Destined to Love (Starting Over Trilogy Book 3) (17 page)

“Beauty, Vincent called me and said she wants to come home now. He is having a hard time keeping her in bed as it is.”

“I had no idea,” I say, eating the last piece of bacon on my plate. “The house isn’t ready yet. Do we have any plans for today?” I say, looking to Mason.
 

“You need to meet with Vincenzo about something he made for Junior at noon. I thought you could stay at the house while I go and pick Brea up from the hospital and bring them home. That way, you’ll have time to put the finishing touches on the house.”
 

“Finishing touches, I have more than finishing touches to do. I’ll shower as soon as I help clean up.”
 

“Angel, we’ll clean up, and you go and get ready.” Josephine smiles.

“What are your plans today? Do you want to go with us to Vincent and Brea’s house?”
 

“Oh, no, Pumpkin, that sounds like too much fun for us.” Aunt Maria laughs. “Josephine and I are going to play bingo at the church this morning.”
 

“Oh, that’s nice. Did you drive over here this morning?”
 

“Josephine and I were having coffee this morning when Mason called and asked if I was ready for him to come and get me. Josephine didn’t have anything planned for today, so we thought we would come over here and have breakfast with you two before we went to bingo.”
 

“I’m so glad you did. Bingo sounds like fun. I didn’t know you played bingo,” I say honestly.
 

“Oh, yes, I love playing Bingo. It’s so exciting to yell ‘Bingo.’ You and Mason need to come with us one day.”
 

 
I look over at Mason and he has his brow raised, shaking his head at me.

“We would love to. The sooner the better.” I laugh.
Bingo, I got him,
I think to myself.

Once I have showered, I say my goodbyes to Josephine and Aunt Maria. Mason and I pick up a few items from the store before we head over to Brea and Vincent’s new house. The house is busy with Brea’s sisters running the sweeper and mopping. Vincenzo, John, Doris, and Selena are up in the nursery, so Mason and I go up there.
 

Vincenzo is placing the handmade wooden baby cradle near the master bed. He swings it lightly to check for squeaks and to make sure it swings smoothly. I let out an
‘aww’ and he looks up at me and smiles.

My eyes tear up. “That is so beautiful. I can’t believe you made that by hand.” I walk over to the cradle and swing it softly. A small music box inside the cradle plays “Jesus Loves Me.”

Selena and Doris also have tears in their eyes. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Selena says.

“Oh, it is. I had no idea how talented you are,” I say, looking over at Vincenzo.

“At one time I would have stained it; but now they say that the fumes from the stain are bad for the baby. I like the natural wood color,” he says, swinging the cradle again.

“I love it just like it is; I think it’s perfect.”
 

Mason clears his throat and asks, “Has Vincent called yet?”
 

“Hi, Mason. He called and said they’ll be ready at three.”
 

I look at my watch, “I better get busy.”
 

I head into the nursery and get a clean cradle-sized sheet from the dresser with a soft blue blanket. I go to the cradle and wind up the small music box again. After making the bed, I re-position the cradle so it will be perfect for them to view upon entry into the bedroom. Everyone leaves, and Mason walks up behind me and hums, “Jesus Loves Me.” I stand and lean back into him. I love his singing and move slightly side to side with the music.

“We could have this as ‘our song’ at
our
wedding,” he laughs.

I turn around to face him, “As much as I love this song, we need something a little more romantic. I was hoping you would sing to me at our wedding.”

He laughs, “So you can insult me again? Never. What was that you said earlier? I sounded like I was making racket and was off key?”
 

“It was racket and you
were
off key,” I lie. “We are getting married at nighttime so you’ll have time to condition your throat or voice, or whatever it is people condition.”

“Mmm, I do like the song
‘Brickhouse’ by the Commodores. Have you ever heard it? With practice I may be able….” 

“Oh, no, you don’t. Don’t even joke about that.” I laugh.

“Would I do that to you?”
 

“Um, yeah. Yeah, I do believe you would. Don’t you have someone to pick up at the hospital?”
 

Mason leans down to kiss me before he leaves. “I do need to get going. I’ll be home shortly with the Salvatore family.”

“Drive safely and hurry. I can’t wait to get my hands on Arturo.”

Mason smiles and walks out the room singing “Brickhouse” by the Commodores.

I laugh and he looks back at me and winks before he disappears down the hallway.

Mason gets the base of the car seat fastened correctly in the center of the backseat of Vincent’s truck. Sara, Sylvia, and Donovan pull up and Donovan rides to the hospital with Mason. Everyone else stays behind and gets the house and some food ready for Arturo’s homecoming. Selena and Doris strategically places hand sanitizer throughout the house.
Good thinking
. 

Sara and I do a walkthrough of the house and it looks amazing. Hard to believe we did all this in a matter of two days. It’s wonderful to have so many people pitching in to help. I am so blessed to be part of this amazing group of people, of this family. I look at my watch.

“We should start getting the food ready.”
 

“I think they already did that,” Sara says as she walks down the stairs with me.
 

I hear a truck pull up outside and my heart begins to beat a little faster. I am so excited to see them.

“Oh, my God, they are already here,” Sara squeals.

I run down the stairs, trying to keep up with Sara. The front door is already standing open. We walk out onto the front porch to join everyone already out there. Everyone is smiling and waving as the truck stops. The grandfathers are already in the yard waiting to assist Brea and carry her suitcase.
 

John helps Brea get out of the tall truck. She is wearing
sweat pants
and a tee shirt. She looks amazing. Her red hair is in a high ponytail and she has her makeup done perfectly. She stands tall and waits for John to get the baby out of the truck. Vincent takes the baby from John, and they walk up the front porch together. I stand there with my mouth open.

“What’s wrong with you?”
 

“Nothing, you look amazing.”

“Thanks, I feel great.”
 

“That didn’t hurt?”
 

“What? Birth?”
 

“Yeah, birth.”
 

“Oh, that hurt like a bitch. Vincent will be lucky if we ever share a bed together again.
But
we do have an amazing son out of it.” 

Laughing, I follow her inside.

“Wow, this place looks amazing. I was shocked when Mason said we were coming here.”

Vincent and Brea look around and smile.

“This is amazing. You guys must have worked non-stop to get everything done on time. Vincent and I can’t thank you enough,” Brea says, wiping the tears from her cheek.
 

“Please tell me you didn’t bring Vincent’s nasty recliner.” Brea looks around the house.
 

“Sure did, we put it in his mancave.” Mason laughs.

Vincent turns around, “Mancave, I have a mancave? Hell, yeah!” He grins.
 

“Vincent, you do not have a mancave,” Brea says sternly.
 

“Brea, this house is twice as big as our other one. Most of what I didn’t get rid of before you moved in, you got rid of when you got there. All I want is a room: one room and my chair. You can have the rest of the house to do with as you wish.”
 

“One room and your stinky chair stays in there.”
 

Vincent walks over and hugs her, “That is why I love you.”
 

He thought,
I’m glad Brea doesn’t know about my collection of vintage Ramones tee shirts and torn blue jeans. I’ll start wearing them soon, I hope … after Brea stops being embarrassed when I hear her fart.
 

“Do you want to see the nursery?” I ask Brea, excitedly.

“You had time to do the nursery?”
 

“I’ve been working on it for a few days. Vincent wanted it done, first.”
 

She looks up at Vincent, “You did?”
 

He winks at her. “I wanted our son to have a place to sleep, and I didn’t want you to worry about getting it ready.”
 

“Let’s go see it. I haven’t seen what it looks like yet,” Vincent says, looking at Brea.
 

“I hope you like it. I think I may have maxed out your credit card. The last transaction declined,” I say.
 

Vincent stops dead in his tracks and his face falls.
 

I walk past him. “Come on, I’m just kidding.”

Vincent kisses the baby and hands the baby off to Vincenzo before we walk up the stairs. Mason and I wait while Vincent and Brea walk into the master bedroom first.
 

“This is our room. I want to see the nursery first,” Brea says softly.
 

Vincent opens the door and turns on the light. Mason and I follow behind them. The handmade cradle is beside the bed. Brea lets out a cry and Vincent walks her over to it.

“Did your Dad do this?” she asks, sitting on the edge of the bed and rocking the cradle side to side.

“He did.” Vincent reaches inside and turns the music box on. It plays “Jesus Loves Me” and she cries again.
 

Mason wraps his arm around me and holds me to him. I rest my hand on his shoulder and watch Brea and Vincent. They are so sweet together. He touches her gingerly as she cries.

“It’s all right, cupcake.”
 

“Is that grandma’s music box?”
 

“Your Mom wanted Arturo to have it.”
 

Brea sniffles and continues to cry.

“Do you want to see the nursery?” Vincent asks.

“I thought this was the surprise. Vincent, I want Arturo to sleep in here with us. If his nursery is down the hall, that will be too far away. I won’t hear him cry all the way down there.”

Vincent stands and takes Brea’s hands without saying a word. She stands as she clings to him. They walk the short distance around the corner of the room to the sitting area. Mason and I follow quietly.

Vincent opens the door and turn on the light switch. The pale blue lamp with the sailboat lampshade gives the room a soft glow. The baby bed is placed on the left side of the room with the changing table beside it. To the right corner of the room is a white plush oversized rocking chair and ottoman. Above the large bay window is a pale blue valance with more sailboats. The window was left untreated, as Vincent requested. He wanted the baby to have a view of the wooded land and wildlife behind the house. The baby bedding is also done in sailboats along with a matching mobile. Brea walks over and winds the mobile up. It plays “Jesus Loves Me.” I look up at Mason and he shrugs. That isn’t the song it played when I bought it. Brea starts to cry and Vincent holds her. She walks around the room looking at all the pictures of her and Vincent in the picture frames that are scattered around the room. There are even some pictures of Arturo that Vincent took.
 

Brea turns around and hugs me. “I love it! I love everything!”
 

“Good, I was afraid you wouldn’t. Maybe it wasn’t childish enough or young enough for him.”

“Are you kidding, the way Vincent loves to sail? This is perfect.”
 

Mason
 

The next couple weeks Angel fills in at the insurance company while Brea is on maternity leave. She also meets with Marilyn, her new client, a few times a week and stores specialty items in the garage that comes in for Marilyn’s lanai. The renovation needs to be completed in three weeks. Angel stresses about making the deadline, although everything she has ordered has arrived on time.

The condo sold, so I will be closing on that next week. Madison got more than I expected out of it, so I couldn’t be happier. I am also glad it sold in such a short amount of time.

Brea, Vincent, and Arturo mostly stay home. Her sisters and parents have returned to Ohio so Brea and Vincent are trying to get into a routine as a family. We have stopped over with dinner a few times and occasionally call to offer support.

Tonight Angel and I are meeting Sara, Donovan, and Emma, who is the new girl at the insurance company, at Geicko’s
for dinner and drinks. Angel likes Emma and is excited for me to meet her.