“No, you did it.”
She nodded. “We both did.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
When the day finally came for Maya to be delivered into Arie’s care she was as nervous as a kitten. What if the baby refused to come to her? What if she cried and clung to her nurse instead? It was only Rome’s constant reassurance that kept her from crumbling. She wanted this so badly. She prayed everything would be perfect.
And, to her relief, it was. As if she remembered Arie from the earlier visit, as if she knew this was her rightful place, Maya settled herself in her new mother’s arms and immediately proceeded to pull on her hair.
Rome laughed out loud. “I guess we know what fascinates her. As long as she’s got your hair to pull on, she’ll be fine.”
The flight back home was a happy one, with Arie singing to her daughter during the times when she was awake. She kept tickling the baby’s legs and playing peek-a-boo. Sometimes she would entertain her with ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ and ‘This Old Man’. Other times she would just stare at her and smile.
“She’s grown so much,” she said to Rome as he reclined the chair and watched them, a satisfied smile on his face.
“She’s all of twelve months old now,” he said. “Our ‘big’ little girl.”
“I know,” Arie breathed, as she stared at the baby in wonder. “Time flies so fast. Before you know it you’ll be beating the boys from our door.”
That made Rome wince. “Let’s not even go there. Let me enjoy her childhood before you remind me about the teenage years. Not looking forward to it.”
Arie reached over and patted his arm. “Aaw, did I scare you? You never know. Maya may be an angel all the way through. Who says she has to turn into a defiant teen?”
Rome gave a snort. “It’s not Maya I’m worried about. It’s those damn boys who’ll be fishing around.”
Instead of sympathizing with him, Arie gave him a look of reprimand. “Rome, you said the ‘D’ word. Watch your mouth, sir. We have a baby now.”
“Right. Sorry.” Looking suitably chastened he went back to singing ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ while Arie played out the actions and Maya babbled and laughed.
Arie soon found out, though, that taking care of a little one wasn’t all songs and laughter. When they got to New Orleans the first few days were great because Rome had taken time off from work to spend with them at the house. After he went back to his duties it was a whole different story. What she hadn’t anticipated was how exhausted she would be, getting up to feed Maya and rock her back to sleep two, sometimes three times a night. For some reason the baby refused to sleep through the night. She’d taken leave from work so the days she spent bonding with the baby were a charm. It was the nights that proved the killer. She could hardly wait until the wedding when Rome would join them and then he would share the nighttime duty. Hopefully.
Arie knew this was one of the many adjustments she would have to make, being a parent. There would be things she would sail through with ease and then there would be stumbles along the way. There was no guarantee that parenthood would be stress-free. In fact, it was sort of a given that it wouldn't be, but she was ready to take on each and every challenge headfirst.
A couple of weeks before the wedding she had a particularly difficult time, though. Maya had been fussy all day and now that night had fallen she just would not sleep. Arie was finally able to put the baby in her crib just after seven o’clock and, tired from dashing after the child all day, shielding her from all the dangers she seemed determined to explore, at eight o’clock she climbed wearily into bed.
She was just drifting into sweet sleep when a noise jerked her awake. “Maya?” she mumbled then the sound shrilled again. It wasn’t Maya. It was the phone.
Still groggy she reached over and grabbed the receiver. “Hello?”
“Arie, it’s Vittorio. How are you, my dear?”
For a second she thought she was imagining things. Vittorio being nice? What had wrought such a miracle? “I’m fine, Vittorio. Is everything okay?” She hoped he wasn’t calling and being nice because he had some bad news to break to her. “Is everything all right with the family?”
“Perfect,” he said immediately, “except for one thing.”
Frowning, she propped herself up on one elbow. “What’s that?”
He cleared his throat. “Lily and I were talking and we decided we’re not coming to New Orleans for your wedding.”
Arie’s heart tightened. She’d known it all along but to hear it from Vittorio’s lips was still a blow. She would never be accepted by the family. Now they were boycotting her wedding. But why did he have to sound so happy at the telling? “Oh,” she said, nonplussed. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be,” he said smugly. “We’ve decided you and Rome are going to get married right here in Italy.”
“What?” Now Arie sat up straight. “We can’t get married in Italy. We’ve already made all the arrangements here.”
“Yes, yes, a small wedding with just family and close friends.” Vittorio’s tone said none of that was important. “I know what you said but Lily and I were talking and we were saying how we need to make things up to you, make you see how much we want to welcome you into the family. What better way than to throw you the perfect wedding right here where the entire family can get to meet you? Rome has aunts and uncles and tons of cousins who want to be there.”
“Vittorio, are you serious?” Arie asked, incredulous. “The wedding is just two weeks away.”
“Plenty of time for my team to pull things together,” he said with confidence.
“But I would have to cancel everything…” Her voice trailed off. It wouldn’t be impossible. After all, they’d only planned a small event. But what about her friends? There was no way she was getting married without Lena by her side. “I can’t do that, Vittorio,” she said firmly. “I can’t disappoint my friends.”
“No-one will be disappointed. They’ll be flown to Italy in my private jet. We’ll arrange accommodation for everyone.” Then he chuckled. “And who knows? Your friends may love a free trip to Rome, compliments of your father-in-law.”
It was the way he said it that finally convinced her. Vittorio really wanted to please her. And, to be honest, changing plans wouldn’t be so hard. It wasn’t like she had a lot of friends. Even more convenient, she had no family, none outside of Maya. And then she smiled as she thought about it. Lena and Marylin would love the free trip to Italy. She was sure of it. “Maybe,” she said, thinking out loud. “Maybe we can make it happen but I’d have to speak with Rome first.”