The Masked Feelings

I gently stirred in my sleep as I felt a small prodding against my right arm. I ignored it at first, until it got harder and harder; causing my eyes to finally fluttered open, to find Bella gazing at me with sleepy eyes. I smiled at her lazily, as I removed the duvet and got out of bed, leading Bella down the stairs. When Bella and I finally reached the kitchen I walked over towards the cupboards on a hunt for the cereal one. As I finally reached it; my heart fluttered. Bella's favourite cereal, cocoa pops, was in the cupboard. I knew that Cristiano had to keep to a strict diet, so there was no way that the cocoa pops were for him, meaning that he bought them for Bella. I put some of the cereal into the bowl before adding in milk and handing it to Bella. Bella took the bowl in her hands and walked carefully towards the table, however she still managed to spill a few laps of milk onto the ground. I cleaned up the milk before making Cris and I a breakfast. I decided on making pancakes with fresh berries as I was in the mood for something fresh. I poured some of the mixture onto the frying pan as I heard Bella walking back into the kitchen. "Mum" Bella said in her sweet tone, hinting that she wanted something. "Is there any way..." Bella trailed off and I smirked as I flipped the pancake.
"That you could have a pancake?" I asked her and Bella's eyes ignited as she nodded her head excitedly. "If you promise to be good for the rest of the day, then yes." I suggested and Bella smiled still nodding her head before running back upstairs to the play room. The scent of pancakes had filled the air and was making my stomach rumble. I placed the pancake onto the plate as I felt a pair of hand snaking around my waist, making me jump. I heard a deep husky chuckle as I turned around and met Cris who was laughing at my reaction. I rolled my eyes at him as he pecked the tip of my nose.
"You're cute when you jump, did you know that?" Cris asked, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. I rolled my eyes animatedly making Cris laugh.
"you have perfect timing, I just served up a pancake. There are berries on the counter behind you. I managed to put them out of Bella's reach so that we could have some!" I exclaimed, pouring another pancake onto the frying pan, hearing the oil hiss at the mixture.

At around eleven o'clock Bella and I decided that we should get home to get changed, and Cristiano agreed that he would meet me later at my house for a movie marathon. Unfortunately my clothes were still damp and so I had to borrow some of Cris's clothes. When Bella and I got outside I could see a few cameras angled towards our faces as we walked towards my car; pretending not to notice. I knew that this would happen; and as far as the press were concerned we weren't even together. They'll have a field trip when they learn that we're back together after everything. I could picture the headlines 'Tash and Cris kindle old flame' 'Tasha up for more heart break'. I knew how they would react. The paps would go wild and twist our relationship to make it look like Cristiano was being a 'bad boy' and that I was a 'cheap gold digger'. I already had a few trust issues with Cristiano, I don't know how I'd cope with having the press attempt to bring into a reality. Maybe Cristiano hasn't changed, my sub conscience pestered as I fought an internal battle to silence it. Cristiano came back for Bella, not you, my sub conscience added before shutting up. The thought had been slowly biting away at my sanity. I had been doing my best to push it to the back of my mind but it always remained there, chanting its theory. If Tasha hadn't have been born Cristiano wouldn't be here with me now, he would be with in New York somewhere with Irina. The thought startled me and bought up insecurities that I didn't want to think about. I always knew that I wasn't good enough for Cristiano, he was a major footballer who was pretty much perfect and I was just a journalist who had her guard up. Maybe he never loved me. Maybe he just loved the chase, the thrill of the game. Stripping down my walls, and making me feel important before turning his back on me; on us. I pulled my car into the drive and walked towards the house with Bella by my side. When we walked through the door Bella walked straight to her room and I made my way to mine, to get changed. I dressed into a pair of black high waisted skinny jeans and a white silk shirt along with a few accessories).

After a day of reading and relaxing around the house I heard a knock on the door. I opened it to reveal Cristiano leaning into the door frame, in a white shirt, which adorned his muscular torso and skinny jeans. My heart rate sped at the sight, and began to slow down until Cristiano began, "How do I look?" He asked, gesturing at his cheesy positioning. I laughed and shook my head before inviting him inside. I had selected a wide range of movies to pick from, along with some bits to snack on. "Does Bella want to watch the movie with us?" Cris asked as he entered the living room.
"Yeah sure, I'll invite her down" I replied and went the stairs to find Bella sitting at the top, watching through the banister. "What are you doing?" I asked smiling at her as she blushed slightly, embarrassed to have been caught.
"What's daddy doing here?" She asked, with a confused expression.
"Mummy and daddy are going to watch some movies, and we wondered if you'd like to join us?" I asked and Bella smiled at me before running down the stairs and into the living room. I walked behind her slowly, and smiled as I saw Bella sitting on Cris's lap, sandwiched in his tight embrace. I quietly took my seat next to Cristiano on the sofa. A few minutes into the movie Cris had somehow managed to move his hand around Bella so that we were holding hands without Bella knowing, causing my stomach to do acrobats at the sweet gesture.

After we finished the first movie I insisted that Bella was to go to bed, and after a little argument about me 'being so mean' Bella finally went to bed with a kiss good night from Cristiano and I as we both tucked her in bed like we used to. After that Cris and I sat down to continue our movie marathon. We were into our 3rd movie until we were disturbed by the door bell ringing. I furrowed my brows, not sure who it could be. My curiosity got the better of me, as I unlocked the door slowly, taking a deep breath and I opened the door; when I felt my breath catch in my throat.