Three Months After That

I married Lucia on the beach in our backyard. Lucia walking toward me barefoot, her belly swollen, wearing a simple, flowing white dress bound by golden thread just beneath her breasts and a crown of flowers in her hair, was probably the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

I’d never been so happy in my life.

We wrote our own vows, and she blamed hormones when she wept throughout the ceremony. Luke and Isabella were our witnesses and Effie our flower girl. That was all. No other guests apart from the priest who married us. Afterward, we barbecued and swam and talked about baby names and about Isabella and Luke moving closer. Effie spoke more to her little cousin inside Lucia’s belly than to anyone else. She may have been as excited as Lucia and I were.

They spent the night and drove back home the next afternoon. We didn’t have a honeymoon. There was nowhere either of us wanted to be but here. Together.

“We have everything,” she said as we lay on lounge chairs, watching the night sky.

We did, and neither of us took a moment of it for granted.

“Will you tell your father?” she asked.

“In time.”

“What’s on your mind?”

I looked over at her and tugged the thin blanket over her shoulder. She’d filled out a little with the pregnancy, and she couldn’t be more beautiful to me.

“Dominic. I’m worried.”

“He’ll turn up. He has a lot to process, and probably feels awful for what he did.”

“He’d know by now that I’m fine. He’d know where we live. He just disappeared, and that worries me.”

She touched my hand and brought it to her belly. I faced her to kiss her lips and rub the warm mound.

“He’ll turn up when he’s ready. Give him space.”

“What if he’s…hurt himself?”

“He’s not the type. It’s far more effective to torture yourself while living, Salvatore. You and your brother both—guilt is like a second skin to you. It’s like you have to learn how to live, how to breathe, without it. You’re learning, but you’ve got a good teacher,” she finished with a wink.

“How did I end up so lucky?”

“You signed a contract, remember?”

She rolled onto her side, her back to me, and I pulled her in, holding her tight.

“Smart-ass.”

“Don’t forget pigheaded.”

“Oh, no, you prove that on a daily basis.”

She jabbed her elbow into my gut.

“Apart from my brother, my life couldn’t be more perfect. It scares me a little.” It scared me more than a little. “What if… I’ve done bad things, Lucia. I don’t know if I deserve all of this.”