Page 52 of The Guardian

“Ok, grazie is thank you and dolce… it means sweet, correct?” I smiled at her and filled my plate.

She nodded at me. “Very good, Sir Henry.”

We came back over to the table as Michael finished pouring me more tea.

“Thank you, baby bro,” I told him.

He gave me a nod. “I can’t fathom how you can drink that swill, but you are welcome.” He smirked then looked up at Maya. “Do you want more espresso? Or something else to drink? They have like ten things here that you can choose from. Juice, milk, protein drinks, bottled water. There’s more but I don’t have a menu.”

She gave him a smile. “Juice. Orange, if they have it?”

He chuckled. “Oh, they have it for sure.” He went over to another large fridge and opened it. “This is just for drinks.” He grabbed a small bottle and shut the door. “When I first moved here, I couldn’t fathom such wealth and luxury. I stayed in our set of rooms for a while. Until Sia took me in hand and said I needed to relax and be with her, live here with the family. To embrace this new life. I did it for her then I just got used to it. Well, almost.” He set Maya’s juice down next to her plate.

I took a bite of my bacon and chewed then swallowed. “I wondered about that. I mean we grew up in stable money, not rich maybe but this…” I motioned at the kitchen. “…Is too much.”

“Yeah, this area though is a small room compared to others here,” Michael replied. “That’s why I hang out here a lot. The high ceilings and immense vastness in the living room area and other areas that makes everything echo? I can’t do it man.”

Rain shook his head. “I’ll take my studio in New York or my small condo on the west coast. Nice but just enough to be comfortable.”

I paused to glance at Mays, knowing the poverty she had been forced to live in during the last several years.

Looking up at me, she smiled.

I felt my chest constrict. Damn, I needed to get a hold of myself here. I now knew that I never loved another woman even if I’d thought so at the time. None had made me react like this just by giving me a smile. Wow…

The kitchen fell quiet now as Maya and I ate breakfast.

After we finished, Michael stood from his chair and grabbed our plates.

“You have talent as a waiter, brother,” I teased him.

He rolled his eyes at me. “Well, you’d better leave a generous tip, you cheapskate.” He smirked. “I promised Mrs. S that I would take care of you. And I owe that woman.”

“Owe?” I asked him.

“Yeah,” he replied as he took our plates to the sink. “She got me through the culture shock. You know…My adjustment to all of this. Let me sit right here at this very table and rant or she just let me hide out. Kept it to herself and gave me that wonderful motherly advice Maya commented about earlier.” He set the dishes down by the sink and came back over. “I’m not allowed to wash them though or Mrs S will kick my culo as she calls it.” He chuckled.

“Maya!”

We all looked over.

The twins came running in. They each got on either side of Maya’s chair and embraced her. They looked thrilled to have found her.

“Aww, i miei preziosi figli!” Mya exclaimed happily.

I typed that into my cell or as close to the words as I could get and it translated it…My precious kids.

The twins then started talking all at once, telling her about the house and the bathrooms that had tubs you could swim in. Then they showed off their new clothes and shoes.

Their laughter and happy faces even got to me a little. Like happiness in the young made you feel like magic was real and anything was possible.

Maya had tears in her eyes as they paused to take a breath.

“Maya, why are you sad?” Alex asked her in true concern.

“I am not sad. I am happy.”

“And you are crying while happy?” he asked looking puzzled.