“Nick's right.So is my wife.”Carlo stared at me and nodded.“My brother has always been and always will be the best of us.No question there.Not at all.”
I swear Carlo's eyes got glassy, but I couldn't tell because he turned to help one of the babies.
Giselle looked at her fiancé with admiring eyes and touched his arm.When he turned to her—she started crying.
Oh, boy.
Poor, Giselle.
He kissed her and wiped away her tears.
And—
Gosh.
If I didn't know what I knew—I'd think Carlo was all kinds of nice.
But—I did know what I knew.
That he was having an affair with her best friend.
What a mess.
“Don't worry.”Dani put her hands up, one holding a fork with linguine hanging off the end.“Mommy just has a birus in her belly.”
Giselle stopped crying and looked at her daughter.“What?”
“A birus.Auntie Fran-schesh-ka tolded me.You have a birus.And the baby's a parasite.But you'll be just fine.She pwomised me.”
I laughed—like everyone did at the table.Then I gave Dani another hug and kissed the top of her head.“Those were some big words.I'm proud of you.”
Dani beamed up at me and went back to eating her noodles.
When I looked over at Giselle, she was both laughing—and—crying.
Oh, gosh.
Poor, poor, poor Giselle.
She mouthed a wobbly, “Thank you” to me as Carlo wrapped his arm around her.
Oh, Carlo.
What am I going to do about you?
7
Francesca
The next morning, Stefan quickly and efficiently whisked me out of the house.Dani hung on to me like a little monkey.A cute, crying, whining, distraught—little monkey.
No matter how many promises of our return, or how many things Uncle Stefan promised to bring back for her—it wasn't good enough.She wanted me to stay.Carlo had to peel her off me.Literally.
It was heartbreaking, but in a weird way—it also made me feel nice and warm and mushy inside.Knowing that she wanted to be around me felt like an honor.
I had quietly suggested to Stefan that we take her with us.But the way he frowned made me laugh out loud.
Even after he closed the door, we could still hear her screaming inside.
