Love Will Find A Way

Part One - Chapter Eighteen: Christmas Eve

Cristiano deepened the kiss as he held Nicole close to him, he was about to get on a plane and leave his girlfriend behind for a week for the holidays; the footballer smiled into the kiss as Nicole wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I love you,” Cristiano said as he pulled back slightly, his fingers brushed carefully through his hair as he ducked down and kissed her softly again; he really didn’t want to go but he knew that he had to, his mother was expecting him and she wouldn’t be happy if he didn’t show up.

“I love you too… but you have to go,” Nicole said as she pulled away from Cristiano, she knew that if she didn’t stop him there then he wasn’t going to stop kissing her.

They had grown closer in the days that she had moved in with him and Nicole knew she was going to miss him while he was away and she hoped that they wouldn’t be apart for too long.

The footballer made a noise as he stepped closer to the brunette, he truly didn’t want to leave her behind especially since she was waiting on results to see if she had beaten the leukaemia; he wanted to be at home to support her.

“Go I’ll call you if anything comes up,” Nicole whispered knowing that he had already delayed one flight to stay with her.

He had been meant to fly out the day before and had missed his flight to spend one more night with his girlfriend and her puppy.

Cristiano sighed as he checked his watch, he hated to leave her like this especially when she might need him but if he didn’t leave now then he was going to miss the flight; he carefully stepped forward and kissed her again, knowing that this time he really did have to leave.

“I’ll call you when I land,” Cristiano promised as he pulled back, his brown eyes closed as he rested his head against hers; he wished that she was coming with him and not staying in Madrid.

***

Nicole shivered as she stepped into the house as she walked into the house, the brunette slowly removed her black biker skater mac and moved to put it into the coat cupboard under the stairs; she glanced around as she thought about the fact that it was so quiet without her boyfriend around.

Nicole was wearing a navy stripe V-neck jumper and black skinny jeans paired with black folded knit collar biker boots; she dressed for comfort and warmth since she had no interest in making herself uncomfortable while she was dealing with the aftereffects of her chemo.

“Toby,” Nicole called as she carried her black casual shoulder bag into the kitchen, she smiled as she spotted her small white puppy running into the kitchen after her; she adored him and couldn’t believe that Cristiano had gotten him for her.

Toby wagged his tail as he looked at her, he padded forward as set down her bag onto the kitchen counter before she dropped down to cuddle him; she glanced at the clock, she knew that it wouldn’t be long until her boyfriend called to tell her that he had landed safely.

“Do you miss papa already?” Nicole said as she picked the puppy up, she cuddled him for a moment as she stood up and headed for the living room; she missed her boyfriend already especially since they had never been this far from each other in the four months that they had been dating.

Nicole wondered what would have happened if she would have agreed to spend Christmas with Cristiano and his family; she truly hadn’t wanted to get under anyone’s feet since they hadn’t been dating that long and she didn’t want them rushing into anything that they weren’t ready for.

The brunette’s face lit up as her mobile phone started to ring, she settled Toby down on the floor as she quickly pulled it out of her pocket; she took a deep breath before she answered it a little excited to speak with Cristiano.

“Hola,” Nicole said as she watched her puppy clamber up onto the couch and cuddle close to her, she ran her fingers through Toby’s fur; she smiled to herself as she heard her boyfriend speak, she was a little worried about how attached she was getting to him.

“I miss you amor,” Cristiano whined softly to her, she smiled knowing that he was pouting down the phone at her; she chuckled as she leant back on the couch, she closed her eyes wondering what he would do while he was away visiting the family.

“I miss you too,” Nicole said softly as she looked down at Toby, she continued to run her fingers through his soft white fur; she knew that there was nothing to be done now that Cristiano was gone and she had to focus on what she would do for the holidays with her family.

***

“So did Cristiano finally leave?” Evelyn asked as Nicole arrived for dinner, she smiled at her sister-in-law knowing how happy she was with the footballer.

No one had expected them to last this long and even Joseph and Sergio had to admit they were wrong about the forward’s feelings for the brunette.

Nicole nodded her head as she forced a smile as she moved further into the house, she knew that it was strange for her to miss her boyfriend like this.

She loved Cristiano and was sure that maybe a few days apart would be good for the two of them in case something happened to tear them apart.

“I was beginning to think he’d never leave… I’ve never seen him so attached to anyone like that before,” Sergio joked as Nicole stepped into the living room, he smiled at his cousin knowing that for the first time in the long time that she was falling in love.

He couldn’t believe that she was settling down with Cristiano and he hoped his team-mate wouldn’t mess things up between them.

Nicole grinned as she spotted her niece and moved to hug her, she adored Isabel and it had become clearer since she’d been diagnosed with leukaemia, the brunette had spent as much time as possible with the four year old so that she could keep her spirits up.

“So when will you see lover boy again?” Joseph asked making Nicole roll her eyes, she knew what her brother was talking about, she had barely been away from him since he had learnt that she had leukaemia.

Nicole sat down as her brothers and Sergio joked about her strange relationship with the Portuguese footballer, she knew that they were being silly but had a small feeling that they were right; she was never truly away from Cristiano and she didn’t ever want to be.

“So dinner will be ready in an hour, how is everyone for a drink?” Evelyn asked as she sat down next to her husband, she smiled as he wrapped his arms around her.

She knew that this Christmas was going to be the best that they’d ever had since they were all together and with everything that had happened in the past year they deserved a good Christmas.

Nicole looked down at her hands as she thought about what had happened in the past few months, she hadn’t really celebrated her twenty-fifth birthday since she never really wanted to plus she’d had a lot on her plate.

But Nicole hoped that the coming year would hold some better look for her than what she had been through.

“So what did you ask Papá Noel for, for Christmas?” Nicole asked as she looked at Isabel, the little girl smiled at her aunt before she started to excitedly tell her aunt.