Paradise In Portugal {Cristiano Ronaldo}

11. Start of Something New

{Adelina POV}

When early morning rolled in, I woke up with my boys still cradled in my arms. I smiled to myself and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Walking up to the mirror, I realized I was still wearing my dress from last night. Recaps from the night before came into view. I felt strange and awful for mentioning what had happened. It wasnt like Cristiano and I were even together, but I probably ruined my chances.

After changing into a new set of pajamas, I headed over to the kitchen in attempt to make breakfast.

"Cecilia told me you came home pretty early from the date last night", I heard my mother say as she walked into the room. This was her way of butting into my life.

I simply nodded, trying to avoid any eye contact. I did not want to talk about the events that occurred, because she will be the first to say I told you so. I had to give it to her though; she did warn me not to involve myself with them, but I did anyway.

"I wasn't feeling too good, mae."

From the corner of my eye, I saw her inching her way forward.

"Lina, tell me whats going on. It isn't like you to be seeing multiple of men at the same time."

The sound of her voice made it clear she was worrisome. However, her comment bothered me.

"Its not like I'm seeing the whole team mae!" I nearly shouted. I paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I made a mistake."

She only shook her head. "What kind of mistake?"

I stopped stirring the pancake mix I had been working on and sighed. I turned to face my mother with water welled up in my eyes. "I slept with Gareth the night before. And I told Cristiano about it last night. He got upset and ended the date."

My mother stood silent. She made a second eye contact, before looking away.

"This is the exact mess I wanted you to avoid, Lina. You are a mother, a young mother. You should be thinking of your children first, instead of rolling around in this mess. Think about them, meu filha."

With those soft words, she embraced me into her arms. I held onto her tightly - not wanting to let go. She was right, however. I had been spending too much time with these men I barely knew, only to be neglecting my kids in the process. That had never been the type of mother I was or ever want to be. But slowly and surely, I was becoming so.

~ ~

Later the same day, I found myself being swarmed with sweet texts from Gareth. We had gone into the conversation of where this event had left us. The results amounted to start seeing each other - dating, in other terms. For a minute, I was hesitant to accept, solely for the fact of barely knowing him. Supposedly, that's what dating meant.

I must admit, this was surreal to me. It had been a long time since I dated someone. I felt happy, relieved; but also nervous. I was more concerned than anything, thinking that my boys would not be too thrilled about this ordeal. As much as my mother advises me to look after my kids, I believe I should be looking out for myself.

"Hey guys, so I wanted to talk to you," I said, walking into my sons' bedroom. They both looked up from their action figures to face me. I smiled.

"What is it mae?" Carlos asked.

I walked over and sat on their beds. "What would you say if I told you I started dating someone?"

"Is it Cristiano?!" Josue jumped in.

"We really like him mae! He's really nice."

"Junior is nice too!! If you get married, we'll all be brothers!"

"And we'll have a dad!"

"BOYS!" I shouted; just loud enough to calm them down. They both looked over at me with smiles painted on their faces.

This very much stung like needles to the heart. Hearing the boys say such nice things about Cristiano, had me feeling awful for screwing it all up.

"So mae?"

I snapped out of my daze and proceeded to the conversation.

"Uhm, no honey. I'm not dating Cristiano. I'm going to be dating Gareth."

Josue and Carlos looked at me with confusion written across their faces. I understood why they were confused; as they have never met Gareth like they did Cristiano. It was something new for all of us, and although they were sketchy, I hoped they'd get along with him.

"This all may be hazy, but trust me, Gareth is a good guy. You guys will love him," I explained.

The eagerness on their faces was replaced by looks of bothersome. It pained me to see this reaction coming from my sons. But I knew if I wanted this work, I'd have to be stern with them.

"Okay, well, like it or not, I'll be with Gareth. You don't have to like him, but be nice. That's all I ask."

With that been said, I walked out of the room.

~ ~

After my conversation with the boys, I decided to invite Gareth over for dinner. I figured this would be good for everyone to meet and start off on good terms. By my mistake, I hadn't mentioned this invite to the boys. My mother was out with her friends, so I wasn't all too worried about her. However, with the reaction I got from my boys, that was what I was worried about. I was dreading to find out how my boys will act with Gareth, and if they would even accept him. The kids haven't been around anyone new in so long; I knew that introducing them to two strange men within a short period was overwhelming. Maybe this is why I steered away from dating. It was something that became messy very quickly and I couldn't do much to fix it.

When dinner time came, we dressed a little nicer than usual and set up the table.

"Why do we have to do this?" Carlos asked, setting some cups.

I took a deep breath. "Because I want you guys to meet. Maybe after you get to know him, you'll like him."

"Doubt it," Josue mumbled.

After I became a mom, every little word whispered was now clearly understood. "Excuse me?" I scolded.

Josue turned around to face me. His eyes shot with annoyance and a bit of fear.

"If you two don't behave tonight, there will be consequences. Now finish setting up the table." I stormed out of the room and headed to the kitchen.

I needed to take a deep breath and relax. I was psyching myself out for something so simple. I paced back and forth in the kitchen, giving myself time to cool down. In the mist of calming, the door bell rang and my gut twisted.