A Typical Love Story

Chapter Nineteen: Happy Halloween

Cesc grumbled bored as he lay back on the couch watching television, he had hoped to spend Halloween taking Lia tricking or treating but it wasn’t meant to be since Daniella was being difficult when it came to him seeing their daughter.

It had been three weeks since Cesc had lost Lia to her mother and it hadn’t been easy, he was doing his best to cope but he was seeing as much of her as he could.

Cesc was completely grateful to his girlfriend of six weeks, Penelope had been an angel and he didn’t know what he would have done without her.

Cesc hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol unless it was a glass of wine at dinner, he wasn’t going to have a repeat of what had happened when he had lost Lia again; he didn’t want Penelope to see him like that again.

Cesc peeked at the clock, he had a match the next day and he was bored out of his mind; it wasn’t as if he could go to any parties not that he wanted to.

Getting to his feet, Cesc stretched and rubbed his stomach before he walked out of the living room; he was bored by himself and he knew that Penelope was home.

Cesc headed towards the office where Penelope was working on her book, she deserved a break since she had worked so hard on it; she was about half way through now and he was proud of her.

Knocking on the office door, Cesc peeked inside and smiled spotting his girlfriend working hard at her laptop; he watched her for a moment before clearing his throat.

Penelope blinked surprised turning to look at her boyfriend, she hadn’t heard him come in and she hadn’t realised that it was getting so late; it was getting dark and the trick-or-treaters would be out soon.

Max lifted his head and looked at Cesc from his place in his small basket, he tilted his head curiously at the footballer that lingered in the doorway.

“I was wondering if you wanted some dinner… we could watch some scary movies?” Cesc said looking around the office, he rarely came inside and he knew that this was Penelope’s private space where she worked during the day.

Penelope nodded her head slowly, she couldn’t believe that she hadn’t realised how late it was; she nibbled on her lip moving to save her work.

“What did you have in mind?” Penelope asked knowing that take-out was out of the question, Cesc was due to play in Chelsea’s match against QPR; he needed to be fit for the match or Mourinho would kill him.

Cesc smiled watching Penelope shut down her laptop, he was glad that things were going strong for them and he wasn’t in any rush with Penelope.

“I was thinking we could have penne with tomato, basil, olives and pecorino,” Cesc offered with a cheeky smile, he didn’t mind starting the dish himself and he was hopeful that Penelope wouldn’t mind.

Penelope nodded her head, she smiled a little knowing that Cesc was doing his best right now; she opened her mouth to speak when the doorbell rang.

“You handle the trick-or-treaters, I’ll start with dinner,” Penelope said getting to her feet, she kissed Cesc’s cheek as she walked past him and headed for the kitchen.

Cesc smiled watching her go before he grabbed the sweets and headed for the front door; he was sure tonight would be perfect.

***

Penelope squeaked surprise and jumped making Cesc chuckle as they watched a movie that had been put on the television for Halloween; he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend and drew her close.

Penelope cuddled into Cesc’s arms as he held her close, she was sure that he was loving that she was frightened by the movie; she closed her eyes making Cesc laugh softly.

“It’s not funny,” Penelope muttered hiding her head as the film continued, she hated films like this and she didn’t know how she had let Cesc talk her into watching it.

Cesc held Penelope close, he loved that he had the night with her alone even if he was trying to distract himself; he knew that Daniella would be posting tons of pictures of Lia on Instagram and he didn’t want to look.

Penelope knew that her boyfriend was struggling, she was doing her best to help him and it would take time for them to sort out a case so that they could win Lia back.

Cesc was going to have to be patient and try to get along with Daniella so that he could see his daughter; he would have to play her game until everything was ready.

***

Leaning back on Penelope’s bed, Cesc sighed as he checked his phone and stared at the images that Daniella had put online of their daughter; he wished that he could have seen Lia at least once that night.

Cesc knew that it would only get worse from here, he would have to battle to see his daughter at Christmas and New Year; he didn’t like it but there wasn’t any other way.

Penelope peeked at her boyfriend wishing that there was something that she could do to help him, she wasn’t sure what she could do especially with Daniella being so difficult right now.

“Have you heard from your mother?” Penelope asked curiously padding into the room, she knew that Núria had warned her not to date Cesc but she was pretty distracted now that she had given birth to Cesc’s half-sister Claudia.

Penelope wasn’t sure if Cesc had told anyone in his family that they were now dating, she wasn’t in a rush and she feared what might happen since Núria had said that she didn’t see them ever marrying.

Cesc nodded his head and smiled at his girlfriend, he rarely spoke with his parents and was looking forward to breaking the news that he was dating Penelope.

Cesc recalled how fond his parents had been of the brunette and he hoped that they would be thrilled with the news that he had finally come to his senses.

“Claudia’s doing well… she sent me some pictures,” Cesc said feeling a little odd about his new half-sister, Lia’s new aunt was younger than her and it made him feel a little awkward.

Penelope nodded her head, she truly didn’t know what to say and she hadn’t even told him what his mother had said to her before they had left Barcelona; she didn’t want to upset him with the warning that she had gotten.

“She’s coming out to visit in a few weeks with Carlota and Claudia…” Cesc said hoping that it would be okay with Penelope, he missed his family and he was sure that they had enough room here for them.

Penelope’s home was four bedrooms, one of which Cesc now shared with Penelope and another had been converted into a room for Lia; the two others were guest rooms.

Penelope paused and looked at her boyfriend, a feeling of dread filled her stomach about having Núria in her home; it wouldn’t end well and she could see where Cesc was going with this.

“I want to tell them about us Penny… they are bound to see pictures of us together and have questions,” Cesc said hoping that this was all okay with Penelope, he didn’t want to hide from his family and he was hopeful that they could tell her parents soon.

Penelope slowly nodded her head, she didn’t have it in her to turn down him down and she was going to have to tell him about what his mother had said.

Penelope didn’t think that Cesc deserved to be surprised when Núria reacted badly to the news of them dating.