Love Will Find A Way

Part Two - Chapter One: How Things Can Change

Nicole Bartolini brushed her light brown hair from her blue eyes as she read through the article and snorted at the headline.

She should have expected that after her break up with her boyfriend two months ago that the press wouldn't have anything better to do than talk about her former relationship.

The brunette had been upset when her ten month relationship with footballer Cristiano Ronaldo but had learnt to cope with the aftermath of her break-up for the sake of their unborn child; she hadn't seen or heard from her ex-boyfriend other than what was splashed across the pages.

Nicole smiled to herself at the thought of her baby, she had found out weeks ago that she was going to have a little boy when she had been at an ultra-sound scan.

Shaking her head, the brunette dropped the newspaper into the bin like she always did after reading their lies about her and Cristiano and what had happened between them.

It was true that their relationship had ended but Cristiano had ensured that he hadn't seen Nicole since, choosing to jet around the world with glamour models after Portugal were knocked out of the European Championship.

It was there that their relationship had fallen, Dolores and his two sisters stayed in touch with the young woman as much as possible so that they could help her in any way with preparing for the birth of the baby.

While Nicole's cousin had insisted on buying her a new home since she needed somewhere bigger than her former apartment in an attempt to stop her from leaving the country and heading back to Italy to live alone.

The entire family were still in shock after Lorenzo's death only two weeks after the European Championship final, he had passed away from heart disease that no-one knew that he'd had.

Nicole knew it had killed her elder brother when they lost their father so she remained strong for him, the best she could; she knew that they had to stick together now that they had lost both of their parents.

The brunette was thirty-three weeks pregnant and Nicole was slowly preparing for the impending birth of her son, she had long since given up on Cristiano ever coming around so she had settled to making sure that she was prepared for the birth.

Another surprise that Nicole had was the fact that her cousin, Sergio Ramos, was now dating her best friend, Alexis and had been for eight months.

She had been shocked to hear that they had started dating around New Year and had only found out because she had walked in on them two months ago.

Nicole grumbled as she pushed herself out of her seat as she heard the doorbell rang making her curse; hopeful that it wasn't someone important, she wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone today since her baby was kicking a lot right now.

She knew Jessica, Alexis, Evelyn, Elma and Katia had started to plan her baby shower; and had helped her decorate the baby's room so that it was something she didn't have to stress about later when the baby came.

Toby looked up at Nicole and was quickly by her side making the brunette grin as she sort of waddled to the door to answer it.

Nicole groaned as she opened the door to find Sergio and Alexis standing outside, she stepped aside knowing that they had come to have lunch with her like they did every day since she had moved into her new home.

Alexis grinned as she quickly rubbed Nicole's swollen stomach, she knew how much the brunette hated when people did that especially when they didn't know her; then she gave Nicole a hug while Sergio headed into the kitchen followed by an excited Toby.

"How are you?" Alexis asked as they walked into the house, Nicole hadn't really been out since the break-up since she didn't want to deal with the paparazzi stalking her.

The brunette knew that her friend couldn't have missed that morning's headline about Cristiano and that even if Nicole didn't show it she was still hurting.

***

Cristiano sighed as he walked into his quiet home, he ran a tired hand through his hair as he tried to ignore the pang in his chest; he hated to admit it but he really did miss his ex-girlfriend and he wished that he hadn't made such a mess of things.

The footballer smiled as Kodiak padded up to him and wagged his tail, he knelt down to stroke the puppy knowing that he didn't know what to do anymore; he missed Nicole more than anything and he knew that there was no way that she would take him back now.

"I miss them too," Cristiano said as he stood and patted Kodiak's head, he remembered the day that Nicole had walked out on him and he had come home from training to find her gone.

He wasn't that surprised that she had walked out on him, he had treated her terribly after Portugal had been eliminated for the Euros.

The footballer fought back a yawn as he moved to delete all of his answering machine messages, he didn't care enough anymore to listen to his mother's concern or his agent's complaints about his recent behaviour.

Cristiano had never slept with any of the women that he had been spending time with, he wanted them as a distraction from the hurt that festered in his chest and he couldn't seem to forget about Nicole whenever he tried to.

Cristiano collapse on his couch as he picked up his remote, his stomach grumbled from the lack of food that he had consumed in the two months that he had been without Nicole; he had no interest in life anymore and it worried his family.

***

Nicole sighed to herself relieved as she climbed into bed, lunch had been a quiet affair and Sergio had been excited to hear more about the baby; the brunette knew that her cousin worried about her and she had noticed that Cristiano was a forbidden subject when it came to her.

The brunette curled up in bed as she picked up the book that she had been reading, she had moved on from her life as a simple library assistant and Nicole now spent her time working at an art gallery when she wasn't busy with her pregnancy.

Nicole watched as Toby clambered onto the bed and started to wag his tail at her; he tilted his head and whined softly at her making Nicole smile sadly at him, she knew that he missed Kodiak just as much as she missed Cristiano.

"I miss them too," she said trying to not let her tears fall, Cristiano had made his feeling's perfectly clear during their argument and Nicole didn't want to hold him back anymore; she had walked out because that was what he had wanted her to do.

Nicole sniffed and wiped her eyes as she closed her book, she choked back the sob that built in her throat as Toby crawled over to her and rested his head against her legs and whined again making Nicole look down at him.

"We'll be fine without them, we'll have to be," the brunette said more to herself than to Toby who wagged his tail; Nicole smiled and hugged Toby who licked her face in an attempt to comfort her.