Take Good Care of My Baby

“Ronaldo where’s your son?” “Where’s his mother?” “Irina how does it feel to be a step mom?” “Have you met the baby yet?” the paps shouted as soon as the car door of the car Cristiano and Irina were in opened.

The kept asking questions as Cristiano followed Irina towards the restaurant. He walked through the sea of photographers and their flashing lights telling himself over and over again how much trouble he’ll be in if he hits one of them. But he really wanted them to shut up.

“Stupid wankers” he said as the restaurant door closed behind him. “Good to see you learnt something in England” Zé joked. “Shut up Zé” he said. “I wish they would shut up” Irina wined as her sister Tatiana gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Let’s forget about them and have a good night” Cristiano said taking her hand in his. “I need a drink. I’ve had enough of all this for one day” Irina said pulling her hand out of Cristiano’s. “Let go freshen up. We’ll meet you at the table” Tatiana said and the two women headed in a different direction. Cristiano followed the maître to their table and thanked him.

“Irina seems happy” Zé said taking a seat next to Cristiano. “Don’t start. I’m not in the mood” Cristiano warned. “Irina not taking the whole Junior thing well?” Ricky asked. Ricky was a good friend who worked with the national team and along with Zé had come to New York for a break. He also knew the truth about Junior’s birth. “The whole world knowing thing is the problem” Cristiano said pouring himself a glass of water.

“The press will get bored soon enough” Ricky said. “It’s not just that. She’s annoyed with me for not staying longer. We had a shit World Cup. Maé is annoyed with me and I’ve barley seen my son” he wined. “Ah that explains the bad mood. You didn’t see Junior today” Ricky said. “Only for a couple of minutes before we came here tonight. He was tired since it was past his bed time. Which everyone kept pointing out. And you didn’t help” he said to Zé. “What did I do?” Zé asked. “You phoned Katia this morning” Cristiano said. “You could have too” Zé said. “I was busy with my girlfriend” Cristiano said.

“Well you better learn to juggle better” Zé replied earning a glare from Cristiano. “Relax you two” Ricky said and Cristiano took a sip of his water. “Let’s just enjoy our night. No baby talk” Ricky said. He knew his friend was struggling with everything that had happened recently. “The girls are coming back” Zé said.

“You ok?” Cristiano asked Irina as she took a seat next to him on his right. “Yes. Ali and Mark are almost here” she said. “There’s no rush. We have all night” he said kissing her cheek.
“You look beautiful by the way” he said brushing his finger over her cheek. “Thank you” she smiled. “Who’s hungry?” Ricky asked and soon they were chatting about the menu.

Ali and Mark arrived and the whole table enjoyed a night of gorgeous food and wine. Cristiano enjoyed getting to know Irina’s friends. It was important to him that he made the effort. He just wished Irina could make the same effort at times.

“So Cristiano, your mother must love having a grandson” Ali, Irina’s agent said earing a glare from his client in the process. “Well Junior’s her third grandson. Fourth grandchild in total. She’s used to babies” Zé chimed in and Cristiano was grateful for his help. “I bet his a cutie” Ayesha another one of Irina’s friends said. “Of course he is” Irina smiled. “I think so anyway” Cristiano smiled proudly.

“Must have been a little scary finding out you were going to be a father? A single one at that” Tatiana said. He knew Irina’s sister wasn’t happy about him having a baby. “Fatherhood is frightening to most men. No matter how many times you do it” Zé piped up and for once Cristiano was glad his former sort of brother in law was here with him. “At least he had time to get his head around it. Unlike some people at this table” Tatiana muttered.

“Do you have a picture?” Ali asked and Cristiano looked at Irina. “Show them. Everyone else is so fascinated about your son. It’s only normal my friends are” she said taking a sip of her wine.
Cristiano pulled his phone out of his pocket and searched for a photo of his son. “He’s only a few days old in that one” he said handing his phone over to Ali. “He’s bigger now. Even though it’s only been a few weeks” Cristiano said. “Aww he’s cute” Ayesha said looking over Ali’s shoulder. “Adorable” Tatiana said barley looking at the picture.

“Right I think that’s enough of baby talk. It’s time for some dancing” Irina grinned before drinking her champagne in one go. Irina was in the mood to dance the night away.

Cristiano knew the last few days especially had been hard for her. He hated that she was been asked about him and his son when it should be all about her. Getting the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine was a huge deal.

He needed to spoil her while he was in New York. Make sure she knew he was there for her. It was hard for Irina. It was the main reason he was cutting her some slack for how she was behaving especially when her sister egged her on.

“She’s having fun” Ricky said as they sat on a couch in the VIP section of the club they had gone to after dinner. “She deserves to have fun” Cristiano said as he watched Irina, Tatiana and Mark dance.

“If you expect her to become the doting stepmom, then you’ll be waiting a long time” Ali said. “Sorry” Cristiano asked only barley catching what the other man had said. “No woman wouldn’t be pissed if she was told her boyfriend just had a kid with someone else. You better not be expecting her to be your son’s mother the minute she meets him” Ali said. “I don’t. And I know Irina will be great with my son” Cristiano said. He had been waiting all week for one of Irina’s friends to say something.

“As long as the baby’s mother won’t be a problem then she’ll be fine” Ali said and Cristiano gripped the bottle of water in his hand. “Irina will be fine” Cristiano said ignoring Ali’s mother comment. “Just don’t push her too hard. I’ll be back in a sec” Ali said standing.

“Baby mother won’t be a problem. Ha ya right. When wasn’t she never a problem” Zé said. “Shut the fuck up Zé” Cristiano snapped. He didn’t want to think about her right now.

“I was just saying” Zé said. “Well don’t” Cristiano said. “You know this time last year his mother was catching the two of them in Ibiza together” Zé said to Ricky.“Watch it Ronnie” Zé said as he wiped the water that Cristiano had spilled over him at the mention of Ibiza. “Sorry” Cristiano said. “You big muppet” Zé laughed. “Don’t call me that” Cristiano snapped. “You know who used to call him that” Ricky whispered to Zé. “Well you know who isn’t around. Is she?” Zé said back.

Cristiano thought back to that day. That day in Ibiza. He had just asked her to come live in Madrid. She had look so hot laying next to him in the bed. So adorable. When Molly had walked down the stairs only in his shirt to be met with his mother and sister, she had been so embarrassed.

So embarrassed that Dolores had found out like that. He could still picture the pink of her cheeks that day. It was totally different to the look on her face the night he had gone to her hotel room. When she uttered those 3 words.

“No I can’t”

“I can’t. I can’t dance anymore” Irina said landing in his lap. “You’re a very good dancer” he said kissing his cheek. “I’d rather be in bed” she smirked. He smiled. He could finally get out of the club. He’d make sure Irina was happy and as soon as he woke in the morning he’d video chat his mother and son.

Concentrate on the future. Not the past.