Chris, bless his heart, hadn’t said a thing. Oh, Valeria knew he wanted to ... more than anything, that man wanted her and Maria with him as much as possible. Yet, he kept quiet for those two weeks it took Maria to decide what she wanted to do.
Really, Valeria had always known what her daughter’s decision would be. Chris didn’t realize it, but Maria loved him inexplicably. He was the exact opposite of the men that had been forced upon her as male influences, including her—may he enjoy his place in hell—dead father.
And to give credit where it was due, Chris loved her little girl. He would spend hours with Maria doing whatever she wanted just because. Bedtimes were spent reading a dozen books because he couldn’t seem to tell her no. He learned how to manage her thick, unruly hair because Maria liked their conversations in the mornings while Valeria cooked, and Chris styled it for school.
It was painfully sweet.
Everything she thought they wouldn’t have.
Some people didn’t understand how, in just a few months, Valeria went from not knowing a man, to living with him and marrying him, but it was an easy choice for her. The right one. Because that’s what Chris was.
The right man.
The perfect one.
Hers.
And her child’s.
“I thought, after a couple of months, you might have felt differently about weekends in New York, and the rest of the time spent there,” Haven said, bringing Valeria back to the conversation. “That’s all.”
“Or are you slyly asking me to spend more time in New York with you?”
Before Haven responded, the stylist pulled the final curler from Valeria’s hair, and urged her to tip her head over. A brush was dragged through her thick strands, leaving it wild, and wavy. Once she was sitting straight again, the woman nodded.
“Let me get the hair piece, and I’ll work on the style you wanted, Valeria.”
“Thank you,” she told the stylist.
“And I am loving this,” the woman added, pointing a finger at the gold lettering on her silk robe.
Mrs. Guzzi, it read.
She wasn’t a Guzzi yet. A few more hours had to pass before she would walk down the aisle to meet Christopher waiting at the end, but still ... she loved the robe, too.
“It’s great, isn’t it?”
“I’ll let Corrado know his gift is appreciated,” Ginevra said, sneaking a piece of cheese from the tray next to Valeria’s chair. “This is good, I need more.”
The stylist went off to do her own thing.
Valeria went back to the conversation with Haven. “Well, which is it?”
Haven laughed. “Neither. I would like to see you more, but we’re both busy, and it’s not like we can’t make time, right?”
“Right.”
“Oh,” Ginevra whispered.
Valeria shot her a look, but the young woman’s hand drifted down to rest atop her swell covered by a pale pink, silk robe. “You okay?”
A wedding day was stressful. Her future in-laws did every single thing to make today easy for her, not to mention wonderful and beautiful. Valeria barely needed to lift a finger to plan this wedding from the moment she said yes when Chris asked her at his father’s birthday celebration.
The most she had to do was sit down with an event coordinator and pick out things she liked. They delivered everything else for her approval.
The most difficult decision she had to make was picking her wedding dress, and deciding whether she should choose her girls’ dresses, or if they should. Haven picked her own dress. Ginevra ended up bringing Corrado and Alessio along last minute for her final fitting because she didn’t like the way hers looked with her pregnancy starting to show ... and those men calmed her about the dress, and the way she wore it.
Valeria smiled at the memory.
Yet another reminder she wasn’t alone anymore. She had a whole family, now, spread out amongst many people. Three months ago, she had not realized how much her entire life would change when she rested in a bathtub with Chris, and told him, yes, she wanted to be with him.
It moved fast.
Kind of like them.
Valeria didn’t mind.
A wedding day was still ... stressful.
She didn’t want Ginevra to experience any stress today. Not when she was carrying her niece, halfway through her pregnancy, and should only be glowing.
Which she was.
Mostly.
“It’s good,” Ginevra said at Valeria’s worried expression. “Here ...”
Ginevra took Valeria’s hand and pressed her palm into the side of her stomach. The soft movement of the baby girl turned into a hard jab. She remembered those hard movements from her long-passed pregnancy with Maria.
“Ouch,” Valeria said to Ginevra.
“Right?” She sighed. “I like the cheese—baby girl doesn’t.”
“Well, she doesn’t know what she’s missing out on,” Haven said, laughing as she grabbed a piece of cheese from the tray before popping it into her mouth. “Just saying.”
They were still laughing when the stylist came back into the room, followed by Cara, and little Maria who was already dressed up to the nines in her pretty flower girl gown. She danced over to her mother, doing a little twirl at Cara’s urging who beamed.
Already a proud grandmother. Or, that’s what Cara said when Maria asked if she could call her Nonny.
“She wanted to show you her dress,” Cara explained.
“Little early to put that on.”
Cara shrugged. “I’ll bribe it off her with something.”
Valeria shook her head. “Well, if it works.”
“Do you like my dress, Mamá?” Maria asked.
Valeria leaned down to kiss her smiling princess. “Love it.”
“Come on, now,” Ginevra muttered, rubbing circles into the side of her swell. Cara didn’t miss it, a concerned frown growing when her attention turned on the woman. Ginevra was quick to explain, “The baby won’t relax—the cheese didn’t agree with her, I guess. I think I’ll find Corrado and let him calm her down.”
“Not Alessio?”
Ginevra laughed. “No, he makes her dance.”
“Ah,” Valeria replied, “well, we’re okay. We’ve got lots of time.”
“Thanks.”
Ginevra was quick to slip out of the hotel room. Valeria didn’t worry because Ginny would find Corrado soon enough, undoubtedly. Their entire wedding party had the whole room block booked for the weekend at the tucked away, private villa-styled bed-and-breakfast. It was one of the few things she wanted. A small wedding. The people she cared about the most.
And the man of her dreams.
Valeria had him.
“Mamá, it’s not raining,” Maria said, climbing up in her mother’s lap to sit. “I checked.”
Valeria laughed.
Yes.
Her one worry for today.
Canadian weather was tricky.
“That’s great,” she said, kissing Maria’s cheek. “It’s a beautiful day to get married.”
Cara nodded.
Haven, too.
“It is,” they echoed.
• • •
Haven made quick work of smoothing out the lace train of Valeria’s wedding gown. She held tight to the bouquet of white roses in her hands, staring at the double doors still closed in front. Almost time.