Chapter 149

After the award ceremony, Cristiano was surrounded by more people, and Ramos and Buffon, who were sitting closest, were squeezed out by the crowd.

But soon, Cristiano was very good at extricating himself from the crowd. He socialized and hugged everyone who congratulated him with a smile, but he also extricated himself efficiently.

"In a hurry?" Ramos noticed Cristiano walking quickly towards the backstage and called out to him.

Cristiano turned his head and nodded without refutation, but also without further explanation: "Yes, goodbye Sergio, I wish you all the best in the next game."

"Oh, thank you. You too..." Ramos responded subconsciously, but before he finished speaking, he saw the European golden boy tonight smiled at him, and then walked away quickly as if there was a monster chasing him from behind.

Ramos scratched his head, turned around and looked behind him, and saw some reporters, media and photographers rushing towards them, bringing a noisy and buzzing sound, which looked like a group of stinging bees.

Ramos: “…”

No wonder Cristiano wanted to escape.

Buffon walked up to Ramos and smiled: "Cristiano is always popular with reporters and the media."

"He is the golden boy of Europe," Ramos said. Cristiano was the brightest spotlight tonight. This was his moment. He said, "If it were me, I would enjoy it."

Buffon tilted his head and glanced at the young Real Madrid defender. He curled his lips and said, "But Cristiano is not you."

Ramos looked at him.

Buffon said: "I think he is tired of it. He seems to prefer to enjoy the glory quietly with his friends and family rather than in the spotlight."

Ramos thought to himself, this is impossible, only old people have such thoughts, Cristiano and Sese are of the same age, and Buffon? Don't speculate on these young people based on the thoughts of athletes in their late twenties.

Buffon and Ramos looked at each other and smiled fakely, then turned and left.

Cristiano returned to the backstage, where Mendes and the staff had already prepared streamers and small fireworks. Someone was also pushing a beautiful three-layer cake with a huge CR7 logo printed on it. When Cristiano came in, everyone cheered: "Ronaldo!"

Cristiano was startled, then he couldn't help grinning. He scanned the crowd, looking for Kaka and Luka, while hugging Mendes: "Thank you!"

Mendes patted the boy on the back of his head, smiled and said in a deep voice: "You deserve this, Cristiano, enjoy it."

Cristiano smiled, shook hands and hugged the team members one by one, and walked towards Kaka step by step and naturally.

He stopped in front of Kaka, looked at his lover with joy and excitement, and then hugged her tightly.

"Kaka! I'm so happy!" He said excitedly in a low voice, half of his face buried in his lover's broad shoulders. He took a deep breath with satisfaction, then raised his head and looked at little Luca who was sandwiched between him and Kaka.

He bent down and kissed the little guy's cool and soft cheek. He was very happy that Kaka was by his side at this time. He could share his joy and excitement with his lover anytime and anywhere.

Luca was sandwiched between two young papas, and there was a trophy that was huge for him as a baby, right next to him. He couldn't help but stare at it and thought to himself, my God, in the eyes of a baby, the world is like the world of a giant.

Seeing Luca staring at his trophy, Cristiano handed the trophy to little Luca.

Seeing this, Mendes quickly took it and looked at Cristiano helplessly: "He is too young to hold such a heavy thing. If it falls to the ground and breaks, it will be a unique thing."

Cristiano said with a smile: "I just let him play with it. I will hold it. It would be terrible if he crushed my little Luca."

As for the trophy? It's still a trophy even if it's broken or deflated. Ramos once dropped their King's Cup off the float and it was crushed and its neck was crooked. Wasn't it then still displayed under a glass cover in the showroom? His Junior always uses his golden ball as a goal post when playing goal-scoring games.

——Five golden balls were chosen by Junior as goalposts in turn, without any favoritism.

"Give me back your little Luca. Have you asked Kaka for consent?" Mendes laughed at Cristiano, calling him so intimately, as if he were his own child.

Cristiano raised his eyebrows: "Do you even need to ask this?"

He tilted his head and looked at Kaka.

"Luca should call Cristiano papa." Kaka said gently and calmly, but it had the effect of a thunderclap.

Mendes looked at Kaka, then at Cristiano, and immediately realized: "Chris is Luca's godfather? Yes, this little guy is so lucky to have two excellent papas."

Cristiano grinned, neither confirming nor refuting Mendes' speculation.

He looked at Kaka with a smile, and Kaka also had a smile on his face. The two looked at each other tacitly, and no one said anything.

Cristiano also received a congratulatory call from Ferdinand. The other end of the line was noisy and bustling with voices. It took Cristiano a long time to realize that it was a big party.

"We watched your award ceremony with Junior, congratulations Ronnie, we are so happy for you!" Ferdinand exclaimed.

Cristiano was a little surprised, but then he immediately became happier: "Junior saw it too? That's great! Thank you, Leo!"

Ferdinand wanted to say something, but Neville came over and shouted into the microphone: "Congratulations, Ronnie! You didn't cry at the awards ceremony, which is a huge improvement!"

Cristiano laughed and cursed "Fuck you".

Neville then went on to tease: "But Ronnie, you've been in England for so long, how come you still can't tell the difference between singular and plural? 'They'? The children? Oh my God, when you return to Manchester, I'll have to brush up on your grammar."

Cristiano was stunned when he heard this. He didn't even realize that he had let the cat out of the bag during his award speech.

He gave a wry laugh and brushed it off.

Neville was quickly squeezed away by other teammates. Alan pushed the man away and glanced at him: "I thought you didn't make international calls for this nonsense."

Neville: ?

After Alan finished speaking, he took the phone and said to Cristiano on the other end of the phone: "Congratulations, I saw you win the award on TV, you said it very well, don't listen to Gary."

Cristiano curled his eyes and said, "Thank you, Alan."

Keane and Giggs also joined in the rush for the phone call. The atmosphere was so intense that if they didn't get the phone call to congratulate in person, it would be like they had come in vain.

Theresa slapped each of the people who tried to grab the phone, and then the phone was handed to the lady: "Ronnie, I'm Theresa, congratulations on your award. Junior is also very happy. He waved his arms happily when he saw you."

Teresa talked to Cristiano for a while about Junior's reaction, and then carefully told Cristiano about Junior's daily life in the past two days.

Even though she wasn't with the child, Keane would always come back to tell her how Junior was doing at Carrington today, but none of these careless men remembered to tell Cristiano.

It can be seen from the details of Cristiano's reactions when taking care of Junior that although this new father is still too young, he is already far better than ordinary fathers. Teresa knows that Cristiano really cares about and loves this child, so she is always extra soft-hearted and willing to help the boy more.

Cristiano thanked Teresa gratefully: "That's great, Teresa, thank you for telling me this, I really miss Junior, can you please tell Junior that I miss him too?"

——Junior fell asleep before the award ceremony ended. Babies always sleep for a long time, and even Junior can't resist his biological clock, so Cristiano couldn't talk to the little guy in person on the phone.

Theresa agreed immediately with a squint. Soon, the boy on the other end of the phone became busy again and they hung up.

Keane and Giggs blinked, and the iron-blooded captain only dared to mutter in front of his wife: "I haven't spoken to Ronnie yet..."

Theresa paused. She was so excited about the conversation that she forgot about her husband and Giggs. She coughed lightly and said, "Ronnie knows what you are going to say."

…

Cristiano had originally planned to return to Manchester overnight if the trip ended early, but there were few flights to Turin and the nearest flight was not until the early morning of the next day, so he had to stay in the hotel that Mendes had booked for him.

"Let's go. I'll take you there." Mendes said to Cristiano while holding the car keys.

Cristiano blinked and his gaze shifted to Kaka. They already lived in Turin and Kaka was also here, so why was he taking Mendes' car?

"It's so late now, Kaka can't drive Luca back to Milan overnight, right? It's too dangerous, why not stay in a hotel?" he said.

Mendes nodded and said to Kaka, "Chris is right. You can stay here too. Next time you come, tell me so I can arrange a hotel for you in advance."

Kaka came to the award ceremony this time without informing Mendes in advance. When Mendes brought his staff to the backstage lounge to prepare a celebration surprise for Cristiano, he was surprised to see Kaka and Luca there.

"I came when I had time." Kaka touched the tip of his nose, looked away guiltily, and coughed lightly, "Next time I'll tell you in advance."

Cristiano smiled and interrupted Mendes's phone call: "No need to book a hotel room. Isn't my room a suite? It's big enough for two more people."

Mendes said with a smile: "Your agent is not so stingy that he would not be willing to book a suite for another person."

Cristiano: “…”

Is this a question of whether you are willing to give up or not?

Cristiano thought unhappily in his heart that he was reluctant to give up this hard-earned time together. Normally, even if they could meet through the system, they would always talk about the changes and recent situation of their two children, but he couldn't see Luca. This was the first time he saw Luca in such a long time.

"It's okay. It's convenient to live together. We haven't seen each other for a long time. We can have more time to chat at night. There's nothing wrong with that, Jorge." Kaka said. The more frank and obvious his words were, the more normal it seemed, and people would not speculate that they were a young couple.

Since both parties didn't mind, Mendes nodded in agreement.

"You go first, I'll drive the car." Kaka said to Mendes.

Cristiano nodded and was almost impatient to see his agent off.

"Okay then, be careful on the road and stay safe. Also, go straight back to the hotel and don't wander around." Mendes said, especially the second half of the sentence, he stared into Cristiano's eyes and gave him a special warning.

Cristiano almost rolled his eyes. How could he have ever wandered around? Clearly, he went to the 24-hour supermarket next door in the middle of the night to buy diapers for Junior, but he was photographed by British paparazzi, who made up stories that he was hanging around a nightclub.

He explained it all to Mendes, but apparently his Portuguese fellow countrymen didn't think so either - would a young boy in his early twenties who had just become a father go out in the middle of the night to buy diapers for a baby? Maybe a young father would do that, but how could Cristiano, with his pretty, playful face, do that?

However, Mendes completely turned a blind eye to the Portuguese superstar's occasional "nightclub" indulgence. After all, young people need to relieve themselves.

Cristiano didn't know what Mendes was thinking. He was just too lazy to pay attention to these guys who judged people by their appearance.

As soon as they left the auditorium, reporters who had been waiting at the bottom of the stairs swarmed up.

Cristiano was not surprised at all, so he asked Kaka and Luca to go out through the side door first. He didn't want these inconsiderate media to scare the children.

"Cristiano! This is your last chance to win the European Golden Boy award, and tonight you finally got your wish! Congratulations! What do you want to say?"

"Ronaldo, are you surprised that you won the award? Or was it expected?"

"In your award speech, you mentioned your children, but you used the plural form. Does this mean that you have more than one child?"

“…”

Cristiano cast his eyes towards the nosy and attentive reporter, noting that there was clearly more than one Gary Neville who had made a grammatical mistake.

He smiled and winked mischievously at the young lady: "That means I hope I can have a big family in the future, but this is just a beautiful hope. It's best to let everything go as it comes."

"I enjoyed tonight and thank Turin for giving me such a wonderful memory. Now I think I'm going to enjoy the rest of my free time tonight. Please leave me alone for now." Cristiano was in a good mood and smiled at the reporters surrounding him - tonight he had his lover and children to accompany him to hold the trophy, which was enough to keep him in a good mood all night.

He raised the corners of his mouth, clasped his hands together and shook them gently. The corners of his innocent eyes curved into a soft arc because of his smile, making him look like he was acting coquettishly.

The young boy, who still had a little baby fat, wore a well-cut and noble custom-made suit, and his earlobes were adorned with Cristiano's favorite diamond earrings, just as dazzling as he was.

The reporters and media were surprised by Cristiano's rare coquettish look. Apparently, the occasional coquettishness was very effective, and the reporters in front of them dispersed to the sides in groups of three or four to make way.

——But this is only the majority.

There were still three or two reporters who hid well and followed Cristiano all the way to where Kaka parked the car.

Kaka placed Luca in the baby seat in the back seat, then leaned against the door waiting for Cristiano to join them.

Cristiano didn't notice that there was an uninvited guest following him. When he saw his lover standing there waiting, he subconsciously raised the corner of his mouth and ran over quickly.

"Kaka!" He greeted with a smile. If this wasn't a public parking lot, he would have wanted to jump directly on Kaka.

When he opened the car door, he saw Luca sleeping soundly, curled up in the seat like a little angel.

Cristiano whispered, "Shall I sit next to him?"

"Okay Cris, you watch him." Kaka smiled. He knew Cristiano liked children and was reluctant to waste such time together. He nodded, walked to the other side of the car and opened the door for his lover.

As soon as he opened the car door, the paparazzi hiding behind the support column of the parking lot ran up and shouted in surprise as if he had caught some big news: "Kaka! Cristiano!"

They followed Cristiano to the parking lot with great effort, and when they saw him getting into the car, they thought they might be able to capture some romantic gossip about the Portuguese superstar.

But being able to photograph another big star was also an unexpected surprise.

When Cristiano heard the noise behind him, he subconsciously stepped forward to block it. His face looked grim for a moment, but then quickly returned to normal. He looked at the reporters in front of him expressionlessly and clenched his fists slightly.

"Excuse me--" The paparazzi couldn't wait to point the shutter at them and click the shutter continuously. The flashing lights made people's eyes sore.

Cristiano took a step forward and blocked the other party's camera with his hand. He interrupted the other party's question with a cold face: "Don't disturb us, we don't accept interviews here."

"Why is Kaka here? Kaka's name doesn't seem to be on the attendance list for tonight's Golden Boy Awards ceremony."

"Kaka's attire doesn't look like he's attending a dinner after the ceremony—"

However, it was obvious that these paparazzi would not stop because of Cristiano's refusal. They even pushed forward, forcing Cristiano to take two steps back. He unexpectedly bumped into the side of the open car door. The dull pain in his waist made Cristiano frown subconsciously.

But he soon returned to his expressionless face and simply straightened his back even more.

He unconsciously tightened the handle on the car door and was caught off guard by the paparazzi. For a moment he felt as if fear had stretched out its claws and grabbed him, and he couldn't help but think of some unpleasant memories from his previous life.

He took a deep breath and lowered his voice to warn again: "I said, no interviews are allowed here."

"LEAVE US ALONE." His voice was like stone in an ice cellar, squeezed out syllable by syllable from between his plump lips.

Luca was awakened by the noise outside. He rubbed his eyes and looked out the window. His low field of vision allowed him to only see a tiny bit of red running down his palm where Cristiano's clenched nails pierced his palm.

Luca's eyes widened and he immediately started making a lot of noise, trying to get his father's attention.

When Cristiano heard little Luca's cry, he immediately turned around. He thought the little guy was frightened by them, so he hurriedly tried to comfort him in a low voice. His anger towards the paparazzi increased even more.

Kaka walked quickly in front of them and stopped the paparazzi who tried to get closer: "Gentlemen, don't scare the children. This is just an ordinary private gathering of friends. It's no big deal."

His voice was gentle, but his eyes were indifferent. His dark eyes stared directly at the paparazzi in front of him, and the smile on his face almost disappeared completely.

"We are planning to go to the hotel. You can come with us if you want, but I promise you won't be able to capture any more interesting news," Kaka said.

Then he walked to the car door and comforted little Luca with Cristiano. The little guy clenched his fists and waved them, and Kaka smiled, squeezed the little guy's fists, and whispered to Cristiano: "Luca must want to beat them too."

Cristiano looked at Kaka with amusement and anger, and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Kaka grabbed Cristiano's wrist, closed the door, then pulled the boy to the other door, dragged Cristiano into the back seat, and finally stepped into the driver's seat. He started the engine and looked at the paparazzi: "Good night, gentlemen."

As he spoke, he stepped on the accelerator. This good man who never exceeded the speed limit when driving, this time "whoosh" left tire marks and left a cloud of exhaust fumes for the paparazzi.

Back at the hotel, Cristiano unbuckled Luca's safety belt, picked up little Luca and carried him back to the room. He seemed extremely silent along the way, and Kaka hardly spoke either.

Kaka thought fearfully that it was a good thing they didn't do anything more extreme, otherwise it would definitely ruin everything.

He was too relaxed. The smooth progress of this life and the knowledge and help from his teammates made him completely let down his guard and forget that there were more eyes watching their every move.

Cristiano gently put Luca on the bed, then got up and went into the bathroom.

Seeing this, Luca kicked his calves, yelled "Ahhh" at his father, and looked towards the bathroom.

Kaka noticed Cristiano's silence. He didn't see his little son's reaction, but still quickly followed him into the bathroom.

"Cris?" He saw Cristiano sitting on the toilet, supporting his forehead with both hands and burying his face in his palms. His heart tightened slightly and he squatted in front of Cristiano. "Are you worried about the paparazzi? Don't think too much. They are just making up stories. We have had scandals about you and me, no matter how outrageous they are. Not many people will take it seriously if there is one more. It won't affect us at all."

"I'm sorry, Kaka." Cristiano said in a hoarse voice, "I should have been more careful. I let Luca get scared because of me. I brought danger when I saw him for the first time. I really... I messed up."

"I could have done well all along..." He had clearly hidden himself very well in the last life.

Kaka frowned when he heard that. He pulled Cristiano's hands apart, allowing his lover's face to be completely in front of him. He saw that those eyes were filled with self-blame and panic.

He kissed those eyes and whispered, "No, Cris, that's not it. You can't blame yourself for what the paparazzi did wrong. They followed you too much."

"And if there was any mistake, it was all ours, Cris, it was us," Kaka emphasized.

"But it doesn't matter. What matters is that we will be careful. Maybe when the two little ones grow up a little bit, we won't have to worry so much about these things." Kaka said that this time he will be braver than before.

He held Cristiano's hand, bent down and kissed his palm, and then noticed the shallow blood scab that had dried on his lover's palm.

Kaka was stunned for a moment, then he remembered the other party standing in front of them just now, and the other party's low, suppressed angry warning and the tremor in his voice. He thought Cristiano was angry, but now he realized belatedly that it was fear.

He leaned over and suddenly kissed his lover. Both of their breathing was trembling slightly, as if they had the illusion of surviving a disaster together.

Cristiano grabbed his waist and tilted his neck slightly, offering more of himself to his lover.

Kaka unconsciously kissed the tip of his nose, lips, and chin... His hands gripped Cristiano's slender waist like iron handcuffs.

Cristiano moved slightly and groaned softly. The place where he had hit the car door before was hurt again by Kaka's grip.

Shit, he must have had a bruise. Cristiano thought to himself, but he didn't care and just wanted to hug his lover.

But Kaka suddenly stopped. He lifted up Cristiano's white shirt which was neatly tucked into his suit pants, and saw a light blue area on his muscular waist.

His eyes darkened slightly and he lightly covered it with his fingertips, giving him one more reason to be angry at those paparazzi who had no sense of propriety.

Cristiano got goose bumps from the cool temperature of his fingertips. He shuddered subconsciously, then bit his shirt and mumbled, "Don't touch there."

Kaka responded softly, he took the shirt out of Cristiano's mouth and wiped his lover's forehead which was slightly oozing with sweat.

He held Cristiano's face and gave him a kiss: "Cris, I love you."

Cristiano opened his eyes.

"I still remember what you once said to me," Kaka looked into Cristiano's eyes, which were moist and slightly red, as beautiful as a green emerald hidden in amber. He said softly: "'Don't let our love for each other become shackles for each other. Love is free.'"

"I once put myself in shackles, but now, I hold these words in high esteem. You must believe me."