Chapter 25—Willow
“Are you sure it’s okay that we’re coming?
” This is the third time I’ve asked. I didn’t accept his first two nods as answers while we drove out to his family’s home.
The one he grew up in, which his mom still lives in.
It’s not a long trip, but we’ve been driving a good thirty minutes out of the city so far.
“Trust me. If Mama didn’t want you there, she wouldn’t have invited you and the girls last night.”
“Maybe she was just being nice.” I turn to look at him from the passenger seat, almost pleading with him to turn the car around. But it’s not going to happen from the twinkle in his eyes. His mama would probably kill me for making him miss a family lunch anyway.
He snorts. “Not for Sunday lunch.”
“I doubt your mother turns anyone away.” I know he sees me rolling my eyes before looking out the side window.
“Do you see Marco in the car?” he asks as he takes the turnoff.
“No, but that’s because you wanted to drive.” I look back at him, waiting for him to prove his point that I’m not seeing immediately.
He nods. “Because Marco wasn’t invited.” I don’t say anything as he takes his eyes off the road and looks at me before adding, “Mama doesn’t want any competition for me.”
My mouth drops open. “No.”
He laughs at my shocked gasp.
“After yesterday, Mama has decided that despite what you or I might want, we’re meant to be. As such, no unmarried man, other than my brothers, may attend lunch today.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“That’s Mama. Ever since Milly found a man, she’s been relentless in getting the four of us boys married off. We all thought that with Tommy getting together with Payton, she would at least give us some reprieve. But it only seems to have made her want to double down.”
“So your mama thinks you and I are like… permanent?” I whisper the word with a quick glance in the back seat.
Each girl is busy in their own world. The bus games I have on hand for when we need to go somewhere for a long while are working great for the car ride.
They’re just small toys in different pouches, but Bobby claimed I was brilliant, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I took the idea from a mom group I follow on social media.
“Mama knows nothing about us. She got your name from my brother Vinny, who got it from Danny or even Tommy. Vinny’s the oldest and will throw even Mama under the bus if it would keep her from pestering him about setting a wedding date and finally settling down.”
“Because he’s the firstborn?”
He keeps nodding. “And runs the famiglia,” he adds with a side glance in my direction.
Not sure if he’s testing the waters or not with what I know.
Which isn’t much about the famiglia, but I’m smart enough to piece things together.
And if he’s talking about it, even if it’s just a little, then he must trust me or see this going somewhere long-term.
“So, your mama doesn’t know about…?” I gesture between us with a finger wave.
“No.”
I release the breath I was holding and nod while looking out the window. My mouth almost pops open again when I see the iron gate just as we pull in.
“Not yet,” he adds with a smirk and a wink my way as I glance at him before he talks quietly to the security team.
“What are they doing?” Ivy asks with a critical eye, following the men of the security team who circle our car and use mirrors to look under the carriage.
“Just making sure we aren’t bringing any unwanted visitors inside my mama’s estate,” he says easily enough while tapping the steering wheel.
“Like bugs?” Lily asks with a wrinkled nose I notice in the rearview mirror.
“Yup. Like bugs,” I say as I glance at him, and he gives me a reassuring smile.
Bombs. They’re looking for bombs. I’m not an idiot. I’ve seen enough on TV and know enough to understand why someone would check under a car. Is this something I should be worried about in all cars or just the ones going to his mother’s home?
He moves his hand from the gearshift to my leg for a brief squeeze before putting the car in Drive once the security team gives him the all clear to drive forward.
“Wow. Your mama lives in a castle,” Lily says as she gets out of the car with wide eyes.
Ivy is slower to get out. She hasn’t thrown up since before the end of my nap yesterday, and she kept Bobby’s mother’s soup down. The woman even insisted on staying to make sure Ivy took to it before leaving—though not before practically forcing me to agree to come to lunch with them today.
I help Ivy, and Bobby takes Lily’s hand as we walk as a unit to the front door.
Thank God for small blessings, as no one greets us as we enter.
I saw the cars, so I know others are here.
I can only hope Payton is one of them. A friendly face would be welcome, as I feel like I’m in the crosshairs of a firing squad.
But it’s short-lived, as four steps in, Bobby’s mother is there with a giant grin on her face, followed by the man from the elevator who Bobby said was his brother. I don’t remember his name, though.
“Willow, dear. So happy you could make it.” She grabs me into a tight hug, ignoring my stiffness, thankfully. I don’t recall the last time someone hugged me in a nurturing capacity. It leaves me frozen for a second.
“And how are my angels?” She looks at each girl. “How are you feeling, Ivy, sweetie?”
“I’m okay, Mrs. Leone,” she says with a small smile, using the name I coached the girls to use on the way over here.
“Angel, call me Nonna. And this is Bobby’s brother, Daniele.”
“Danny,” the man interjects with a nod to all of us.
“Like the restaurant?” Lily asks Mrs. Leone, pulling a laugh from me.
I attempt to cover it with a cough that no one believes. “The what, honey?” I ask.
“Nonna. Like Da Nonna Leone?”
His mother raises an eyebrow. “Oh, I guess not exactly like that. Well, you can call me Nonna or Nonna Cynthia if you find it too confusing to keep me and the restaurant separate in your head.”
“Why would I confuse you with a restaurant?” Lily asks as she looks at Cynthia, who’s the only one not laughing softly at my daughter.
“Because they both cook amazing food,” Danny says, earning a pat on the arm from his mother.
“Suck up,” Bobby coughs into his hand. “Sorry, must have something in my throat,” he says around another dramatic cough.
“Must be catching.” Danny eyes us both, and I fold my lips in and bite them to prevent a smile from forming that we both use the same tactic to poke fun at his brother.
“Come. Lunch won’t be ready for a little longer, which gives us plenty of time to eat zeppole.” Cynthia says.
“What are those?” Ivy might be skeptical of the name, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t already following Bobby’s mama into the house and down the hall.
“Fried dough,” she says with her head held high as she marches my girls away from me.
“Huh?” This from Lily.
“Donuts, kid,” Danny tells her with a wink sent my way, and I groan internally. This is going to be a very long day if they start it off with sugar.
“Hello, Willow. It’s nice to see you again,” Danny says once we’re alone. He doesn’t hold out his hand, but at least he doesn’t pretend we haven’t met before.
“You as well.”
“I have something for you.” He reaches into his suit pocket, something I note that he’s wearing even though Bobby said casual was fine for this. Even he went casual, if that’s what he calls a polo shirt and slacks. I guess Sunday brunch or church attire is what they consider casual in their family.
Thankfully, the girls each had a nice dress to wear, and I had a clean skirt. I was planning on doing laundry today, but that changed. I’ll have to do it when I get home. Thankfully, there’s a laundry unit in our apartment, so I don’t have to go two streets over like at our last place.
“You do?” Bobby is quick to grab my elbow and pull me back just an inch. Not much, but it puts him in front of me just enough that Danny smirks.
“Relax, old man. Not trying to steal her. Just giving her something she lost.”
He pulls out an envelope and hands it to me. I take it with a glance in Bobby’s direction. He lifts a single shoulder, clearly unaware of what it is, just like me.
Cautiously, I open it and peek inside. Then I pull everything out as quickly as possible.
“Oh my God. Oh my God.” I can’t stop saying it as I look at one picture and then the next and the next.
“We couldn’t recover all the photos, but of the ones we did, we cleaned up what we could. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get all of them.”
I shake my head at Danny’s words as tears flood my eyes and spill over. So many of my children’s first memories are in my hands. Pictures and events I thought were gone, only to be recalled by memory, until that also abandoned me.
“I thought I had lost everything,” I blubber between sniffs as I keep looking at everything until I get to the last piece of paper. It’s not a photo, and I open it quickly to see it’s the girls’ birth certificates and even their footprints on the form that the doctors took when they were born.
I cover my mouth with my hand to keep the sobs from getting louder than they already are and have the girls worrying about me.
I look up to see a kind smile on Bobby’s face, not at all put out that his brother did this and he didn’t.
Something Trevor never would have allowed if we were together.
He would have seen it as someone else showing him up.
Then he would have spent the next several days reminding me how lucky I was that he took care of me and the girls.
I swipe at my tears, then fold the papers back together and put them all back in the envelope carefully. And then I wrap my arms around Danny and just hold him as tight as I can.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
He’s so stiff, and I wonder if this is how his mother felt after hugging me.
Slowly, I let go and rub at my eyes once more.
“Thank you for this. I can never repay you for it.”
“It was nothing.” His words are rigid, as if my sign of affection threw him more than anything.
“You’re a good man, Danny Leone.”
“That he is, dear.” Cynthia smiles as she comes over and brushes away the last of my tears. “Come. Time for lunch.”
“Here.” Bobby takes the envelope from me. “I’ll keep it until after lunch.”
I nod and just let all my worries go away. Nothing else to do but enjoy lunch. I have everything I could want in this moment: food, clothes, and my girls.
And a man with an amazing family that seems to accept me and my daughters with more ease than I can believe.
The noise that greets us when we enter the dining room isn’t what I expect.
I figured my children would be laughing or giggling.
At the very least, talking the ear off anyone near them.
But they’re silent, sitting across from Tommy and Payton, toward the end of the table by Cynthia.
Two open chairs are on their sides, and Bobby pulls out the one next to Lily for me to sit down in, and he takes the one on my right.
Danny walks over and sits by Tommy, since Payton is also by Cynthia.
At the head of the table is who I assume is the eldest brother, Vinny.
But the woman who sits to his right and next to Danny isn’t one I recognize.
“Willow, dear, this is my son Vincenzo—Vinny—and his fiancée, Bianca,” Cynthia introduces them.
I smile at the woman. “Congratulations.”
Her lips purse a bit as her eyes dance toward my girls for a second before she smiles.
“Thank you. Vinny and I are so happy. Aren’t we, sweetie?” She reaches out and grabs his hand, and he firmly pulls it out of her grasp and sets it in his lap.
“Shall we?” He looks pointedly at his mother, who nods.
“Of course.” She nods to her staff, and soon plates are placed in front of us very elegantly. I suspect they might be used to this, but I share glances with my girls and giggle.
“It’s just like The Princess Diaries,” Lily says, leaning over and covering her mouth to speak into my ear. But it’s loud enough that I’m sure everyone heard.
“But we have better popcorn.” Tommy winks, and my girls eat it up.
There has been more than one debate about whether pears in popcorn would be good, like they say it is in the movie, or not.
Not that we would try. We just discuss it quite often.
Something I bet Tommy got a front row seat to when he babysat.
The girls are on a Princess Diaries kick every chance they can get.
The first or the second, it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s something with the queen of Genovia.
I feel Bobby lean my way, and I look over, tilting my head closer. But it’s his hand that finds my thigh under the table and stays there that I focus on more.
“She wasn’t meant to come until next week. But she came in early to help Mama organize a fundraiser for youth softball.” Bobby glances at Bianca before looking back at me.
“I take it this is not a happy visit?”
“Arranged marriages rarely are. But she seems to be good for Vinny. Keeps him on task, and that’s what a wife in her position needs to do.”
“Ivy, angel, why don’t you tell Uncle Vinny about your project,” Cynthia says between bites.
“Mother,” Bobby growls, with dark eyes sent her way. She just looks at him with innocent ones. I’m not sure if he’s upset about his mother sharing Ivy’s news, or that she referred to his brother as Ivy’s uncle.
“What? I just thought Vinny would like to learn about jerboas. It’s really very fascinating, Vinny. Ivy even has a presentation to give after school on Tuesday.”
It’s only then that I see Vinny relax, giving my daughter the full attention she deserves as he discusses her upcoming meeting with the experts at the event.
She’s been working so hard on it, and on Tuesday, she has to be available for three hours to answer questions from all the parents and kids who come to the event.
I focus on that and not the part where Cynthia is calling Vinny my girls’ uncle. Something I might like a bit, but won’t say aloud.
And when Bobby squeezes my thigh under the table, I might like that a little bit too.