Lean on Me

Part Two - Chapter Eighteen: The Birthday Party

“Happy Birthday,” Frank said hugging Cassidy, he hadn’t seen much of her lately and she was clearly missed by the players since Roman had sacked her; they had all been secretly working on trying to convince the Chelsea owner to rehire the brunette since what had happened wasn’t her fault.

Fernando wrapped his arm around his fiancée as she stepped back from Frank, he was pleased that everything had gone to plan for the party; the twins were spending the night at Cassidy’s parents and the couple had just come from having dinner with them.

“So how have you been?” Christine asked, she was stood next to Frank and had been shocked to hear about Cassidy’s sacking because of the hate campaign that Juan had been running against Fernando.

Cassidy hadn’t done anything wrong and Christine was sure that there was a case against Roman for unfair dismissal.

“I’ve been good… the twins and wedding planning are keeping me busy,” Cassidy said making Fernando nod his head, he knew that his fiancée was trying to keep busy right now and she’d made some progress on their wedding plans since she had been fired from her job.

Fernando kissed her knowing that he would do anything to make up for what had happened, he felt responsible in a way for what Juan had done and he’d felt guilty when Juan had been suspended from training for two months.

Cassidy had tried to comfort him about what had happened and insisted that none of this was his fault and that maybe some time off would be good for Juan; she hoped it would allow him to get over whatever was going on in his head.

Cassidy was wearing a drape crossover dress in jersey paired with black pointed high heels for the party; Fernando had asked her sister to ensure that she was dressed up for not only the family meal but for the party as well.

***

“It’s beautiful Cass,” Toni said as she admired the 9ct white diamond heart slide pendant that Fernando had gotten the brunette for her birthday, it matched the rhodium and rose gold plated bracelet that the footballer had gotten her months ago for valentine’s day.

Cassidy nodded her head, she doubted that she would ever take it off just like the bracelet that he had given her; she refused to remove it unless she really needed to, it was special to her because Fernando had given it to her.

“So have you heard from Juan?” Christine asked glancing over at the footballers, she knew that Fernando worried that his former friend would approach his fiancée while he was at training; it was clear that Juan hadn’t left London and the press were curious about why the Spaniard had been suspended from training.

“No and I hope that it stays that way,” Cassidy said making Toni nod her head understandingly, the brunette had trusted Juan more than anything and he has abused that towards the end in an attempt to tear apart her relationship with Fernando so he could have her.

Cassidy sipped on her drink as she spotted Fernando returning, she knew that he was worried about Juan and she had a feeling that no matter what happened now; the footballer would always be seen as a threat to their relationship.

Fernando wrapped his arms around Cassidy’s waist and smiled at the other two women, he didn’t like being far from his fiancée and a couple of the other players were already teasing him for not being able to be far from her.

“So what are you ladies talking about?” Fernando asked, he already had a feeling that they had been talking about Juan; he didn’t know what would happen at the end of the footballer’s suspension but he hoped that he would be over his infatuation.

Cassidy glanced at her fiancé wondering if he was ever going to be able to leave her alone for longer than five minutes; she loved spending time for him but whenever he got the chance he had his arms wrapped around her and would hold her close.

“Your gift… it’s very beautiful, maybe you could give a couple of tips to John about present buying before Christmas,” Toni said with a smile making Cassidy and Christine laugh; for her last birthday, John had gotten her a new iron and a book about castles since he had no ideas about what he could get his wife.

Fernando chuckled and nodded his head, he had heard some of the stories about what John was like when it came to shopping and he had already heard what the captain had planned for Christmas; he doubted that Toni would be pleased with what he had gotten her.

“I’ll mention something at training on Monday,” Fernando promised her, the team had a day off since they’d played a match that day and he knew that everyone was glad since the party was still in full swing.

***

“Thank you,” Cassidy said softly kissing her fiancé, she wrapped her arms around his neck as they stepped into their bedroom; the brunette was a little drunk after having a little too much to drink and Fernando chuckled as he held her close.

The footballer led her over to the bed and set her down knowing that she’d have a hang-over in the morning, she hadn’t really had anything to drink since before they’d fallen pregnant with the twins.

“It was no problem amor… I wanted to do something nice for you,” Fernando said moving to help her with her shoes, he smiled glad that she’d had a nice time especially with everything that had happened in the past few weeks; he had hoped that the party would cheer her up.

Cassidy giggled as Fernando slipped off one of her heels and looked at her, she grinned as she tilted her head and ran her fingers through his hair; it was no longer a blonde and had started to go brown again since the footballer had yet to decide what he wanted to do with it.

“You sound so sexy when you talk Spanish to me,” Cassidy gushed making Fernando smile as he removed her other heel, he set both her feet on the floor and trailed a hand up her bare legs before he looked her in the eye.

Fernando watched her for a moment then he pushed himself up slightly and kissed her, he knew how much she loved it when he spoke Spanish with him and he tried to do it as often as he could; he wanted the twins to be fluent in the language as well as English.

“I know cariño,” Fernando said softly pulling back, he ran his hands up her sides knowing that he had to get her ready for bed; he sighed as he rested his hands on the hem of her dress and carefully started to help her out of it.

Cassidy was all too happy to let him undress her and as soon as her dress was off, she eagerly moved to help him out of his shirt; Fernando chuckled as he shook his head and stopped her, he didn’t want to take advantage of his drunk fiancée.

“Amor… we aren’t going to hacer el amor tonight,” Fernando said pulling back from her, he chuckled as Cassidy pouted at him; he knew that she would thank him in the morning.

Fernando moved to help his fiancée into bed, he was glad that the twins were at Cassidy’s parents since it gave him so alone time with Cassidy even if she was a little too drunk to remember most of it.