Tears streamed down Gia’s cheeks and Stella discreetly handed her a tissue. Beppe knew his eyes were about to spill as well and he’d never been happier for so many people to see him cry.
“Beppe,” Gia began when she wiped her face and found her voice. “I’ve loved you my whole life, even though there were times when I tried to deny it. Those times were like a black hole, sucking me in and tainting my soul. My love for you is what saved me from the darkness. I’m so incredibly blessed to have found my soul mate in the skinny, little boy who sat on the curb and was afraid to go home. I will forever love that boy and the amazing man he has become.”
Beppe’s tears flowed freely and he couldn’t wait any longer to have that incredible woman in his arms. Her pulled her close and kissed her tear covered lips.
“Hey, hey! Not yet, man! Geez, she hasn’t said ‘I do’ yet,” Max said behind him and everyone laughed.
Gia did say ‘I do’ about two minutes later and everyone cheered, impatient to start the celebration. Beppe kissed his bride properly then, sliding his tongue into her mouth and didn't stop, even when the whistles and the catcalls began.
When the celebration died down and most of the guests had found better things to do than obsess over the happy couple, Beppe felt it was time to be alone with his wife.
God, he’d never tire of saying that word.
About six months ago, Beppe had legally changed his surname to Salvatore. That was the name of his family, not Orsino. Marco Orsino had only brought him pain and misery, and Beppe refused to carry his name any longer.
Mrs. Gianna Salvatore. It had a nice ring to it.
Beppe found Gia and took her hand in his. They quietly left the party and he helped her down the steep, stone steps leading to the beach. It was small, but it was lit up and even had a couple of sun loungers and parasols. Beppe lay down on one of the loungers and tugged Gia down to lay between his legs, her back to his chest. Their breathing soon synchronized and they completely relaxed, probably for the first time today. It had been a beautiful ceremony and a fun party, but God, it had been exhausting!
“I can’t believe we’re here, finally married and happy, after everything we’ve been through. It seems like a dream and I’m afraid to wake up,” said Gia, dreamily watching the waves roll down the shore.
“It’s not a dream, cara. It’s real,” whispered Beppe and kissed Gia’s temple. “I’ve never been happier.” Gia hummed in agreement and went quiet. The stillness of her body told Beppe she had something on her mind. “What is it, baby? What are you thinking about?”
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to discuss with you for a while, but I didn’t want to take focus from the wedding and everything.” She paused, as if still not sure whether she should talk to him about this now.
“What is it?”
After another minute of silence, Gia took a breath and said,
“I want to have a baby, Beppe.”
It was Beppe’s turn to go completely still.
A baby? He’d honestly never thought about it. It was logical – Gia was almost twenty six years old and she’d just married the love of her life. Why wouldn’t she want to have a baby?
“OK,” he finally said. He’d promised he’d make her happy for the rest of their lives and if Gia wanted a baby to be happy, he’d give her a baby. The ugly thought that his DNA wasn’t worth spreading around tried to poke its head in his mind, but Beppe quickly crushed it.
“Really?” She twisted around and looked him in the eyes. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Gia grinned and kissed him, her enthusiasm and happiness washing away the doubt in his heart.
Thirteen months later the fertility specialist informed them that they couldn’t conceive a child and explained all the other options to them.
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
“I’m sorry Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore, but the news is not good. Mr. Salvatore has extremely low sperm count and, even though that doesn’t make him infertile per se, the chances of conceiving naturally are very slim,” said Dr Avellino, matter-of-factly. His brows furrowed at his last words, only confirming Gia’s fears that he was trying to soften the blow of the bad news. ‘Very slim chances’ actually meant ‘not a chance in hell’.
God, Gia didn’t want to be in this expensively furnished office a second longer. She wanted to go home and wallow in self pity until the world didn’t seem quite so unfair. Beppe squeezed her hand from where he was sitting in the comfortable, high back chair next to her. Gia glanced in his direction and smiled, but even she knew it was a pathetic attempt. Beppe’s eyes were somber and full of concern for her. Drawing on her inner pool of strength, Gia made up her mind that before she drowned in grief, she’d make sure her husband knew that this was in no way his fault.
Dr Avellino continued speaking and Gia was distantly aware of him listing possible solutions for them – they could try IVF but it was extremely unlikely that it would work. They would have to think about whether the slight chance was worth the stress Gia's body would have to go through. They could use a sperm donor – Gia shuddered just thinking about that; or they could adopt. When neither of them spoke to express interest in any of the options, Dr Avellino sighed and provided them a handful of brochures with information to look through. He assured them he was available if they had questions or needed further advice. They said their goodbyes and left his office.
Gia endured the car ride back to their apartment, while anger, helplessness and sorrow churned in her heart. She wanted to crawl into bed, pull the covers up and cry.
Her plans were thrown out the window when Beppe caught up to her as she was climbing the stairs to their bedroom, fully aware what she wanted to do. There was a down side to being married to someone who knew you so well – you would never slip anything past them.
“Talk to me,” he said as they walked in the bedroom and Gia started taking off her earrings, bangles and belt with a lot more force than necessary. He had his hands in his jeans’ pockets and looked so forlorn that Gia wanted to get as far away from him as possible.
Right now she needed to be alone to grieve for the child she’d never have.
“Nothing to talk about. I’m tired. I want to go to bed and forget this day ever happened.” She took off her dress and put her pyjamas on, dying to get into loose, soft, comfortable clothes.
“I’m not letting you do this, Gia,” Beppe said and his face took on a harder edge.
Gia didn’t want to talk to him because she might say something she’d regret, and it was not fair. It was all in her head, it wasn’t Beppe’s fault. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? Just for a few hours?
“You’re not letting me do what exactly? Go to bed?” Gia hoped the ice in her voice would chase him away, but it didn’t. He stepped closer to her and Gia instinctively took a step back. She didn't want him close, she wanted to be left to fall apart on her own.
“No. I’m not letting you hide in here until you bury your feelings so deep inside that nothing can bring them back to the surface.” He stepped closer and Gia’s lower back hit the window sill, and there was nowhere to run.
“I’m not going to...”
“You will, you know you will. That’s what you always do. You buried your hurt and anger over me staying in Tuscany so deep that it took me three years to unearth it, and I’m not even sure I would have done it if it wasn’t for Paolo dying and you feeling sorry for me.”
“I didn’t feel sorry for you, I...”
“Stop it! Right now, just stop! Talk to me!,” Beppe ordered, his eyes wide with determination and love. There was no escape – he’d caught her between himself and the window, and what was more, he’d caught her in his chocolate stare and Gia’s defenses melted away.
Gia nodded and looked away, swallowing past her dry throat as she spoke, “I wanted to have your baby so badly. I wanted to hold him and look into his eyes and see you. I wanted to create something that was a part of you.”
Beppe tilted her chin up with his finger until she met his eyes. They were the same dark, beautiful, vulnerable eyes that Gia had seen all those years ago on that curb. Beppe had matured and grown stronger, but his eyes would always remind her of that little boy.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“It’s not your fault,” Gia said and shook her head. She hadn’t even noticed when the tears had started. “I’m just so sick of life being so fucking unfair!”
Beppe looked away and flexed his jaw muscles, and Gia knew he was preparing to say something she wouldn’t like..
“Maybe it’s not such a bad thing,” he finally said, casting his eyes down and taking a step back.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure I'd want another me running around. Not with my DNA.”
Gia was gobsmacked. How could he say that?
“There’s nothing wrong with your DNA, Beppe. You’re an incredible man, despite everything that you have been through in life. That’s a pretty good DNA if you ask me.” It was Gia’s turn to move closer to him and offer support. She knew exactly what he meant without him actually spelling it out for her. “You’re nothing like your father, Beppe, no child you raise would be anything like him.”
Beppe nodded, not completely convinced, but Gia let it go. She would say it for as long as it took until Beppe believed it someday.
“So what are we going to do?” he asked, as he took Gia’s hand and led her to sit on the bed. “Do you want to start looking for a sperm donor?”
“No! I told you – I wanted your child. If I can’t have that, I don't want to be pregnant with somebody else’s.” Gia sighed and flopped back on the bed. Her head was pounding and sharing with Beppe hadn’t helped to ease her sadness and regret. She’d dreamt of holding Beppe’s child in her arms for so long that she needed time to adjust to this new situation, and to re-evaluate what she wanted out of life. But first of all she needed to grieve for something she’d never even had.
“Do you want me to look into adoption?” Beppe had just stared his final year in university and would graduate with a Masters of Science of Law next year. He’d been offered an intern position in ‘Peretti and Zappone’ – a well respected local law firm that specialized in domestic abuse cases and worked really closely with social services. He’d accepted on the spot. With his good grades and passion for the profession, Beppe could have chosen any law firm to do his internship at, including some that offered much bigger bonuses and more spacious offices.
“No, not yet. I need some time.”
Beppe nodded and lay down next to Gia, moving them up the bed and covering them with the duvet.
“It’s going to be OK, amore. I promise,” he said and kissed the top of her head. Cuddling close, they drifted off to much needed sleep.
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
Two years later
Gia walked into ‘Enzo’s’ a few minutes early, as usual. She passed by Adele and Dario who were busy at the waiters’ station, getting everything ready for the lunch rush hour in thirty minutes. ‘Enzo’s’ opened at noon every day and was full within half an hour.
“Gia! Enzo wants to see you in the office,” Dario called after her as she flew by them, anxious to get everything ready in time. In the office? Enzo never wasted time in the office right before the restaurant opened.
Gia knocked on the door and entered after hearing Enzo’s ‘come in’. The restaurant owner was seated behind his desk in the small office, tapping on his laptop. He looked at her over his glasses and gestured for her to close the door and sit. Gia rolled her eyes and flopped ungraciously on the chair. She had work to do, now was not the time to chat. She loved the old man to bits, but sometimes he was as annoying and stubborn as a mule.
“What’s up?” she said after she waited for a whole minute for Enzo to speak, but he continued to type and ignore her.
“Let me finish this, eh?” he said in his usual grumpy style. Gia had taken an instant liking to the big, grouchy man when she’d come to his restaurant looking for work just over three years ago. However it hadn’t been mutual.
“Enzo, can we talk later? The restaurant is going to be full in about half an hour and I need to prepare...”
“God! You haven’t been here a minute and my head already wants to explode!” Enzo removed his glasses and closed his laptop, rubbing his eyes. “I’ve prepared everything for the lunch menu, don’t worry. Now, sit back in the chair because there’s something important I want to talk to you about and I won’t have you bouncing around.”
Gia rolled her eyes again. How was it that Enzo always made her feel like a naughty teenager? She was a twenty nine year old woman, for Christ sake! She leaned back in the chair and folded her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow at him. Enzo sighed and leaned back in his own chair.
“You’ve been working for me for how long? Three years?” Gia nodded. “I admit I didn’t want to hire you when you walked into my restaurant all those years ago, looking all energetic and hopeful. Waving this posh diploma in my face.” Gia could remember the time as if it was yesterday – Enzo had almost thrown her out, but she’d already fallen in love with the place.
“Yeah, you should have seen your face. You were so disgusted as if I’d shown you a week old salmon fillet.”
“But you didn’t give up. You pestered me for weeks and in the end bullied me into hiring you.”
“Hey! I didn’t bully you. And besides, I’m the best thing that’s happened to your restaurant and you know it,” Gia teased. ‘Enzo’s’ had been fine without her and would still have been fine if she hadn’t shown up, because Enzo’s cooking was out of this world. The restaurant was small and cozy, and between the regulars and the new clients it was always full. Business was good, even in the current economic climate, and both Gia and Enzo had no reason to complain.
“As if,” said Enzo and chuckled, but soon grew serious again. “You know I don’t have any children and I’ve come to see you as my daughter, an annoying one at that.”
“Enzo, are you trying to tell me you love me?” Gia raised an eyebrow again and gave Enzo her most devilish smile. “Because calling me into your office to do it might be a little bit over the top.” Enzo grumbled and Gia barely suppressed her chuckle.
“If you shut up for five seconds I might be able to get to my point!” Gia closed her mouth and slid her finger over it as if closing the zipper. Satisfied, Enzo continued. “Since you started working here, the restaurant has improved. You’ve demonstrated admirable knowledge, but at the same time you’ve shown a willingness to learn. You and I, we’ve worked together better that I ever expected. We have the same vision for this restaurant. I love your passion for it and how hard you work. Hell, we’ve had so much business, we had to hire another waiter and additional kitchen staff!”
Even if Gia hadn’t promised to stay quiet, she wouldn't have been able to utter a word. Enzo had never said anything like this to her before, even though she knew he appreciated her and what they’d managed to achieve together as a team.
Enzo got up from his chair and went to stand in front of something big, covered with a white sheet, propped on the wall to the left. How could Gia have missed it before now? It was huge!
Enzo removed the sheet and uncovered a new sign with the restaurant name on it. It was exactly the same design as the current one, but there was one enormous difference: it had Gia’s name on it. It said ‘Enzo&Gia’s’ in big, red letters.
“Oh my God!” Gia stood up and went to the sign, tracing the letters with her fingers. “Are you sure about this?”
“Absolutely. You love this place as much as I do, Gia. You deserve it.”
Gia threw herself at Enzo, enveloping his big body in a hug.
“Thank you! You have no idea what this means to me!”
Enzo patted her on the back and chuckled.
“Don’t make me regret it! It’s damn expensive!”
Gia laughed and hugged the old m
an once again, before she ran to her phone to call Beppe and tell him the incredible news.
Five years later, Enzo Martelli passed away, leaving Gia his restaurant. She cried for weeks, unable to go to the restaurant and open again for business. She’d grown to love Enzo and accepted him as a part of her family. His death crushed Gia’s heart and brought back so many painful memories of her own father passing.
Being the strong woman that she was, Gia mourned Enzo but decided it was time to move on. She knew he’d be extremely disappointed in her if she let his beloved restaurant to rot, so she re-opened for business, keeping the ‘Enzo&Gia’s’ sign and the restaurant continued to be a success for many years to come.
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
When Gia rang Beppe to tell him that Enzo had added her name to the restaurant’s sign, Beppe couldn’t have been happier for his wife. She adored the place and the old man who owned it. On his way home from work, Beppe picked up a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
Beppe had started working full time for ‘Peretti and Zappone’ once he’d graduated a year ago, and both partners Victor Peretti and Filippo Zappone had been thoroughly impressed with his work. His passion and dedication did not go unnoticed. He was fast on his way to being promoted. But promotion or the thought of making partner one day wasn’t what Beppe was after, and definitely wasn’t what inspired him to work so hard. Helping all those people, all those children, would always be what Beppe was most proud of. He never turned anyone down – it didn’t matter if they didn’t have enough money or if they called in the middle on the night.
Then, Now, Forever (Heartbeat #2) Page 28