Paradise In Portugal {Cristiano Ronaldo}

1. Madeira, Portugal

The bedroom looked half-empty. Anything left in place, were my husband's things.

Well, ex-husband.

Our divorce was finalized at the beginning of the week. Damien and I had been married for 6 long-agonizing years. Why did I take so long to end the marriage, you might ask. Simple: we stayed together for our twin boys, Carlos and Josue. The boys were born when I was just 18 years old. Damien claimed he was "not ready", and left me to mend for myself. He missed out on all the doctor appointments, the baby shower, and including their birth. It wasn't until a year after, that he came back and decided to stay. Within that same year, we became engaged and got married. And what a mistake that was. Arguments, fighting, moving, and all the bullshit just became too much to handle. And I gave up.

I sighed at the view of the room. It looked like someone had came in and rummaged the place. I zipped my suitcase up and started closing up the drawers, and putting the hangers back in the closet. I might have acted like a bitch, but I was not going to disrespect his home, although he disrespected me on multiple occasions. The difference between me and him.

After tidying up the bedroom, I walked out the door with suitcase in hand. I made my way down the narrow hallway and into my sons' bedroom.

"Pronto? Are you ready?" I asked, leaning on the door frame.

Carlos, my Real Madrid fanatic, was packing the last of his clothes into his baggage. Josue on the other hand, was all packed and ready to go. I looked around the room and examined every inch of the white walls. Their room was completely empty. No bedding, no posters, no clothes, no rug, nada. The room was striped down, with nothing but the windows.

The boys started heading out the front door as I followed closely behind, taking the spare key out of my pocket.

"Woah, what's going on here?"

I turned around at the sound of the familiar voice. Damien.

"Leave us alone," I said, turning back around to lock the front door.

"Adelina, what the fuck is going on? Why is everything packed?"

I noticed the sound of his voice growing more intense and loud.

"Josue, Carlos, get in the car please," I called out to them. The boys nodded and climbed into the car with their bags, closing the car door behind them.

I looked back to Damien and shook my head. "We're divorced, Damien. So, I'm leaving. And I'm taking my kids with me."

"Our kids, Adelina. They're mine too. You can't just take them from me," he said angrily.

"I can and I will. You should have done your job as a father and maybe then you'd be able to call them yours. You left me multiple times...alone. So don't you dare say their your kids. You have some damn nerve," I stated firmly.

"Bet your ass that I'll fight this," he argued.

"Fight all you want, but I have full custody," I argued back.

I looked back into the car and saw the boys staring right at us. They immediately looked away and focused on something else.

I hated when they saw us argue. It was what they had always known. I knew this was difficult for them, but it was for the best. Damien wasn't good enough of a father to them and it wasn't fair. It was my job as their mother, to give them the life they deserved. And so I would be.

"You'll regret this... Trust me," Damien warned.

I looked at him and grabbed my suitcase again. "Whatever." I tossed the spare key over to him and walked off the deck.

Without looking back, I climbed into the car and started up the engine. I turned around and smiled at my boys.

"Excited?" I asked in the best 'happy' voice I could.

"Sim mae!" they simultaneously said.

With that, I shifted the gear into drive and left my past.

~

The flight from New York to Madeira, Portugal was a whopping 10 hour flight in total. We slept most of the ride, so it wasn't all too boring. The boys weren't thrilled to be moving, but they were excited to see their grandmother after 4 years. Damien never liked the idea taking the boys outside the country, so I had to follow it. But finally, that was over.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Madeira, Portugal. Local time is 5:24 a.m. and the temperature is 62°F. Thank you for choosing to fly with us. Enjoy your stay."

I looked over to my boys who were sound asleep. They seemed so peaceful and rested; it saddened me to have to wake them up.

"Carlos, Josue," I called softly, shaking them slowly. "We're here."

They both woke up one by one, rubbing their eyes to awaken. Josue immediately pulled up the cover from the window and looked out.

"This is where we're going to be living?" he asked.

I nodded my head and smiled.

Josue smiled back at me, while his brother was still trying to wake up.

Soon after, we exited the plane and walked over to the baggage claim. Once we retrieved our things, we headed over to pick up, where my mother said she'd be. The boys were quick to examine their surroundings. They had been trying to read the signs in Portuguese, while looking around.

"Finally! You're here!" I heard someone exclaim.

I turned around to see my mother with open arms. The boys were quick to follow my gaze, as they ran into their grandmother's arms, receiving endless hugs.

"Ola mae," I greeted, going in for an one-arm side hug.

"It's about time," she commented.

"About time what?"

I knew what she had meant, but I was in no mood to hear her talk.

"It's about time you left that guy. He was no good for you or the boys," she started. "You need to find yourself a good husband and father. A real man..."

"Mom, I don't want to think about that right now."

We walked off towards the parking lot to leave. I didn't want to worry about finding a husband, nonetheless a father to my kids. I just wanted to focus on myself and my sons.