Part Two - Chapter Twenty-Six: One Night Apart

                                    

                                          
                   
                          
Holding Elsa in his arms, Cristiano gently settled his daughter down in her cot for the night; he wasn't happy about being away from home and he knew there was nothing that he was going to be able to do about it. 
                          
It was the night before his wedding to Eliana and it was going to be hard for him to be away from her; Cristiano was going to be staying at a brother's apartment and would stay there until tomorrow. 
                          
"Papa will miss you," Cristiano whispered pressing a kiss to the top of Elsa's head, he couldn't believe that she was nearly six months old now and he hoped that one day she'd have a brother or a sister one day soon. 
                          
The last thing that Cristiano wanted was a large age gap between Elsa and any siblings that she had; there was nine years between him and Katia, something that meant that he was very much alone compared to his three older siblings. 
                          
Cristiano quietly left the nursery knowing that tonight was going to be far from easy for him, he didn't like being away from home and tonight was going to be hard for him especially since he wouldn't be able to see his daughter until the wedding. 
                          
Heading down the stairs, Cristiano thought about the next time that he would be in his home and it made him smile; he was going to be a married man and Eliana was going to be his wife. 
                          
Cristiano could only hope that William wasn't going to pull another stunt like he had done at the rehearsal dinner; Sara would be asked to leave and Cristiano had asked his brother to help throw anyone out if they arrived uninvited. 
                          
"Did Elsa go down okay?" Eliana asked turning to look at Cristiano, she was going to miss him when he went to stay at his brother's apartment and she hoped that when she saw him tomorrow at their wedding that everything was going to be okay. 
                          
The family had arrived in Madeira earlier the day before and Cristiano was hopeful that things would be okay while they were here waiting to get married. 
                          
***
                          
"I'm going to miss you," Cristiano murmured wrapping his arms around Eliana, he didn't want to leave and he hated that he was going to be parted from her and Elsa for the night; he wanted to stay in the villa with them. 
                          
Eliana sighed kissing Cristiano's cheek, she knew that tonight wasn't going to be easy for them but tomorrow would be worth it; she was excited to finally become his wife and they had managed to keep the day a secret. 
                          
"It'll be fine," Eliana replied knowing that there would be so much that needed doing tomorrow and she would be so busy getting ready for their wedding; she was so happy that they were going to get married in their home country. 
                          
They were getting married in Quinta Das Vistas and Eliana had checked out the venue that day, it looked beautiful in the summer sun; she couldn't wait and she was sure that getting married there was going to be just perfect. 
                          
"You'll see us tomorrow," Eliana said trying to reassure him, she couldn't imagine how hard this was going to be for him; he had wanted to stay here with her and Elsa but their mothers' wouldn't allow it. 
                          
Cristiano kissed Eliana, he couldn't believe that it had been three years since Eliana had come into his life; it had all changed for the better and he couldn't have been happier with how it had all worked out. 
                          
"I don't want to go," Cristiano whispered holding her close, he doubted that he would get any sleep tonight; tomorrow was going to be the biggest day of his life and he knew that it was one that he would never forget.
                          
It was going to be up there with the day that Elsa had been born and the day he'd met Eliana, they met so much to him and he didn't know what he would do without them.
                          
"Come on Cris... we have to go," Hugo called walking into the living room, he had no doubts that his younger brother would try to get out of this; he had been the same on the night before his own wedding but it had made it even better. 
                          
There was no way in hell, Dolores Aveiro was going to let Cristiano get away with spending the night here with Eliana or seeing her before the wedding; she would make sure that he didn't see the bride until the right moment. 
                          
Cristiano groaned and glared at his older brother, he didn't see why Hugo couldn't just leave him here with Eliana; he didn't see why he couldn't spend the night with his bride to be. 
                          
"You should go," Eliana murmured kissing Cristiano, her mother would be here soon and she had no doubts that she expected Cristiano to be gone when she arrived. 
                          
Jennifer wanted to go over some final things and she was determined to make sure that Cristiano and Eliana didn't see one another until they got married; she wanted tomorrow to be perfect for her daughter. 
                          
"I love you," Eliana told him, she would see him soon and they had spent many nights apart because of their jobs; she had a feeling that this wasn't going to be any different. 
                          
Cristiano kissed her, he couldn't believe that he was actually going to do this; he held her close wanting nothing more than to stay but knowing that he couldn't. 
                          
"I'll see you tomorrow," Cristiano mumbled pulling back from Eliana, he knew that if he stayed longer then he wouldn't be able to walk away; he picked up his bag and nodded at Hugo knowing that tomorrow afternoon couldn't come soon enough. 
                          
***
                          
Eliana rolled her eyes shutting her bedroom door, she ignored the rest of her mother's words knowing that Jennifer could go on all night about what was going to happen tomorrow. 
                          
Of course, Eliana understood that her mother was excited but she was starting to feel a little nervous about all of this and she wanted to get some sleep knowing that tomorrow was the big day. 
                          
Eliana could only hope that everything went according to plan, she had a horrible feeling that her father was going pull another stunt like he had at the rehearsal dinner. 
                          
William didn't seem to understand that while Eliana had given her blessing on his relationship with Sara in some way; she wasn't quite ready to play happy families with the woman he had cheated with. 
                          
Eliana had no idea why William couldn't understand that she needed time, she wasn't going to want the woman that had helped hurt her mother at her big day; she barely knew Sara and she wasn't going to rush herself for William's sake. 
                          
William seemed to forget that it had only been recently that they had started talking again, Eliana had her own life and family now; they were important to her and she wasn't going to change things to make him happy. 
                          
Slowly getting ready for bed, Eliana peeked over at the dress bag that held her dress and she hoped that she was prepared for what was to come tomorrow; she couldn't believe that she was actually going to marry Cristiano. 
                          
Smiling to herself as she climbed into bed, Eliana couldn't help but wish that she had some way of making sure that her parents could get along for one day without fighting. 
                          
Jennifer avoided speaking with William at all costs and William seemed so focused on his own life that he didn't seem to realise how much his actions hurt people.