I grin at her and tweak one of the pretty curls pinned to the top of her head. She is, of coursed, dressed in layers of pink tulle and satin and fairly floating with pure glee.
“Of course,” I tell her. I bend and kiss her cheek. “I think he’d like that.”
And soon, if all goes as planned, we’ll have a baby of our own to call him daddy. I smile, my chest warming with the utter joy in the knowledge that Santo and I no longer have to hide our feelings for each other. That we can live the way we’ve longed to, as lovers with the blessing of our family. As one.
A gentle knock sounds on the door.
“Come in!” I call, expecting Mama. It isn’t Mama, but Romeo, dressed in a formal suit, his hair still damp from a shower. His blue eyes warm at me, and he smiles gently. He looks a little older than he did when I first came home from Tuscany, but then again… I suppose we all do.
“Look at you two princesses,” he says, giving each of us a kiss on the cheek. “Vittoria made me promise to take all the pictures I could.” He grins and whips out his phone. “Smile!”
I toss an arm around Natalia’s shoulders and grin at the camera as Romeo snaps pictures after picture.
“Beautiful,” he says, satisfied, before he leaves. “For now. I’ll have to take another few hundred at the ceremony and dinner.”
I never dreamed Romeo would give us his blessing. After Santo’s confession, Romeo refused any of Santo’s money and gave it back to him, telling him to invest and save it to provide for his family.
“Have you seen that woman’s taste in clothes and shoes?” he said. But he was only teasing. My entire shoe collection barely scratches the surface on the cost of one of his damn cars.
Romeo’s been as supportive as I could wish for. I’m grateful. So grateful.
I want Santo to buy back his cars, but he doesn’t want to. He says it’s more important to him now that we get married and settle into life together.
“I’ll buy another one or six after we’ve settled. They were important to me when I was married to them,” he quips. “Now that I’ll be married to you, they don’t matter as much.”
But I know that’s only partially true. He isn’t himself unless he’s getting his hands dirty under the hoods of a sweet ride.
There’s a lightness to his steps and a glint in his eye I’ve never seen before. He smiles more easily. He sleeps all night without tossing and turning.
Santo looks…happy.
We have a small, intimate table laid for dinner, but after dinner, Santo and I are flying away on a honeymoon. I wanted to go away, and I didn’t care where. I left the details up to him, and he’s been grinning to himself for weeks planning it out.
“How far?”
“Far enough,” he said.
“How long?”
“Long enough.”
I don’t really care, I just like teasing him. Finally, he tugged me onto his lap, kissed my neck, and my mind went blissfully blank.
“Do you trust me, baby?” he asked quietly. I closed my eyes against the rush of emotion that nearly choked me.
Trust.
Such a simple world with such a complicated meaning.
“Of course I trust you,” I told him in his ear. “Why else would I let you blindfold and take that wicked riding crop to me?” Oh he does like to play, and I am his favorite toy.
That makes both of us.
“Do you really trust me?” he asked.
I turned and buried my head on his shoulder, wrapped my arms around him, and nodded. “I’ve never trusted anyone more in my life.”
So, we’re honeymooning anywhere out there in the world, and it could be Taiwan or Hawaii or Alaska, and I don’t care. All that matters to me is that we’re together.
After all we’ve been through, we need this.
Eventually, we’ll find our way in the family again. Maybe he’ll work in Tuscany, or maybe we’ll buy a home near The Castle. Possibly something in The North End. We’ll frequent The Castle, but I’ve lived there long enough. It’s a place I’d like to visit, not a place I’ll call home any longer.
Another knock at the door, and Natalia takes my hand.
“Ready, Mama?” she asks with a grin.
Santo dedicated his whole life to my family. He took oaths that nearly broke him. And now? Now I’ll take oaths of my own, to the man who means everything to me.
“I’m ready,” I tell Natalia, smiling. I am more than ready to take this step. This leap, even. To gracefully enter the next season of my life.
Santo
Rosa’s grinning, blindfolded.
“Why Santo,” she says teasingly. “Didn’t know you’d get frisky on the ride there. Hmm. Now, where could we be that we can’t fly directly to, but can get there in five hours?” She pouts a bit, sucking in her lip. “Gosh, that could be a lot of places.”