Epilogue #2
Rio and Enzo go to them, and tell her that he's going to be fine, that the surgery went well and that there were no complications. They talk among themselves, occasionally slipping into Italian, their conversation interspersed with laughs.
I have tears in my eyes just watching them.
Then I hear Matteo say, “Mama, Elizabeth is here. She's been here all day.”
That's when Isabel looks over, sees me, and walks up to me.
“Elizabeth,” she says, her voice warm and soft. Then she gives me a big hug, and I hold onto her, because her hug is warm and tight, as though she’s genuinely happy to meet me. As though I’m already important to her simply because I’m important to Matteo.
Then she steps back and looks at me. “Thank you,” she says softly.
I blink. “For what?”
“For being with him. For taking care of him, for loving him.”
The words slam inside my chest and spin around in it. She smiles and takes my hands.
“A mother always worries. No matter how old her children become. We worry whether they are happy, whether they are lonely, whether there is someone by their side when life becomes difficult.” Her eyes turn shiny, glistening under the fluorescent lights.
“Today when I walked into this room, I saw that my son wasn’t alone.
” She squeezes my hands. “That means more to me than you could ever know.”“
I hug her tightly and try to compose myself, because I’m filled with so much happy emotion. I’m scared my happy tears will come gushing out.
Then, she turns around, and looks at the other boys, the American Knights as Matteo calls them, and walks over to them.
I see the look of apprehension and curiosity on their faces. She clasps her hands together, pauses as if she’s trying to compose herself. I walk towards Matteo and take his hand.
Then Isabel speaks. “I don’t know if I have the right to say this,” she begins, quietly. The room falls silent. “But I have wanted to meet you for so many years.”
Jett, Dex and Zach are still, not even blinking.
“Your mother deserved honesty, and loyalty. She deserved better than what happened.” Her voice breaks. “I did not know about her. If I had known, I would've walked away.”
Rio and Enzo look as if they're about to go to her, but they hold one another back.
“I have carried that regret for a very long time.” She looks at each of them in turn.
“You were innocent children. Just as my boys were innocent children, and none of you deserved what was done to your family.
I'm so sorry for what happened. I ...” She swallows, shaking her head, when her sons move closer.
“There are days when I think of your mother, even though I didn't know her.” She taps her chest gently.
“I still carry her here, because she should have lived to see you boys grow up, and ... and I'm sorry that she isn't.”
Zach speaks up. “She would've liked you.”
Isabel presses a hand to her mouth. I see her pause and try to regain her composure.
Nobody says anything for several seconds.
Finally Jett speaks. “Thank you. Your words mean a lot. Please know that we never, ever, blamed you for anything.”
“That honor goes to the old man,” Dex says.
Everyone's here. All the brothers. Isabel. The only person who isn't here is Paul Knight. He's in a hospital room next door.
“Did you ... have you seen Father, Mama?” Enzo asks.
“Not yet. I wanted to see Matteo first. I'll see him soon enough. Or whenever I find the will to see him.”
How strange life is. Next door lies the man responsible for so much family pain and suffering. For a woman who should have been here today.
And all because of a man who thought that rules and boundaries and decency didn’t matter. A man who lives today, because one of his sons gave him the chance to.
Looking at this room filled with so much love and warmth, I feel nothing but pity for the man who has no idea what he doesn’t have.
I turn to Matteo and find him already staring at me.
I have at last come to truly understand the meaning behind the words veritas and familia inked into his wrists.
They aren't just tattoos. They're his foundation.
His compass. The values that shaped him into the man he is.
A man who would give up a piece of himself to save a family member without hesitation.
Looking around the room, at the brothers crowding his bed and his mother fussing over him, I finally understand why those words matter so much to him.
My heart overflows with gratitude that, somehow, against all odds, we found our way back to one another.
Thank you for reading Matteo and Elizabeth’s story!