Her Sicilian Arrangement (21 page)

Maria placed down the book at that time and looked at him with
a comic look to her features. “I offered to walk with her but she
refused me.”

“
I
am going to find her…”

“
Ohh-kay…” Maria slurred. Her expression describing him as
‘cuckoo’. “You need to calm down. You men are all the same during
the time of your first child.”

But
Marco was already out of the room and taking long strides through
the yard. He glanced at the gorgeous flowers that Meagan had
planted very expertly completely transforming the area into a
homier site. His eyes searched desperately until they landed on the
top of a pink cotton dress. His mouth curved into a smile and he
headed over to where she was sitting on bench, her back turned to
him. “
Mia
tesora…,”
he
murmured and placed a kiss on the side of her neck before sitting
next to her.

Her
eyes were surprised yet very loving. “What are you doing
here?”

“
What do you mean?” he asked as his hand, as if involuntarily,
started to caress her rounded stomach.

“
It’s two fifteen. You don’t get off work until
five.”

“
Well, I could not stand sitting in that office any longer. I
needed to see you. Now kiss me…”

He
said it as a command but did not even wait for her to lean in when
he pressed his mouth against hers, tasting her maternal sweetness.
She was much more beautiful with her pregnancy…her skin was like a
rare piece of silk unknown to man, her eyes brighter, and her lips
fuller and rosier. She then smiled up at him as their bodies
parted.

“
Well, I’m glad you’re here. I’ll admit it…I miss you terribly
when you’re gone.”

“
Then I shall not go back to work ever again,” he
chuckled.

“
What? I wouldn’t allow you to do that.”

“You
are right,” he sighed and stared deeply into her eyes. But then his
pair lit up with excitement. “But I will stay with you for as long
as you need me…especially after the baby is born.”

“
I
appreciate that,” she responded and then allowed him to help her up
as she struggled to her feet. “God…I feel like I weigh a
tonne!”

“You
look stunning,
mia
tesora
.” Meagan
stopped dead in her tracks suddenly as she felt a sharp pain plunge
through her stomach. She gasped frantically and looked at her
husband with wide eyes. “
Innamorata
? What is wrong?”

“
I...I…I just felt a pain…,” she muttered, gripping his hand
tightly and swallowing hard between every few words. She then
squeezed her eyes shut and moaned in anguish again. “Damn it! I
think I just peed myself!”

Marco watched her expression with astonishment and then
averted his eyes to her feet where he saw a clear liquid dribbling
down her legs. For a moment he felt as if his mind had gone
completely blank until he felt the sharpness of her fingernails in
his wrist. “The baby is coming?” he said as if he was not even sure
what was going on. Then his eyes lit up with joy. “The baby’s
coming!” He then lifted her up in his arms and before he knew it,
he was already rushing towards the house despite her arguing voice
mixed with exclamations of pain and anxiety.

Maria’s eyes widened at the sight of her brother and
sister-in-law and the book fell from her hands suddenly.
“
Dio
mio
! Is it
time?”

“Sí
!” Marco
smiled. “Call Mother. Tell her that we will be at the
hospital.”

“
Okay,” Maria breathed. “Okay! I’ll just go pick her up. Let me
get that for you…”

Maria then picked up the travelling bag that had been sitting
at the foot of the stairs for a couple weeks in case of the sudden
current occurrence. She then placed it in the back seat of Marco’s
car and watched them as he went off in the streets before sliding
into her own vehicle.

****

Maria sat on the sofa in the calm waiting room skipping
through a magazine that she had no clue what it was about and then
sighed as she watched her mother’s anxious face, Felipe’s always
optimistic expression and her father pacing across the room. She
could remember how her husband, who was away in England on
business, told her how they had all been when she had given birth
to Celine but this time she could see it for herself. Marco was in
that room with Meagan supporting her as much as he could…as he had
done ever since the beginning.

“
I
do hope she’ll have a safe child birth…,” Alessándria
muttered.

“
She
will be fine, Mother. I know it,” Felipe inputted.

Torre Mussolini ran his hand through his lovely graying hair
and sighed, “I hope so. What you should know is giving me another
grandchild.”

“
Could we not do this right now?” Maria said and then jumped to
her feet. “Look…here Marco comes.”

All
eyes averted to Marco dressed in scrubs moving towards them with
his expression blank which worried the hell out of them. “So?”
Alessandra questioned.

A
wide bright smile then covered his face. “Everything went well
and…it’s a boy!”

Joy
and happiness flooded the entire room and he watched as his family
celebrated the wonderful occasion. “Can we go see her?” Maria
said.

“
Yes. Come…”

They
were about to start walking off when Torre said, “You all go ahead.
Marco… A word with you?” So what was it now? The thought rushed
through Marco’s mind as his father, Torre Mussolini, moved with him
towards the corner near the water cooler. “Oh, Marco… Where do I
start off?” And he sighed. “You are my son…you’ll always be. And I
don’t want us to live the way that we are currently living. You’re
a father now and you’ll begin to understand why I was so protective
over you. I only wanted the best…”

Marco rubbed his chin gently. “I’m sensing an apology,
Father.”

T
orre
chuckled. “
Sí
…”

And
he smiled with the man he had so greatly admired, even though they
had so many differences in opinion. “Well, there is no need,” Marco
responded and pat his father gently on the shoulder. “You were
forgiven a long time ago…there is no sense in pursuing old
feuds,
sí
?”

“Sí
. You are
right, my son.” Torre smiled and then hugged his son. “Let’s go
look at my daughter-in-law and my first grandson.”

Marco laughed and then they both walked off side by
side.