Chapter 23
ELLA
I’m ridiculously giddy about being added to the Santo spouse group chat.
While I’m not technically a spouse, I’m optimistic that’s where we’re headed.
Plus, it’ll be nice to chat with everyone else who isn’t familiar with some of the unique Santo idiosyncrasies.
Granted, I used to be. I felt like one of them for years.
But feeling a sense of kinship with the spouses will help me become more comfortable with the entire family.
“Are we going to go yell at Nonna now, or bring her in here to stand trial in front of everyone?” Leo asks.
I look around, noting how fired up all of the Santos are, especially the guys.
I’m honestly shocked Nonna Santo was attached to the website.
They’ve posted some incredibly distasteful articles over the years.
“I think she should face everyone,” Dominic says, then turns to Alex. “Do you think my kids and your kids can corral all the littles downstairs for a bit?”
Alex sighs, then looks to his wife, Natalie, who giggles. “Abbie has been anti-babysitting for a few months. We’ll have to barter something.”
“I’ll handle it,” Natalie says as she repositions her toddler on her hip. “Fortunately, Abbie rarely says no to her baby brother.”
I giggle as I look down at Violet. Her eyes are locked on Leo, but then she looks up at me, and gives me the biggest gummy smile she’s ever given me.
I gasp, then immediately tear up. It’s been such a long year for this beautiful girl, and I was incredibly worried she wouldn’t bounce back.
I was determined to let her work at her own pace, and I’m so glad I did.
“Someone was looking for her Mama,” Leo whispers as he circles his arms around both of us. “Hard to believe she’s going to be one soon.”
“The daycare said she pulled up on the table yesterday to stand, like she was ready to start walking. She’s barely crawled for that long. I’m not ready for her to walk yet,” I confess.
“Better babyproof everything. This kiddo looks like she’ll require padlocks with fingerprint sensors on them,” Leo comments.
Violet is certainly smart, and has already gotten into quite a bit of trouble with what she finds while crawling.
I can see her observing something, working out the variables, and then finding the solution to give her what she wants.
It’s pretty interesting watching how her mind works.
“Uh-oh,” I hear from the side of the great room, and I look to find Nonna standing with Dominic. “Guess I’m finally in trouble.”
“We’d like an explanation, Nonna,” Arianna says.
“Let’s wait until all the kids get downstairs,” Dom says hastily, as two older girls, who I assume are Dominic and Alex’s oldest daughters, begin to round up children.
When one puts her arms out to Violet, I reflexively try to pull Violet closer to me, but my girl lunges for the new person, happily clapping as she’s carried into the basement.
“She’ll be okay,” Leo whispers in my ear.
“I know. But it’ll take some getting used to. I’ve been all she’s had for quite some time.”
“She’s had me for months, baby. You haven’t been alone for months, you’re just finally realizing we’ve been a team for a while.” He rests his chin on the top of my head, and I reach up to hold onto his forearms. I never thought of it that way, but he’s right. We have been a team.
“Alright, Nonna, spill,” Alex says, his voice booming around the room. “Why did you partake in all of this? You’re responsible for some incredibly awful articles that went out about this family.”
Nonna looks around the room, and smiles.
“It began as a way to pass the time. When Nonno died, I was lost. When Norma asked if I’d like to help her one week, I figured, why not?
Tourism is the bread and butter for Eternity Springs, and it could potentially bring more clientele to Everlasting as well. ”
“Why did the website suddenly switch to more gossipy articles?” Hannah asks, sitting in Luca’s lap.
“Around thirteen or fourteen years ago, there was a lascivious situation involving the man who portrayed the Easter Bunny, the woman who played Mrs. Claus, and the guy who ran the local theater. They were caught all together, in the buff, in the town gazebo. Mrs. Claus was married at the time, and her husband showed up at the Easter Bunny’s church the following Sunday morning.
Made a huge uproar right in the middle of the service!
A fight broke out, and someone knocked over a candle.
The resulting fire destroyed a huge portion of the pulpit.
The original article stated the church would be closed for renovations, but the comments went wild with gossip about the actual reason the church caught fire.
Norma decided to write a follow-up article with all the sordid details, and it actually broke the website.
From that moment on, The Eagle Has Landed was all gossip. ”
“But why participate if you knew it would hurt any of us?” Isabella asks quietly.
Nonna shrugs nonchalantly. “It didn’t start out that way. But then we felt it was best if we shared the story of Sara’s death —”
“Not cool, Nonna,” Alex snaps. I remember when his first wife, Sara, passed away. It was such an awful time for the entire family. Their two kids were still so young, and Alex was deployed at the time. It took a full week before anyone could get word to Alex.
“It wasn’t meant in a salacious way, Alessio,” Nonna replies, her eyes pleading with him.
“The article was all about what a joy Sara was, and how the entire community could step up to help you and the children in your time of need. And again, the traffic to the website was remarkably high. In fact, Norma tracks the data, and whenever there’s an article featuring one of you, the website gets more visitors. ”
“So you figured you’d continue to capitalize on us?” Gianna says angrily.
“In my defense, I didn’t write the articles.
I only supplied a small detail, usually just the headline, and Norma ran with it.
Like the article about Dominic and Kate.
I never suggested there was anything going on between Kate and Alex.
That was all Norma. I stopped talking to her for a few weeks after that.
I was very aggravated at her spin on things. ”
“A few weeks? Wow, Nonna,” Dom says sarcastically. “How did you ever manage that?”
“Watch your tone,” Mr. Santo says deeply. “You can be angry, but you will not disrespect your grandmother.”
Dom growls in response. “Why not? She disrespected us! How would she feel if she’d seen articles about Nonno up there, based on nothing but gossip and vague details? What if someone suggested Nonno had stepped out on her? None of you would have accepted that. But it’s okay if it’s us?”
“I’ve spoken to Norma about this, actually,” Nonna says. “It’s why there haven’t been as many articles as of late. Have any of you noticed? Only a handful within the past few months. And no one knows about Ella’s pregnancy yet.”
I gasp. “How did you know?”
“Shit,” Leo whispers. “That’s probably partially my fault. When Arianna overheard you and Whit talking, I spiraled. All of my siblings ended up at my house, so I’m guessing one of them told the rest of the family.”
“I most certainly did not know about a pregnancy,” Mrs. Santo says, tears filling her eyes. She approaches me, grabbing my hands. “A grandbaby? Really? And we get to have Oliver and Violet, too?”
“Told you,” Leo murmurs.
“Oh, hush, you,” his mom scolds. “Let go of her so I can hug her, please.”
Leo removes his arms from me, and I’m engulfed in Sofia’s embrace, then immediately pulled into her husband’s arms. Suddenly I’m passed around the room, getting congratulations from the entire Santo family.
Last, I reach Nonna. When she hugs me, she whispers, “I found out from Norma, but I told her not to post it. She had a source at the obstetrician’s office. ”
“It’s okay,” I mumble. “I’m not hiding it any longer.”
She pulls away from me. “But you were hiding it originally?”
I nod. “I was worried about miscarrying, and didn’t want to tell Leo unless I was sure the pregnancy would stick. I thought he’d been through enough, and I didn’t want to give him good news, and then yank it back.”
She smiles sympathetically. “I understand that. I had a miscarriage before Leo’s father was born. It was incredibly difficult to stay calm through the pregnancy with him. I was so scared the same thing would happen. Whenever you’re feeling exceptionally anxious, you reach out to me, okay?”
“And me,” Gianna pipes up. When my eyes meet hers, I see the sadness blanketing her face. “Not many people know this, but I’ve had two miscarriages.”
“What?” I breathe. “When? Why didn’t you tell me yesterday? I’m so sorry, Gia.”
She looks to her husband, Travis, who nods reassuringly.
“Two years ago, and around four years ago. It was so emotionally traumatizing that we decided we’d be happy with being a family of three.
And I didn’t bring it up yesterday because that would have been adding salt to the wound.
I was supporting you, and telling you my story would have made it all about me. ”
Walking to Gianna, I pull her into a hug. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you during those times.”
She nods as she sniffles. “It’s okay. I can understand what your mind has worked up now, and I think it’s helped me see things you may have felt all those years ago when things ended with Leo. But I’m glad you’re back in both of our lives now.”
I smile as I step back. “Me too.”
Nonna grins triumphantly. “See? This is good. The Eagle Has Landed worked its magic.”
“How do you figure?” Dom asks.