“We readied a room in the east wing, mon fils. I thought you would want him near.” We followed Julien up the steps to the villa like obedient ducklings. The entry hall was a grand, circular, two-story room in a warm colored stone. Rather than seeming ostentatious it felt welcoming and homey. Julien walked easily through the house, intent on delivering Alex to his waiting bed. I kept pace with him, my eyes darting around rapidly trying to take in my surroundings. Our small caravan came to a halt in an upstairs hallway. Élodie opened a door and stepped aside to allow Julien to pass through into the suite.
It was a long room with several large, arched, floor to ceiling windows along the far wall. The bedding on the four-poster queen sized bed was a cornflower blue that reminded me of Élodie’s eyes. A door at one end of the room opened into a bathroom. Élodie gestured toward a closed door in the wall opposite the bathroom. “This connects to your suite, Lara.” I smiled and nodded in gratitude.
Julien gently placed Alex on the bed, hovering over him a moment in case he should wake. When it was obvious that the boy was still in deep slumber Julien grabbed two pillows from the head of the bed and placed them on either side of Alex’s little body to serve as bumpers in case he rolled in his sleep. I smiled at the act. Julien was such a natural father. I noticed Élodie and Nonna Vera share a look. They too were enjoying watching Julien with his son. Julien straightened and began turning towards us when two small metal vehicles on the nightstand caught his attention. He plucked one up and ran his thumb over the details of the door.
“We thought Alex might like to play with them. They were your favorites,” Élodie said softly.
Julien smiled and flicked a nail over a tire, sending it spinning. They were old toys - a car and a truck - sturdy and unbreakable, if not a little sharper and more sinister looking than their modern American counterparts. “I remember. I’m sure he’ll love them.” He set the car back on the nightstand and turned his attention to me. “Come, Lara, I’ll show you your room. I’ll leave the door open so we can hear Alex when he wakes.”
We exchanged pleasantries with Élodie and Nonna Vera and they left us to ourselves.
“I am there, just across the hall from you. And Nan and Pops will be there, next door down.” He indicated the door and turned a shy smile on me. “I hope you don’t mind the separate quarters.”
I shrugged, trying to downplay my disappointment. “I’ll wear thick socks to keep myself warm.”
Julien chuckled and pulled me into a tender kiss. “Or wear nothing, and I will keep you warm. The separate rooms are just a show of respect because we are not married.” He paused for a beat with his eyebrows raised expectantly. “But I am more than happy to brave the dark hallway at night to keep you at a comfortable temperature.”
I put my hand on the knob to his bedroom. “This is your room?” He nodded. “Since you were a kid?” He nodded again.
“Since I was a boy of ten or so, though it looks a good deal different now than it did then.”
I pressed the handle down and pushed his door open. He waved me in ahead of him, leaving the door open in case Alex should wake.
Julien’s room was tasteful and understated. I didn’t know what I had been expecting, but somehow I wasn’t surprised. It was masculine and unfussy, but comfortable and beautiful at the same time - like the man.
The room was clean, which I would expect in a house with a full staff, but it was conspicuously void of clutter or personal touches. His writing desk was neat and tidy with a leather cornered blotting tablet centered on top. The dresser held only a small framed black and white picture of Élodie and a man that could only be Julien’s father based on the strong resemblance. The sole piece of art on the wall was a beautiful oil nude done in earth tones to match the bedding. The nightstand held a small reading lamp, a vintage inspired alarm clock, and... Gus? I gasped.
“Gus!” I scurried over to the nightstand and grabbed the threadbare little bear. “I can’t believe you still have him! You kept him all this time.”
Julien crossed over to me by the nightstand. “Of course I kept him. I said I would. You were supposed to come back for him, remember? Tu es en retard.”
My surprise and excitement over his having kept my little bear seemed to hurt him.
Gently he cupped my face in his palm. “I called you, Lara. I must have left a dozen messages those first few weeks. I told you about my father’s stroke, how much I missed you, and how devastated I was to be missing your American Thanksgiving.” He ran his thumb softly across my cheek. “I was hurt and confused when you never returned my calls.”
I could feel tears threatening, but I blinked them back. “Why did you come to my house? After thinking I rejected you, why show up like you did?”
He smiled shyly and shrugged a bit to give the impression of being aloof even though we both knew he was anything but. “It is one thing to ignore my phone messages Chérie. It is another thing entirely to ignore me in the flesh, no?”
I couldn’t argue with that.
“I was in the country for business anyway, and it was a small matter to find you. I had to fly under the radar for a few days, remember? It was my plan to sweep you off your feet, and, failing that, at least understand why you had been so quick to change your mind about us.” He looked away for a moment, then returned his bright green eyes to my face, a hint of sadness in their depths. “You haunted me, Lara. When things had finally settled down at work, and at home, it was fear of rejection more than anything that kept me from coming. Being so near and having a few days of freedom was too perfect to be a coincidence. It gave me the courage I needed to finally face you again. If I had only known-” His breath hitched, but he quickly got himself under control. “I hate myself for my cowardice. If I had come sooner I would have known about Alex right away!”
I put my hands over his. “Stop. Don’t do this, Julien.” I wrapped my arms around his midsection and hugged him fiercely. “Don’t play the what-if game,” I said into his chest. “It only serves to upset us needlessly.” I felt the warmth of his hand on the back of my head as he stroked my hair.
I could hear a muffled commotion coming from downstairs. Nan and Pops had arrived. Julien pulled away in order to see my face more clearly. He took a deep, cleansing breath. “Why don’t you relax a bit? Grab a shower. Nan and Pops can listen for Alex while I discuss next steps with Martin.”
“What are the next steps?” I asked.
Julien half smiled. “I don’t know,” he answered. “I’ve never read the manual on actions one takes after discovering they’re long lost royalty of a small, obscure country.”
I almost laughed. I was glad to see he hadn’t lost his sense of humor. Apparently even attempted assassination wasn’t enough to unsettle him completely.
Nan and Pops were waiting at the baggage claim with balloons and flowers. Seeing their excited, expectant faces as they glanced hopefully at each approaching traveler made a sudden lump form in my throat. As distracted as I had been by Julien, I had almost forgotten how much I missed them.
Nan and Pops were the reason I had gone on my European adventure in the first place. They believed every young person needed to see a bit of the world before settling into their college careers. I had two years of community college under my belt, but it was time to get serious and finish my bachelor’s degree. I sighed in defeat. I was no closer to deciding on an official major than I had been before I left.
“Nan, over here!” I waved to get her attention. She turned toward the sound of my voice and her face lit up with joy. “Lara!” Before I could say anything more I was engulfed in her arms, her voice muffled in my hair. When she released me Pops took over, hugging me just as tightly, but with a great deal more dignity.
“I think you’ve grown!” said Nan. Pops shook his head. “Nancy, she’s a grown woman. I don’t think she’s gotten any taller since she left.” Nan brushed off Pops’s nay saying with a bat of her hand to his arm. “Well I’m probably shrinking then.”
She turned back to me. “You’re definitely taller. Maybe.” She studied me intently, making me suddenly shy. “You may not be taller, young lady, but there is definitely something different about you.”
I shrugged off her scrutiny. “I don’t know Nan,” I said. “I’m the same girl I was the last time you saw me.”
“Are you?” she asked with disappointment. “Then you did it wrong! The whole point of an adventure is to come back a changed person. You were supposed to experience new and exciting things. Eat strange and exotic food. Find romance...” Nan waggled her eyebrows at me and I burst out laughing. “Did you find romance, Lara?” I blushed crimson, giving myself away.
“Leave the poor girl alone Nancy. She hasn’t even been off the plane thirty minutes. Can’t the inquisition wait until we get home and fill our bellies?”
“It most certainly cannot,” answered Nan. “That was the deal. Lara gets to go gallivanting through Europe, and I get to live vicariously through her once she gets home.” Without missing a beat, and barely pausing to draw breath, Nan turned her hawk-like gaze back to me. “So, Lara, tell me all about him. Where did you meet him? Is he tall, dark and Greek?”
I laughed again. “Um, I guess I met him in France, and you’re almost right - he is tall and dark, but he’s not Greek. He’s French on his mother’s side and Italian on his father’s.”
“Ooooh,” said Nan with appreciation. “French and Italian. Both very passionate peoples.”
I couldn’t help but blush again. I could feel my embarrassment scalding my cheeks.
“Does Mr. French Italian have a name?” Nan asked.
I nodded. “Julien. His name is Julien Diotallevi, and I am hopelessly in love with him.” Out of nowhere my face crumbled and I started crying like a psychotic teenager right there in the middle of the baggage claim area.
Nan clucked at me in reassurance and held me against her shoulder. I had to bend uncomfortably in order to reach the shorter woman’s shoulder properly. “There, there, now sweetheart,” she cooed. “It appears you did it right after all.” I straightened and wiped my nose rudely on the back of my sleeve. “Every grand adventure should feature a grand romance to go along with it.”
Pops materialized beside us with my luggage. “Come,” Nan instructed, taking me by the elbow, my balloons knocking drunkenly together behind us as we walked. “You can tell me all about him in the car.”
It was nearing dinnertime when Julien found me reading to a well-rested Alex in an overstuffed chair. “He is well?” He asked. I smiled and nodded; happy that Alex’s brief stomach bug had vanished as quickly as it had arisen.
“Jewian!” Alex beamed at his father. “Mama readed me a story.”
Without pausing or asking permission, Alex stood in the chair and climbed Julien like a monkey in a tree. “Did you have a nice nap?” Julien asked the little primate. Alex shook his head vehemently. “No nap!” he shouted.
“No, no, I didn’t mean you need a nap. I was-” Alex cut him off. “No nap!” he shouted again. I stood and touched Julien’s arm to get his attention. “It’s no use,” I warned. “Nap is our N-word. No good ever comes from saying it!” That made Julien chuckle. He adjusted Alex’s weight on his hip. “That’s right, Alex. No nap! Would you like to go exploring with me?”
Alex’s eyes lit up at the suggestion and he nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, wonderful, because there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
I met Julien’s eyes with curiosity. He gave me that ghost of a half smile and flicked his head at me, indicating I should follow him. Whomever we were going to see, they resided in the west wing of the villa. Julien didn’t bother to knock when we reached the door, but he did open it slowly and gently so as not to startle anyone on the other side.
The door opened into a small sitting room that served as a kind of entry parlor for the large room beyond. A kind-eyed nurse dressed in pale lavender scrubs greeted us immediately. “Signore Julien,” she said. “Nurse Juna said you were back.”
“Angelica, you look well. Is my father feeling up to visitors just now?”
Angelica spoke to Julien, but her eyes kept straying in fascination to Alex. “He is awake and comfortable. I’ll let him know you’re here... With guests.” She disappeared into the other room, and reemerged a few seconds later, waving us in.
Giovani Diotallevi was a handsome, intimidating man even propped up in a hospital bed with no control over his own limbs. His stroke had left the left side of his face paralyzed, causing his eyelid and mouth to droop slightly on that side. His eyes were clear and alert, and the beautiful shade of green shared by both Julien and Alex.
“Father,” Julien said as we approached the bed. “This is Lara, and Alex.”
I smiled and fought the urge to curtsy. Giovani spared me a quick glance, then focused solely on Alex. I was getting used to this reaction. The fancy equipment surrounding the bed captivated Alex. It took him a moment to even notice Giovani, but when he did, he cocked his head to the side and said, “Who’re you?”
“This is your grandfather,” Julien answered. He had a bit of a frog in his throat.
“No he’s not,” said Alex matter of factly. “Pops is my grandfodder.”
Julien nodded at Alex. “Yes, he is, but you’re a very lucky boy, and you have two grandfathers.” Alex’s eyes got very big at this revelation. He could tell by Julien’s tone that this was special information. “I do?” he asked in awe.
“Yes. You do.” Alex wiggled out of Julien’s arms and Julien dropped him rather unceremoniously onto the foot of Giovani’s bed. Giovani’s eyes hadn’t left Alex for one second. Alex returned his stare. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“You can call him Nonno,” Julien answered. “Nonno doesn’t talk.”
“Why not?” Alex had lost any and all vestiges of shyness somehow.
“Because he used up all his words,” Julien explained.
Alex accepted this as a perfectly reasonable explanation. “He gots a video game?” he asked, eyeballing the bed control box wrapped around the side railing of Giovani’s bed. “No,” Julien answered. “Even better. Come up here, I’ll show you.” Alex scampered over the bed and wedged himself between Giovani and the railing. I watched with my breath in my throat as Julien showed Alex how to push the buttons and make the bed go up and down. I didn’t know how much Giovani was able to communicate his discomforts, but he didn’t seem to be bothered by the jerky ride he was suddenly being forced to endure.
“He yeaks,” Alex announced, pointing to a thin line of drool on the side of Giovani’s chin. Julien wiped it away without pause. “People leak all the time. Nonno doesn’t have any words to help catch his water.” Alex picked up the cloth when Julien set it down, then dabbed gently at Giovani’s chin as he had seen Julien do.
When the bed controls had lost their allure Julien clipped a heart monitor to Alex’s finger and showed him the way his heartbeat made the lines jump on the screen. Fascinated, Alex proceeded to clip the clamp onto each one of Giovani’s fingers.
Julien and I shared a smile over the top of Alex’s head.
“He’s yeaking again,” Alex said, grabbing the cloth and bringing it to Giovani’s face, only this time it was tears Alex was catching in the cloth. I looked away, tears of my own threatening to spill over as my heart clenched at the sight of my little son carefully wiping his grandfather’s tears. I hoped they were tears of joy.
We spent another half hour with Giovani, Julien serving as interpreter between his father and his son. Alex continued to explore the area and the man, showing no respect for personal boundaries. Neither Giovani nor Julien seemed to mind.
As we headed toward dinner, having said our goodnights to the family patriarch, Julien casually asked Alex what he thought of his grandfather.
“He’s good,” Alex answered simply. “He gots Pull-ups.” I hid my grin, charmed that Alex felt a camaraderie with his grandsire, even if it was based on a package of adult diapers, and a hospital be
d’s control buttons.
It was unusually warm for September. Nan, Pops, Julien and I sat out on a back veranda sipping lemonade and watching Alex and Nonna Vera cavorting on the lawn. Alex was naked, having soaked his clothes with water from the fountain. He would let out intermittent squeals of excitement when Nonna Vera managed to flick water droplets on him from her fingers. In each of his little fists he clutched a chess piece from the set he had pillaged after breakfast.
“I thought you said you didn’t have grandparents,” I accused softly.
Julien looked over at me questioning. “You mean Nonna Vera? She’s like a grandmother to be sure, but she’s not a blood relation.”
“Really?” I asked in surprise. “You have an essence of her. Something in your mannerisms, and the crook of your smile.”
Julien smiled fondly. “That’s probably because we’ve spent so much time together. She was my nanny, and my father’s before me. She’s been with the family so long we can’t imagine life without her.”
“That’s beautiful,” Nan piped in. “Family is family, no matter where they come from. Nonna Vera may not be a blood relation, as you say Julien, but she’s your family all the same.”
“Are there other children here?” I wondered out loud. Maybe Julien had cousins or distant relations with kids nearby. Nonna Vera obviously loved young children.
Julien stifled a yawn, and I hid a smile, knowing full well it was my fault he hadn’t slept much the night before. “Not since me. Now she mostly looks after my father between nursing shifts.”
Suddenly Alex froze and turned to me, calling out, “Mama, look at me!” Then he stuck out his tummy and proceeded to pee on a rose bush next to the fountain, his stream arching perfectly to mirror the peeing fountain nymph.
I took a breath to tell him it was impolite to pee in gardens, but stopped short at the collective laugh from the other adults present. Then I remembered the moment I had witnessed the day after the fire when Julien had peed with Alex behind the house. The kid was going to think peeing outside was the norm. Instead of admonishing him I just shook my head in capitulation. “Good job letting mommy know you had to pee pee, Alex!” I praised. “Next time we’ll go in the potty.”
Sudden Legacy Page 15
