I clear my throat.
"I would be happy to find out that I'm pregnant," I say finally after a long pause.
The moment I say it, I feel his body relax a little in my arms, although he doesn't move or say anything. It's like he breathed out with relief. He obviously wasn't expecting what I just said.
"I would be happy to have your baby, Ricardo," I repeat, to make sure he understood me, "because you're a wonderful man and obviously will become an amazing father someday. And I love you so much that my heart stops each time you look at me. And I won't go anywhere, no matter how angry you are at me right now. I won't leave you again, not anymore, not ever…"
I want to say more, but he turns around sharply, and in a moment, I find myself in his arms. His left hand is on my back, pressing my body to his, while he takes my neck with his right one and leans in for a kiss.
We kiss slowly, even though he holds me tight. My hands cling to him so tightly, as if I'll fall if I don't hold on to him. He opens my mouth with his tongue, and we both moan.
"You can't even imagine how much I love you right now," he whispers between kisses.
"I love you more," I whisper back.
Chapter Seventeen
Ricardo
"I’ve never taken a bath in my life," I confess, massaging Angie's head as she lies between my legs with her back pressed against my chest.
"Are you serious?"
She brushes her hands across my legs while I wash her gorgeous hair with some citrus shampoo she bought after she saw mine, told me it’s full of toxic shit, and threw it away the same day. I don't mind. I’ll let her change anything she wants in this apartment to make her feel comfortable living with me.
"Well, Mom made me take baths when I was a kid, but since then…never," I explain, and she starts laughing.
"How is that possible? Baths are one of the best ways to relax!" She places her head on my shoulder, exhaling loudly.
She's been quiet for the whole evening, and it’s clear that something is bothering her, but she doesn't want to tell me. I decided to wait until she's ready, and when she asked me to take a bath with her, I agreed without hesitation.
And now we're lying in this small bath, where we barely fit, but I haven't felt this comfortable in ages.
For our new home, I'll buy the biggest bath I can find.
"That's probably because I’d never taken a bath with you," I whisper in her ear and place a kiss on her neck. "Is something bothering you?"
She takes a deep breath. "It's just been a long day."
I say nothing, continuing to stroke and kiss her. If she doesn't want to talk about it, I won't insist.
"It's because of Dad," she continues. "He wants to go to the registry office and just get married without a wedding."
"Why does it bother you? Do you want to be a bridesmaid?" I tease her, and she laughs.
"No, I don't want them to have a big wedding. I only wanted him to tell Chiara to come, but he obviously doesn't want to do that."
"He doesn't want to invite his own daughter to his wedding?" I'm surprised. I always thought Pierpaolo was a man who cares deeply about his family.
"It's not like she would come, so…" she mumbles. "She can barely stand him. She hasn't come home for a long time. She doesn't even come to my birthdays. She asks me to meet her somewhere like Paris or Milan. She buys me train tickets and pays for the hotel each time, pretending she just wanted to surprise me, but I know that the truth is that she doesn't want to come home and see Dad."
I never went into the details of Chiara and Angie's relationship. I know that they’re close even though they live in different cities. I had no idea Chiara and her father weren’t on speaking terms because of what happened so many years ago.
"Is she still mad because he sent you both to boarding school right before your mom died?" I ask after a pause.
"She talks to him sometimes, like when he calls her at Christmas, but usually she simply doesn’t answer the phone when he calls." Angie exhales loudly and sadly, taking me by the hand as if she needs my support.
"Wouldn't that be a great opportunity for them to reconcile? If she would attend his wedding and…"
"She won't come," Angie says immediately, not letting me finish. "That's the problem, and Dad knows that perfectly. She'll just find a million excuses to not go."
That sucks. I think it but I don't say it out loud. Angie doesn't need to hear it. She's perfectly aware that it sucks. I just can't imagine not talking to my sisters or parents for fifteen years.
"So, if you think she wouldn't come anyway, why do you want him to tell her?" I ask between kisses.
Angie's skin is covered with goosebumps when I kiss between her neck and collarbone.
"I don't know." She shrugs. "I just think Chiara has to know. I'm not sure, though, if she would ask him to come to her wedding."
"Is she dating someone seriously?"
"Yeah, she’s been dating some golden boy for about five years already," she snorts.
"A golden boy?" I chuckle. I’ve never heard Angie describe someone like that before. "You don't like him, do you?"
"His family is rich, so he doesn't really have to work. He goes out clubbing a lot, while Chiara is a real workaholic. I didn't really think their relationship would last long, but now I think she'll probably marry him soon and…" She stops for a second. "Sometimes I ask myself: would she invite Dad to her wedding…or me?"
"Hey, don't say that!" I squeeze her in my arms. "She loves you, and she would definitely invite you."
"She even changed her last name to Mom's maiden name after graduation," Angie continues.
"Seriously?" I'm unable to believe someone could be that mad at their parent.
"Yeah, she turned eighteen right after boarding school so she moved to Milan, changed her name, and started working as a seamstress in a local studio to earn money for tuition with a view to becoming a designer. But then she got a scholarship from Instituto Marangoni, can you believe it?"
"That's quite impressive," I agree.
"I know! She always knew she wanted to be a designer. She paints so well, a real artist. She inherited her talent from our mom." Angie exhales loudly.
"But you still want her to come back home, don't you?" I ask the question that bothers me the most. With my connections, I could find Chiara a better job and convince her to move back…
No, stay out of it, it's not your business, I tell myself. I promised Angie not to make any decisions without her consent.
"I do," she confirms. "Seems like she's not happy with her boyfriend, and her boss is a real bitch. Chiara says she works hard to get a promotion, but why would she want to get a promotion to work with a person she can't stand? It's nonsense! She could find a better job and be happy for real…"
I don't know how to respond. I can't be a good advisor in a relationship, especially in a family relationship, since I also left home at a very early age, when I was barely seventeen.