Epilogue
MARISSA (EIGHT MONTHS LATER…)
S o much has happened in the first eight months of our marriage, that it feels like a lot longer. I’m almost finished making scrambled eggs, when Luca comes into the kitchen. He gives me a kiss on the cheek, and goes to the refrigerator. Grabbing the orange juice, he pours both of us a glass.
“You excited about tonight?” he asks.
“Excited… and nervous,” I admit.
Tonight is my first time directing the Cranberry Creek Youth Symphony Orchestra and Chorale. My volunteering job quickly led to the offer of an actual paid job position, which I accepted joyfully. Now I am getting the chance to direct and conduct both the orchestra and the choir. It’s all a dream come true!
“Well, I know that you’ll do amazing,” Luca says.
I set the pan of scrambled eggs down on the table. He has been my biggest cheerleader, as I have tried so many new things with this job, and our lives in general. I hope that I have been as big a cheerleader for him as he has painstakingly gone through each stage of opening his new Greek restaurant, Mediterranean Dreams, here in Cranberry Creek. The grand opening is next week, and I can’t wait to see him achieve everything that he has ever dreamed of.
He’s asked his father for a few select pieces of advice, but overall, he’s really done most of it himself. I know that he wants to show his father how capable he is, wants to make him proud. I marvel how much he respects and admires his father; after everything that’s happened, I wouldn’t blame him, if he was more resentful and wanted to prove his father wrong.
But instead, again, love won over. Luca has made a point of telling me that he intends to make sure his father knows how much his success will be due to everything he’s learned by example, from his father. He’s already planning a big to-do after the opening, some sort of celebration dinner, to honor his father. Our families certainly share the love of festivity and finding reasons to celebrate just about any little thing possible.
I love that about both our families. I think our mothers can be credited for ingraining that in both Luca and me. Mama loves to remind us all, “Celebrate the beauty and the little joys along the way, so the trials and sorrows don’t overwhelm us when they come along.” I’m so grateful she’s taught me that.
And really, why not celebrate together those joys in life whenever possible? Struggles and sorrows, disappointments and frustrations certainly come along enough! I’d rather focus on the good, like Mama has taught and lived out daily. I love living life to the fullest and enjoying all the wonderful gifts that the Lord graciously chooses to give us. I hope to pass that way of living along to my own children.
“Are you going to the restaurant today?” I ask.
“For a bit. Do you want to come?” he asks.
“I think I’m going to stay home. Read. Take a bath. I don’t know if my nerves can handle being out,” I say. “Besides, I think Chiara is stopping by later with my mom.”
“That’s nice,” Luca says. “My mom says she and your mom are loving their weekly lunch dates.”
I laugh. “My mom said the same thing.”
Ever since our “intervention dinner”, as we candidly call it, our parents have made a real effort to get along. Our mothers are doing better than our fathers, and the intense rivalry has died down to the point that it’s almost not noticeable. After our dinner, neither of our fathers uttered another word about the feud, and the accusations ceased. Ironically, so did the odd events.
Who knows what was causing some of the mess-ups and ruckus. Obviously we know that Antonio was the mischief-maker for some of the minor mishaps; but I like to think that maybe we were all just being tested, and that it was all part of a grander plan. After all, I don’t know if Luca and I would have ever found one another again after the masquerade ball, if he hadn’t been sent over by his father to ‘deliver a message’ from his father!
In the end, I honestly don’t care anymore, now that our families are moving forward. Someday, I believe we’ll all laugh about it anyway. Someday… but I’m not holding my breath until then! I know our families still have a way to go, but each little step feels like progress. And for that, Luca and I are deeply grateful. Hopefully, by the time they have mutual grandkids, they’ll all be getting along famously.
“We should get a dog,” Luca says.
I laugh again. “Where did that come from?” I ask.
Luca shrugs. “It’s just that now we have this nice house, and it feels like it needs a dog.”
“I’m okay with that,” I say. “I love dogs. Or cats. Or both. I’d love to have a houseful of animals.”
“We should go down to the animal shelter this weekend,” Luca suggests.
“I’m game,” I say.
We bought our house three months ago, and we’re still settling into it. Maybe some pets would help it feel more like a home. We’ve both been so busy, that there hasn’t been much time for decorating or furniture shopping. I resolve that we’re going to do some of that this weekend as well.
We finish our breakfast, and Luca cleans up while I make a shopping list. He promises to run to the store on his way home this afternoon. The thing that has surprised me most about our married life is how easily we fell into routines. We don’t talk about how to divide up chores, or who should cook what meal. We just help each other out. The give and take has been almost effortless.
All my friends have given me marriage advice, and I just smile and nod, tucking away their suggestions in a part of my brain that knows I need to figure all of this out on my own. Each of my friends had their own love story and now a marriage that is unique to them, just as mine is with Luca. I don’t presume to know much about being a wife yet, but I know that I have to make sure I’m doing it my way.
Luca heads upstairs to change before going to the restaurant. I’m so happy at this moment in time, that I want to savor it, remember it forever. It’s then that I change plans. I was going to wait, but now just seems like the perfect time. When Luca comes down the stairs, I make my final decision. I am telling him our big news now . There’s no time like the present! He is going to be so excited.
“Oh, Luca, before you go,” I say. “I have something else I need to tell you.”
“What’s that, Love?” Luca asks as he ties his shoe. He looks up at me and grins. My heart still flutters often when he looks at me.
“Well… I think our moms are going to be even more excited the next time they get together to chat.”
“Oh? Why do you say that?” Luca looks at me with a puzzled expression. He patiently waits for my response.
“Well, here… let me just… show you. I was going to tell you tonight after the concert, but this seems like as good a time as any,” I say, as I pass him a little roll of paper. Earlier today, I secretly wrote a formal announcement, in the spirit of Shakespeare, on fancy parchment paper with calligraphy. I rolled it up and finished it off with a lovely lace ribbon. I’ve been bursting at the seams to give it to Luca all day.
Luca turns the scroll over and over in his hand, smiling playfully. “What’s this all about? You still on your Romeo and Juliet kick?”
“Go ahead! You’ll see. Just unroll it!”
Luca unties the ribbon and then unravels the scroll, making a grand demonstration out of the whole affair, hamming it up as much as he can, even attempting what he evidently thinks a British accent of sorts would sound like.
“Ahem, ahem! Dearest heart of my Romeo, lend thine ear to tidings fair! Within my womb, a precious seed doth dwell, a wondrous life, our love’s sweet echo. I am with child, a blessing from above that shall soon grace our days. May our hearts rejoice, for this miracle unfolds, and joy shall bloom anew in our sweet abode. Together, let us embrace this journey, hand in hand, as we await the arrival of our cherished babe. With all my love, I remain thine ever devoted wife. Your Juliet”
As Luca reads the last word, he pauses, eyes wide, and just stares at the paper, as though paralyzed. Then he blinks and looks up at me, shaken from his trance.
“Marissa, are you serious?! Like, you’re not kidding around??” Luca jumps to his feet. Excitement is written all over his face. “Am I really… a father?!”
I nod and smile with the deepest peace and joy, overwhelmed with love for this man and for this child we have now been blessed with. “Yes, my Love.”
Luca shakes his head in astonishment. “When did you find out?”
“I took a test yesterday morning, and then another one last night - just to be sure,” I say. “Both came back positive.”
Luca whoops and picks me up in a hug, spinning me around in a circle before setting me gently back on the floor. “Life just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it, my Juliet ?” he says.
“It does,” I agree. “It sure does, my Romeo !”