Make It or Break It

Chapter Seventeen: Falling In Love

Riley sighed as she watched Joseph hug Aiden goodbye, he was leaving for Australia again and this time things were different.

The blonde looked at her sadly as he hugged his only son, he really wished that she would change her mind and come with him so he wouldn’t miss out on Aiden growing up.

“Are you sure you want to stay here?” Joseph asked as he watched Riley, he could see how much she had changed and he sort of wished that she hadn’t.

This wasn’t the same girl that he had left behind three years ago and no matter how much Joseph wished for things to work out between them, he knew that they couldn’t.

Riley nodded knowing that she was ready to move on with her life, she had Fernando now and she was finally happy; she knew that Joseph would find someone else to spend his life with.

“I’m sure,” the brunette said pressing a kiss to his cheek; Joseph didn’t have to guess that she had found someone else, he could see the way she was with Fernando and he wished her the best with him.

Joseph offered her a sad smile, he was upset that she wasn’t coming with him of course; he had wanted them to be a proper family, maybe get married one day and have more children.

“Riley if I hadn’t have left for Australia…” Joseph asked her making her sigh and nod; she knew without a doubt what he was asking her and she wasn’t going to lie.

The couple had been very much in love when Joseph had gone to Australia and left her and Aiden behind and it was sad to see how much things had changed for them.

“Maybe,” Riley replied offering Joseph a smile, he nodded as they stood there awkwardly; he smiled at her and pulled her into a hug, knowing it could be another year before he saw her and Aiden again.

“I hope you both are happy,” the blonde said making her nod as she fought back tears, Joseph pressed a kiss to her head and then he walked away.

Sniffing Riley picked Aiden up as she watched Joseph leave, she knew that it was killing him to leave her and Aiden behind; but she couldn’t, she didn’t love him like she loved Fernando.

Riley stopped at the thought, and smiled to herself; she loved Fernando Torres and she didn’t care what anyone else thought, she was in love.

Aiden looked at his mother and noticed the smile on her face as they left the airport, he could see that something had made her very happy now that his father was gone.

“Mummy?” the little boy asked her; she smiled down at her son and pressed a kiss to his head as they made their way to her car that was parked nearby.

Riley could feel with each step that she took, that she was more than ready to let Joseph go; their relationship had been far from perfect, and they had only stayed together for so long because of Aiden.

***

Fernando waved as he spotted Aiden and Riley arriving home from the airport; it was obvious that the little boy was upset that his father had left, while something was different about Riley.

The footballer sighed as he spoke softly into his phone before he agreed to call back later for an update, Fernando stood and smiled at Riley as they slipped into the kitchen away from the children.

“Hola,” Riley greeted kissing him softly, Fernando wrapped his arms around her, wondering what had happened to make her this friendly with him.

Fernando stiffened as a thought of Olalla slipped into his mind; she had done the same thing when she returned from spending time with Damien, he pulled away from her concerned.

Riley looked at him as he stepped away from her, Fernando licked his lips as he wondered how to approach this with her.

The brunette sighed, and shook her head as she nibbled on her lip; she wasn’t quite sure how to tell him of her discovery.

“What happened?” he asked making her look at him confused, Fernando leant against the unit and crossed his arms; he watched her closely for a moment as she stared at him.

“Riley por favor,” he said desperately, he couldn’t lose her like he had lost Olalla; hell he was sure that Riley would never hurt him like Olalla did.

The brunette watched him oddly for a moment and then smiled at him amused, she knew what he was thinking and she wasn’t even upset that he had jumped to that conclusion.

“How’s that jumping to conclusions doing for you?” Riley asked amused making him look at her, she knew that she would never do that to Fernando since he meant a lot to her.

Fernando watched her for a moment making the brunette laugh lightly before she moved and pressed a kiss to his lips.

Fernando allowed her to kiss him for a moment before he pulled away, he needed to know what was going through her mind before he relaxed in anyway.

“I love you,” Riley said softly as she brushed his growing hair out of his eyes, she smiled up at him knowing that she had never felt like this before.

The footballer swallowed as he took in what she had said, those three little words he never thought he’d hear again.

Riley smiled at him, as she pressed another kiss to his lips as she stood in front of him knowing that she had never loved Joseph like she loved Fernando.

“I don’t need you to say it back… not unless you mean it. I can wait for that but Nando I love you,” the brunette said smiling at him; Fernando stared at her as a smile slowly crept across his face.

The footballer pulled Riley back into a kiss, holding her close; he ran his hands through her hair as they kissed before he slowly pulled away from her.

“I love you too so much amor,” Fernando said as he stroked her cheeks, his brown eyes filled with joy knowing that he had never considered that she would love him like this.

The couple kissed again as he held her close, he couldn’t believe that they had exchanged those words so soon; however they were forced apart as Fernando’s mobile started to ring.  

Fernando sighed as he saw that it was his Lawyer making Riley offer him a reassuring smile as she moved back into the living room where the children were playing.

“How bad is it?” the footballer asked his lawyer as he sat at the breakfast table, he knew that Olalla would take him for everything she could since she no longer had access rights to their daughter.

“Not that bad really… you should be divorced in the next four and a half months, when we sort out assets that were bought during the marriage and alimony,” the lawyer said making Fernando nod, he was relieved that there was now a time limit on how much longer, he was married to Olalla.

“She’s agreed that your marital breakdown was her fault due to her extra-marital affair,” his lawyer confirmed, Fernando sighed in relief this made things easier.

He glanced over at the door, as his lawyer continued to talk; he knew he should properly prepare to come out that he was dating Riley soon.

“So I’ll contact you when the decree nisi arrives,” his lawyer said making Fernando nod, knowing he’d have to talk to Riley about telling her parents and his.

He didn’t want to hide away forever and he knew that he wanted to start a new life with her as soon as possible.