Lean on Me

Part One - Chapter Twenty-Eight: Flying to Spain

“Have you even finished packing yet?” Cassidy asked watching Fernando set her suitcase by the door, he had told her repeatedly that he didn’t want her carrying anything heavy and he was sticking to that.

Fernando grinned moving to wrap his arms around Cassidy, his lips brushed against hers before Juan cleared his throat; he had offered to drop the couple at the airport since Fernando didn’t want to leave his car at the airport while they were gone for a couple of days.

“I’m nearly finished,” Fernando said making Cassidy roll her eyes, she knew that Fernando was excited to see his family since he hadn’t seen them since the summer when he was still married to Olalla.

Juan chuckled amused as his friend headed back into the bedroom so that he could finish packing; he knew that Fernando was looking forward to introducing Cassidy to his parents after he had told them so much about the brunette.

“Nervous?” Juan asked as Cassidy moved to sit in the living room while they waited for Fernando, she looked at her friend wondering if it was that obvious; she knew that Flori would be protective over her son and it worried her.

“It won’t be that bad Cass… from what Nando has said, they’re excited to meet you,” Juan said knowing that she was worried about what was going to happen when she met Fernando’s parents; the couple would be staying with Flori and José while they were in Madrid.

Cassidy rested a hand on her swollen stomach, she nodded her head thoughtfully as she thought about what Fernando had told her about his parents; his family disliked Olalla for what she had done to Fernando and she didn’t know if that meant that they were in her favour or not.

***

Waving Juan off after he had dropped them off at the airport, Cassidy allowed Fernando to hurry them into the airport away from the press that seemed a little too interested in where the couple were going for the holidays.

Fernando muttered under his breath in his native tongue making Cassidy grin remembering how much she loved him speaking Spanish to her; she had been practicing herself since she had taken the language in secondary school and with Fernando’s help had been improving.

“You’d think they’d have something better to do,” Fernando said approaching the check-in desk for their flight with Cassidy; in the weeks since they had gone public with their relationship, Cassidy had adjusted to the fact that people were now watching her every move.

“Obviously not… don’t let them get you down,” Cassidy said making sure that she had their travel details and tickets; she ran a hand through her hair as they joined the line to check in.

Fernando nibbled on his lip as he looked at his pregnant girlfriend, it had only been a couple of days since her sister’s wedding and now they were about to meet his parents; he just hoped that none of this was too stressful on her or the baby.

“So what is the plan?” Cassidy asked moving forward slightly, she watched Fernando who smiled at her before he drew her close; he didn’t care if anyone else could see them, he loved being able to hold her in public.

“My padre is picking us up from the airport,” Fernando said looking at his girlfriend, he ran his fingers carefully through her hair before he was forced to pull away slightly as they were called forward to the check in.

It didn’t take Fernando or Cassidy long to check in or to get through the security before they were sat in one of the airports many cafés waiting for their flight to Madrid; the brunette sipped on her drink as she watched Fernando.

“So tell me about your family again?” Cassidy asked looking at her boyfriend of nine months, she was still nervous and she knew that there was no reason for her to be; Fernando smiled at her knowing that things would get better when they arrived in Spain.

“Let’s see my parents are José and Flori Torres… my sister María Paz is married with three children; Paula, Fernando and Daniel, my brother Israel is married and also has three children; Hugo, Mara and Yago,” Fernando said describing his family.

Fernando knew that his girlfriend was curious and he wanted to ease her mind as much as possible; she had nothing to be scared of, his parents would love her.

Cassidy nodded her head sipping on her drink again, she thought about what she was doing and if this was the right time to meet his family.

“It’ll be fine amor,” Fernando said taking Cassidy’s hand and pressed a kiss to it, he smiled at her reassuringly before their flight was called over the system.

Cassidy carefully collected her bag while Fernando watched her, they both needed this holiday; he could only hope that nothing went wrong while they were away.

***

Olalla carefully checked on Nora and Leo, she knew that Fernando was going to be out of the country for a couple of days; she hoped that while her ex-husband was away that she would be able to think about her own future for a while.

Olalla wanted to move back to Spain and to her home city away from the reminders of what she had done to her family and how she had destroyed her marriage; she wanted to start over and she couldn’t do that in London anymore.

“Mama,” Nora asked looking up at her mother, she knew that something was upsetting her and she wanted to know what was wrong; her father was so happy and she wanted her mother to be as well.

Olalla forced a smile at the little girl, she knew that there was no way that Fernando was going to allow her to leave the country with his children no matter how much she wanted to go they would always be the reason that she was connected to the man that she had hurt.

“Would you just leave me alone,” Olalla said sharply looking at her daughter, she resented the fact that they were the reason that she couldn’t just leave London to go back to Santiago de Compostela so that she could be with her parents.

Nora blinked at her mother’s harsh words before she turned her attention back to her toys and playing with Leo; she didn’t know what it was but since her father had left, her mother had become increasingly angry at her and Leo.

Olalla took a deep breath as she walked into the kitchen; she was twenty-seven weeks pregnant and she couldn’t wait for it to be over, she knew that once she had her little boy that everything was going to be okay, he would make things better.

“It’s okay baby… it’s just be us soon,” Olalla said talking to her swollen stomach, she smiled as she felt her baby kick knowing that she was going to have to take a risk to get what she wanted; she could only hope that everything went as planned.

Olalla took a deep breath looking back at Nora and Leo, she watched them feeling a little guilty for what she was planning to do; she loved them both very much but they were holding her back and she couldn’t stand them anymore.

Olalla watched them with tears in her brown eyes, she knew that this would come back to bite her and she hoped that her children knew that she loved them.