Love Will Find A Way

Part One - Chapter Twenty-Two: Meeting the Family

January seemed to fly by and before Nicole knew it, Cristiano was flying them to Portugal for a couple of days so that they could meet up with his family before his twenty-seventh birthday; he wanted his girlfriend to meet them since she was an important part of his life now.

Nicole had only spoken with Cristiano’s mother over the phone, so the brunette was more than nervous about meeting the woman that Cristiano adored; her nerves were only made worse with the constant presence of the paparazzi everywhere that the couple went.

Cristiano glanced at his girlfriend of five months and smiled at the thought, he had never had a girlfriend for that long before that had been this serious; he’d been with Irina for over a year but since he didn’t see her that much it had never felt like that.

Nicole had decided to wear a camel pocket jumper and ice blue skinny jeans with ripped knee paired with black leather ankle boots; it was a little warmer in Portugal than it had been in Madrid but the brunette was still prepared for the slight chill in the air.

“You okay?” he asked taking her hand in his and resting it on the console; Nicole looked at him knowing he was more nervous than her about her meeting his family, he had never brought a girl home that his mother or sisters had liked before.

“I’m fine,” she reassured him making Cristiano squeeze her hand in comfort, he didn’t want her to be worried about meeting his family especially since he had pleaded with them to be nice since Nicole had been in a good mood that morning with the slow regrowth of her hair.

***

It didn’t take long before Cristiano’s Ferrari 599 pulled up outside of his mother’s house, the footballer took a nervous deep breath before he climbed out of the car and walked around to the passenger side to help Nicole from the car.

“Everything will be fine,” Cristiano said more for himself than his girlfriend, he knew that she wasn’t the only one nervous about this but it was only fair since he already knew most of her family and got along well with them.

Cristiano didn’t have a chance to knock before his mother threw open the door and pulled him into a hug making Nicole smiled as Cristiano tried to get his mother to let go; he groaned knowing that this was what he got for not visiting more often.

Dolores ignored his attempts to escape and dragged him into the house and towards the kitchen completely forgetting about her son’s girlfriend for the moment; Nicole watched them go before she stepped into the house and shut the front door behind her wondering what she should do.

Elma Aveiro chuckled as she appeared from the top of the stairs, she had heard her brother’s car pull up and had come to investigate when she had seen her mother drag her brother off to the kitchen.

“You must be Nicole, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Elma,” she said as she introduced herself to her younger brother’s girlfriend, she was already pleased to see that the brunette was nothing like the other women that Cristiano brought home with him.

Nicole nodded her head nervously before smiling as she heard her boyfriend trying and failing to escape the kitchen and his mother to get back to her; she was a little surprised that Cristiano hadn’t succeeded yet.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Nicole said politely making Elma smile as she led the brunette into the living room where Katia was sat watching television; the other Aveiro sister furrowed her brow at the sight of the brunette before her sister introduced them.

Katia watched Nicole for a moment as she tried to work out the brunette, she was a little worried that her younger brother had brought back another bimbo like his last girlfriend into their home; however with Nicole it was clear to see that she was different.

“So was he always such a Madre’s boy?” Nicole asked making Elma and Katia laugh while they listened to Cristiano try and talk Dolores out of feeding him.

The brunette had always known that her boyfriend was close with his mother but she had never thought that he was this close with her.

“Always… I don’t think he ever really grew out of it,” Katia said making the other two smile as Hugo slipped into the room and robbed the television remote and started to flick through the channels; he already knew better than to get involved in his sisters judging of the new girlfriend.

Nicole rolled her eyes making Elma and Katia smile as they heard Cristiano being told to go and change his shirt for dinner then him being ushered up the stairs making the three women smirk before Dolores strolled into the room.

Katia nudged Elma, who grinned knowing their mother had forgotten about Nicole; everyone knew how Dolores felt about her youngest son and it was clear that she was always going to baby him no matter how old he got.

“Mãe you know Nicole, Cristiano’s girlfriend,” Elma said making her mother quickly look at the brunette before she rushed over and hugged her; the two sisters giggled knowing that Dolores had been looking forward to meeting the woman that had changed her son for the better.

“I do not know what you did but obrigado,” Dolores said making his siblings smile, while Nicole looked at her confused wondering what she was talking about; she wasn’t aware that she had done anything special since she had begun dating Cristiano.

The brunette opened her mouth to say so when she found herself being ushered towards a seat and sat down; she raised an eyebrow at Dolores who was quick to turn her attention to her eldest son and smack him over the head.

“Did I not raise you with any manners?” Dolores scolded Hugo, who rubbed the back of his head and glared at his mother before he pouted as his mother ignored him.

Instead her focus was completely on Nicole, who knew that this wasn’t going to end well for her.

“Would you like a drink? We have water, flavoured mineral water, milk, fizzy drinks, tea and coffee, hot chocolate, fruit juice, milkshake?” Dolores listed eagerly making Nicole blink taken back that the woman before her seemed so eager like this.

She glanced at Katia and Elma who seemed completely amused at how their mother was acting.

“Water’s fine Gracias,” Nicole said as she almost let out a sigh of relief as Cristiano returned, he sat down next to her as his mother hurried out of the living room and headed back to the kitchen.

His sisters were the next to disappear after her since they both had their own homes to get to.

“Did I save your life or something?” Nicole asked softly making Cristiano chuckle and shake his head, he took his girlfriend’s hand knowing that his mother could often come on a little strong especially when she liked someone.

The footballer kissed the brunette knowing that his mother clearly liked the brunette, even more so if she was going through so much trouble to make her comfortable; he knew that his mother approved of Nicole.

“In some way you did,” Cristiano said softly, he smiled as Nicole looked at him confused knowing that she would never truly understand how much he had changed for her; the brunette meant the world to him and he had become a better man because of her.

“Right so what do you fancy for dinner?” Dolores said as she returned with drinks, she was completely unaware that she had walked in on a moment.

She grinned knowing that finally her son had found someone right for him.