was nine-thirty by the time Estélla placed her knife and fork together on an empty plate after devouring a truffle rigatoni that she could've quite easily eaten three more servings of.

"I know they say eating for two isn't a real thing, but God I feel like I could most of the time."

Sat across from Esté that night in the upscale authentic Italian restaurant in the Upper West Side was Tom Ford. He looked ravishing as usual in jeans and a blazer, classically handsome the same way Esté was sophisticatedly beautiful in a skin-tight navy mini dress and heels, not afraid to show off her bump or to shy away from the comfort of flat shoes.

"Please," he scoffed, "I'm not splitting dessert with you, I want my own. This place does the best tiramisu in Manhattan."

Their catch up had been planned for a while, Tom eager to clear his schedule and make time to see his long-standing friend while he was in the city. A lot of his summer was spent overseas in Europe and so having a week back in the States meant seven busy days to cram in as many dinners and drinks dates as he possibly could, though he would've cancelled on all of the others if it meant he only had time for Estélla Goldwyn.

"I know I've said it already, but you really do look beautiful, Esté. You're so elegant, so graceful, I would say I'm shocked but I'm not. You could never be anything but."

She smiled at his words and shrugged slightly, "Thank you, I hope you're saying the same thing after I give birth, though I highly doubt it."

He shook his head and poured them both another glass of water, "Estélla, you're one of the most beautiful women on the planet. Don't worry."

She sighed and leant back in her chair, thanking him with a nod for the top up and bringing the glass to her lips.

"Is it common?" She asked, "For women to return to modelling after pregnancy? I mean, I know it's been done but my body has already changed so much, I just can't imagine ever going back to the way people are used to seeing me."

Becoming a mother had never intimidated Esté. She'd felt the calling within her bones for as long as she could remember, knowing that one day, she would have children of her own. She felt comfortable with the thought and now it was becoming a reality, there was nothing but excitement that made her heart beat, looking forward to her future instead of being scared about what might lay ahead.

The one thing that did scratch at the back of her mind though, was her job. Estélla had more than enough money without needing to work another day in her life, but that wasn't what she wanted. She adored her job and couldn't wait to get back out onto a runway, in front of a camera or styling pretty dresses on even prettier models. She wanted to work because it made up part of who she was, but who she was on the outside was slowly starting to change.

Esté hadn't gained much weight so far, but her hips were noticeably wider and her cheeks fuller, thighs thicker, too. She didn't struggle to see the beauty in the way she'd changed while growing a child and she was never short of complements from Tony on how beautiful he thought she was every single day, but she was no longer the standard the modelling world had.

"Of course," Tom nodded, "I actually wanted to talk to you about that tonight."

"What do you mean?"

His eyes glistened with delight and a smile curved across his lips, Esté's interest peaking in what he was about to say, hoping he'd instil some magic wisdom and calming advice to the small spot in her mind that did start to wonder.

"I'm going back to Gucci next year, their current Creative Director is stepping down and they asked me if I'd consider going back, I said yes."

Esté grinned and touched his hand from across the table, giving it a tight squeeze, "That's fantastic. I'm so happy for you, Tom, really."

"Thank you, darling," he kissed her knuckles and kept hold of her hand, "We have limitless ideas floating around right now and there's no time frame on any of them, but when there is, I have a specific collection in mind that I want you to be the face of."

"Y-you're kidding, right? Are you serious?"

He smiled and brushed his thumb across her hand, "Deadly serious. You take your time, enjoy the newborn stage and savour every minute of it because it'll pass you by before you know it. Then when , and if, you decide you want to come back, the job is yours."

She felt herself become overwhelmed with emotion, gratitude and disbelief at the proposition from her friend. Esté had thought about the horrors of being turned away from work because of how much her body had changed, only now, she had a lifeline thrown directly into her hands, reassuring her that no matter what she looked like, she would always have her best friends in her corner.