“I would like nothing more.” I stood and wrapped my arms around my dear husband. He wasn’t yet, but that’s the way I thought of him. “I love you, Mylos.”
“And I love you, Pia.”
“When should we get married?”
“Tomorrow?”
30
Grinder
I stood at the front of the little chapel that I’d never known was on the Valentini estate. Seated in the pews in front of me were my family—my parents, my sister’s husband, and their three bombats.
On the other side of the aisle sat Countess Maria and, next to her, sat Nonna Bella. Behind them were Elio and Nonna Carina, and behind them were the Casavettis. Other than Matteo, I couldn’t tell the cousins apart. I knew one was Antonio, one Francisco, and one Vincenzo. Their father, Giuseppe, who insisted everyone call him Joe, was crying as much or more than Nonna Bella was, just like Zia Renata was, beside him.
“I told you he’d do that,” said Matteo, who stood on the other side of the man I’d asked to be my best man, Cortez “Rile” DeLéon.
Edge had told me the day I called, that as much as he wanted to be at the wedding, he couldn’t be away from Rebel. I understood in the same way he understood why I wanted to ask Rile to stand up with me today.
Decker couldn’t be here either; Mila was due to give birth to their baby any day now.
“How are you, my friend?” Rile asked as the music began to play and I saw Lucia standing at the back of the church.
“Never better.”
He put one hand on my shoulder and brushed a tear away with the other. “You deserve this and every happiness.”
I thought back to the day I asked him if he’d be my best man. It was one of the only times I remembered him being at a loss for words. And then he asked me why. I explained that if it weren’t for him meeting me at the hotel that day, I wasn’t sure I would’ve believed I could have the life I did now.
As Lucia began her walk down the aisle, I saw my sister, Lily, come and stand in the same place. When our eyes met, I knew that, like with Rile, if it weren’t for her, I may never have seen my beloved Pia again after that first time, when we were both sixteen years old.
“I love you,” I mouthed, and she did it back as she began her walk.
And then…I saw Pia. She stood alone where Lucia and Lily had stood before her. She’d insisted she wanted to walk down the aisle alone, and now I understood why.
She wore a simple, white, sleeveless dress that hugged her growing belly. Her eyes met mine, and s
he smiled.
The music changed, those in the pews stood, and Pia took a step toward me. Her simple bouquet of flowers hung at her side, as she danced and sashayed her way to me. Her eyes were bright with happiness, and maybe a little mischief. My heart almost burst with love.
If we could go back in time, I bet we’d see Estancia look just like Pia did today. Two powerful women, like those of every generation in between, capable of accomplishing anything, capable of changing the world, yet the most important thing in their lives was love.
We spent our honeymoon at the farmhouse, getting it ready for the rest of our lives. Each day, my family would show up to help, as would the countess, the Casavetti cousins, and their parents. At night, we’d walk up the hill to the villa, where Nonna Bella would have a feast prepared for everyone.
Pia would grow tired, and she and I would sneak off, sometimes going straight back to the farmhouse, and other times, stopping first to swim and make love in the moonlight.
The day our baby girl decided she was ready to meet the world, wasn’t much different than any other. We were surrounded by our family, talking more than working on the farmhouse, when Pia’s water broke.
My father rushed up to the villa to get Nonna Bella and Nonna Carina. Three hours later, they and Pia’s mother looked on as my baby girl was born into my arms.
“Just like my Pia,” said the countess through her tears. “In such a hurry to make her mark on the world.”
I looked into my wife’s eyes as I handed her our precious bundle of joy. I had no doubt that my daughter would change the world in any way she wanted to, but most importantly, like her mother, she’d changed me. Without their love, I couldn’t imagine living another day. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the heart-shaped stone that was worth so much more than anyone knew. Not in the millions the world might value it, but in the love and life it represented.
Epilogue
Grinder