Chapter 10 #2
“What is going on down here?” She was halfway down the long staircase.
Everyone turned their heads to look at her.
“I can hear your bickering all the way upstairs. Are you trying to wake the kids up?” She hustled down the rest of the stairs, and I thanked the universe that she was here to help.
Because I didn't have a clue what to do.
All I knew was that none of this had anything to do with me.
Thank goodness.
“Carlo's trying to boss Francesca around.” Giselle began explaining her side of things.
It didn't go as expected, though. Eve laughed. “Carlo bosses all of us around. How is that anything new?” She looked at her friend quizzically.
Giselle's lips pursed together, and she doubled down.
“He's giving her marriage advice. And he's not even married.” Her shoulders bunched up to her ears.
“How does that make any sense at all? What does he—” she pointed at her fiancé, “know about marriage? Plus, he needs to leave Francesca and Stefan alone. They can figure out their own marriage. Without any help from someone who knows nothing about it.”
Yeah.
Giselle was mad.
“Okay, I'm taking you upstairs. This is clearly not good for your ever-rising blood pressure issues.
Which means it's also not good for the baby.” She put her arm around Giselle's back.
“And you—” she pointed her finger at Carlo, “are going to try really hard to keep your nose out of Francesca and Stefan's business. Okay?” She stared at Carlo for a long moment until he finally let go of me.
“For Christ's sake.” He shook his head and stormed off toward the dining room.
Double yikes.
“I'm sorry, Francesca.” Eve looked at me with a mix of sadness, frustration, and overwhelm.
Even though I wasn't Eve's biggest fan at the moment, I still felt bad. Her plate was definitely overflowing at the moment.
But I was also pretty sure that fucking Carlo's brains out every day helped to relieve some of that tension.
I picked up the bags that were on the floor and followed them upstairs. I watched as they disappeared down the hallway. Just to make sure they got to Giselle's room all right.
Poor Giselle. My heart really went out to her. I turned left and wandered down the opposite end of the hallway to our bedroom. I took in a deep breath and smiled. It still smelled like Stefan in here. His cedary, musky, male scent. But it was also starting to smell like me. And my scents, too.
Together, we made a lovely smelling bedroom.
I walked into the closet and dumped the bags.
We'd spent enough time in the hot tub and shower at the hotel that I didn't need to freshen up.
So, I changed into some comfortable jeans and a pretty red top.
It was tight with a deep V in the front.
And with the right bra, it looked amazing. I was sure Stefan would appreciate it.
I went to the bathroom and tied my hair up into a messy bun, and did a quick touch-up on my makeup.
Then I remembered something—and hurried back to the closet. I grabbed two of the bags and wandered back out into the bedroom. These wouldn't solve Giselle's problems. Not by a long shot. But it might help in some small way.
I roamed down the hallway as quietly as I could, careful not to make any noise at all. The last thing I wanted to do was wake the kids.
When I arrived at Giselle's door, I knocked lightly.
“Come in,” I heard Eve's voice say. I opened the door and smiled at them. “Can I have a minute?” I asked and stepped inside.
“You can have all the minutes.” Giselle blew her nose into a tissue. Her pretty eyes were all red and puffy.
I gave her a sad smile and shut the door behind me. “I picked up a couple of things from the market. If you hate them, that's fine. You won't hurt my feelings, I promise. But I couldn’t help myself.” I sat on the bed and gave her one of the bags.
Giselle stopped crying and took it.
She pulled out a white onesie that said, “Futuro capitano d'Italia” on it. There was a cute Italian flag on it, too.
“I wasn't sure if you guys even liked soccer or not. Or, I guess they call it football here, right?” I smiled.
“But I figured with a father as tall as Carlo, your kid will have as good a chance as any at being the captain of Team Italy. Oh, and I got it a little big. I wanted to make sure it fit. From the size of your fiancé—” I shrugged.
“I figured it would be better to be safe.” I pointed to the bag.
“There's more. It's not much, but—” I shrugged.
Next, Giselle pulled out a larger book. “That's a baby book.
I wasn't sure if you did them for your other kids or not.
I just thought this one looked so sweet.
And there's extra room for pictures in the back.” I flipped to the back and showed her.
“There's another book in there that I thought you guys might like to give Dani after the baby's born.” I smiled and pointed at the bag again. “It's so stinking cute.”
Giselle reached in and pulled out a pink book with two bunnies on it.
“The lady told me it's about a bunny who becomes a big sister.
I bet you have a ton of books like it already.
But I wasn't sure if you had any bunny ones. And this one's in Italian. I don’t know if you speak it or not, but Carlo or Stefan can always read it to her.”
Giselle looked at everything and then looked at me.
But didn't say a thing.
Uh, oh.
I quickly started picking everything up and shoving it back into the bag.
“Oh, you hate everything, right? Did I overstep? Shoot. I overstepped.” I chastised myself as I grabbed for the onesie.
But Giselle grabbed it, too. “I should have asked Stefan if it was okay to get you something or not,” I rambled on and on.
“But he wasn't always right at my side. Which is strange because it feels like he never leaves me alone.”
Oh, gosh.
The rambling was real. I just couldn't stop.
Giselle pulled on the onesie, yanking it out of my hand.
“Come here,” she said, her voice completely choked up.
Somehow, she moved forward and pulled me into a hug.
“Thank you, Francesca,” she sobbed into my neck.
“This is so thoughtful of you.” She sniffled and took a few deep breaths.
“You had a day to be with your new husband,” she sniffled again, “and you took the time to think of Dani. And me. And the baby. That was so very kind of you.” She held onto me for a while. Hugging me. Crying.
When she finally let go and sat back, Eve handed her a few tissues.
“I love the onesie,” Eve laughed and gave me a glassy-eyed smile. It was smart to get it in a bigger size.”
Giselle blew her nose and nodded. “It was all so thoughtful of you.”
My heart squeezed just looking at her. She was beautiful. But she was also the picture of discomfort.
Big belly. Swollen hands and feet. Puffy, red eyes.
I just felt awful for her.
“I almost forgot.” I grabbed the other bag and handed it to her.
“More?” she practically squeaked. “You spent too much as it is.” She pulled out the small bakery box inside.
I shook my head. “I bought it with Stefan's money. He gave me a big wad of cash. You can thank him.”
Giselle sighed and set the box down. She looked at the door for a moment, and then back at me.
“I was wrong to talk like that about Carlo's money—” she swallowed and sighed again, “I mean, our money.
It's still very weird to think that—I—have money. I think you and I—” she nodded her head at Eve, “and Eve, all grew up with similar backgrounds.” She blinked, but the tears rolled down her cheeks.
“It breaks my heart—” she started to say, but couldn't quite get it out between crying jags.
I picked up the box and opened it for her. Hoping that this might help to stop her tears. “I wasn't sure if you liked these or not. If not, I can take them downstairs. I'm sure someone will eat them.”
Giselle's eyes went wide—and she stopped crying.
“Sorry, no.” Eve took the box from me and closed it. “She has to watch her blood pressure. And her weight.”
Giselle's face dropped.
“Oh, crap. I'm sorry.” I took the box from Eve and stuck it back in the bag. “I'm such an idiot.” Then I looked at Eve. “Can she have a fresh fruit smoothie? It's all natural. I think I might have left it in the car. Can you go ask Stefan to check, please?”
She looked at Giselle and then nodded. “Sure. I'll be right back.”
Giselle wiped her eyes and blew her nose one more time. As soon as Eve was out the door, I pulled the cannoli box out of the bag. I opened it and let her have the first pick.
She looked at me hesitantly. “I probably shouldn't.”
I smiled and laughed. “Oh, you definitely shouldn't. But go ahead. One cannoli isn't going to make any difference.”
She smiled and let out a small giggle. Then she picked up a cannoli and bit into it. “Oh, my gosh.” She chewed and then took another bite. “So good.”
I grabbed one and started eating it. “Mm,” I said, nodding in agreement. The creamy chocolate made my mouth water.
Giselle finished hers and looked longingly at the box.
I grinned and opened it back up. “Go ahead. There's no smoothie drink. Besides, it'll take her an hour to walk there and back. This place is so huge.”
That made Giselle laugh.
And laugh.
And laugh.
And I joined in.
Tears flowed down her face—but they were tears of laughter. Not sadness.
After we finished eating our sweet treats, I picked up the almost empty box and slid off the bed.
I crouched in front of her bedside table and stuffed the box into the empty bottom drawer.
“Just in case you need a midnight snack.” I smiled up at her and shut the drawer. I stood and gave her one more hug.
“Thank you, Francesca. Thank you so much.” She squeezed me tighter. “I'm so glad you're going to be my sister-in-law. As soon as I have this baby and can fit into my dress again.” She held me even tighter. “If Carlo will still have me, that is.”