Читать книгу A Forever Family Collection - Коллектив авторов - Страница 19

Three months later

USING THE FRONT door key she’d been given, Belle let herself and Concetta inside the palazzo. She’d put her adorable baby in the stroller. “Mom? We’re here!”

No answer. That was odd. After Sullisto had left for the bank, her mother had called asking her to come over. Luciana wanted help putting the finishing touches on the birthday party she was planning for Leon’s father that evening.

“Mom? Where are you?” She walked through the house, pushing Concetta. “Hmm, maybe she’s out in the garden picking flowers. Let’s go find your grandmother.”

Belle was dying to talk to her mom and was thankful for the excuse to come over now. Leon had arranged for an early business meeting so he could get home in good time for the party, so she was free.

The housekeeper saw her in the hallway. “Buon giorno, Belle. Your mamma is still in the bed.”

Uh-oh. That didn’t sound like her mother. “Grazie, Violeta.”

Belle pushed the stroller through the house to the master suite. She opened the door. “Mom?”

“Come in the bedroom, darling.”

Curious, Belle hurried on through and found a slightly pale version of her beautiful mother lying against the pillows. “You’re sick, aren’t you.”

“Not the kind I can give to Concetta. It’s a good kind.”

A good kind of sick?

What? All of a sudden Belle got it. She gazed down at her mother. “You’re pregnant!”

“Yes…”

Belle sank down on the side of the bed. “Does Sullisto know?”

“No. He thinks I’ve got a bug of some kind.”

“You do!” They both started laughing and then Belle hugged her mother in happiness. They stared hard at each other. “After all this time…” Belle looked at the baby. “Did you hear that, Concetta? In about seven months you’re going to get a new aunt or uncle.”

The two of them laughed for joy again before Luciana’s eyes filled with tears. “It took finding you, darling. That’s what the doctor said. You don’t know how much I’ve wanted us to have a baby together, even if I am forty-two. You know, to cement things. This morning Sullisto almost didn’t leave for work. I had to beg him to go.”

Belle could relate, which was a change for her where Leon was concerned. But this wasn’t the time to confide in Luciana. “How long have you had morning sickness?”

“For a few days. I’ve sworn Violeta to secrecy.”

“Until tonight?”

“Yes. The doctor gave me some antinausea medicine. It’s already starting to work.”

“Sullisto’s going to jump out of his skin with joy.”

“I believe he will.”

“I know he will. He loves you terribly, Mom, but being a Malatesta he wants everything to be perfect.”

Her father-in-law had calmed down somewhat since Belle and Leon had come back from their honeymoon on the sandbar. But whether he’d forgiven his son for disobeying him a second time was something no one knew.

“Ah, you’ve already discovered that after being married to Leon. So tell me what’s on your mind, darling, and don’t say it’s nothing.”

Belle bit her lip. “When Concetta and I came over this morning, there was something I wanted to talk to you about, but now I can’t.”

“You mean that you’re pregnant, too?”

Her breath caught. “Oh, Mom… I think I am, but I haven’t done a home pregnancy test yet. That’s what I wanted to discuss with you.”

“I’ve suspected it since our family picnic the other day, when you couldn’t eat.”

“I didn’t realize you’d noticed. If I thought I was carrying Leon’s child…”

“Then he doesn’t suspect yet?”

“No. I’ve had a few bouts of nausea, nothing terrible yet, but lately I’m so tired.”

Her mother’s delightful laugh filled the room. “You need to test yourself right now. There’s a kit in my closet, hidden behind the shoes.”

“You’re kidding!”

“No. I bought two just in case. But the first one worked.”

“I’ll be right back.”

“While you get the official word, I’m going to entertain my granddaughter. Come here, Concetta, and give your pregnant grandmother a big kiss.”

Belle found the kit and went into the bathroom. A few minutes later she squealed for joy. Though she was barely learning the rudiments of Italian from her husband and the staff, she didn’t need to read the words to understand what the color meant. She ran into the bedroom to show her mother.

“Congratulations, darling! Now that everything’s official, we’ll make our announcements tonight.”

“We can’t do that in front of Pia, Mom. It will hurt her too much.”

“No, it won’t. I know something you don’t.”

Belle blinked in shock and took the baby from her. “Are you teasing me?”

“No. She told me yesterday.”

Yesterday… Belle was so excited, she could hardly stand it. “Does she know about you?”

“Yes, but our husbands don’t know yet. Obviously, yours doesn’t, either.” Her mother flashed a secretive smile. “We decided to make this a real surprise party tonight. To know you’re pregnant, too… Three in one family at the same time has to be some kind of world record.”

“I agree. How do you want to handle it?”

“I think it should be something that shocks our husbands. You know how they love to be in control at all times. It’s a Malatesta trait. Don’t you think it would be fun just this once to throw them off base?”

She had an imp in her that Belle would never have guessed was there. “There’s nothing I’d love more.” She’d been standing by a window that overlooked the maze. Suddenly her brain started reeling with possibilities. “In fact, I’ve got an idea. First we’re going to need poster board and hundreds of yards of ribbon in three colors.”

“What on earth do you have in mind, darling?”

“A game. We love games, don’t we, Concetta.” She kissed her daughter’s cheeks. “This one is going to be for all the men in the family to play. But this game will be different, because each man will end up getting the prize he’s always wanted.”

After a successful business meeting, Leon rushed home early to be with his family. The party wasn’t scheduled to start for an hour and a half. That would give him enough time to enjoy his wife while his daughter had her nap. Up until this morning, when Belle had stayed asleep, she’d always been so loving and responsive, he knew he was the luckiest man on earth.

Disappointment washed over him in waves when he walked in and Simona informed him that everyone had left for the palazzo hours ago. The news hit him like a body blow. He’d been longing to lie in Belle’s arms and forget the world for a little while. She made him feel immortal.

As he took the stairs two at a time to the master bedroom, he realized how empty the villa was without them. The thought of no Belle, his creative, adorable wife, was anathema to him.

All Leon had to do was shower and shave. He and Dante had gone in on a gift for their father. Sullisto had mislaid his old watch and hadn’t found it yet, so they’d bought him a new one with their names engraved in it. Dante would be bringing it to the party.

For the occasion Leon had bought himself a new, light gray suit. Belle had told him several times how much she liked him in gray, the color of his eyes. Hating the silence of the house, he hurriedly dressed, and drove to the palazzo at a speed over the limit. He never drove this fast with Belle and Concetta, but he was in a hurry to see them.

When he pulled up in front, he saw his father and brother waiting for him in the courtyard, dressed in what looked like new suits. Leon levered himself from the driver’s seat.

“Buon compleanno, Papà.” He kissed him on both cheeks. “What’s going on? Why are you out here?”

“We’ve been given our instructions, Leonardo.” Sullisto didn’t sound in the least happy.

Dante’s dark brows lifted. “We were told to stay out here, and that when you got here, we were to go to the entrance of the maze to await further instructions.”

Leon chuckled. He thought he could see his playful wife’s hand in this somewhere. “Where’s my family?”

“They’re all inside,” his father muttered, looking flustered. “Let’s get this foolishness over with.”

“It is your birthday, Papà.”

“You’re just going to have to be a good sport even if you are a year older,” Dante teased.

They headed through the vine-covered gate to the maze. “I told Luciana I didn’t want any fuss,” Sullisto grumbled.

When they reached the entrance, there was a sign in Italian. Start Following Your Ribbon. Red for Sullisto, Yellow for Dante and Blue for Leon. Don’t Open Your Prizes When You Find Them. Bring Them to the Terrace, Where More Festivities Will Ensue.

Hmm. A prize. Just what did Leon’s wife have in store for him? For the first time in years he got the kind of excited feeling he used to get as a child when his mother hid something they wanted, and they had to find it. He put a hand on his father’s shoulder. “You go first, Papà.”

“For the love of heaven,” Sullisto mumbled.

With a grin, Dante followed him.

Leon brought up the rear. The ribbons led them on such a serpentine route, he started laughing. Dante joined in. Their father had gone on ahead and had disappeared. He just wanted to get the game over with.

“This is one game we never played in here,” his brother quipped.

“Nope.” And Leon knew why. Belle hadn’t grown up with them. Her advent in his life had changed his entire world. “I guess this is where we part company. My ribbon has taken off in a new direction. See you in a minute.”

“Call out if you get lost.”

“That’ll be the day, little brother.”

Leon kept going until he came to a small package on the ground tied up with the end of the ribbon. Picking it up, he followed the ribbon back to the opening of the maze. Pretty soon his father emerged with an identical package.

“I think Dante must have gotten lost.”

“I heard that, big brother.” In the next breath Dante made his appearance with his own package.

Sullisto muttered, “I hope this is the end of the games. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”

The three of them walked around to the terrace with the ribbons trailing behind.

“Careful you don’t trip on those,” Luciana called out from the table, looking particularly radiant in an ice-blue dress. “Happy birthday, my darling husband.”

Pia sat next to her in a stunning pink outfit.

Leon’s gaze sought his wife, who was wearing a gorgeous purple dress with spaghetti straps. She was so beautiful he almost dropped his package.

Luciana smiled at all of them. “As soon as you open your gifts, we’ll eat.”

Her smile was like the cat who’d swallowed the proverbial canary. Something was going on….

Leon opened his package. Inside was a small oblong box containing a home pregnancy device, of all things. His heart thundered in his chest before he even looked inside it. Belle’s cobalt eyes had found his. They resembled blue fires, telling him everything that was in her heart.

It came to him then that everyone on the terrace had gone silent. When he looked around, he saw that both his brother and his father held similar boxes in their hands, and were totally dumbstruck.

Sullisto raised his head and looked at Luciana. “We’re pregnant?” he whispered in awe.

“Yes, darling. It finally happened.”

The look on his father’s face was one Leon would never forget.

Pia’s beaming countenance told its own story as she eyed Dante with loving eyes. “That trip to Florence,” she reminded him.

Suddenly pandemonium struck.

Leon dropped the box and gravitated to his wife, pulling her from the seat into his arms.

“Concetta won’t be an only child,” she said against his lips. “I hope you’re happy, Leon.”

“Happy?” he cried. “Ti amo, amore mio. Ti amo!” He kissed her long and hard.

It was in this euphoric condition that he heard his father tap the crystal goblet in front of him with a fork to get their attention. Everyone broke apart and sat down while Sullisto remained standing. He lifted his wineglass toward Belle.

He had to clear his throat several times. “To my wife’s firstborn, who came like an angel from across the ocean to bless the Houses of Malatesta and Donatello forever and make us all one.”

“Hear, hear,” an ecstatic Dante echoed, raising his glass.

Leon gripped Belle’s thigh beneath the table with one hand, and picked up his wineglass with the other. “Amen and amen.”