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Ipull out my phone and send a text to my brothers as I watch my dad struggle to calm my mother’s hysterics. I don’t know what else to do. I’ve never seen her like this. Ever.
Me:
@everyone It’s not Mom. It’s Zia Reilly. Alex just called and told me she has Alzheimer’s. Ma is not handling the news well. Pops needs help.
Alex is our cousin’s husband. He reached out to me as soon as he heard. His wife is Reilly’s daughter, Lily. I can only imagine how they are all handling the news…
Matteo:
@Theo Where are you?
Me:
@Matteo Ma and Pops’s room. She’s distraught. I don’t know what to do.
Matteo:
@Theo On my way.
Romeo:
@Theo I’m coming too.
Luca:
@Theo I’m almost back to the house, about twenty minutes out.
I tuck my phone into my pocket. “Pops, what can I do?” I ask him.
“I don’t know,” he says, looking up at me.
I’ve never heard my father say those words. He’s the one person who always has the answers. Always finds a way to fix everything. To hear him sayI don’t knowshows just how bad this situation really is.
I honestly think my mom would have handled it better if it were her and not her twin. She’s that type of person, though. She’d rather see everyone around her healthy and happy, and take on the burden herself. My mother really is one in a million. And, right now, she needs us.
I just wish I had a fucking clue as to how to help her…
ChapterThirty
I’ve never felt more fucking useless in my life. Having my wife plead with me, while she cries out like she’s experiencing the worst pain imaginable, shattered my fucking heart. A heart that only truly started beating for her. I haven’t seen her this broken since we first met after she thought I’d died. I wanted to tell her that it would be okay, that I would fix this for her, that I’d always fix everything for her. I couldn’t, though. Because some things really are out of my control.
When she finally fell asleep, I left her in bed with Theo and Romeo standing watch in the room. I needed a breather. I needed to find a place I could fall apart without losing it in front of my family. Which is why I’m here, falling to my knees in front of an altar instead.
The old chapel in this house hasn’t been used in years. I’m hoping that God still knows it’s here, that he hears the prayers I’m about to send up. I haven’t prayed since I was a kid, when my mother used to take me to church with her.
I make the sign of the cross over my body and whisper, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Closing my eyes, I inhale a deep breath before saying more. “I know that we’re not friends, not really even associates at this point in my life. But my wife, she’s a good person.” I choke on my words. “I’m begging you to help her through this. Help her find a way to heal. I can’t lose her, and I don’t know how to get her through this. I need help.”
I hear the door open, and then a small figure kneels beside me. I look across to Tilly, and she holds out a set of black rosary beads to me. “Maybe he’ll hear us better if we pray together,” she says. Then she takes hold of one of my hands. “Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen,” she says the words and then starts them over again. This time, I join her. “Please let my nonna be okay, God,” she says when we’re done.
I wrap my arms around my granddaughter, kissing her forehead. “She’s going to be okay. We’ll make sure of it,” I tell her.
“Are you going to be okay, Nonno?” she asks me.
“Always.”
We each push to our feet and leave the little chapel, hand in hand. “Come on, I’ll make you a coffee,” Tilly says.
“I should go check on your grandmother.”
