‘I admit to needing help in that department.’
‘In being romantic?’
‘Si.’
‘Lesson one.’ I smile widely. ‘Close your eyes so you can’t see what a mess I look.’
‘No, I’m not closing my eyes when they have been starved of you for two weeks. And you look incredible.’
‘Still exquisite?’ I ask, my eyes wide with teasing pessimism.
‘Si.’ He strokes his fingers along my jaw and cups my head in his hands as he studies me intently, the amber flecks in his gaze glinting with emotion. ‘Molto bella.’
My eyes well up, the pain of the last two weeks fading in the warmth of his love and acceptance of his love.
‘Lesson two...’ I whisper.
‘Si?’
‘Kiss me.’
I glimpse the joy in his smile seconds before his lips brush over mine and I tremble in his hold.
‘Ti amo, Faye.’ He whispers against my lips and kisses me again. ‘Ti amo molto.’
I fork my hands through his damp hair and hold him to me as I look up into his eyes. ‘I could listen to you say that for ever.’
‘Then it’s a good job I plan on telling you every day for the rest of my life,’ he murmurs. ‘If you’ll listen to it.’
‘I can go one better than just listening.’
‘You can?’
‘Si.’ I smile softly. ‘Ti amo, Rafael. Ti amo molto.’
And then I kiss him back with all the love blooming wild inside, knowing that I have all I could ever wish for in my arms right now.
I don’t need marriage, I don’t need a ring to bind us, I just need this...
Our love.
EPILOGUE
Five years later, Castello d’Amore, Tuscany
‘EDUARDO, COME HERE this minuto!’
I chuckle at Faye. I can’t help it. ‘You know it’s better for him if you say it in one language or the other, cara mia. If you mix it up, heaven knows what he’ll learn.’
She turns to look at me, her skin flushed, her eyes as bright and beautiful as ever, especially in the silver gown that makes her eyes appear more ethereal, her skin more bronzed, her baby bump more pronounced. She radiates sunshine and happiness and I swear my chest is fit to burst with pride.
‘Stop preaching to me about using our languages correctly and start helping, Raf. We’re going to be late.’
‘Don’t be silly. How can we be late? We are the hosts.’
‘It’s your mother’s wedding! The mayor is a busy man; we can’t expect him to hang about waiting for our papàtino to actually put on some clothes.’
I chuckle harder and pull her in for a chaste kiss that causes a loud, ‘Eww!’ to erupt from waist-high. Eduardo has returned.
‘See, all we had to do is kiss and he would come running.’
We both look down to find our naked boy scrunching up his eyes tightly. ‘Not looking.’
‘Can you not look and get dressed at the same time?’ Faye murmurs down at him.
‘It’s hot. Too hot.’
‘Yes,’ I say. ‘But you can’t go to Nonna’s special day dressed in your underpants, and you also can’t do that special job I gave you, either.’
He peeks at me out of one eye. ‘The special job?’
‘Si.’ I nod, my eyes wide as I encourage him to remember.
‘You want me to do that now?’
‘I think it might be nice.’
Faye frowns at me and mouths ‘Job?’
I just grin as Eduardo runs off. ‘You’ll see.’
He’s back in minutes, his trousers on, his shirt done up all wonky and only one sock on. But it’s a start.
I grin down at him. His skin is flushed from exertion, his eyes so like his mother’s, his skin the colour of mine. My chest swells ever more with pride. ‘You got it?’
He nods his head rapidly, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. ‘Si.’
‘Rafael?’ Faye drawls. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Well, since Eduardo has the all-important task of being ring-bearer for Nonna today, I thought he could have a practice run with us first.’
Her frown wavers as she looks from me to our boy, her eyes starting to well.
‘That’s your cue, Eduardo...’ I whisper, placing my hand on his shoulder.
‘But we need to kneel, Papà,’ he says to me. ‘I read about it on the internet.’
I chuckle and Faye laughs shakily.
‘I think you’re right.’ I ruche up my right trouser leg and lower my left to the ground as our boy mimics me, taking the ring box from behind his back and opening it up.
‘Mamma, will you make Papà and me very happy and...?’ He looks at me, his frown scrunching up his entire face.
I mouth agree and he nods quickly, his grin as big as his face as he offers the box.
‘Agree! To getting married?’
We both stare up at her imploringly and she is shaking with joy, with laughter. ‘How can I say no to a proposal as romantic as that?’
‘Eww, I’m not romantic!’ our boy pipes up.
She ruffles his hair. ‘You will be one day!’
‘And your answer?’ I say.
We’ve talked about it many, many times, but there was no rush and, having been married before, it wasn’t top of her priorities. But with a wedding in the air and the wish to share the same name as our son, our unborn child too...
‘I say you no longer need lessons in how to be romantic, Rafael.’
‘No?’
‘No. I think you’ve graduated with honours.’
‘And?’
‘And, yes! Si...yes.’ She cups my face and lowers her lips to mine for a chaste kiss. ‘It would make me the happiest woman and...’ she turns her attention to our son and kisses him too ‘...the happiest mother alive.’
Which is lucky, since Eduardo is already trying to shove the ring on her pinkie.
‘Wrong finger, Papàtino,’ I say. ‘Maybe I should do this bit.’
‘Si, Papà.’ He shoves the ring and the box into my hands and runs from the room.
‘Hey! Where are you going?’
‘I’m going before there’s any more kissy-wissy stuff.’
We both laugh and as I slip the ring on Faye’s finger I look down into her eyes and the words flow from me. ‘Tu mi completi.’
‘And you complete
