About a year ago Gia had asked him to start the adoption process. It was a lengthy and bureaucratic procedure, so if they wanted to adopt a child in the next three years, they had to start early. Social services had visited their home and sent their report to the Minors Court. They in turn had deemed them eligible to adopt. The decision had come through a few months ago. Nothing was stopping them from signing up with the adoption agencies so they could start looking for a child. But Gia wasn’t ready. She avoided the conversation like the plague.
Beppe didn’t pressure her. He, personally, didn’t need a child to feel as though his life was complete. He had the woman he loved and that was enough; he was happy. But he’d promised he’d make her happy, whatever it took, and when she was ready for it, he’d turn the world upside down until he found her a child.
That night, they had drunk the champagne and made love until the early hours of the morning, falling asleep in each other’s arms. The bliss had lasted a few hours before Beppe’s phone rang, startling them both awake. He switched on the bedside lamp and checked the clock – it was 5:00 am. The phone’s display showed an unknown number and Beppe instantly tensed. This couldn’t be good.
“Hello?” he said, sitting up in bed.
“Mr. Salvatore?” a small, child voice said on the other end.
“Dante? Is that you?” Dante was a six year old whose father had died in Iraq before he was born, and whose mum was a drug addict. She always managed to get a whiff of when social services was coming to visit her and present a perfect mother front, so nothing could be done. Beppe wasn’t fooled, however. He’d taken one look at the little boy and known he’d seen too much for his young age. Without his mum’s knowledge, Beppe had slipped Dante his business card and told him to keep it safe and call him if he needed anything.
“Yes.”
“Where are you, sweetheart? Where’s your mum?” Beppe asked, already up and trying to find some clothes to put on. Gia opened a few drawers in their wardrobe and handed him underwear, socks, jeans and a t-shirt.
“I’m in the phone booth in front of our building. Mum’s home, but something’s wrong, Mr. Salvatore. She’s on the sofa. I tried to wake her up, but I can’t.”
Beppe could hear the tremble in Dante’s voice and could feel how scared the little boy was. How could some people be so irresponsible? Beppe was determined to take the child away from his useless mother and put her in jail for neglect and child abuse.
“Listen to me, Dante. I want you to stay in that phone booth until I get there, OK? I’m on my way, it shouldn’t take me more than ten minutes. OK, sweetheart?”
“OK,” Dante said and sniffled.
“Don’t be afraid, Dante. I promise everything’s going to be fine.”
When Beppe made that promise, he wasn't aware that Dante’s mother had overdosed and was lying dead in her living room.
Beppe took Dante to his office, settled him on the small sofa and covered him with a fleece blanket he had lying around for occasions like this. He left him to sleep a bit. The boy had been exhausted when Beppe found him. The flat had been littered with old take away boxes, overflowing ashtrays and empty bottles and cans. Beppe had left Dante in the hallway and checked his mum’s pulse. When he couldn’t find one, he had called the police. It had been complete chaos after that, with emergency services arriving and running around. Beppe hadn't wanted Dante to watch as his mother’s body was wheeled out of their flat, so he’d taken him back to his office.
Closing the door quietly behind him, Beppe made himself a cup of coffee and headed for Victor Perreti’s office. It was still early – 7:00 am, but Beppe knew Victor always arrived at six and stayed until everyone had gone home, even after he’d made Filippo Zappone partner to share the work load. The man was sixty seven years old, but his son lived in America and his wife had died long ago, so Victor didn’t have anyone waiting for him at home. Instead, he dedicated all of his time to his firm.
Beppe walked into his boss’ office to be met with a stern stare.
“Since when is leisure wear allowed in my firm, Giuseppe?” Victor raised an eyebrow and Beppe blushed. He’d been so absorbed with Dante and everything going on that he’d completely forgotten he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
“I’m sorry, Victor, please let me explain,” Beppe said and sat across from his boss, relaying the story.
“We have to call Casia and get social services here. Without any parents or any known blood relatives, the boy will have to go into the system.”
“I know,” Beppe nodded and sadness wrapped around his heart. That little boy had no one and would probably be transferred from foster family to foster family until someone adopted him. Then suddenly, he was hit with an idea. “Let me take him, Victor.”
“What? He’s not a puppy, Giuseppe! You can’t just take him! There are laws and procedures, you know that.”
“Let me talk to Casia and arrange temporary placement in my home. I’ll have to talk to my wife about this as well, but I’m certain she won’t object. We’re already approved and registered for adoption, Victor. We can do this by the book.”
Victor relaxed in his chair and stared thoughtfully at Beppe for a few long moments. Beppe knew that if he had his boss on his side, he’d be able to convince Casia from social services to approve Dante staying with them. Victor seemed to make up his mind then, and leaning forward in his chair, he picked up the phone and dialed.
“Casia, cara, how are you? Victor Peretti here. Listen, we have a little problem and I need you to come to my office as soon as possible. Oh, and bring everything we’ll need for a temporary placement of a minor,” Victor said into the receiver and grinned at Beppe who couldn’t hold back his own smile.
Beppe talked with Gia on the phone a couple of times because she wanted to know what had happened after he had bolted from the house that morning. However, he'd never told her that by the end of the work day, he’d have Dante officially placed in their home.
He wanted to surprise her.
When he strode into their flat, Dante in tow, Gia met them in the foyer, confusion shadowing her face. But she quickly recovered, for Dante’s sake, and kneeling down to his eye level hugged him and assured him everything was going to be fine. Dante wrapped his arms around Gia’s neck and gave her a sweet, uncertain hug. Gia pulled back, smiling. Beppe knew that from the moment she'd looked into the little boy’s chocolate eyes, she'd fallen in love.
Seven months later, the adoption went through and Dante Salvatore was officially a part of their family.
CHAPTER FORTY
Twenty years later
Beppe sat next to his wife in the crowded hall of ‘Università degli Studi di Bologna’ waiting for his son’s graduation ceremony to start. He was so proud of his little boy and what he’d achieved.
The first few months after they had taken Dante into their home had been tough. The child had been scared and didn’t understand what had happened to his mother and why he was suddenly living with these people he barely knew. Beppe and Gia had shown patience and understanding, reading every book written about adopting a traumatized child and even consulting a psychologist. Dante was a lovely, smart kid and once he’d learned he could trust them, he’d relaxed and embraced his new life.
Adjusting to life with a child had been hard on Beppe and Gia as well. Their work schedule was hectic and they had to hire a nanny to pick up Dante from school and stay with him until one of them got home. They tried to spend as much time together as possible and Gia had insisted on having the weekends off which hadn’t sat well with Enzo, but once the old man had taken a look at Dante, he’d fallen under the child’s spell and couldn’t deny him, anything. Beppe didn’t work over the weekend anyway, so like every working couple, they tried to make up for missed bed time stories and walks in the park during the week.
Dante grew up to be a confident, intelligent, loving young man, and had made both Gia and Beppe extremely happy and proud. They felt so lucky to have had
him parachute into their lives and their hearts.
Beppe turned to look at his Gia sitting next to him and marveled at how gorgeous she still was and how incredibly lucky he was. Sensing his eyes on her, Gia turned and smiled at him, cupping his cheek in her palm and giving him a gentle kiss on the lips. As they waited for their son to throw his graduation cap in the air, Beppe felt as if, finally, life had had enough of tormenting them.
As if at last they were allowed to have their happily ever after.
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My readers are the best. (Just wanted to get this out there before I wrote anything else.)
Every single person who’s read ‘In a Heartbeat’ has changed my life. I never expected anything to come out of writing ‘In a Heartbeat’, let alone to have so many people get in touch and say how much they loved it, and offer their unconditional help and support without ever expecting anything in return. That means the world to me and I want to say a huge THANK YOU to each and every one of you.
I also never expected to write any companion novels, but you guys kept asking me about Beppe and Gia, as well as Lisa and Gino and I felt compelled to write their stories too.
‘Then, Now, Forever’ was a group effort. It was an extremely difficult book to write because a lot of the story is very personal to me, but thanks to a group of wonderful, supportive, patient people it came to life and grew to the best it can be.
My editor Veronica Leigh Bates, who’s been my friend long before she became my editor, put a lot of time and effort into this book and deserves a big THANK YOU, V! I love your sprinkles!
My awesome beta readers:
Kathryn Grimes – thank you for your positivity, encouragement, hundreds of caps lock letters and exclamation marks – it makes my day every time I see a message from you!
Kellee Fabre – you were the first to write a review for Then, Now, Forever, Kellee and I’ll never forget how I felt when I read it! You and your real life love story inspire me!
Charmaine Butler – thank you for taking the time to read and give me feedback, Char, even though you had much more important stuff to do like get married!
Kelly Schwertner – thank you for being there for me Kelly, encouraging me and my cowboy fantasies, reading, reviewing, and replying to my crazy ass emails straight away!
Amber Noffke – thank you for the amazing edits, for trusting me so fast and for being my friend without any ifs and buts.
Kameron Mitchell – thank you for the violins, for insisting that Lisa needs more book time, for criticizing my writing and for putting up with my crazy.
All of you guys rock! Without your feedback this book would have been a shadow of what it is now, and I honestly don’t know if I’d have had the courage to publish it. THANK YOU!
My ever suffering husband and son who endure the endless drama that surrounds the process of writing a book without (too many) complaints, and who love me even when I ignore them for the sake of tormenting fictional people. THANK YOU!
I just have to say how glad I am that the relationship and communication between authors, bloggers and readers has evolved to such a level that we’re all now one big community. I truly believe that has transformed the literary world for the better.
Lastly, thank YOU who’re reading this. THANK YOU for buying my book and taking the time to read it. I really hope you enjoyed it!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Teodora Kostova lives in London with her husband and her son. She tried her luck in many jobs – from journalist, editor and translator to personal assistant and interior designer, but in the end all she wanted to do was write. When she’s procrastinating, she enjoys going to the cinema, reading, eating Italian meals, watching True Blood re-runs and getting beaten by her kid at every Nintendo Wii game.
CONTACTS
Email: [email protected]
Blog: http://teodorakostova.blogspot.co.uk/
http://heartbeatseries.blogspot.co.uk/
Twitter: @Teodora_Kostova
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teodorakostovaauthor
Then, Now, Forever (Heartbeat #2) Page 29