Chapter 34 - Broken hearts and torn memories
Cesca spent the rest of the day drying off in the sun, catching the rays and watching her beautiful daughter and handsome man have fun in the sun. Nothing could be better, the weather was great everyone was happy; it was the break they all needed, a chance to de-stress and open up to each other. Mia had never been happier, there were less tears and no tantrums, from Cesca and Jonah’s point of view that on its own was bliss. Jonah sat on the sun bed next to Cesca, still with his beady eye on Mia. “Hello gorgeous, you’re looking lovely”, “You're so cheesy sometimes”, She said, “So I’m not allowed to compliment my wife now”, he said in an extra cheesy voice, “Mia be careful by the steps popit”, Cesca called out, she began to put her linen dress on over the top of her bikini, still watching Mia which was the least that could have been said for Jonah who was now completely captivated by Cesca, as per usual. “I can’t help it if I think your beautiful”, Cesca was looking at Jonah but wasn’t taking in what he was saying, she didn’t want to appear rude to Jonah but she didn’t feel that Mia was safe. “Your stunning Ces, I have never felt the way I do about you for anyone before”, his words were cut short, “Mia!!” Cesca called out, running over to a screaming Mia who had just fallen down the steps. “Shh, it’s alright, mummy’s here”, Cesca picked up Mia whose arms were out stretched now that Cesca had helped her to get up. Cesca rocked forwards and backwards, Mia’s eyes swollen as they cried rivers of tears down her gorgeous face. Cesca took a look at Mia, she had hit her head, and it was bleeding quite badly. Cesca rushed Mia in Jonah calling out behind her, “Cesca, Cesca”, “Save it Jonah you were supposed to be watching her!” Cesca was angry, angry with Jonah, how could he have let this happen, she had told her not to play by the steps, hoping that Jonah might catch on and head over to stop her but no, now it was too late, now her little baby was hurt, her head was beginning to gush. Blood trickled down the side of her face. Cesca sat Mia down on a chair whilst she went to go and grab something to wipe her head, “This might sting”, Cesca was panicking, there was lots of blood and it was coming from her little girl, her pride and joy. Cesca wiped the blood that was trickling and began to cover it up with some tissue that she stuck down with some surgical tape that she had found in a first aid box under the sink. “Mia”, Cesca said through the tears that were rolling down her face, “You... you’re going to have to be a big brave girl”. Cesca scurried round the house looking for her shoes, chucked them on, picked up Mia and grabbed the car keys. “Ces wait”, “Jonah, I’m taking her to the hospital”, “let me come with you, I want to be there for you both”, “think you have caused enough trouble, don’t you”. It was amazing how quickly the unbreakable bond of love that was shared between Cesca and Jonah had dropped and turned to sadness and betrayal. The door slammed, Jonah slumped down into the tiny sofa, his head in his hands. He could just about catch the tiny puddle of blood that covered the steps in the corner of his eye, he couldn’t forgive himself for hurting his little girl, and he never meant it to happen. Mia meant the world to Jonah, why hadn’t he paid more attention. He hated himself for everything that had happened, for hurting Cesca just as much as Mia. The two most important people in his life, the two that he would do anything for, he had just completely and utterly hurt them, this bought a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, it crept up over him to the point he needed to make a trip to the toilet. The chain flushed as Jonah walked out his face now as sodden as little Mia’s was only 20 minutes ago, he caught sight of one of her shoes. Instinctively he picked it up, treasuring it by his heart; he hoped that his little baby was going to be alright, he couldn’t bear to lose everything that truly meant anything to him.
Meanwhile Cesca was sat next to a hospital bed holding her daughters hand similarly to how she had done so on the plane the day before, but this time it was so much deeper. Cesca couldn’t help but feel awful she was sitting in a Spanish hospital, with her 3 year old daughter watching her have her head stitched together, it was really that bad! Mia was being a lot stronger than Cesca, which gave Cesca a little bit of strength the strength to be there for her little girl. “All done” a lovely doctor said, “you were very brave”, he said to Mia. “Thank you so much”, Cesca said, she was so grateful. Cesca smiled through her pain, which had been softened by the fact that Mia had been sorted, the stitches weren’t very noticeable but the giant bruise was, Cesca couldn’t help but worry about what everyone must have been thinking, did she look like a bad mother? “Come on you, you were my big brave girl”, “I had to be for you mummy”, Was Mia’s reply, Cesca laughed through her sadness and kissed Mia, giving her a big hug before picking her up and carrying her out to the car. Cesca was now full of dread; she now had to face Jonah. Back at the villa Jonah hadn’t moved, he was still sat holding Mia’s shoe staring into space. He was replaying every moment, every action, and every scream over and over in his head, to the point he could play it back word for word. Cesca had buckled Mia into the car and was now sat in the driver’s seat, reflecting on the way she had acted, she was beginning to feel bad, of course it wasn’t Jonah’s fault he was just as far away as she was. Cesca knew she had some making up to do and a much needed apology to get to the man she loved pretty fast, so with that she headed off back to the villa, Mia was holding Flopsy, quietly content despite being the one who smashed her head open, she was the calmest of all three of them. Cesca pulled up, un-doing her seatbelt as she took a deep breath before deciding she could go in. Jonah could see them through the window, he put down Mia’s shoe and headed tentatively to the door, he wasn’t sure whether Cesca would want to see him and neither was she for that matter. Cesca’s key was heard in the lock as she opened to door. Cesca sighed before walking past Jonah, who seemed to get the wrong idea, she took Mia to her room, so she could have a bit of a nap before they went to grab something to eat. Cesca gave her a kiss before leaving Mia with the words “you’re my brave little soldier, don’t you ever forget that”, Cesca blew her a kiss before shutting the door quietly. She turned around, knowing she needed to speak to Jonah; he wasn’t there so she headed outside where he was leant against the wall looking out at the pool, trying to avoid the steps. Cesca could see in his eyes that the reminder of the day’s events wasn’t helping things so washed it away with a glass of water before placing the glass down on the table and talking to Jonah. She leant against the wall too, “Jonah”, “You don’t have to say anything”, he replied, “Please just let me finish, I panicked, I looked for someone to blame. It was as much my fault as yours, I was just as far away just as aware if not more aware of Mia and I still did nothing... I don’t hate you Jonah. Yes I was mad with you at the time, she’s our little girl, and I couldn’t bear to see her hurt in the state she was in”. Jonah turned to look at her, his eyes welling up with tears, Cesca wiped them away as she snuggled into his arms, he held her tightly “Ces, I messed up, I’m meant to protect you both. I failed and for that I will never forgive myself”, Cesca looked up towards Jonah, “J listen to me. Things like this happen, accidents happen Jonah, no one was to blame”, “Ces, I’m to blame”, Cesca cut him short, “If your to blame than I’m to blame to, were a team and were in this together”. Cesca had hit the nail on the head, Jonah held her face as he gave her a kiss he had longed for, a kiss full of forgiveness and love! “Fancy getting a bite to eat?” Cesca asked, “We could go to my favourite?” Jonah smiled, wiping his face “Yeah, sounds lovely Ces”. “I’m going to go get ready, you might want to see Mia, it’s not as bad as the step made it look, they patched her up nicely”, Cesca said with reassurance before kissing him on the cheek and squeezing his hand. Cesca headed for the shower, this was their first big row, but they had got through it, they would always get through it!
Jonah headed for Mia’s room, waking his sleepy head, by moving her hair out of her eyes, she sat up and gave her daddy the biggest hug, whispering in his ear “Daddy, I’ll always be yours and mummy’s brave little soldier”, she kissed him on the cheek before they shared another long hug. “Mia, you will always mean the world to us” “I love you daddy”, “I love you Mia”. “Right were going out for dinner, do you want me to help you choose what to wear?”, “No, I’m a big girl, I can choose”, “course you are sweetie, I’ll leave you to it, I will always love you Mia”. With that he left the room, feeling much better, especially seeing Mia more like herself, not in fights of tears and screams. Cesca had gotten out of the shower and had chosen that she was going to wear a strapless frilled floral dress; she looked gorgeous and was just finishing the touches to her hair. Jonah’s eyes were popping out of his head; he didn’t understand how his beautiful wife could get even more beautiful every time he saw her. He just stood in the doorway, he felt that his affection shown towards Cesca had caused enough trouble for one day and had decided to lie off a little. Cesca noticed he was there out of the corner of her eye, “Jonah, you don’t have to be a stranger, you can kiss me”, He smiled, not his usual smile, but it was a smile all the same. He locked lips with Cesca’s, this moment should have made him happy but he just felt so guilty still, Mia’s injury was just completely eating him up inside. Jonah had gotten out the shower, Cesca had finished getting Mia ready, despite how grown up she was. She looked gorgeous to; her bruise had already started to go down, she was her normal bubbly self, completely unaware of Jonah’s sadness and so was Cesca for that matter. They headed off arm in arm, Mia walking along side them because she was such a big girl now, wasn’t long ago that they would have bunged her in a buggy, no Mia was big enough to enjoy it all properly now. It was a fairly short walk to reach the restaurant. They ordered the food, it was a lovely setting, Mia was being particularly good, the bang she had taken to her head, seemed to have knocked some sense into her. They were all happily eating away when an old family friend of Cesca’s bumped into them, “Lucas, this is a nice surprise”, “Cesca, thought you went to England”, “I did, come back for a holiday, this is my husband Jonah and this little one is “, “Mia”, Lucas said, “guess you have been talking to my mum then”, “Yep, you know me like to keep up with everybody”. Lucas and Jonah seemed to hit it off, they were chatting and bringing in the rounds, Jonah was beginning to relax, until a tall blonde lady walked into the restaurant, she seemed to be flirting with Jonah, Cesca hadn’t noticed which was a good thing to, the last thing they needed was more rowing. “Right, I am going to take Mia home, she’s getting tierd”,”Wait, I’ll come with you”, “don’t be silly, your having too much fun”, She kissed Jonah goodbye, he kissed her back, blowing Mia a kiss and a wink. “I’ll see you when you get home, don’t get back too late, I mean it this time Jonah”, “Sure I will be back by 11”. Cesca and Mia left the restaurant just as the tall blonde lady approached Jonah.
She was attractive to say the least, she had defiantly caught Jonah’s eye, but she was nothing in comparison to Cesca, Cesca was beautiful where as this lady was stunning. Jonah found himself getting to know her, they talked and drank and talked some more until, Jonah found himself leaning in for a full on kiss, tongues and all. Jonah pulled away, what had he done, “You okay?” she asked, “this shouldn’t of happened, I love my wife, I love Cesca”, Jonah left in a hurry, just as Lucas appeared back from the toilets, he called after Jonah but he didn’t respond. This day had been anything but lucky for Jonah, he couldn’t keep this a secret he knew he had to tell Cesca, tell him what he had done, she just didn’t know how she would take it, but he was pretty sure, like his father had always told him, honesty is the best policy. Jonah had reached the house, his keys jingled around as he struggled to fit the key in the lock, Cesca heard so presumed he’d had a lot to drink, so was surprised to see him sober when she opened the door, “You alright?”, Jonah tried to avoid eye contact with Cesca, he felt awful, he had hurt her once today and now he had betrayed her, broken the promise to love and to hold her forever. Jonah was jittery, speechless to say the least, there was no way that Cesca was going to take this lightly, she had put so much into their relationship, she had risked everything, she was serious about them, this was going to completely ruin her. But he had to tell her. “Jonah, your scaring me, what’s the matter?”, Cesca’s delicate face was filled with nothing but worry, what was eating him up inside, what was hurting him so much he wouldn’t even look at her. “JONAH!” Jonah breathed in before deciding that he needed to tell her, it was obvious that something was on his mind, he couldn’t bottle it up and hide it from her, besides she had a right to know. “Ces...” Jonah struggled to get the words out, she laid a reassuring hand on his arm, he nudged it off, Cesca was really worried now, firstly he wouldn’t look at her and now he wouldn’t even touch her. “Ces, how can you be so lovely”, “I don’t understand”, “Cesca, I have hurt you, hurt you to point that I feel sick to the pit of my stomach”, “Jonah we talked about this, it wasn’t your fault that Mia fell”, Jonah paced back and forth, “Cesca, I’m not talking about that... After you left, when you went back with Mia”, Cesca wasn’t quite sure what to expect. “I sat and had a drink... with this girl, we got talking”, He coughed, tried to fill the awkwardness, his eyes were welling up, he tried to disguise it by flinching but it was too late, “Ces, I never meant to hurt you, I love you, always will”, He completely broke down. “Jonah, what did you do... what did you do with her Jonah”. Cesca was angry; she fiddled with her hands as she felt her throat run dry. “Cesca I kissed her... with tongues. I pulled away, but after a long time”, the words Jonah spoke hit every nerve in his body. Cesca sat down, stunned. Her face completely shell shocked until the tears fell and with it came the anger, “I thought you loved me Jonah, I guess I had to learn the hard way. This was never going to be more than a fling to you”, “Ces, you’ve got it wrong. I’m serious about you, I LOVE YOU!” “ Love me so much, that you thought it wouldn’t matter if you shoved your tongue down some slogs throat!”, Jonah made his way over to Cesca, knelt down at her feet, holding her hand pleading with her. “I should have known better, we can’t do this”, “Please Cesca, don’t”, “Jonah, I deserve better, Mia deserves better”, she wiped her tears from her eyes, despite the fact they kept on falling, “Francesca, I love you so much, words couldn’t describe how I feel for you”. “Then how come you have ripped my heart out”, Cesca got up, letting her fingers run through Jonah’s hand as she headed to her bedroom packing up her clothes before heading to Mia’s room and doing the same. “I’m taking Mia and I’m going to my mum’s”. Jonah pleaded with her but it was no use. Cesca woke Mia up, not saying a word to her, simply picked her up and headed for the door, “I love you Jonah” tears streamed down her face as she closed the door leaving Jonah alone and scared.
Meanwhile Cesca was sat next to a hospital bed holding her daughters hand similarly to how she had done so on the plane the day before, but this time it was so much deeper. Cesca couldn’t help but feel awful she was sitting in a Spanish hospital, with her 3 year old daughter watching her have her head stitched together, it was really that bad! Mia was being a lot stronger than Cesca, which gave Cesca a little bit of strength the strength to be there for her little girl. “All done” a lovely doctor said, “you were very brave”, he said to Mia. “Thank you so much”, Cesca said, she was so grateful. Cesca smiled through her pain, which had been softened by the fact that Mia had been sorted, the stitches weren’t very noticeable but the giant bruise was, Cesca couldn’t help but worry about what everyone must have been thinking, did she look like a bad mother? “Come on you, you were my big brave girl”, “I had to be for you mummy”, Was Mia’s reply, Cesca laughed through her sadness and kissed Mia, giving her a big hug before picking her up and carrying her out to the car. Cesca was now full of dread; she now had to face Jonah. Back at the villa Jonah hadn’t moved, he was still sat holding Mia’s shoe staring into space. He was replaying every moment, every action, and every scream over and over in his head, to the point he could play it back word for word. Cesca had buckled Mia into the car and was now sat in the driver’s seat, reflecting on the way she had acted, she was beginning to feel bad, of course it wasn’t Jonah’s fault he was just as far away as she was. Cesca knew she had some making up to do and a much needed apology to get to the man she loved pretty fast, so with that she headed off back to the villa, Mia was holding Flopsy, quietly content despite being the one who smashed her head open, she was the calmest of all three of them. Cesca pulled up, un-doing her seatbelt as she took a deep breath before deciding she could go in. Jonah could see them through the window, he put down Mia’s shoe and headed tentatively to the door, he wasn’t sure whether Cesca would want to see him and neither was she for that matter. Cesca’s key was heard in the lock as she opened to door. Cesca sighed before walking past Jonah, who seemed to get the wrong idea, she took Mia to her room, so she could have a bit of a nap before they went to grab something to eat. Cesca gave her a kiss before leaving Mia with the words “you’re my brave little soldier, don’t you ever forget that”, Cesca blew her a kiss before shutting the door quietly. She turned around, knowing she needed to speak to Jonah; he wasn’t there so she headed outside where he was leant against the wall looking out at the pool, trying to avoid the steps. Cesca could see in his eyes that the reminder of the day’s events wasn’t helping things so washed it away with a glass of water before placing the glass down on the table and talking to Jonah. She leant against the wall too, “Jonah”, “You don’t have to say anything”, he replied, “Please just let me finish, I panicked, I looked for someone to blame. It was as much my fault as yours, I was just as far away just as aware if not more aware of Mia and I still did nothing... I don’t hate you Jonah. Yes I was mad with you at the time, she’s our little girl, and I couldn’t bear to see her hurt in the state she was in”. Jonah turned to look at her, his eyes welling up with tears, Cesca wiped them away as she snuggled into his arms, he held her tightly “Ces, I messed up, I’m meant to protect you both. I failed and for that I will never forgive myself”, Cesca looked up towards Jonah, “J listen to me. Things like this happen, accidents happen Jonah, no one was to blame”, “Ces, I’m to blame”, Cesca cut him short, “If your to blame than I’m to blame to, were a team and were in this together”. Cesca had hit the nail on the head, Jonah held her face as he gave her a kiss he had longed for, a kiss full of forgiveness and love! “Fancy getting a bite to eat?” Cesca asked, “We could go to my favourite?” Jonah smiled, wiping his face “Yeah, sounds lovely Ces”. “I’m going to go get ready, you might want to see Mia, it’s not as bad as the step made it look, they patched her up nicely”, Cesca said with reassurance before kissing him on the cheek and squeezing his hand. Cesca headed for the shower, this was their first big row, but they had got through it, they would always get through it!
Jonah headed for Mia’s room, waking his sleepy head, by moving her hair out of her eyes, she sat up and gave her daddy the biggest hug, whispering in his ear “Daddy, I’ll always be yours and mummy’s brave little soldier”, she kissed him on the cheek before they shared another long hug. “Mia, you will always mean the world to us” “I love you daddy”, “I love you Mia”. “Right were going out for dinner, do you want me to help you choose what to wear?”, “No, I’m a big girl, I can choose”, “course you are sweetie, I’ll leave you to it, I will always love you Mia”. With that he left the room, feeling much better, especially seeing Mia more like herself, not in fights of tears and screams. Cesca had gotten out of the shower and had chosen that she was going to wear a strapless frilled floral dress; she looked gorgeous and was just finishing the touches to her hair. Jonah’s eyes were popping out of his head; he didn’t understand how his beautiful wife could get even more beautiful every time he saw her. He just stood in the doorway, he felt that his affection shown towards Cesca had caused enough trouble for one day and had decided to lie off a little. Cesca noticed he was there out of the corner of her eye, “Jonah, you don’t have to be a stranger, you can kiss me”, He smiled, not his usual smile, but it was a smile all the same. He locked lips with Cesca’s, this moment should have made him happy but he just felt so guilty still, Mia’s injury was just completely eating him up inside. Jonah had gotten out the shower, Cesca had finished getting Mia ready, despite how grown up she was. She looked gorgeous to; her bruise had already started to go down, she was her normal bubbly self, completely unaware of Jonah’s sadness and so was Cesca for that matter. They headed off arm in arm, Mia walking along side them because she was such a big girl now, wasn’t long ago that they would have bunged her in a buggy, no Mia was big enough to enjoy it all properly now. It was a fairly short walk to reach the restaurant. They ordered the food, it was a lovely setting, Mia was being particularly good, the bang she had taken to her head, seemed to have knocked some sense into her. They were all happily eating away when an old family friend of Cesca’s bumped into them, “Lucas, this is a nice surprise”, “Cesca, thought you went to England”, “I did, come back for a holiday, this is my husband Jonah and this little one is “, “Mia”, Lucas said, “guess you have been talking to my mum then”, “Yep, you know me like to keep up with everybody”. Lucas and Jonah seemed to hit it off, they were chatting and bringing in the rounds, Jonah was beginning to relax, until a tall blonde lady walked into the restaurant, she seemed to be flirting with Jonah, Cesca hadn’t noticed which was a good thing to, the last thing they needed was more rowing. “Right, I am going to take Mia home, she’s getting tierd”,”Wait, I’ll come with you”, “don’t be silly, your having too much fun”, She kissed Jonah goodbye, he kissed her back, blowing Mia a kiss and a wink. “I’ll see you when you get home, don’t get back too late, I mean it this time Jonah”, “Sure I will be back by 11”. Cesca and Mia left the restaurant just as the tall blonde lady approached Jonah.
She was attractive to say the least, she had defiantly caught Jonah’s eye, but she was nothing in comparison to Cesca, Cesca was beautiful where as this lady was stunning. Jonah found himself getting to know her, they talked and drank and talked some more until, Jonah found himself leaning in for a full on kiss, tongues and all. Jonah pulled away, what had he done, “You okay?” she asked, “this shouldn’t of happened, I love my wife, I love Cesca”, Jonah left in a hurry, just as Lucas appeared back from the toilets, he called after Jonah but he didn’t respond. This day had been anything but lucky for Jonah, he couldn’t keep this a secret he knew he had to tell Cesca, tell him what he had done, she just didn’t know how she would take it, but he was pretty sure, like his father had always told him, honesty is the best policy. Jonah had reached the house, his keys jingled around as he struggled to fit the key in the lock, Cesca heard so presumed he’d had a lot to drink, so was surprised to see him sober when she opened the door, “You alright?”, Jonah tried to avoid eye contact with Cesca, he felt awful, he had hurt her once today and now he had betrayed her, broken the promise to love and to hold her forever. Jonah was jittery, speechless to say the least, there was no way that Cesca was going to take this lightly, she had put so much into their relationship, she had risked everything, she was serious about them, this was going to completely ruin her. But he had to tell her. “Jonah, your scaring me, what’s the matter?”, Cesca’s delicate face was filled with nothing but worry, what was eating him up inside, what was hurting him so much he wouldn’t even look at her. “JONAH!” Jonah breathed in before deciding that he needed to tell her, it was obvious that something was on his mind, he couldn’t bottle it up and hide it from her, besides she had a right to know. “Ces...” Jonah struggled to get the words out, she laid a reassuring hand on his arm, he nudged it off, Cesca was really worried now, firstly he wouldn’t look at her and now he wouldn’t even touch her. “Ces, how can you be so lovely”, “I don’t understand”, “Cesca, I have hurt you, hurt you to point that I feel sick to the pit of my stomach”, “Jonah we talked about this, it wasn’t your fault that Mia fell”, Jonah paced back and forth, “Cesca, I’m not talking about that... After you left, when you went back with Mia”, Cesca wasn’t quite sure what to expect. “I sat and had a drink... with this girl, we got talking”, He coughed, tried to fill the awkwardness, his eyes were welling up, he tried to disguise it by flinching but it was too late, “Ces, I never meant to hurt you, I love you, always will”, He completely broke down. “Jonah, what did you do... what did you do with her Jonah”. Cesca was angry; she fiddled with her hands as she felt her throat run dry. “Cesca I kissed her... with tongues. I pulled away, but after a long time”, the words Jonah spoke hit every nerve in his body. Cesca sat down, stunned. Her face completely shell shocked until the tears fell and with it came the anger, “I thought you loved me Jonah, I guess I had to learn the hard way. This was never going to be more than a fling to you”, “Ces, you’ve got it wrong. I’m serious about you, I LOVE YOU!” “ Love me so much, that you thought it wouldn’t matter if you shoved your tongue down some slogs throat!”, Jonah made his way over to Cesca, knelt down at her feet, holding her hand pleading with her. “I should have known better, we can’t do this”, “Please Cesca, don’t”, “Jonah, I deserve better, Mia deserves better”, she wiped her tears from her eyes, despite the fact they kept on falling, “Francesca, I love you so much, words couldn’t describe how I feel for you”. “Then how come you have ripped my heart out”, Cesca got up, letting her fingers run through Jonah’s hand as she headed to her bedroom packing up her clothes before heading to Mia’s room and doing the same. “I’m taking Mia and I’m going to my mum’s”. Jonah pleaded with her but it was no use. Cesca woke Mia up, not saying a word to her, simply picked her up and headed for the door, “I love you Jonah” tears streamed down her face as she closed the door leaving Jonah alone and scared.
