Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
Tuesdays had become Mari’s second favorite day of the week. Sundays taking first place because of her family.
On occasion, James would arrive early and have dinner, then they’d have their dance lesson, and sometimes they’d go out with another couple to the equivalent of a dive bar that had live music and a dance floor.
And since their objective was to dance and not drink, the dive bar worked fine.
Being the oldest couple in the dance class, the younger ones often made fun of the music they liked. Which was comical since the dive bar played primarily classic rock from the ’70s and ’80s. Music Mari and James knew all the words to.
Nicoli and Levette were in their early thirties. They’d been married for three years and had no interest in having babies. Information Mari and James were hearing for the first time.
“We’re too selfish,” Nicoli said. “You need to give up your life when you have kids and hope you get it back when you’re old.”
They sat at a small bar-room table. Both Nicoli and Levette had drinks in front of them while Mari and James stuck with club soda.
“Kids add to your life,” Mari argued. “You get so much more than you give up.”
“Oh yeah . . . like what?” Levette asked.
“Love, laughter, joy . . . grandchildren.”
“Babies are expensive,” Nicoli said.
James scoffed. “Wait till they’re in college.”
Mari nudged him. “You’re not helping.”
“I love my girls. They’re worth every penny.”
That was better.
“And gray hair?” Nicoli asked.
James screwed up his face in an attempt to look offended.
All it did was make the rest of them laugh.
Mari leaned forward. “I dye mine.”
Nicoli leaned forward as well, his elbows on the table. “Listen, all I’m saying is, kids aren’t for everyone. The more parents that know that, the better off the children are.”
“What are you going to do with all your time?” Mari asked.
Levette laughed. “Work, make money, travel . . . and hey, dance classes on Tuesday nights. All of our friends are starting families, and none of them have any time for themselves. We’re planning our next trip. There’s a salsa cruise in the fall. You guys should look into it.”
“Since you’re finally able to enjoy your life and you don’t have to make decisions based on what your kids are doing,” Nicoli finished for his wife.
“Most of the decisions that needed to be made were about work, keeping the restaurant going, not what my children were doing,” Mari told them.
James nodded several times. “True.”
“Okay, but . . . isn’t the goal of having a business so that you have more time and not less? And did you work your whole life keeping the restaurant because you needed it to provide for your family? What really tied you down? Your business or your family?”
“Both,” James said.
“Both,” Mari said at the same time.
Nicoli shrugged. “We have one less tie.”
The band faded one song out and started on another one.
Nicoli grabbed his wife’s hand. “C’mon, let’s burn some carbs.”
The two of them swung onto the dance floor, leaving James and Mari alone.
“Did any of that make sense to you?” Mari asked. Life without her family would have been empty. Especially after Paulo.
James didn’t immediately say no.
Mari turned and focused her whole attention on him.
“I wouldn’t change Ellie and Madison for anything.”
Thank God.
“They have a point, though. Society says you have to have a family to be whole. Sometimes a family can be two people.”
Like she and Paulo before Luca came. Admittedly, there wasn’t a lot of time being a family of two before they became three. And then, yes, ninety percent of the focus was on Luca . . . then Gio and then Chloe.
“Life would have been completely different if we didn’t have kids. Empty,” Mari said.
“Maybe.” James nodded toward the dance floor. “For them, they only see the negative. We have parenting in the rearview mirror. Or in my case, almost.”
“Is it ever behind us?” That was laughable.
“Not if they live with you,” James said without pause.
Mari’s eyes shot to his. “Luca and Brooke live in the apartment above me.”
James hesitated and then seemed to pick his words carefully. “And did you tell them that you wouldn’t be home tonight?”
Yes. Brooke. Mari had avoided Luca, and since the kitchen was slammed when they left, it was easy to do.
James took one of her hands in his. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, hon. It’s just, look how much of our time, together or apart, is spent on the worry of what our children would think.”
“Your girls are fine with us.”
“And Luca and Giovanni may never accept me. And if they don’t, where does that leave us?” James stared right through her. The raw truth of his words hurt.
Air sucked at her lungs and made Mari want to hold her chest.
“I know they come first. I would never make you choose.”
Would it come to that?
Mari felt moisture gather behind her eyes.
James placed his hand on her cheek.
She leaned into him. “They’ll come around.”
He smiled like he always did when she said those words. A smile that wasn’t full, wasn’t convinced. “I’ll be here when they do. As long as you’re falling for me as much as I’m falling in love with you.”
Mari caught her breath, a gasp escaped.
The tempo of the music changed for a slow song.
James pulled her to her feet, and she followed numbly as they found their way to the dance floor.
Mari rested her head on James’s chest, the two of them quiet in their own thoughts.
“Promise me you’ll try and love again.”
A single tear escaped Mari’s eye.
She didn’t have to try anymore. She was already there.