Love Will Find A Way

Part Two - Chapter Seventeen: Popping the Question

"Obrigado mãe," Cristiano said as he looked at his watch, he nibbled on his lip knowing that they had to leave soon if they wanted to keep their reservations; Antony was now five weeks old and the couple were going out alone without him.

Dolores smiled as she held her grandson close, she knew what Cristiano was going to do tonight even if his girlfriend had no idea; the footballer had thought a lot about this and had changed his mind so many times about how he was going to pop the question.

"Are you sure you'll be okay with him?" Nicole asked as she walked down the stairs as she fixed her ear rings, her blue eyes locked on Antony knowing that this was the first time in five weeks that she would be truly going out without him.

Dolores laughed softly and nodded her head, the older woman knew how hard this would be for the brunette and she remembered when she'd first had Hugo and how difficult it was to leave him behind; however this would be worth it in the end.

"I'll be fine... now both of you go out and enjoy yourselves," Dolores said as she started to usher the couple from their home, she smiled at Antony knowing that hopefully when his parents returned that they would be engaged.

Nicole looked at Cristiano, she didn't know why her boyfriend was insisting that they go out for dinner but she knew that he had something planned.

"You look bonita," Cristiano said as they walked towards his Audi R8, she was dressed in a purple pencil dress with ruffle sleeves paired with black heeled sandals; he couldn't remember the last time that they'd both been this dressed up, it had been months.

***

"You can't be serious," Nicole asked as Cristiano helped her out of the car, she stared at the marina that they had arrived at and knew that there was clearly a lot of planning going into their first night out since they had become parents.

Cristiano chuckled as he laced their fingers and started to walk towards the yacht that he had hire for the night; he had been thinking about this a lot and didn't want any paparazzi getting close to them.

He'd already managed to get rid of Jacob with a restraining order, the footballer knew that he couldn't allow anyone to get a glimpse of what he planned tonight; he needed tonight to be special.

"Okay what is going on?" Nicole asked as they walked towards the yacht, she could tell that her boyfriend was up to something and it made her nervous; she didn't like not knowing right now especially since she was already on edge from being away from their son.

Cristiano chuckled as he helped her onto the yacht and kissed her softly, he really hoped that tonight would go well; he didn't know what would happen if she said no.

"I wanted to treat you to something special... we haven't had a night out alone together in a few months," Cristiano said carefully as he wrapped his arms around Nicole.

He knew that they since they had gotten back together that he hadn't taken her on a date since she had been very pregnant and they didn't want the hassle of dealing with the press.

Nicole blinked as she stared at the dining table that was elegantly set up at the back of the yacht, she looked speechless as the yacht pulled away from the dock; she hadn't been expecting this when the footballer had told her that they were going out for the night.

"Do you like it?" Cristiano asked nervously, he had never felt this nervous before and he was a little surprised that this was happening.

"You did all of this?" Nicole asked as Cristiano led her to a chair and pulled it out for her to sit down on, she smiled as she carefully sat down and looked up at him; she didn't know what he had planned but she felt special that he had done all of this for her.

The footballer nodded his head, he'd had some help of course making sure that everything looked perfect for the night; Cristiano knew that he would do anything to make her happy.

"Of course, I wanted tonight to be special," the Portuguese said as he smiled at the brunette, he loved making her smile and he hoped that he would spend the rest of his life making her this happy; he didn't know what he would ever do if the future that he wanted was taken from him.

Nicole bite her lip as she stared at her boyfriend, there were glasses of champagne on the table and she could tell that he had put a lot of thought into their night out; she had a sneaky feeling that he had something big planned for their date that night.

***

Nicole was pleasantly surprised at the dinner that her boyfriend had planned, she couldn't believe that he'd known her favourite dinner and her favourite dessert; the brunette finished her tiramisu as Cristiano shifted nervously.

"Have I ever told you how much you mean to me?" the footballer asked softly as he watched Nicole, he knew it was now or never and it was time for him to finally get around to asking her to marry him; he'd been looking for the perfect moment all night.

The brunette looked at him as she wiped her mouth, she didn't know where he was going with this but she suddenly felt very self-conscious about the way that he was looking at her.

"In the just over a year that we have been officially together... you have come to mean the world to me," Cristiano said knowing that he had fallen long and hard for her the moment that he had meet her; she was the one for him and he knew it.

Nicole looked at him, she knew it would have been nearly a year and a half if they hadn't of broken up for a few months when she had been pregnant; however that was all in the past now and the brunette was determined to leave it there.

"I love you so much Nicole and I know that I've done so much to hurt you in the past few months and you've found it in your heart to forgive me... you've given me the greatest gift the world, our son," Cristiano said as tears filled his brown eyes as he watched her.

He knew that she didn't like him being down like this when it came to their break but he needed to say this.

"You mean so much to me and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much you mean to me... Nicole Isabella Bartolini García will you marry me?" Cristiano asked as he moved to kneel before his girlfriend.

He swallowed as he produced the 9ct white gold 1/2 carat diamonds princess cut cluster ring that he had been carrying around for months.

Nicole gaped at him as she wondered if this was really happening, she wasn't sure if she'd fallen asleep at some point or if this was all a cruel dream and she would wake up soon with Antony's cries.

"Yes," the brunette whispered after several minutes of silence, she blinked at him as she realised that she had spoken as Cristiano stared up at her in wonder; he was just as surprised as she was that she had said anything.

"I will," Nicole said this time her voice stronger, Cristiano smiled as he moved to kiss her knowing that this was happening; he carefully slipped a ring onto her finger, he knew that he would do everything to fix the wrongs of their past.