Lean on Me

Part One - Chapter Sixteen: Getting Some Help

Cassidy nibbled on the end of her pen, she was meant to be paying some attention to the training session before her but her mind was firmly focused on the baby that she was carrying.

It had been a week since she had told Fernando that he had gotten her pregnant and so far, she hadn’t seen much of him since Olalla was making things difficult; she wanted her husband around at all times and he was struggling to find time for Cassidy.

Cassidy shook her head as she looked down at her pad of paper, she groaned knowing that she had to do a section on the training session for the show that night and so far she didn’t have anything to talk about; she looked down at the field as she watched the training session come to a close.

“Thank God lunch,” the person next to her said making Cassidy nod as she pushed herself to her feet, she glanced down at the field before shaking her head annoyed at herself; she had missed breakfast since her morning sickness prevented her from eating anything.

Cassidy ran a tired hand through her hair as she headed out of Cobham training centre and started towards her yellow 1977 Chevy Camaro, she smiled knowing that she could head to her favourite café that was just down the street.

“Cass,” Fernando called hurrying after Cassidy, he smiled when stopped to wait for him as he jogged to her side and smiled at her grateful that she had waited for him; he was going to have to find a way to divide his time better.

“How are you?” Fernando asked looking at her worried, he hadn’t been around a lot lately and he hoped to change that; he ran a hand through his brown hair wishing that Olalla would give him some space to breathe.

“I’ve been good besides morning sickness,” Cassidy said making Fernando smile at her and nod his head, it wasn’t going to be easy for her; he hoped that he would be able to help her more than he had been.

The two stood quietly for a moment before Cassidy stepped back away from Fernando, she couldn’t allow herself to rely on him when he had Olalla waiting for him at home; she was going to have to stand on her own two feet.

“I better be going to lunch,” Cassidy said softly making Fernando blink, he knew that he hadn’t seen her a lot that week but he wanted to spend time with her now; he had made a mistake and he wanted to make things right.

“Could I join you?” Fernando asked hopefully stepping towards her, he could see that she was hesitate before Juan called to the pair; he hurried towards the two who shifted nervously as the other Spaniard approached them.

“So where are we going?” Juan asked curiously looking between the two as he stopped next to them, Cassidy offered him a smile while Fernando glared at him; his friend meant well but he needed to talk to Cassidy alone.

***

Fernando frowned watching Juan and Cassidy talking, he knew that he had no right to be jealous about the brunette just talking to someone but Fernando couldn’t help it; he swallowed as he watched her smile at Juan.

“So what is going on between the two of you?” Juan asked smiling innocently at the two, there was something going on and he had wanted to confront them for a while; he could see that they liked each other more than friends and he had noticed what no one else had.

“There’s nothing going on… we are just friends,” Cassidy dismissed knowing that they couldn’t tell anyone about what had transpired between them, Juan raised an eyebrow at Cassidy before he looked at Fernando; he chuckled before resting a hand on the back of Cassidy’s chair.

“Then why does Nando look like he wants to kill me for touching you?” Juan asked making Cassidy blink looking at him, she turned her attention to Fernando who opened his mouth in protest before Juan smiled at him knowing that he had figured them out.

“Don’t worry your secret is safe with me,” Juan said honestly looked between the couple, he could see that he was touching on sensitive subject.

Cassidy looked at Fernando who sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, he couldn’t believe that his friend had figured out their relationship.

“How did you figure us out?” Fernando asked looking at Juan who smiled realising that he had been right about the two; he looked between them wondering what had made them do such a thing while Fernando was married.

“It wasn’t that hard, you two shouldn’t go into the spy business… through I’m the only one that has figured it out,” Juan said watching Fernando curious, things hadn’t been right with Olalla for a while but Juan had thought with their third child on the way that things would get better.

Cassidy nibbled on her lip realising that they were going to have to be more careful if Juan had figured it out, he had only been at Chelsea for a short time and he had done what the others hadn’t managed to do.

Cassidy tuned out what Fernando was saying as he told Juan what had happened between them, they would have to think about the child that she was carrying; she was aware that it would be shunned because it was Fernando’s illegitimate child.

“I’ll help,” Juan offered as Cassidy snapped back to reality, she furrowed her brow wondering what she had missed while Fernando sighed and ran a hand through his hair; he looked at Cassidy knowing that help was what they needed right now.

***

“Are you sure about this?” Cassidy asked looking at Fernando as they re-entered the training ground, by dragging Juan into this that it wasn’t going to end well for them when the truth came out.

Fernando nodded his head as he looked at her, he knew that this was a big risk but it was one that he had to take if he wanted to be a part of his unborn child’s life; he just wanted things between him and Olalla to be finished.

“I’m sure with Juan’s help, I can spend more time with you,” Fernando said gently as he smiled at her, he would give anything to be able to spend more time with Cassidy; he was taking a big risk but there was something about Olalla’s current behaviour that worried him.

Even Fernando’s family seemed to be able to pick up on the fact that there was something going on and Israel had even asked him if he was sure the child was his; the older Torres brother wasn’t going to forget how distracted and unhappy Fernando had been during his visit.

Cassidy sighed as she looked at the footballer, she wanted nothing more than for him to be a father to their child but even she knew that he wasn’t always going to be around; she took a deep breath hoping that things would get better.

“I’ll see you tonight,” Fernando promised offering her a reassuring smile before he walked away so that no one would suspect anything; there would be no going back if someone were to discover that Cassidy was going to have his baby.

Fernando was determined to make sure that never happened and provide for his child, he would never favour any of his children over the others.