Getting pregnant so quickly definitely changed our plans, but in the end, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can study from home, doing an online degree that is accredited by the college I would have attended anyway, and I get to be with my husband and my baby daughter every day of the week. Not only that but here in beautiful Rome, in Marco’s villa. Our villa, now.
I ladle out the steaming spaghetti, now cooked to perfection, and busy myself with serving it up. The perfect amount of sauce, a few sprinkles of herbs for dressing, and the meatballs perched neatly on top of it all. By the time Marco comes back downstairs in more casual clothing, I’m carrying two full plates to the table, as well as a small bowl of mush for Simona.
“What’s this?” Marco says, with an amused smile. “Spaghetti?”
“Not just any spaghetti,” I tell him, with a proud smile. I can’t help it – I’ve been waiting to show this off for a while. “I finally managed to convince Mamma Luccio to show me how to make her famous sauce.”
Marco’s eyes widen. “This is the Bolognese?”
“The very one,” I tell him, grinning as we take our seats.
“Wait,” Marco says, hesitating with his fork poised above his dinner, clearly eager to get started on it. “This is a special meal.”
“I like to think so,” I tell him.
“But there is no special occasion, is there?” he asks, narrowing his eyes. “There’s no anniversary, no one’s birthday, no special holiday…”
“No, not yet,” I say. “But it is still a special occasion.”
“Why’s that?” Marco puts his fork back down on the table. I have his full attention now. Beside us, in her high chair, Simona gurgles and smashes her spoon into the mush of her food.
“Because I have something to tell you,” I say, reaching for Simona’s tiny hand – a gesture which she does not appreciate, throwing me off immediately so that she can continue playing with her food. I look back at Marco and see him with wide eyes, waiting expectantly. I can’t keep him on pins and needles anymore. With a laugh, I give in. “I’m pregnant again.”
There’s a pause as Marco takes in the news, and then he leaps to his feet with a roar of joy, raising his fists in the air as if his football team just scored a goal. “We’re having another baby?” he cries, grabbing me by the hands.
“Yes,” I tell him, getting to my feet so that he can pick me up and spin me around.
The kitchen, my baby, my husband, all fly by in a whirl of colors, so quickly I can’t see a single thing. But it doesn’t matter. I could tell them all by heart, every line, and every dimple. Because this is my heart. My family, my home.
And I couldn’t be any happier if I tried – I’m sure if I was, I would burst.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Marco
“So, this is the famous Luccio’s,” Hannah’s mother, Tina, says, looking around the place.
“Yes, it is,” I laugh. “One of our favorite haunts in Rome. You’re going to love the food.”
“Oh, we know that,” Simon laughs. “Hannah’s told us enough times.”
I look over at my beautiful wife, who is having some trouble corralling our three-year-old, Simona, and little Graziana. The two girls are both feisty, always looking for attention – and when they don’t have it, they usually manage to escape and get up to no good.
I give her a hand getting the chairs set up so that Graziana can eat at the table with the rest of us without falling over. There is a moment of bustle and chaos as well get ourselves situated, and then the waitress is taking our order, and it’s a long moment before we’re settled enough to talk again.
“So, how’s the new job going?” Tina asks, looking at Hannah.
“Very well,” she says. “But my boss is kind of a drag, you know?” She rolls her eyes with an exaggerated look, and the whole table laughs.
Of course, they understand the joke. Because Hannah is working with me, assisting me in my office, putting her brand-new business degree to good use. It’s been part of our plan for a long while, but now that I finally have her by my side, it’s even better than I thought.
“She’s doing really well,” I tell her parents sincerely. “She’s giving me a run for my money, as you say. One day I will be out on the streets looking for a job because she’s taken mine.”
Laughter again and Graziana bangs excitedly on the table of her high chair, wanting to get in on the conversation.
“It’s better with the children, now, is it?” Tina asks.
“Oh, yes,” Hannah gushes. “We can both look after them now. It’s so nice, being able to share both the work and the kids’ childcare, and having the girls with us in the office as well.”
“It’s unconventional,” I admit. “But it works well. We support each other in both areas.”
“Isn’t that lovely?” Tina says, in a dreamy voice. “We should have done something like that, Simon.”
“We didn’t work in the same company,” Simon points out, shaking his head. “And this was years ago. You couldn’t do this back then.”
“Alright, alright,” Tina says, rolling her eyes, putting on the long-suffering wife tone. “I’m only saying.”
I let the conversation wash over me for a moment, turning to my left side where Simona sits. She’s already deep in concentration, coloring in a picture with the crayons provided by the waitress – or, at least, coloring on it, not much of it has gone
