Part Three - Chapter Seventeen: Worrying Times

                                    

                                          
"How are you feeling?" Jennifer asked sitting across from her daughter, it had been strange being back in Portugal after what happened but she wanted to stick close to Eliana since she was twenty-nine weeks pregnant. 
                          
It looked lightly that her baby would be born in her native country and Eliana was hopeful that things would work out well enough for Cristiano to be there when their baby boy was born. 
                          
Relaxing back in her chair, Eliana fanned herself glad to be away from Madrid so that she could distract herself from the fact that Cristiano was 4,649 miles away. 
                          
The World Cup had quickly dawned on them after the Champions League and Eliana couldn't help but worry for her husband; she knew he was still struggling with his injury even if he tried to play it off like nothing was wrong. 
                          
"I am fine," Eliana replied offering Jennifer a smile, she just hoped that Cristiano wasn't going to cause himself more damage by playing in the World Cup when he had been advised against it. 
                          
The last thing that Eliana wanted was to see her husband suffer because of his injury, she had hoped that he would rest after the season that he had played but it clearly wasn't going to happen yet. 
                          
"I'm just worried about him," Eliana whispered peeking over at Elsa, she couldn't imagine what would happen if Cristiano made things worse; it could easily destroy his career and she knew how much it meant to him. 
                          
They were going to be busy enough with their son due in a couple of months and Eliana wanted things to be calm; something that she didn't think would happen if this was going to carry on. 
                          
Jennifer looked at her daughter, she knew that Cristiano was keeping something quiet and it didn't help that he was pushing himself to get back in shape for big games like he was.
                          
The last thing that Jennifer wanted was for Cristiano to do something stupid if he got frustrated with how things were going; it was no secret that there were women who would love to jump into bed with him. 
                          
Jennifer didn't believe that Cristiano would ever cheat on Eliana but she knew that he would be in a bad place if things didn't go well for him in the tournament. 
                          
"Have you talked to him about this?" Jennifer asked concerned, she had no idea what was going on but she just hoped that Cristiano wasn't going to shut her out and lash out when things didn't work out. 
                          
Eliana eyed her mother, she knew what her mother must be thinking and she didn't believe that Cristiano would ever do such a thing to her; he'd had many chances in the past to cheat and he had never done so. 
                          
This time was no different and Eliana felt a little annoyed that Jennifer would even think that Cristiano would cheat on her; they loved each other very much and they talked to one another whenever they had the chance. 
                          
"He wouldn't do that," Eliana murmured moving to get to her feet, she didn't want to sit and talk about this with Jennifer if she was just going to assume the bad. 
                          
Cristiano might get frustrated with how things would work out but he would never risk his marriage to her and Eliana trusted him completely; he had never once shown her that he would do such a thing like cheat on her. 
                          
Opening her mouth to explain, Jennifer stopped herself as Eliana walked away from her; she was only trying to look out for her especially since none of them knew what was going on in Cristiano's mind right now. 
                          
She didn't want to believe that her son-in-law was capable of cheating on his pregnant wife but Jennifer knew that he was alone in Brazil with little comfort around him.
                          
***
                          
Ignoring the shouts from the crowd, Cristiano headed straight into the hotel to relax after another serious training session with his team-mates; they had only been in Brazil a couple of days and things were already tense. 
                          
Cristiano was almost relieved to be back at the hotel, his leg ached and he knew that he was really pushing himself this time by playing for his national team. 
                          
Eliana had expressed her concerns to him about doing so and Cristiano knew that she would think no less of him if he came home without winning anything; she just wanted him to be careful and come home in one piece. 
                          
The last thing that Cristiano wanted was to let his country down and he was sure that Eliana understood that; there was so much pressure on him right now to lead his country to a world cup. 
                          
Next year he would be thirty and Cristiano was sort of dreading it, he knew that time was growing short on his career and soon he would really have to think about what he was going to do next. 
                          
"Did you see her?" Bruno Alves whispered snapping Cristiano out of his thoughts, he climbed into the lift wanting to have a bath and hopeful ease the ache in his leg a little. 
                          
He had promised to Skype with Eliana and he was looking forward to it, Cristiano missed his wife and he wished that she and Elsa could be here with him right now. 
                          
However, their doctor had advised that it wasn't safe for Eliana to take such a long distance flight and so she was currently relaxing in Portugal with her mother for company. 
                          
"That model that claimed to have slept with Ronaldo," Bruno Alves continued offering Cristiano a look, he found it amusing that the other man had barely batted an eyelid at what had just happened. 
                          
Nani raised an eyebrow at him, he recalled what had happened and he doubted that Cristiano had even looked at the former Miss Bum-Bum contestant.

                          
Rolling his eyes, Cristiano rested back against the wall of the lift not in the least bit interested in the woman who had lied about their meeting; she still insisted it was true even if Eliana had witnessed what had happened. 
                          
Cristiano couldn't help but wonder if she even considered what her actions would have done to his family now, he hated people who tried to use him for fame and didn't think about anyone else. 
                          
"She has painted his jersey onto her body," Bruno Alves revealed making Cristiano shake his head, he could care less about what she was doing; there was no way that Cristiano was going to allow her to ruin things for him. 
                          
There was little doubt in Cristiano's mind that Andressa had only painted his jersey onto her body to attract attention to herself; she didn't care that he had a pregnant wife at home or what her own child would think about any of this. 
                          
Taking a deep breath, Cristiano was relieved when they reached their floor and he walked away from his team-mates who were still talking about her; he just wanted to forget what had happened. 
                          
Cristiano smiled turning his thoughts to Eliana and their unborn son, they had really narrowed down the names and he couldn't wait to hold their little boy for the first time. 
                          
Elsa was sixteen months old and Cristiano couldn't help but miss her, he wished that she could have been here but she was safer in Geres with her mother and grandmother. 
                          
The house was away from prying eyes and Cristiano knew that it was the perfect place for Eliana and Elsa to be during this tournament; the last thing he wanted was for the press to harass them. 
                          
Stepping into his hotel room, Cristiano closed the door behind him sure that this tournament would fly-by and he would soon be home with Eliana and Elsa.