EMMA's POV :
- - - One Week Later - - -
"No, you didn't make this," Ian shook his head in disbelief.
"I swear, I made it all by myself," I argued, pushing the plate of tortellini to his face.
It was early in the morning and we were standing in the kitchen. I woke up especially early today because Teresa promised to teach me to make tortellini. That was my favorite pasta dish, so I couldn't possibly pass on the offer.
"Really? You had zero help?" Ian narrowed his eyes at me, studying the plate of tortellini once again.
I made such a good tortellini, dish it was hard to believe. I learned so much about cooking in two weeks in Italy than I ever did in my entire life. Ian was always nice about my cooking, but we both knew it sucked terribly. So this tortellini was a huge accomplishment for me.
"Well... okay, Teresa helped tell me things, but all the handiwork was me," I admitted and smiled sheepishly.
"Look at you two, fighting over a plate of tortellini, you are basically Italian already," Mr. Rossi laughed as he passed by us in the kitchen.
Ian and I laughed at the comment and he popped a tortellini into his mouth.
"Tomorrow I will teach you how to make pizza dough from scratch," Teresa smiled warmly as she went towards her husband.
"Oh, yay!" I clapped my hands in excitement.
"Damn woman," Ian chuckled. "You start making pizza from scratch and I'm gonna have to marry you on the spot,"
I couldn't help but blush a little, but then Teresa's next comment got me blushing like a maniac.
"Why don't you just get married here?" she said.
Ian and I turned our heads to her instinctively. I looked up at him, and he looked down at me, awkwardly.
"Uh..." he trailed.
"It's a great idea, you know?" Mr. Rossi added. With a playful smile, he said, "I do enjoy having you around the university. Perhaps you should think about permanently moving here?"
"P-Permanently?" Ian gaped, possibly choking on the tortellini.
"Just kidding," Mr. Rossi waved his hand in the air and laughed. But then he stopped suddenly and winked, "But hey, it's a thought. Think about it,"
Ian and I looked at each other again in wild confusion.
"Ignore him, he's just joking," Teresa smiled, trying to diffuse the situation.
But it was too late. The idea was already planted in my head...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, so there was no school today, and Ian and I got to spend the entire day together. And not just that, Mr. Rossi's kids and grandkids were coming to visit today. We were all gonna have lunch together.
I decided to help Teresa with the lunch preparation. She taught me her secret meatball recipe while Ian and Mr. Rossi set the table. While we were cooking, Teresa filled me in on her kids and grandkids. They had four children in total, Luca, Gianna, Giovanni, and Enzo. Luca was married with two kids, Gianna just got engaged, Giovanni was coming with his girlfriend, and Enzo just had a newborn baby.
Right around 12 PM that day, we heard loud noises coming from the front door, followed by the sound of little kids yelling.
"Nonno! Nonna!"
"I miei bambini!" Teresa gasped and turned her head towards the door.
Sure enough, two kids, a girl and a boy, ran towards Teresa and she pulled them both into a hug. Behind the kids came an older couple, who must be their parents.
"Giulia, Gian, come say hello to Emma. She's from America," Teresa said to the two children.
"Hello," The two kids said to me and pulled my hand for a kiss.
"Hi, hello," I bent down and smiled at them. "Why you two are so adorable,"
They really were some of the cutest I've ever seen. Giulia who was older was only eight years old, and Gian was six.
"Luca, baby! Come here, give your mamma a kiss," Teresa said to the guy standing by the door. He opened his arms up wide and hugged his mother.
"Mamma, how are you?" he kissed her cheek and his wife followed suit. "Papa!" he shouted when he saw Mr. Rossi coming in from the backyard.
"Luca," Mr. Rossi smiled at his son, then his eyes darted to his grandkids and his smile grew wider. "Oh, it's Giulia and Gian. Hello there you two,"
"Nonno!" the kids clamored and raced towards their grandpa.
It was such a lovely sight. The family was reuniting and the little kids brought so much joy. More and more people came after that, and before we knew it, the house was full of laughs and chatters. Gianna came with her fiancée, Giovanni came with his girlfriend of three years, and Enzo came with his wife and newborn baby. Everyone was friendly and nice. It was my first time meeting Mr. Rossi's family, but they were so kind and welcoming, it felt like I was catching up with old friends.
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Spending time with the Rossi family had been amazing. The food was great, the conversations were wonderful, and drinking wine under the Tuscan sun felt like heaven. But my favorite part of the day was when I saw Ian playing with the kids. They raced and rolled around the green grass, laughing heedlessly.
There's something about watching your man interacting with children that just makes a girl's brain go dead.
I was starting to picture it in my head, having kids with Ian someday. We talked about kids. We both wanted kids. We were gonna start trying after the wedding, but now that the wedding was off, I didn't know what would happen to all those plans.
"Why don't you just get married here?" I remembered what Teresa said this morning.
That was an intriguing idea, but as much as I wanted to, that was just too impossible. Getting married in Italy wasn't gonna solve all our problems. We'd still have to come back eventually and face our parents. As long as they couldn't accept our relationship, we would forever be uncertain about our future.
Thinking about that made me sad, so I shoved the thought away, and drank some more wine instead. Gazing out to the open fields, I saw Ian playing with the kids on the grass and the smile was back on my face again.
"He's really good with kids," Pamela, the kids' mother said to me. "He'll make a great father,"
I couldn't help but smile at that comment. "I sure hope so,"
"Are you planning to have kids anytime soon?" she asked me.
"I don't know... I really want to, but..."
"But?"
I thought about what to tell her, and I settled with, "Life, you know. It's complicated," and I shrugged gingerly. I had no way of explaining everything to her without bursting into tears.
"I see," she said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "Well, I think you two will make great parents someday. I can sense the vibe, and I'm usually right about these things,"
That was probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about Ian and me. I smiled brightly at her, and asked, "You really think so?"
"Oh, yes," she nodded her head reassuringly. Pamela then got up and took the wine glass with her. That was my wine glass, but she probably mistook it for hers.
Moms. They're probably too busy to care about whose wine they're drinking.
But still, what she said just now stuck with me for the entire night. I was smiling from ear to ear at the thought that Ian and I would make great parents someday. Hopefully someday soon.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After dinner time, the guests went home and the house was back to its normal quiet self. Teresa had called in the maid to help clean up, and she insisted that Ian and I should just go and rest.
Back in our room, Ian and I made small talk as we cuddled in bed. Ian looked about ready for sleep, he was yawning a lot, but I was still feeling chatty. I didn't realize I was talking so much, Ian ended up falling asleep on me. I thought about going to bed too, but as the night wore on, I found myself having trouble falling asleep. It had been a long day, and I should be tired, but my mind was still racing.
Meanwhile, Ian was fast asleep next to me. He must be exhausted after playing tag and chasing those kids around the garden. This was the first time I had seen Ian interacting with little kids. I must say, that only made him ten times sexier than before.
If only he's not asleep, I'd like to play a little game of tag of our own.
Since I really couldn't sleep, I decided to get my diary from the bedside table and started writing my thoughts.
July 7th 2021,
Dear Diary,
Today I was reminded of my family. I miss my mom and dad. Ian must miss his mom as well. Mom and dad are still not talking to me. I've sent them a lot of messages and emails, I tried explaining things to them, and I asked if we could talk on the phone, but there were no replies.
When I saw Mr. Rossi's family today, I felt so happy, but also so sad. I could only wonder if I'm gonna have what he has someday. I wish I could.
Please tell me that I could.
Sincerely,
Emma.
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"Hey, why are you still up?" I heard Ian's voice and I turned around to see him watching me. He must've woken up.
"Nothing... I'm just... thinking," I said as I put the diary away and cuddled back to him.
"What are you thinking about?" he sighed and wrapped me tightly in his arms.
"Well... we saw Sergio and Teresa and how amazing they are with their kids and grandchildren... I just... I can't help but want what they have," I admitted.
"We will have all that, baby girl," he said as he stroked my hair gently. "Someday, we're gonna live in a house with a big backyard and we'll have our kids and grandkids over for Sunday brunch..."
"We will?" I beamed up at him.
"Absolutely," he said matter-of-factly. "We'll have three kids. They each will have two kids. So we'll have six grandchildren. You'll make them a mean pasta dish and everyone will be there,"
Everyone?
"What about our parents...?" I asked cautiously.
He let out a long sigh and raked his hair with his hand. "They'll come around, baby girl. Once they see how good we are together, they'll come around,"
"You really think so?"
"Of course. They love you and they only want what's best for you," he said, pausing for a beat before continuing, "They're just having trouble accepting the fact that I am what's best for you,"
There was a glint of pain and frustration in his eyes as he said those words, but he quickly shook it off. He took a deep breath and his eyes softened. Then he leaned down and planted a tender kiss on my forehead, as if to say that everything was gonna be okay.
"Ian, how are you so calm about all this?" I said as I snuggled deeper into his chest.
"About what?"
"About our families disagreeing with us. Don't you feel bad? Don't you miss them?"
"I don't know about feeling bad. I don't know why I have to feel bad for being happy with you," he sighed. "I mean, sure, I miss my mom and all, but she's the one that needs time to think and accept everything. I've done the best that I could to explain my side of the story to her. Now the ball's in her court,"
Tilting my face up to his, he then asked, "You miss your parents, don't you?"
"A little bit," I nodded meekly.
His eyes turned somber as he said, "I'm sorry,"
"No, you don't have to apologize," I shook my head at him. "You're right. We've done everything we could. The ball's in their court now,"
"Yeah," he breathed softly, his hand went to caress my cheek. "All we can do now is wait and hope for the best,"
Ian pulled me tighter into his arms and I felt his chest rise and fall with each breath he took. We didn't say another word after that. Ian had drifted back to sleep. I felt safe and warm in his arms, but no matter how hard I shut my eyes closed, I just couldn't fall asleep.
It had been two weeks since we left and mom and dad were still giving me the silent treatment. I didn't believe that my mom and dad would cut me off so easily. I missed them a lot. I wanted to know how they were doing and what they were up to. I wanted to tell them about Italy and how great everything was here.
With that thought in mind, my hand instinctively went to my phone. I moved slowly and carefully as to not wake Ian up. My parents were on Facebook, so I figured I could do a little stalking and see if they had updated anything. But as I opened the Facebook app, I saw a bright red mark on the corner and it said:
1 new notification (Elliott wants to send you a message).
- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -