Our Crazy Little Thing Called Family

"Please tell me you are joking right now" she begged as the emergency low light came on in the lift. "Well it's not moving so don't think I'm joking Mols" he said. "This can't be happening" she said moving so her back was against one of the walls. "I'm sure it will restart again in a minute" Cristiano said.

"Not in a minute. Now. I can't be stuck in here right now" she said. "Well sorry being stuck in here with me is so horrible but I can't do anything about it" he said moving to the panelling on the wall. "Not everything is about you" she snapped as he pressed the emergency button. She shut her eyes and held her arms around her waist as she heard him inform someone that the lift had stopped.

"Mols" Cristiano said. "Molly" he said and she felt his hands on her shoulders. "Hey it's ok. The guy said they are working on it" he said once she opened her eyes. "Please tell me I'm dreaming this" she begged. "There's nothing to worry about Molly. Everything will be ok" he said rubbing her arms. "I'm stuck in an elevator which is held by a rope. How can I not worry?" she asked. "And here I was thinking you were annoyed to be stuck with me" he joked.

"It's not funny" she said. "Hey look at me" he said titlting her chin upwards. "Take a deep breath in and let it out. They will have it fixed soon" he reassured her. "How the hell does an elevator suddenly just stop. Jezz I thought this was the biggest club in the world yet it can't manage to have working elevators" she said.

"Why don't you take a seat while we wait huh. Try to think about something other than being stuck in here" he suggested. "Cos pretending something isn't happening is so easy. Oh sorry it usually is for you" she snapped. He dropped his hands off her and pulled his phone out of his back pocket. "No signal" he said stepping back from her.

"Great just great" she said. "I get it Molly you don't want to be here with me right now. But there's nothing I can do about it. So we can just go back to ignoring we exist until the doors open if that suits you" he snapped moving to the opposite wall before he lowered down to the ground into a sitting position. "When did I say those words Ronaldo?" she asked. "Huh?" he asked. "When did I say I didn't want to be here with you? I said I didn't want to be stuck in this elevator you ass. Although I'm starting to rethink that now" she snapped.

"I'm sorry. I guess part of me just thinks you don't want to be around me after everything that's happened" he said. "Well if that was the case then I wouldn't have put myself in the position to be stuck in an elevator with you right now" she said. "I know you're right. Mols the elevator will start to move soon. It will be ok" he told her. "I just....." she said. "Just what?" he asked. "How are you not freaked about been stuck in this thing?" she asked and moved to sit on the floor.

"Well you see I'm trying to make sure this cute brunette that I'm stuck with doesn't freak out" he smiled and she laughed. "Now that's something I've missed" he said. "You do always mange to find a way to me make me laugh" she said. "As long as it's never to make you cry" he said. "Jorge must be having a panic attack. He's star client is trapped in an elevator" Molly said reaching for her bag. "Sure he's more worried about you" Cristiano replied. "What in case I kill you and he has to help me escape" Molly joked pulling out her phone. "No signal" she sighed placing the phone back into the bag.

"Anything in that thing that could entertain us while we wait?" he asked. "Not unless some make up and one of Junior's bibs is something that you could find entertaining. Although" she said. "You are not putting make up on me Molly" he told her and she laughed. "How the hell did you know I was going to suggest that?" she asked. "Guess I know you" he said. "You have a funny way of remembering you do" she said. "Can't disagree about that" he said. "Anyway I wouldn't waste my makeup. Shame you have none of yours with you" she smirked. "I do not own any makeup" he told her. "Sure whatever you say" she said and he groaned.

"I can barely see you face probably but even I know you are pouting right now" she told him. "Maybe I should break the emergency light and then you wouldn't be able to see me at all" he said. "Don't do that" she said worried. "Relax Mols I won't. Sorry I know being trapped in here isn't nice for you" he said. "It's just like you know the film Speed" she said. "The one with the bus?" he asked. "Yes that one. Well at the start there's an elevator scene and...." she paused.

"Hey hey stop it. Stop thinking about that scene. Hey remember that day Zé pushed us into the swimming pool" he said. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked moving to stand. "Mols" he said. "Why the hell would you bring that up?" she asked moving to press the buttons on the panel on the wall. "I was trying to get you to think about something else. Fuck I don't know what I was thinking" he said.

"You could have said hey remember that day Marcosa tripped us into the pool or something about Junior. But you idiot brought that up instead" she snapped. "I didn't want to bring Junior up cos you'd only start to worry about him being with Maé and you being here. Shit I'm sorry I was just trying to keep you calm" he said. "By mentioning something that would remind me about how angry I was at you. You really are an ass Ronaldo" she said.

"I'm beginning to think Maé dropped me on my head when I was younger" he groaned holding his head in his hands. He looked up when he heard laughing. "It would probably explain alot about you if she had" Molly laughed. "You can ask her when we get out of here" he said. "I thought we'd be out by now. Jezz you'd think they would care that their star player was stuck in one of their elevators" Molly said. "Aww you think I'm a star" he smiled.

"One big pain in my butt of a star" she said. "Your butt looks good in those jeans" he said. "Oh shut up" she said and he laughed. "Shame you haven't a pack of cards in that bag of yours. We could have played poker while we waited" he said. "We don't have any chips" she said leaning her back against the wall. "We could have played strip poker" he smirked. "Ya that wouldn't be awkward. You having to explain why you are naked when the doors open" she replied and he laughed.

"You owe me a rematch soon" he said. "Then it's a shame I don't have them" she said sitting on the floor again. "At least we'd have something to do whilst stuck in this thing" he sighed. "We could do what we were planning on doing this evening" she said. "What was that?" he asked. "Talk. You could start with explaining to me how you could lie to me for all this time about my parents" she said and he let out a long breath. "You really want to do this now? Here?" he asked.

"No time like the present. Unless you need more time to think" she said. "You're the one who needed time and space Mols" he said. "Ya cos my parents showed up. Apparently sober and looking for some sort of relationship with me. And on top of all that there's you lying to me. That's alot to get my head around Ronaldo" she said.

"How did it go with your parents yesterday?" he asked. "Ok so you want to start with that then ya fine we will" she said. "Mols" he said. "My mother could have died and they weren't going to tell me" she said. "What?" he asked. "Apparently she got really sick. It made her see she needed to sort her life out. Apparently they didn't want to tell me until they were the parents that I deserved. That's why Dad changed his number" she said. "So they thought you deserved better but abandoned you further. That makes no sense" he said. "Which is exactly what I said to them" she said.

"Do you believe them? About being sober?" he asked. "I don't know what to believe. My dad he looks like he has things together but it could all be just a big act. They both have new jobs. And I'm important to them. They want to be involved in my life" she said. "I can't see your dad thinking you'd forgive them that easily. I don't know him but he seems to well think better than your mother anyway" he said. "I would love to say that I can't believe she threatened to go to the papers to make you take me to them but I'm not even remotely shocked about it. What the hell does that say?" she asked.

"At least it shows what she was willing to do to get to see you again. I don't agree with it but at least she tried. It's better than them just forgetting you exist" he said. "They wanted to come to me with their lives sorted apparently" she said. "They didn't forget about you Molly. I'm not defending them I'm not but maybe they needed to distance themselves to see that you deserve better than how they were. How they treated you. How important you are" he said. "Funnily enough they said it was because of you that they know how important I am" she said. "Nothing to say" she said when all she was met with was silence.

"They said that?" he asked. "Ya my dad did. So does now suit you to explain how you and why you ended up at my parents’ house?" she asked. "What do you want me to tell you?" he asked. "The truth would be a good place to start. A place you should have started with months ago" she said. "When exactly should I have told you Mols? When you were in hospital? When Irina was messing things up? When Luke turned your head? When our son was in hospital? When exactly should I have told you? How would have me telling you then made all that time easier. It wouldn't. It would have made things worse. I fucked up. I didn't want them hurting you" he said.

"So you hurt me instead" she said. "Hurting you is the last thing I ever want to do Molly" he said. "But you are so good at doing it" she said. "I swear what I've told you about the contact I had with them is the truth. I even contacted a PI to look for them but then it was your birthday and we weren't getting on and then everything with the nanny and then Junior got sick. I just never followed up on it" he said.

"You sat with me a bunch of times when I got a letter from my dad or when I told you that I wondered where they were and you said nothing. I get you were trying to protect me but don't you see that you were also trying to protect yourself. You didn't want them in my life so you sent them to rehab. You just wanted me to get pregnant and not have any distractions. Do you not see why I'm so angry with you?" she said.

"Ya ok maybe I didn't tell you to protect me. I didn't want you hating me. But Molly you deserved better. You deserve better. They should be the ones wanting to be in your life. I didn't want you trying fix their problems" he said. "It's fixing their problems that has me where I am today Cristiano" she reminded him. "How much longer are you going to continue to hold that guilt?" he asked and she said nothing cos she knew what he was talking about. "You made a choice yes Molly. A difficult choice. But you can't keep.... can't keep torturing yourself. You didn't abandon Junior. Yes we made a plan but we've already both agreed that it was always doomed to fail" he said.

"It's not that easy to forget Cristiano" she said and he crawled across the elevator and sat beside her. "I never would have let you.....let Tony hurt you. I know choosing my option is something you struggle with but Mols we have Junior" he said. "The only good thing about any of this is our son" she told him. "At least he's something we both agree on" he said.

"Why did you do it?" she asked. "I told you I didn't want you hating me" he said. "Why did you go to them? Dad said you went to the house. My mother said you were lucky she didn't smash a bottle over your head the things you said about them" she said. "Ya I'm pretty sure only for your dad moving a bottle away from her she probably would have" he said.

"So why? Why did you get involved? I already agreed to have your baby. I agreed to fulfil my part of the deal. Was it guilt over Dr. Frenz?" she asked. "I guess" he sighed. "I guess I saw how much you had being through. What you had being through so their butts would be safe and they.... they were selfish jerks who should know what an amazing daughter they had. They shouldn't have needed me telling me. They should have seen it for themselves. I barely knew you then and I knew you were special" he said.

"But I wasn't going to be your problem" she said. "Sorry" he said. "The plan. Remember that. I was meant to leave. What was it to you if they went to rehab? I would have served my purpose and wasn't going to be your problem anymore" she said. "Maybe I wanted you to have something good after.....you were going to give me a child Molly. I thought maybe you would need support. Maybe actually have a decent family to fall back on. I don't know why I did it Molly. I just...I didn't want you to get hurt" he said.

She pulled her knees towards her chin and rested her forehead against her knees. “Mols” Cristiano said. “I’m being an ungrateful bitch” she said lifting her head. “What?” he asked. “I mean you not only pay for both of my parents rehabs when you didn’t have to but you’re paying for their hotel and even my apartment and here am I being a bitch to you” she said. “You’re angry. You’ve had a big shock. I understand” he told her. “Then you understand that it doesn’t change things” she said. “Sorry?” he asked.

“I….I can’t thank you enough for what you did Cristiano. Really I can’t. But I also just can’t forgive and forget that you lied to me all this time because you paid a lot of money for it all. I can’t explain it to you Cristiano why….why I feel like this” she said. “A bit like me not being able to explain why I did pay for it all” he said. “Maybe” she sighed. “Want to know what I think?” he asked. “Well since it doesn’t look like we are moving any time soon I guess you might as well tell me” she smiled.

“I think….I think you are used to thinking people want something from you. Used to sorting every problem out. I bet there’s a part of you thinking how you could repay the money back for the rehab. I’m right aren’t I?” he asked. “I don’t want to owe you anything” she told him. “You probably would have stayed in a hotel only for Jorge suggesting the apartment. Which again I know you hate me paying for but I want you safe. I want Junior safe. So I don’t care if I’m paying for that place for the rest of my life. You owe me nothing” he told her.

“I really wasn’t trying to hurt you by taking Junior with me when I left. You know that right?” she asked. “I was the one who suggested that I’d pack some stuff for him Mols. I knew you weren’t ready to spend a night away from him. I hate him not been at home but I’m used to being away from him. It’s different for you” he said. “There’s something seriously wrong in the World when you are being the sensible reasonable one and I’m being the unreasonable bitch” she said and he laughed.

“I’m finally growing up” he said and she laughed. ”I get why you needed space. I didn’t like it but I understood. Plus like Ana pointed out if you really wanted nothing to do with me then you have avoided me altogether” he said. “True. But I’m sorry if you thought I was using Junior against you. I would never keep him from you” she told him. “I wouldn’t either” he said.

“I can only imagine how Junior will turn out with one messed up mother and one muppet father” she said. “You are not messed up Mols. Your past just affects you sometimes. You’ve being through a lot since I’ve even met you. I think you are allowed a moment of….” He paused. “”Complete unreasonableness” she suggested. “Ya I guess” he smiled.

“So your parents?” he asked. “They want to be part of my life” she sighed. “Is that something you want?” he asked. “They are my parents” she said. “Now that it suits them” he said and she sighed. “I’m sorry. You’re right they are your parents. As much as I wanted to abandon my Papí when he wouldn’t listen to us about his drinking I couldn’t cos he was my Papí” he said. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories” she said. “It’s ok. You know we’ve both being through similar situations. Your parents and my Papí. Though I know a lot more happened as a result of your parent’s drinking over the years” he said.

“It’s not a competition. Anyway we both haven’t done so bad considering” she said. “Well we are good at making gorgeous babies” he smiled. “They want to meet Junior” she said. “They got a shock too. Learning they are grandparents” he said. “I guess” she shrugged. “So are you going to let them?” he asked. “You tell me” she said. “Huh” he said. “It’s not just my choice. He’s your son too. This isn’t something I can just say yes to. You have a right to have an input” she said.

“Ok let’s see” he said resting his head against the wall. “They are both sober. They both clearly want to be part of your life. They both see how important and special of a person you are. They are his grandparents” he said. “Then thing we have to ask ourselves is when do we or when do I stop concentrating on the past and focus on the present” she said. “I think it’s understandable that you aren’t just going to forget everything they have done” he said.

"Why can't things just be simple for once" she groaned and he laughed. "Wouldn't be us if it was simple" he said. "True" she sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. "Whatever you think is best Mols. I'll support whatever decision you make" he told her. "Really?" she asked. "Ya. Well you see I've learnt over the last few months that you tend to be right alot more than me" he said and she laughed.

"Thanks Cristiano" she said. "I'm just agreeing with you. Or in this case agreeing to agree with you. I think" he said and she lifted her head and looked at him. "You're confusing yourself" she smiled. "Ha ya" he smiled. "Thank you for what you did for my parents" she said looking straight at him. "I'm sorry I lied to you. As annoying as you are I actually don't really like when you hate me" he said. "I'm glad you've got my back" she said. "Always" he said bumping shoulders which made her giggle.

The elevator made a noise and she gripped his arm. "It's ok" he reassured her as the lights fully turned on and the elevator kicked into gear. "Guess they fixed it" he said. "Alleluia" she said standing. "Hey Mols" he said standing. "Where.....where does this leave us?" he asked. "What do you mean?" she asked. "I mean like you know you, me,,,,kiss" he stuttered. "Oh" she said.

"Never mind" he said picking up her handbag off the floor. "I really can't thank you enough for what you did for my parents Cristiano. And I get why you felt that you had to lie to me. But I don't know if I can trust you right now" she said. "Molly you can trust me" he said. "Maybe we rushed things. Maybe you didn't know what you were doing" she said. "I knew what I was doing Molly" he said placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's not just you and me to think about Cristiano" she said.

"Molly did you like it when we kissed? Yes or no" he asked. "We've already discussed this" she said. "Yes or no?" he asked again. "Yes" she mumbled. "So did I. And I want to do it again" he told her. "Maybe....." she paused. "Maybe what?" he asked. "Maybe we can take it how it comes. I know you probably think I'm being a bitch Cristiano but for some strange reason you were the one person I thought I could trust and then you broke it. And I can't stop thinking what else you could do and....." she paused.

"I'll show you that you can trust me Mols I swear" he told her as the elevator doors opened. "Hey guys" Jorge said with Pepe standing beside him. "Are you two ok?" Pepe asked. "I will be when I get out of here" Molly said taking her bag from Cristiano. "Sorry it took so long. They tried to fix the problem as quick as they could" Pepe said. "I bet they did" Cristiano muttered. "Good news is that we can all leave. I sent everyone away when you two got stuck in there" Jorge said. "Oh great. Let's go" she said.

"Sick of being stuck in there with Ronnie huh Mols?" Pepe asked her. "I'm kind of hungry" she said. "Well lucky I know a place where there's going to be tonnes of food then" Jorge smiled at her. "Meet you back at yours" she told Cristiano. "Come on Jorge, I have a quick stop to make" she said walking off.

"Everything ok?" Pepe asked Cristiano as Molly and Jorge left. "It will be" Cristiano replied. He just needed to show Molly that she could trust him. And he wasn't going to stop until he got what he wanted.