Filed to story: Bound by Honor (Aria & Luca) Drama Story
“She can scream like a little fury,” I said with a small laugh. “She’ll drive us crazy soon enough.”
“Ohh, I have no doubt about that.”
We watched her a little while longer before we returned to our bedroom with the baby monitor and fell asleep almost instantly.
The next morning, Aria and Luca already sat at the breakfast table when we dragged our asses down. We joined them, Isa wedged on my hip. She was clingy this morning, maybe because of our separation last night or maybe because she was caught up in some kind of development phase. I didn’t try to let mom guilt overwhelm me. If I wanted to stay sane and protect my marriage, Matteo and I needed the occasional day or evening off.
After some fussing, I finally managed to get Isa to recline into her baby seat and sank down on the chair beside her.
Cradling her still flat pregnant belly, Aria had an expression of utmost baby bliss on her face as she watched my daughter. I stifled a laugh. My sister was the born mother. No wonder she couldn’t understand that Matteo and I didn’t want more of these little poop machines. She gave me a sheepish smile when she noticed my attention. I winked at her.
“Do you think Lily and Romero will join us tonight? We haven’t had dinner together since we both gave birth,” I said.
Aria gave a delicate shrug. Matteo of course was less restrained. “Even if they come over, I doubt Liliana can tear herself away from admiring the little poop machine.”
“They have two, I doubt Sara is out of diapers yet,” Luca commented.
Aria sent both men reprimanding looks. “Lily is a very caring mother.”
Matteo’s cough sounded remarkably like a cluck.
“What does that make me, a cuckoo?” I joked. Isa laughed as if she could understand what was going on. For a second, I felt horrible because I had almost become the cuckoo to drop her off with Aria. She would have had the perfect life with my sister, but I couldn’t imagine giving her away anymore.
Aria looked flustered. “Of course not. I just don’t want us to make Lily feel bad for being a bit over caring with Flavio. Every mother handles the newborn phase differently.”
“All right, Dalai-L’Aria,” Matteo said with a wink.
She pointed her fork at him. “Remember you’ll need to be on my good side if you and Gianna want more couple time.”
“As if you could ever say no to them, if they ask you for a favor,” Luca muttered.
I stifled a laugh at the caught look Aria gave him.
Lily and Romero actually joined us in the Hamptons with their kids that afternoon, and even had an almost adult-only dinner (if you didn’t count Marci and Amo) with us. The rest of the kids were already asleep. It almost felt like old times, apart from Marci’s pouty-face because Luca had told her to turn her music down in less than favorable words for the band members. He’d compared their songs to castrated cats. Amo of course couldn’t shut up about castrated cats since then, making mew sounds all the time to provoke Marci.
Lily was a bit jumpy whenever Flavio made the slightest sound or even when the baby monitor only let out a crackle but apart from that, we had a pleasant dinner. We even chatted about more than diapers and spew incidents. I grinned at Matteo. Old Gianna and new Mom-Gianna could co-exist peacefully.
Chapter Thirteen
Gianna
We fell into a good routine and eventually I really thought I’d mastered motherhood while also keeping up my classes in the gym. Of course, Aria’s warning that especially the first year could be a constant up and down proved right.
At five months, Isa was teething and absolutely intolerable most days. I was torn between worry and pity over her red cheeks. Yet, my worst enemy was exhaustion.
Matteo and I decided to spend a few days in the Hamptons to come down. The ocean air usually calmed Isa but even that was barely working. Aria and Luca had stayed in New York because Aria had a pregnancy checkup and Amo some kind of neck-breaking dirt race. I still wasn’t sure how Amo and Luca had convinced Aria to let him choose this insane hobby. Probably Luca’s argument that he needed to harden the boy for the mob had worked its magic.
It was late in the evening while Matteo was out to grab us food at our favorite place when Isa had a particularly bad crying episode.
Eventually I began to cry as well, overwhelmed and doubting myself and my decision to become a mother. Aria would have been the better choice.
I was rocking Isa, trying to calm her down when heavy steps rang out. I let out a surprised cry when Luca suddenly appeared in the doorway to the nursery.
I was only in Matteo’s shirt and I wasn’t even sure if I was wearing underwear.
“Aria decided to spend a few days here,” he said carefully.
“What about that race?” I said, trying to pretend I wasn’t a crying mess.
“It was in the afternoon. We drove here right after.”
“I guess it’s Aria’s sixth sense,” I said with a forced laugh. “She could feel I didn’t have my shit together and came to the rescue.”
Luca nodded, still watching me. “She’s downstairs, trying to settle an argument between Amo and Marcella.”
Isa let out a particularly loud wail, her cute face becoming a grimace.
Luca approached me as if I were a spooked horse. “Let me hold her for a bit.” In the past, I would have chewed his ear off for the commanding tone but I was glad for his presence. He gently took Isa from me.
“I don’t even remember if I put on panties,” I said miserably.
Luca regarded me. “Don’t worry, I won’t lift that shirt to find out. I saw you down there once, that’ll last for a lifetime.”