Love Will Find A Way

Part Two - Chapter Six: Turning Twenty-Six

“When is Nicole’s birthday?” Kaka asked making the rest of the team look at Cristiano who paused as he looked at his friend, they had known Nicole for just a bit longer than Cristiano and none of them could figure out when it was.

Cristiano looked like a deer-in-headlights as he realised that in the months that he had dated Nicole, he didn’t know when his girlfriend’s birthday was; Sergio chuckled making the rest of the team look at him confused about what he found so funny.

“12th of September 1986,” the Sevillian said knowing the reason why his cousin didn’t tell anyone when her birthday was, she never liked to celebrate it and hardly ever acknowledge the day when it came to pass.

The team all looked saddened and guilty as they realised they had missed Nicole turning twenty-fifth and had nearly missed her turning twenty-sixth; Sergio chuckled at the looks on their faces knowing how they felt.

“Why are you laughing?” Iker asked feeling guilty Nicole had been there for all of them on their birthdays yet they didn’t know when hers was; he felt a little hurt that the brunette hadn’t said anything about her birthday to any of them.

“Don’t be too hard on yourselves… she doesn’t like to celebrate it,” Sergio said as he finished getting dressed so that he could head home.

He had a date with his girlfriend that night and she wouldn’t be pleased if he was late picking her up again; he had to get home and shower.

Several of the footballers looked confused as they wondered why the brunette didn’t like celebrating her birthday; it should be a day of celebration and Cristiano didn’t know why his girlfriend would hide it away. 

“My tía Amelia died of leukaemia on the 1st of September 1990, she was then buried five days later,” Sergio said softly as comprehension dawning on some of the players face.

The brunette would have been four years old when she had lost her mother and while it wasn’t new information it made them think about what she had been through.

“My tío Lorenzo, he wasn’t himself after tía Amelia’s death so obviously there wasn’t a birthday party on the 12th that year but he shut himself away for the next year and a half. Nicole’s abuela Penelope moved in at that point but the damage was done,” Sergio said sadly thinking about a younger Nicole and how she had changed from being a happy little girl into a shell of herself.

Sergio shook his head holding himself together while the others waited for him to continue; they knew that this had to be hard for him especially since there had clearly been a lot of damage done when Amelia had died.

“Lorenzo, he sort of forgot he had children when he lost his wife and he left Joseph in charge of caring for his younger siblings. Paulo was only a baby so he didn’t know much different but Nicole… well she sort of blamed herself for it, Lorenzo avoided her at all costs because she looked like my tía… Nicole’s never really wanted to celebrate her birthday since,” Sergio said shrugging while the other’s sat quietly.

The story weighing heavily against them all and how one man’s selfish actions had destroyed a little girl’s birthday.

***

Nicole woke up on the morning of her birthday and sighed as she noticed the sudden absence of her boyfriend in bed; she furrowed her brow as she carefully climbed out of bed and rested a hand on her bump.

It had only been a few days since she had gotten back with the Portuguese and she knew that it would take some time for them to get used to one another again; Toby and Kodiak were still asleep near the bed making the brunette smile as she quietly left the bedroom.

Nicole headed downstairs allowing her feet to pad down the wooden steps, she looked around wondering where her boyfriend was since it was clear that he hadn’t gone for his morning job like he usually did.

The brunette furrowed her brow as she found her boyfriend sat in the dining room, she looked at him concerned as she wondered what he was doing downstairs at this hour of the morning when he didn’t have training.

“You okay?” Nicole asked knowing that he had been like this for a few days and hadn’t spoken to her yet about what had upset him; she had even asked Sergio about it and he had acted weird and had refused to answer.

Cristiano looked at his girlfriend knowing that he wasn’t going to argue with her on her birthday, he wanted to make this day special in any way he could.

“Feliz aniversário,” the forward said pressing a kiss to Nicole’s lips making her stiffen and look at him wide-eyed, she truly expected him to wish her a happy birthday since she hadn’t told him when it was.

“Sergio told me,” Cristiano said making Nicole sit down as she realised that this was why he had been upset the last couple of days, she couldn’t believe that her cousin had ratted her out like that; she didn’t celebrate her birthday since it brought back bad memories of losing her mother.

Nicole sighed knowing that Sergio would have told Cristiano the story on why she didn’t want to celebrate her birthday; she didn’t want him feeling sorry for her when it wasn’t his fault.

Cristiano looked back at Nicole, who was nervously biting her lip; she didn’t want him doing anything special since it was only her birthday.

“I was thinking that we could go out tomorrow,” Cristiano said making the brunette raise an eyebrow at him making the Portuguese chuckle at her; she knew that he was up to something and it made her wonder what he was going to do.

Cristiano leant over and pressed a kiss to Nicole’s lips, he knew that she wasn’t going to welcome the idea of a birthday party but he had wanted to do something to celebrate her birth and had organised a special baby shower instead of a party.

“Okay,” Nicole said as she agreed hoping that he wasn’t going to try to change how she felt about her birthday, she wasn’t going to change her mind since she didn’t see why it was important to celebrate the day that she had been born.

Cristiano pressed another kiss to her lips, he hoped that she wouldn’t be upset with what he had planned but he wanted to show her that her birthday wasn’t all that bad; she’d been happy enough to celebrate his birthday.

“I love you,” Cristiano said as he brushed some hair from her face, he couldn’t believe that she had truly taken him back after what he had done; the brunette was everything to him and he was now able to focus with her back in his life again.

“I love you too,” Nicole said smiling, she felt a little relaxed now that he seemed okay about the fact that she hadn’t told him about her birthday.

She had thought he’d be more upset about the fact that she hadn’t told him but he seemed okay with the fact that she didn’t celebrate her birthday.

“Why don’t you go back to bed and get comfortable… I’ll make us some breakfast,” Cristiano said as he looked at his girlfriend.

 He knew that she was starting to get a little uncomfortable and he knew they still had a while to go before their baby boy was due; he just hoped that they wouldn’t have to wait too long.

Nicole nodded her head as she pressed a kiss to Cristiano’s lips before she got to her feet and carefully made her way back upstairs, she knew that her boyfriend was up to something but right now she didn’t care.