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“Oh! It looks delicious, Grandma!” She waddled over to the stovetop to peer down at the lasagna.
“And it’s going to get cold if we don’t eat it,” Nancy said, swatting her gently with an oven mitt. “Carmella? Are you here, too?” She called it out through the echoing house.
Carmella was, in fact, there, which meant that three of the seven adults present for dinner were pregnant. The air over the dining room table was light and happy, shimmering with their blessings, and outside, an autumn wind blasted against the windows and rafters. And all the while, through everything she heard and everything she said, Nancy floated on a hopeful feeling that tomorrow, when she went to Stan’s place, everything in her life would shift to a different gear. That finally, she would open her heart to the right man.
And maybe, she thought now, her days at the Remington House were numbered. It was the first time she’d thought that since she’d moved in with Neal all those years ago, yet now it seemed natural, organic. This house had never been hers, not really. And it sat better with her to pass it on to Maggie, Alyssa, and the babies— if they were open to that.
But the conversation for that would come later, she knew. Not now, when everything still existed in possibilities and summer fizzled out.
ChapterNineteen
On the morning of November 7th, Janine returned home from staying over at Henry’s, her bags ladened with dirty laundry from her many days away, her heart floaty from pretending to live with him permanently. She opened the front door to find Alyssa in the living room in a bright red dress (a bit more dressed up than she normally was around the house), chatting on her computer to none other than her “not boyfriend,” Nico, all the way in Italy. Alyssa’s laughter echoed around the house.
Alyssa was now nine months pregnant. Being as young as she was, the only part of her that really seemed pregnant was her stomach— and her arms, legs, and face were still slender, indicating she would slim right up soon after the birth. Janine had enjoyed that, too, as young as she’d been when her girls had been born. Although Carmella was grateful beyond measure to have Georgia and her second pregnancy, she had spoken privately about the difficulties of over-forty pregnancies— the least of which involved losing the baby weight. “But who cares?” Carmella had said. “I’m happy as a clam. My skinny jeans are waiting for me in the back of my closet. Maybe one day I’ll see them again.”
“My mom is home,” Alyssa announced to Nico, smiling as Janine walked through the living room. “Mom, you have to let Nico give you a tour of Teresa’s villa. What they’ve done is extraordinary.”
Janine sat next to Alyssa on the couch and waved to Nico, who looked handsome and slightly embarrassed, unsure how to handle the mother of the woman he was clearly smitten with.
“Ciao, Janine! Long time, no see,” he said.
“Hi, Nico! Alyssa tells me you’ve been hard at work,” Janine said. “We can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done.”
“It’s been my pleasure,” Nico told her. “And Alyssa’s been there every step of the way, as you probably know. I haven’t made a single decision without her.”
Alyssa beamed.
Nico angled his cell phone out to give Janine a video tour of the first floor of the villa, which had been refurbished, the hardwood polished, new curtains hung, and the walls painted. He explained the way the first floor would be organized into historical eras and that the dining room and kitchen would still be used for museum parties.
“I think Teresa would be very happy to know her kitchen will still be used,” Nico said. “It’s still a tragedy you were never able to taste her food! It was divine.”
Alyssa laughed, her hand over her chest as she gazed at Nico through the screen. Janine had never seen a portrait of such open-hearted love.
And then, all at once, Alyssa’s face changed. All the blood drained from her cheeks, and she gasped, her eyebrows high.
“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” She clutched her neck and stared down at her lap with terror.
“What’s going on?” Nico demanded.
But already, Janine understood that Alyssa was going into labor. The baby was on its way. No matter how much Alyssa had tried to pretend that wasn’t her reality, the time had come. And she needed to get off the phone.
“I think I have to go?” Alyssa said timidly to Nico. “I think I might have to go to the hospital soon?”
Nico’s smile was enormous. “It’s happening?”
Alyssa winced. “I think it might be.”
“Alyssa, it’s going to be fine. It’s going to be better than fine!” Nico got closer to the phone, as though he wanted to crawl through. “You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met.”
“I don’t feel very strong right now,” Alyssa said meekly, her eyes as large as orbs. She stared at Janine, looking more like a little girl than she had in years, then mumbled, “I’ll talk to you later, Nico. Okay?”
And swiftly, Alyssa raised her hand, closed the laptop, and burst into tears of fear.
“Come on, honey. It’s okay.” Janine hugged Alyssa tenderly and said, “Remember what the doctor said. We don’t go to the hospital until the contractions are at least five minutes apart, right?”
Alyssa nodded meekly. “I shouldn’t have told him what was happening. I should have just pretended I had something else to do.”
“Nico knows you pretty well by now,” Janine said. “I don’t think you can pretend in front of him.”
