Chapter 20 - Touch down
Cesca felt a hand as her eyes slowly began to open, “We’ve landed Cesca”, Karen’s soft words flowed out of her mouth as Cesca began to adjust her eyes and get her things together. She looked out the window, the beautiful views of Spain, she had missed them. The sun was shining and the whole place just spelt happiness, which was making Cesca feel more relaxed until she remembered exactly why she was there. They all rose up from their seats, following each other off the plane. Jess and Bex were excited about getting a tan and Harry was simply happy to be spending some quality time with his mum, he felt bad for making her life hard whilst his parents were going through their divorce. Cesca and Karen both reached into their bags finding their sunglasses, they both laughed as they each began to place them on their heads. “Well, I guess this is it”, Karen said, hoping to give Cesca some sort of confidence she couldn’t help but think about what her trip back home was to be like. Karen almost felt bad for coming out here for a holiday; she didn’t feel that it was the right thing to do. “Thanks Karen, for everything”, Cescas words reassured her, she felt a slight comfort in hearing that Cesca was grateful for her efforts to help, Karen smiled as they all exited the plane, they chose to go their separate ways once entering the terminal building, The Fishers would need to muck around a bit sorting out the suitcases, car hire and who was sitting where in the car. Cesca needed to get to her mum’s they had a lot to talk about and she knew where she was headed for. She was to collect her bags and head out to the arrivals area to meet her sister Isabel, she was to then drive her to her mums and she was to settle and call Jonah. Cesca approached the luggage conveyer belts, the luggage hadn’t arrived yet so Cesca found herself waiting, she took her bag off her shoulder and began to rummage through to look for her phone. She picked it out and placed her bag back onto her shoulder. She pressed the red button waiting for it turn on again after the flight, the wait seemed to last weeks, the lights on her phone began to flicker as the phone began to organise itself so that it could be used. Meanwhile the luggage had arrived so Cesca placed her phone in the back pocket of her jeans and walked over to conveyer belt in her gorgeous strappy wedges; Cesca had a presence when she walked that you could only be born with. She slouched on her hip as she watched the different coloured bags in varying sizes and shapes go round in an ovular motion. Cescas bag was blue, dark blue and white striped so it was easy to distinguish. It was packed to the brim despite Cesca only being down for a few days. Cesca waited for at least ten minutes before seeing her bag but seeing it was completely different to getting it off. There were children all over the place and older ladies and gents sitting on the side, Cesca wasn’t in the mood for time wasters, “EXCUSE ME”, she shouted before the sea of people began to split almost a re-enactment of Moses dividing the sea. She sighed she didn’t mean to shout but this wasn’t going to be the fun relaxing break that the majority of the people were to get. She hauled her bag of the conveyer belt, adjusted her grip on the bag and shoved it on to a trolley before wheeling away. Cesca felt comfort in being in her home country, she loved the culture, and people were much friendlier and were generally much more understanding. She felt blessed to have come from Spain and speak the language as well as being able to speak fluent English. Her mum was proud of her she had achieved so much in her life. She had got to where she was now because of the sheer passion that ran through Cescas veins, the will power and determination to fight for what she wanted and thought was right.
She was now approaching the arrivals area, Cesca took a deep breath in before fully taking in everyone in front of her until she heard “Cesca”, it was Isabel, and she looked to see where she was as Isabel ran towards her, “how was the flight?” Isabel asked, “It was interesting, sat next to my boss the whole way”, Cesca smiled, “Your boss?”, “I’ll explain later”, Cesca walked off with her sister, telling her the long story of Karen, Bex, Jess and Harry whilst placing the trolley back and carrying her bag to Isabel’s car. Isabel couldn’t help but smile. They chucked Cesca’s bag in the back “God, Cesca. You haven’t changed a bit, you still bring your entire wardrobe for a few night stays”, Cesca smiled, it was so lovely to spend some quality time with her sister, Isabel started the ignition as Cesca began her conversation “So how is Anna and Eva?”, “Anna’s at home and Eva has a new boyfriend it’s pretty serious, he’s English, he came over on holiday a year ago and he hasn’t been back since”, “Eva always did have that affect on people, as long as she is happy”. Cesca said. The drive wasn’t very long Cesca really wanted to ask how her mum was, but she couldn’t quite muster up the words to say what she was really thinking and then Isabel stopped. “Izzy” Cesca asked just as Isabel started saying “Now mum is a state, I’ll be honest with you, it’s going to be a shock for you”, Isabel found this hard to say, the girls were all so close to their mum, Anna particularly had found it the hardest, she was the youngest but not the most naive, Cesca took that title. But she was the one who had found her she is 18 years old, she didn’t know what to do, she was entirely helpless. “Ces, it’s going to be okay”, Izzy reached out her hand, holding Cesca’s she wanted to reassure her little sister. Izzy was the eldest of the 4 sisters, she was engaged to a lovely man, Lucas and her life had been pretty much an easy road, she was living in a lovely house in the centre of Seville not too far away from her mum’s. She was happy. Anna on the other hand was at home, scared. She had experienced a lot recently, she was only 18 and this had all come as a shock, she was oblivious to the whole situation even when they visited Cesca back in England. She was a studious girl, tried hard, worked hard, had lovely friends and never had a bad word spoken of her. Eva was still at home, 26 and still with her mum. But they were all hoping that was to change, with Eva’s new boyfriend on the scene, things were getting serious, Eva had never been this close or in love with a boy before. Eva wasn’t as flirtatious as Cesca or as pretty but she still caught the boy’s attention, Eva could have had any boy she wanted, but she wasn’t stupid and believed in true love, so she was always intent on finding that special one and Nathan seemed to be that one.
The girls got out of the car, Cesca taking in the beauty of her old family home, the vines that lined the walls and the soft bronze colour of the walls and door. The house just made her smile but she knew that what she was to face would definitely change that expression. Izzy walked towards the door Cesca followed apprehensively, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Izzy knocked 3 times, soft but loud enough for the people inside to hear. The door swung back and a very eager Anna ran out the door, giving Cesca the biggest hug, Anna and Cesca had always been close, they were close in age in terms of the order they were born in and Cesca had always been there to look out for Anna, they had a very close and different bond than any of the others had. “Cesca, I’ve missed you so much”, “Well I’m here now”, Cesca kissed Anna’s head before walking forward, her arm still around Anna heading for the door. Eva was now in the door way, arms out ready to receive her hug to. Cesca loved seeing all her family, she missed them as much as they missed her if not more. Eva took her bag and they all walked in, there was a sense of strength in the room all the Montoya sisters together as one, Eva signed for Cesca to walk through to the lounge, she could see her mum was sitting on the couch, from what Cesca could see, her mum had her legs up on the sofa. Cesca instantly knew her mum was in a bad way, she wasn’t one to sit around and do nothing, she knew her mum would be frustrated and angry; she would hate to be thought of as incapable. “Cesca, is that you” her mum let out a very faint but very scared question. “Yes, mum, it’s me”, Cesca placed her hand bag down in the corner before walking over and sitting next to her mum, her sisters all stood in the door frame of the lounge. As Cesca looked up towards her mum, she could see the black eyes, the scratches, bruises and most importantly the broken leg. “Dad, did this to you”, Cesca’s voice was quiet and stunned. Cesca felt heartbroken, this was all because of her. “This is my entire fault”, Cescas words came out slowly. “No Cesca..... This wasn’t your fault”, “But it is, if I hadn’t have told you, this would have never happened”, “Cesca, like I said in my letter, this wasn’t the first time”, Cesca gave her mum a kiss; her mums words had relieved the guilt that Cesca had been feeling. “Cesca I love you”, she gave her mum a big hug, her sisters followed all of them gathered round their mum, one big group hug. They all needed the support of one another and this was how they were all going to give it. They all recovered out of the hug, smiling sensitively at the mum, “Don’t worry about me girls, I’m fine”, The girls backed away allowing their mum to grab her crutches’ that Anna had just passed her, “Thanks you sweetie, right you girls want to go and help Cesca unpack her stuff in her old room?”, “my room”, Cesca smiled, that room had been her haven for so long, “It is exactly how you left it”. Cesca smiled giving her mum one last kiss before heading up the stone steps that lead the way to the landing. “I’m going to finish making the lunch”, her mum called out as Cesca grabbed her bag and followed the girls up the stairs. They reached the door, which still had the sign that Cesca had been given for her birthday, her name painted in her favourite colours, aqua and pink, it still looked lovely. She opened the door, carefully, it felt like Christmas. She walked into her room, the dressing table still had her old make up bag, which contained all the secrets notes the girls had shared. Even the necklace that her mum and her sisters had given her the day she left secondary school sat there. She turned around noticing her bed had been made with her favourite blue and pink stripy quilt. The pillows dressed her bed cradling her sock monkey, berty. Which just reminded her of little Mia back home and her love for Flopsy and Tilly. She turned to wardrobe to find many of her old clothes, the clothes she wore through her teenage years; she stroked her hand through the many hangers of clothing. Before eventually settling on her bed with her three sisters. “How did I leave all of this behind me”, Cesca couldn’t white believe how much stuff was still in here, “You couldn’t keep everything, mine looks pretty similar to how it once did to”, “I bet mum did this, she did always like to make us feel at home when we visited after we had left home”, The girls all shared a big hug, all looking around at Cesca’s old room, “I remember hanging upside down off my bed, telling each other our secrets, do you remember”, Cesca said the memories all flooding back to her, “I remember”, Izzy and Eva said, Anna hadn’t been born yet, “I remember your secret being to do with you wearing mums shoes round the house”, Izzy added, Cescas face began to flush as she said, “I remember that too, that was a great secret”. “Anyway, we should probably let you unpack, see you downstairs for some lunch, mum’s making your favourite”, Izzy smiled “Mum’s making Paella”, Cesca couldn’t believe it, her mum was just to lovely, “Well I won’t be missing that, see you down in a bit”, Cesca said before unzipping her bag and hanging up her clothes next to the old ones that still hung strong. Cesca smiled as she looked at each top, dress and the pairs of shoes that lined the floor of the wardrobe. She had finally unpacked so pulled out her phone; she needed to ring Jonah she needed to hear his voice. She dialled the number, the ringing tone seemed to ring for ages until Jonah answered, “Cesca”, she could hear the smile in his voice, “Yeah, it’s me, I am at my mum’s I have just finished unpacking, I miss you”, “I miss you to, I love you so much Ces, Mia’s not being her usual cheeky self without you”, “I miss her giggle fits, but it won’t be for long, we can get through this Jonah”, “I just wish that you had let me come, this separation is killing me”, “Me too, but I need to do this on my own Jonah, let me hear Mia”, Jonah placed his end of the phone to Mia’s mouth, Mia giggled at the sound of her mummy’s voice, Cesca began to well up. Izzy was about to open the door to tell Cesca to come and grab some lunch, just as she heard Cesca speaking to Jonah, “She misses you Ces”, “I miss her too, but I will be back before you know it, I better go mum’s making paella,”, “I love you Cesca”, “I love you to”, They both hung up, both cherishing the phone in their chests. Izzy walked in, watching as Cesca sobbed, Izzy gave her a reassuring hug, “You’ll be back before you know it, they love you”, “I know”, Cesca breathed in trying to compose herself, Izzy wiped the tears away, “now let’s go grab some lunch, mum made it specially”, “mum’s paella always did put a smile on my face”. The pair walked out the room, Cesca placed her phone in her pocket, she was glad she had spoken to Jonah, but in some way it had just made her miss him more.
As they walked down the stairs Cesca was greeted with the smell of Paella, it was lovely. The aroma of the saffron began to lift Cesca spirits, “mum it looks great”, Cesca said, her mums face lit up, “Come on then sit down and get stuck in”, They all sat down, dishing out there share, Cesca loved it! She remembered doing this when she was younger, they laughed and joked. They all had a good catch up. Cesca heard more about Eva and Nathan and even got to see a better glimpse at Izzy’s ring it was gorgeous, Izzy compared it to Cesca’s. They were both gorgeous but were both in completely different leagues, Izzy’s was so quirky and Cescas was so elegant, with its tiny arrangement of diamonds. Cesca found herself rubbing the ring, made her feel that much closer to Jonah. They had all finished, her mum suggested they took a trip in to town, “Mum, it’s been a long day, I think I am going to just call it a night”, “okay darling”, Cesca headed up to get some sleep, she changed into her pyjamas and climbed into bed, It was cold and lonely without Jonah, she reached down for her jeans and grabbed her phone out of one of her back pockets, she unlocked the phone as she began to sit back into bed, staring at her phone, stroking the screen. “I love you”, she whispered before she slowly fell asleep her head elegantly resting on the pillow, her phone close to her chest. Cesca had a hard morning ahead of her and without Jonah it was going to be a mountain to climb.
She was now approaching the arrivals area, Cesca took a deep breath in before fully taking in everyone in front of her until she heard “Cesca”, it was Isabel, and she looked to see where she was as Isabel ran towards her, “how was the flight?” Isabel asked, “It was interesting, sat next to my boss the whole way”, Cesca smiled, “Your boss?”, “I’ll explain later”, Cesca walked off with her sister, telling her the long story of Karen, Bex, Jess and Harry whilst placing the trolley back and carrying her bag to Isabel’s car. Isabel couldn’t help but smile. They chucked Cesca’s bag in the back “God, Cesca. You haven’t changed a bit, you still bring your entire wardrobe for a few night stays”, Cesca smiled, it was so lovely to spend some quality time with her sister, Isabel started the ignition as Cesca began her conversation “So how is Anna and Eva?”, “Anna’s at home and Eva has a new boyfriend it’s pretty serious, he’s English, he came over on holiday a year ago and he hasn’t been back since”, “Eva always did have that affect on people, as long as she is happy”. Cesca said. The drive wasn’t very long Cesca really wanted to ask how her mum was, but she couldn’t quite muster up the words to say what she was really thinking and then Isabel stopped. “Izzy” Cesca asked just as Isabel started saying “Now mum is a state, I’ll be honest with you, it’s going to be a shock for you”, Isabel found this hard to say, the girls were all so close to their mum, Anna particularly had found it the hardest, she was the youngest but not the most naive, Cesca took that title. But she was the one who had found her she is 18 years old, she didn’t know what to do, she was entirely helpless. “Ces, it’s going to be okay”, Izzy reached out her hand, holding Cesca’s she wanted to reassure her little sister. Izzy was the eldest of the 4 sisters, she was engaged to a lovely man, Lucas and her life had been pretty much an easy road, she was living in a lovely house in the centre of Seville not too far away from her mum’s. She was happy. Anna on the other hand was at home, scared. She had experienced a lot recently, she was only 18 and this had all come as a shock, she was oblivious to the whole situation even when they visited Cesca back in England. She was a studious girl, tried hard, worked hard, had lovely friends and never had a bad word spoken of her. Eva was still at home, 26 and still with her mum. But they were all hoping that was to change, with Eva’s new boyfriend on the scene, things were getting serious, Eva had never been this close or in love with a boy before. Eva wasn’t as flirtatious as Cesca or as pretty but she still caught the boy’s attention, Eva could have had any boy she wanted, but she wasn’t stupid and believed in true love, so she was always intent on finding that special one and Nathan seemed to be that one.
The girls got out of the car, Cesca taking in the beauty of her old family home, the vines that lined the walls and the soft bronze colour of the walls and door. The house just made her smile but she knew that what she was to face would definitely change that expression. Izzy walked towards the door Cesca followed apprehensively, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Izzy knocked 3 times, soft but loud enough for the people inside to hear. The door swung back and a very eager Anna ran out the door, giving Cesca the biggest hug, Anna and Cesca had always been close, they were close in age in terms of the order they were born in and Cesca had always been there to look out for Anna, they had a very close and different bond than any of the others had. “Cesca, I’ve missed you so much”, “Well I’m here now”, Cesca kissed Anna’s head before walking forward, her arm still around Anna heading for the door. Eva was now in the door way, arms out ready to receive her hug to. Cesca loved seeing all her family, she missed them as much as they missed her if not more. Eva took her bag and they all walked in, there was a sense of strength in the room all the Montoya sisters together as one, Eva signed for Cesca to walk through to the lounge, she could see her mum was sitting on the couch, from what Cesca could see, her mum had her legs up on the sofa. Cesca instantly knew her mum was in a bad way, she wasn’t one to sit around and do nothing, she knew her mum would be frustrated and angry; she would hate to be thought of as incapable. “Cesca, is that you” her mum let out a very faint but very scared question. “Yes, mum, it’s me”, Cesca placed her hand bag down in the corner before walking over and sitting next to her mum, her sisters all stood in the door frame of the lounge. As Cesca looked up towards her mum, she could see the black eyes, the scratches, bruises and most importantly the broken leg. “Dad, did this to you”, Cesca’s voice was quiet and stunned. Cesca felt heartbroken, this was all because of her. “This is my entire fault”, Cescas words came out slowly. “No Cesca..... This wasn’t your fault”, “But it is, if I hadn’t have told you, this would have never happened”, “Cesca, like I said in my letter, this wasn’t the first time”, Cesca gave her mum a kiss; her mums words had relieved the guilt that Cesca had been feeling. “Cesca I love you”, she gave her mum a big hug, her sisters followed all of them gathered round their mum, one big group hug. They all needed the support of one another and this was how they were all going to give it. They all recovered out of the hug, smiling sensitively at the mum, “Don’t worry about me girls, I’m fine”, The girls backed away allowing their mum to grab her crutches’ that Anna had just passed her, “Thanks you sweetie, right you girls want to go and help Cesca unpack her stuff in her old room?”, “my room”, Cesca smiled, that room had been her haven for so long, “It is exactly how you left it”. Cesca smiled giving her mum one last kiss before heading up the stone steps that lead the way to the landing. “I’m going to finish making the lunch”, her mum called out as Cesca grabbed her bag and followed the girls up the stairs. They reached the door, which still had the sign that Cesca had been given for her birthday, her name painted in her favourite colours, aqua and pink, it still looked lovely. She opened the door, carefully, it felt like Christmas. She walked into her room, the dressing table still had her old make up bag, which contained all the secrets notes the girls had shared. Even the necklace that her mum and her sisters had given her the day she left secondary school sat there. She turned around noticing her bed had been made with her favourite blue and pink stripy quilt. The pillows dressed her bed cradling her sock monkey, berty. Which just reminded her of little Mia back home and her love for Flopsy and Tilly. She turned to wardrobe to find many of her old clothes, the clothes she wore through her teenage years; she stroked her hand through the many hangers of clothing. Before eventually settling on her bed with her three sisters. “How did I leave all of this behind me”, Cesca couldn’t white believe how much stuff was still in here, “You couldn’t keep everything, mine looks pretty similar to how it once did to”, “I bet mum did this, she did always like to make us feel at home when we visited after we had left home”, The girls all shared a big hug, all looking around at Cesca’s old room, “I remember hanging upside down off my bed, telling each other our secrets, do you remember”, Cesca said the memories all flooding back to her, “I remember”, Izzy and Eva said, Anna hadn’t been born yet, “I remember your secret being to do with you wearing mums shoes round the house”, Izzy added, Cescas face began to flush as she said, “I remember that too, that was a great secret”. “Anyway, we should probably let you unpack, see you downstairs for some lunch, mum’s making your favourite”, Izzy smiled “Mum’s making Paella”, Cesca couldn’t believe it, her mum was just to lovely, “Well I won’t be missing that, see you down in a bit”, Cesca said before unzipping her bag and hanging up her clothes next to the old ones that still hung strong. Cesca smiled as she looked at each top, dress and the pairs of shoes that lined the floor of the wardrobe. She had finally unpacked so pulled out her phone; she needed to ring Jonah she needed to hear his voice. She dialled the number, the ringing tone seemed to ring for ages until Jonah answered, “Cesca”, she could hear the smile in his voice, “Yeah, it’s me, I am at my mum’s I have just finished unpacking, I miss you”, “I miss you to, I love you so much Ces, Mia’s not being her usual cheeky self without you”, “I miss her giggle fits, but it won’t be for long, we can get through this Jonah”, “I just wish that you had let me come, this separation is killing me”, “Me too, but I need to do this on my own Jonah, let me hear Mia”, Jonah placed his end of the phone to Mia’s mouth, Mia giggled at the sound of her mummy’s voice, Cesca began to well up. Izzy was about to open the door to tell Cesca to come and grab some lunch, just as she heard Cesca speaking to Jonah, “She misses you Ces”, “I miss her too, but I will be back before you know it, I better go mum’s making paella,”, “I love you Cesca”, “I love you to”, They both hung up, both cherishing the phone in their chests. Izzy walked in, watching as Cesca sobbed, Izzy gave her a reassuring hug, “You’ll be back before you know it, they love you”, “I know”, Cesca breathed in trying to compose herself, Izzy wiped the tears away, “now let’s go grab some lunch, mum made it specially”, “mum’s paella always did put a smile on my face”. The pair walked out the room, Cesca placed her phone in her pocket, she was glad she had spoken to Jonah, but in some way it had just made her miss him more.
As they walked down the stairs Cesca was greeted with the smell of Paella, it was lovely. The aroma of the saffron began to lift Cesca spirits, “mum it looks great”, Cesca said, her mums face lit up, “Come on then sit down and get stuck in”, They all sat down, dishing out there share, Cesca loved it! She remembered doing this when she was younger, they laughed and joked. They all had a good catch up. Cesca heard more about Eva and Nathan and even got to see a better glimpse at Izzy’s ring it was gorgeous, Izzy compared it to Cesca’s. They were both gorgeous but were both in completely different leagues, Izzy’s was so quirky and Cescas was so elegant, with its tiny arrangement of diamonds. Cesca found herself rubbing the ring, made her feel that much closer to Jonah. They had all finished, her mum suggested they took a trip in to town, “Mum, it’s been a long day, I think I am going to just call it a night”, “okay darling”, Cesca headed up to get some sleep, she changed into her pyjamas and climbed into bed, It was cold and lonely without Jonah, she reached down for her jeans and grabbed her phone out of one of her back pockets, she unlocked the phone as she began to sit back into bed, staring at her phone, stroking the screen. “I love you”, she whispered before she slowly fell asleep her head elegantly resting on the pillow, her phone close to her chest. Cesca had a hard morning ahead of her and without Jonah it was going to be a mountain to climb.
