AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She nodded eagerly. ‘Sí, mi amor. Now and for ever.’
EPILOGUE
Eight Months Later
‘CARIÑO, WE’RE GOING to be late.’
Ramon thought it wise not to raise his voice above a gentle murmur, seeing as, when it came to this particular subject, his wife was prone to falling apart at the slightest provocation.
That plan backfired spectacularly.
‘And whose fault is that?’ she snapped. ‘Just one picture, you said. No one will notice, you said.’
He winced. ‘I’m sorry your pictures turned out to be an international sensation, guapa.’
‘No, you’re not. You crow to everyone who comes within shouting distance that you’re my husband. That you’re the reason I look the way I look in those pictures.’
‘Well...to be fair—’
‘Don’t you dare. I don’t want to hear it. And I didn’t want to be the star of your silly gallery exhibit.’
‘Okay, then we’ll stay home.’
The door to the bathroom flew open. And Ramon was eternally glad he was leaning against the bed frame. Because like always, he struggled to catch his breath whenever he looked at her. The love of his life grew more beautiful each day. She’d become his everything. His wife. His muse. The mother of his child.
His most intense lover.
The sculpture he’d made from the sketches of her on the granite slab had turned out to be too intimate to share with the world, so he’d sculpted another, a mother-son one, which now resided in a special garden at their home in Cienfuegos.
Framed to perfection in the doorway, she flipped golden caramel hair over one shoulder. ‘No, you won’t cancel. I’ve already been called a diva for showing up five minutes late to the last exhibit.’
Ramon wisely stopped from pointing out that preventing tardiness was why they needed to leave now. Personally, he wouldn’t care if they turned up an hour late, or not at all. But Suki was unused to media scrutiny and still sensitive to being the centre of attention.
Sadly, she’d been thrown in the deep end when the semi-intimate black-and-white photos he’d taken of her with their son had taken the world by storm. Pictures where she’d been breastfeeding, bathing or just taking a nap with Lorenzo. The purity of her beauty had publishing houses clamouring to sign her up to coffee-table portrait book deals.
So far she’d resisted all offers, choosing to only exhibit at Piedra’s Havana gallery. Even then, she tore strips off him each time she had to appear in public. But as always, Ramon knew he only needed to get her there. Because the moment she saw the super-sized pictures of their son, her heart melted.
He witnessed that transformation forty-five minutes later as she stood in front of the second to largest picture of all. It was another black-and-white print where she was watching Lorenzo sleep. The awe and love on her face was a shining beacon that was impossible to look away from.
He approached her from behind, admiring her post-pregnancy body draped in a white sleeveless floor-length gown. Sliding his arm around her waist, he breathed in her perfume as she leaned back against him.
‘He really is a gorgeous baby, isn’t he?’ she sighed happily.
‘Of course. He’s my son.’
She rolled her eyes but turned to bestow a kiss on him. One that lingered and lingered some more until a throat cleared loudly nearby.
Ramon smiled indulgently as his mother-in-law joined them with his nine-week-old son cradled in her arms.
The second star of the show was asleep and gently snoring. But his grandmother couldn’t keep her eyes off him. ‘He really is a gorgeous baby, isn’t he?’ she sighed.
They all laughed, Suki’s eyes shining extra brightly as they lit on her mother. Moira had come through the cutting-edge treatment with flying colours and been given the all-clear six months ago. With a new lease on life, she’d ditched her job in favour of solo world travel four months ago, only taking a hiatus when her grandson had been born. She was headed to Australia in two weeks and was getting as much time with her grandchild as possible.
Ramon didn’t mind. He welcomed the extra time he got with his
wife. Moira drifted away to show Lorenzo off to guests, and, almost by telepathy, he and Suki drifted to the largest picture of the exhibit.
Luis was smiling at someone off camera, his young vibrant face turned up to the sun. The teasing twinkle in his eyes was captured for all eternity, something Ramon would be grateful for for ever.
