by L. D. Davis
“Deacon, you and your wife have always been in my life and have been like another set of parents to me, and I respect you as such. But if you ever refer to Tessa as a whore again, if it is the last thing I do, I will get out of this chair and—”
“Stop that,” Mrs. Mavros hissed admonishingly, cutting him off. “He did not call her that. What my husband is saying, Massimo Mangini, is that it is different for women than it is for men. Without all the facts, or even with them, she will be judged harshly, and you will be forgiven based on the small fact that you are a man. If you stopped to consider that for one moment, you would agree.”
That was where the conversation ended, because Salina rejoined me, and Maria returned to her brother’s side. After the Mavroses walked away, I glanced over at Massimo. Our eyes met, and in that instant, I knew that he knew that I understood what had been said. He didn’t seem angry about it, just resigned. I didn’t understand what I’d heard without the context, but I felt like the answer was just out of my reach.
When there was only about fifteen minutes left before midnight, and the rest of the party began to go outside, Massimo and Maria had a brief argument about him staying inside. He refused. I couldn’t catch everything said between them because they spoke too fast, but what was said didn’t really matter in the end, because Massimo got his way. After bundling up in a coat and scarf wrapped around most of his face, he maneuvered himself out through a side door that didn’t have steps.
Marco came to me, holding Mandy in his arms. She was beyond sleepy but seemed content to be carried around for the moment. My other kids were running around the yard with the other children—ten of thirteen of Marco’s nieces and nephews, and the rest cousins and friends. There were laughter and shouts back and forth in both languages. Like me, my little tykes were out of their element, but unlike me, they adapted well. It made me happy to watch them just slide in as if they’d always been there.
“My brother really enjoyed your company today,” Marco said, pulling my attention from the kids.
I glanced toward Massimo. Someone had forced him into another chair. Laura and Roberto were close by, amusement on their faces as Elena hovered over their father, scolding him for coming outside while he was sick.
“He really is a great person. We get along much better than I expected. It feels like we’ve always known each other, like we didn’t just meet yesterday. You know he calls me ’sister’?”
He gave me a warm smile. “I did not know, but that does warm my heart to hear. Massimo is very fond of you.”
“I’m fond of him, too.” That was the truth. I felt a real connection with Massimo. In another time and place, he and I could have been very good friends.
Marco’s expression cooled. Seemingly deep in thought, he searched my face, a slight frown on his. It was so incongruous to his satisfaction of only moments ago that I felt myself recoil a little.
“Celia said she tried to be nice to you, but you were cold toward her,” he said quietly.
Both of my brows rose high on my forehead. “Excuse me?”
Patiently, he repeated himself. “She said you were cold to her. She was trying to be friendly, but you were uninterested, and her feelings were already rather bruised after being excluded from brunch today.”
All the lightness I felt had dissipated. I actually took a couple steps back as I stared up at him. Feeling defensive, I put a hand up, as if to say, now wait a minute!
“Firstly, I wasn’t the hostess for brunch. It wasn’t my place to invite anyone else. Secondly, Salina and Celia are well acquainted. If she wasn’t invited, maybe it was for a good reason. Maybe they don’t get along, or maybe they do. Not everyone will be invited to everything all the time.”
He tried to interrupt, but I lifted my hand higher and spoke over him.
“Thirdly, I saw her for all of five minutes this afternoon. She came in with your nieces and nephews while I was visiting Massimo. When I went to leave, she insisted on walking me back. We barely spoke, so I’m not sure what she’s talking about.”
“She feels that, in general, since your arrival, you have been lukewarm with her at best. I understand you had your reservations in the past, but you have not tried to get to know her since you have been here.”
I didn’t like the way his words made me feel like an errant child getting a talking to by her father. Like I didn’t play well on the playground with others. Perhaps that was true to some extent, but Celia was the bully pretending to be a victim. That pissed me off, but more than that, my feelings were hurt that Marco was already on her side. It didn’t matter what I said next, he would be against me.
“I only just got here yesterday,” I managed to say in a neutral tone.
Marco must’ve seen something in my face that portrayed some of my feelings, because his demeanor softened. “Why not spend some time with Celia tomorrow? I know she plans to go into town for some more shopping in the morning. Why not go with her? I am sure once you get to know her better, the two of you will form a bond as you have with my brother.”
There was no chance in hell that would happen, and for some reason, Marco was completely blind to that.
“Marco, I know you think I’m being unfair and a bitch, but I’m not. There is something about her I don’t like, and I’m not going to pretend I do.”
The softness in his features disappeared. He scowled deeply, eyebrows pulled down, eyes narrowed, mouth flipped upside down in a frown. “Look at my brother, Lydia. Look at him. Do you not think I have enough to worry over without having to deal with your childish jealousy over Celia? Can you be an adult for five minutes, please, and do as I asked?”
Childish jealousy? Be an adult? For five minutes? As if I hadn’t been adulting for the past nine years of my life? I wanted so badly to lash out at him, and part of me even wanted to cry. He had never doubted me like that before.
I angrily blinked back tears and looked away from him.
“Whatever. I’ll spend some time with her tomorrow.”
I heard his sigh of relief. “Thank you, Tessoro.”
When I felt his hand on my arm, I shrugged him off. There was a brief hesitation before he reached for me again. When I went to shrug him off again, his arm wrapped tightly around my waist and held me to his side. His lips were in my hair, close to my ear.
“Do not be angry with me,” he whispered.
He kissed the side of my head, then my ear and my jaw. I closed my eyes for a long minute before I grudgingly leaned into him and accepted his half-embrace. If he thought that little hug and kiss would smooth things over, though, he had another thing coming.
With only moments to go before midnight, Tess finally appeared with Daniel. Unlike Mandy, her little boy was just as alert and boisterous as he’d been twelve hours ago. When she put him down, he hit the ground running, chasing after Gia and Cora.
Tess stationed herself beside Salina, acknowledged me with a wave and a small smile, but strangely, she ignored her best friend. I glanced back at Massimo, but his gaze was on Daniel. Even though most of his face was covered, I could tell by the lines around his eyes he was smiling. He lurched forward, like he was going to jump up and give chase to the boy, but he stopped and yanked the scarf down from his face even though he was coughing.
“Daniel, vieni qui. Daniel! Veini qui.” He coughed through the summons, barely getting his words out.
Around us, people began to chant in numbers, counting down to midnight. The excitement was palpable. It was difficult for me to be excited about anything after the conversation Marco and I’d had about Celia, but even if that hadn’t happened, I would’ve been riveted by the scene I had no right to witness.
“Daniel, veini qui,” Massimo called again, his hoarse voice barely audible.
How Daniel heard him over the shouting countdown, I didn’t know, but he did hear him. His little legs carried him at high speed toward Massimo. Tess turned, both surprise and resignation on her beautiful face as she watched her son sp
rint to her life-long friend.
“Tre!” The crowd shouted just as Tess turned to follow.
“Due!”
Massimo extended his arms for the incoming child missile.
“Uno!”
He scooped the boy into his arms, even though it clearly strained him to do it.
Everyone shouted, “Buon anno!” and the first of the fireworks exploded in the sky, lighting up the night in shades of red, blue, and yellow. Marco moved to kiss me to welcome in the new year, but not before I saw what I could never unsee.
When I’d first met little Daniel, I’d thought there was something familiar about his adorable face. Under the brightness of the fireworks, I learned why.
Massimo held the boy, smiled wider than I’d ever seen, and seemed not to be sick at all as he gazed into a pair of eyes that was just like his.
I let Marco kiss me. I let him block my view of his brother, Daniel, and Tess, but something in me grew cold. If things were anything as I expected, Celia had more motivation than I could have ever imagined to steal Marco away.
Chapter Eleven
Marco
Lydia allowed me to touch her, to taste her, and to enter her body, but she was withdrawn. Not all of her was there with me, but to be fair, I was not all there, either.
I was glad she got along so well with Massimo, but her coldness toward Celia was concerning. Perhaps under normal circumstances, it would not be a big thing, but the circumstances were not normal. Up until a little while ago, I thought she would come around once she got to know Celia. My sister-in-law was going to need our support. I hadn’t discussed my plans with Lydia yet, but I once promised my brother I would take care of his family in the event he could not. To honor that promise, if he left this earth, Celia and I had decided she and the children would go to the U.S. for a while. I couldn’t stay in Italy, not with my own baby on the way and my own family to care for. Also, my business was already beginning to show signs of distress from my absence. I would be in a better position to help her if the two women were at least friendly.
Eventually, I would speak to Lydia about it, but I wanted to wait, because we still had other problems. I understood to some degree why she did what she did. However, no matter how much I tried, no matter how much my heart felt for her, Lydia’s reluctance to tell me about our baby left me feeling distrustful and hurt. It would get better in time, but presently, my stomach was still in knots about it.
After I was sure she was asleep, I left her nude and hopefully sated in my childhood bed, showered, and got dressed in the bathroom so I wouldn’t disturb her. It was well after three in the morning, much later than I preferred, but the New Year’s celebration pushed everything back a few hours.
Stifling a yawn, I quietly slipped from the room and made my way down the corridor. A minute later, I entered the hidden room that had been a place of sanctuary since I was a boy. My siblings had known about the room at some point, but had since forgotten about it, or at least, they didn’t visit it. Only two people did.
“There you are,” Celia said as I walked in.
She grinned and reached up to put her slender fingers in my damp hair. “You should dry your hair, Marcello, or you will be sick, too.”
I shrugged, caught her small hand, and gave it a squeeze. “I didn’t want to leave you waiting too long. Are the children all asleep?”
“The twins passed out instantly, and Armano was not far behind.”
“And Massimo?”
Her smile faltered, but I knew she was trying to remain upbeat for me. “His cough is bad. The night out was not a good idea, but he disagrees.”
“Should you go be with him?”
She wrapped her arms around her own small frame and shook her head. “He doesn’t want me there. I tried, but he wanted me out.”
My heart ached for her. Massimo was under a lot of stress and wasn’t quite himself. However, I didn’t understand why Celia, his wife, who tried hard to be his rock, was the target for his anger.
“He will come around,” I promised. “When he learns how to handle his emotions.”
Celia did her best to shrug it off and dropped onto the couch that probably belonged to my great-great grandparents. The room was not big, but as kids, we’d made it our own. Aside from the ancient couch, there were an oversized chair, a beat-up coffee table, shelves lined with our favorite childhood reads and board games, an old stereo with tall speakers, and a vintage television with an antennae and knobs. Posters of our favorite bands, celebrities, and athletes were pinned to the walls, as well as many, many pictures of us. All these years later, and it was still just our space, our room. We started using it again a couple months back when I first returned to Italy.
“I am not going to cry tonight, I swear,” she said. Her head cocked to one side as she studied me. “What is wrong, Marcello? You have been distracted all day.”
Lydia and I had agreed not to tell anyone but Massimo about the pregnancy, but Celia was just an extension of Massimo as I’d said before. She was my friend, my oldest friend, and I trusted her.
I sat on the arm of the chair facing her. “Lydia is pregnant.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
I released a small, derisive laugh and nodded. “Yeah. That was my reaction, multiplied by a hundred.”
“I…I don’t know what to say, Marcello. How do you feel about it?”
“About a baby? Ecstatic, Celia. Truly, my heart is heavy with happiness for the baby, but…” I ran a hand through my damp hair and sighed. “Lydia knew she was pregnant last week when she tried to end our relationship. She was going to go back to Ohio and allow me to come back here without telling me. She said she would’ve told me eventually, and that she had just found out herself and was still trying to process it. She said she was scared.”
One of Celia’s eyebrows rose. “Do you believe her?”
Silence lingered for several seconds before I responded. “I don’t know. I don’t think she would have left me in the dark for long, but she’d been willing to exclude me from our baby’s life. That bothers me. I wish it didn’t. We are just beginning to mend as a couple, and I am still deeply in love with her. She did tell me on her own, but every time I think about what she almost did, I feel that stabbing pain again. Then I feel bad because I know she is dealing with other stressful matters besides our relationship.”
We were both quiet for a few minutes. Celia bit her bottom lip as she stared at the table, deep in thought. When she finally lifted her gaze to meet mine, her voice was whisper soft and tentative.
“Do you trust her, Marcello?”
Despite everything, I didn’t have to think about my answer. “Yes. Why?”
“You trust her even though she considered keeping you away from your baby?” She held up her palm to placate me before I could respond. “I am not trying to be the bad guy here, but I am upset on your behalf. You are my closest friend. I like Lydia, even if she doesn’t like me, but how? How can you trust her now? She almost took your child away from you, and…” She took a breath. “I don’t want to be the one to ask this question, but clearly you have not thought of it yourself.”
My eyes narrowed. “What question?”
She hesitated and sighed again. “You were separated for weeks. Maybe there is a reason Lydia kept trying to push you away. How do you know you are the father?”
I almost fell off the chair. My heart nearly exploded from shock. I had not once considered that possibility, and even now, it was hard to swallow.
“You don’t understand. Lydia had no interest in dating or starting a new relationship because she…she was hurting. She was hurting a lot, and afraid. It was not easy to win her over.” I snorted and dragged a hand over my face. “I am still winning her over. She makes me work hard for it.”
“She makes you work hard for it. Maybe someone else didn’t have to. Maybe it wasn’t her heart they wanted from her.”
I gaped at Celia, denials shouting out in my
heart, but the logical part of me realized that what she said could be possible. Anything was possible, wasn’t it? It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been a fool.
As if she heard my thoughts, Celia stood and gently touched my cheek. Her face was full of compassion as she whispered to me. “It would not be the first time you let your heart blind you to the signs.”
I barely noticed her fingers on my face. She stood so close to me that she was between my parted legs, but I barely noticed that, either. My eyes were locked on her face, but I didn’t really see her. My vision was unfocused as the possibilities ran through my mind. The question cycled through my head. Was I the father?
I thought about the conversation Lydia and I had about how the pregnancy came to be. Did it really happen that way, or had someone else been responsible for her current condition? But who? There had been no clues that anyone else was in her life. During our separation, I’d kept in touch with the kids, as well as Rose, Shawna, and Cliff. They’d given no indication that Lydia had been doing anything differently. I’d been jealous and suspicious of Adam a couple of times, but that had been the possessive and irrational side of me. Logically, I knew my friend would never do that to me, and besides, he’d been in love with Celeste for years.
I was going down a rabbit hole I did not want to go down. Blinking and shaking my head, I refocused on Celia’s face. I took her hand from my cheek and held it. Somehow, despite the confusion and unease inside, I spoke calmly.
“I understand why you would believe that. You do not know her, though, so it is easy to come to the wrong conclusions. I have no doubt that Lydia and I created that baby together. I understand you have not had the best experiences with her, but I need you not to think the worst of her. I want the two of you to become friends eventually, especially since you will be seeing a lot of each other.”
Her chest rose and fell slowly before she smiled prettily. “I’m sorry. I was just looking out for you, but I understand. I will do my best.”
