“Thanks,” Julia said, touched. “I’m sorry, too. I know I was touchy.”
“No. This is down to me.” Gianluca frowned with regret, shaking his head. “It got me thinking about our relationship from the beginning. How it hasn’t been typical. We’ve been happy, but we had so much to deal with, then Leni came, then we fixed up the villa and the vineyard, and my parents were around, so we’ve hardly been alone. We never even had a honeymoon.”
“That’s true,” Julia said, without rancor. They’d decided after the baby was born that they’d had no time for a honeymoon.
“I think the problem was that everything happened so fast. You learned you have a Tuscan mother, and Tuscan blood, and you embraced it. You moved to Tuscany. You learned Tuscan dialect. You learned to cook Tuscan.”
Julia knew it was true, but she wasn’t sure where he was going.
“But there’s also an American side to you, one I forgot.” Gianluca touched his chest. “On the phone, I kept asking you, ‘When are you coming home?’ Then I realized youwerehome. America was your home longer than Tuscany. But that side of you, I don’t know.Inever knew. Nor does Leni. It was your life before me, Julia. We should know it, for you.”
Julia listened, feeling the truth in his words.
“So I rented an Airbnb in Philadelphia, where you lived for so long. I thought it would be fun to have a honeymoon here, with Leni.”
“Really?” Julia asked, surprised.
“Yes, you like the idea?” Gianluca smiled. “I know you had heartbreak in Philly, but also happiness.”
Julia swallowed hard. She’d missed this country more than she’d realized. Gianluca knew what she needed, almost better than she did.
“And it’s the birthplace of America. You could show us the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall and all the other things.”
Julia felt tears come to her eyes.
“It will be just the three of us. Real Americans, eating hotdogs and dressing badly.” Gianluca chuckled, and so did Julia.
“Youcan’tdress badly.”
“I’ll try.” Gianluca grinned. “I want a sweatshirt that says ‘Eagles.’”
“All the sweatshirts say ‘Eagles.’”
“I want to learn the cheer, too.”
“Can you spellEagles? That’s the cheer.”
“Then I speak Philly!” Gianluca laughed, and so did Julia, feeling the spark between them reigniting to a warm glow. Gianluca touched her arm. “Also, one last thing, about my parents moving in. I decided you were right. I discussed it with them, and they agreed that we need more time alone, as a family. They’re still going to sell their house, but they’re buying an apartment in Paris.” Gianluca smiled, in a satisfied way. “They’ll visit us, of course, but they won’t live with us.”
“Does it have to be one way or the other?” Julia let her heart speak for her. “They really stepped up for Leni, and I couldn’t have stayed here and done what I did without them, and you. Before I thought I could do it alone, but why would we want to?”
Gianluca smiled softly. “So what would you suggest? Because I think you were right. I don’t know that I want them living with us either.” He chuckled. “And truly, after everything, I’m not sure they want to be with us full time anymore. They’recured.”
Julia laughed again. “Okay, how about a compromise? What if theyspend half the year in Paris, but live with us for the rest? Then they’d have two homes, one with us.”
Gianluca blinked, brightening. “You mean it?”
“Yes.” Julia did mean it, to her own surprise. Maybe facing death made her understand the blessings she had in life. And maybe marriage was work and she needed to get busier.
“Knowing them, they’d love to be with us for fall and winter, with the holidays.”
“That works for me, too.”
“I love you.” Gianluca leaned over, kissing her warmly, then deeply, and Julia kissed him back, feeling a rush of love for him.
“I love you, too.”
“Let’s go to bed,” Gianluca whispered after another kiss.
