"Forgive me; I've never held a baby before," Nico replied. But he did what he was told.
It made for a beautiful photo. Nico with his bronzed movie-star features, baby Rosa with her pink newborn skin. Something was off, though. Louisa couldn't say exactly what, but something about Nico's eyes didn't fit. For one thing, they lacked the sparkle she'd come to associate with his smiles. They looked darker-sad, even-and distant. Not unlike the way they'd looked the other day when Marianna visited.
Did his sister notice? Probably not, since the new mother was too busy directing the photo session. "Go stand next to Nico," she ordered. "We need one of the three of you."
"Um... You want me in your baby album?" Louisa wasn't sure that was a good idea.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Marianna waved at her to move. "Go."
"Sooner you do it, the sooner she'll be done taking photos," Nico said.
She took her place by Nico's shoulder, and wondered if she would ever get used to being welcome. It didn't dawn on her until after Marianna showed her the pictures on her phone that she was in her most casual clothes and not wearing a stitch of makeup. The woman smiling back at her from the view screen looked like someone she used to know a long time ago, before she ever heard the name Steven Clark. Someone she hadn't seen in a long time. Maybe she'd stick around a little while.
"You make an attractive family," Marianna teased. "Maybe I should sell it to the papers."
"You do, and I'll return my breast pump." That she could have such an exchange without blanching spoke volumes about how well she was recovering from the scandal. She turned her attention back to the phone screen, her gaze moving from her face to Nico's to Rosa's and back to Nico's. There was definitely distance in Nico's smile...
Meanwhile, Ryan had retrieved Rosa, who hadn't woken up, and was tucking her into her bassinet. "I meant to tell you," he said, "the cradle fits the space perfectly."
"I'm glad," Nico replied.
"Nico had the family cradle restored," Marianna explained.
"He did?" She hadn't known, although knowing his respect for tradition, the gesture didn't surprise her.
"It has been in our family for generations," he replied, eyes still on the baby. "Made sense that it be used by the first member of the next generation."
"The piece is almost too beautiful for Rosa to sleep in," Ryan said.
"Come with me; I'll show you."
After casting a protective glance into the bassinet Marianna led her toward the nursery. "You know, I almost took the baby monitor with me," she said as they walked up the stairs. "But I thought that might be overprotective."
"With Ryan sitting five feet away from her, I would say yes," Louisa teased. Her friend's extreme mothering was adorable. Might not be so cute when Rosa was older, but seeing as how Marianna had only been a mother for two days, she couldn't help smiling. The Amatuccis didn't do things halfway, did they?
The room was a baby's paradise. The couple had forgone traditional baby colors in favor of restful lavender, browns and greens. The Tuscan hillside, Louisa realized. Stuffed animals and books already filled the shelves, and there were, not one, but two mobiles, one hanging over what looked to be a small play area in the corner.
On the back wall hung a large landscape of the vineyards with baby animals playing peek-a-boo among the vines. Louisa spied a rabbit and a kitten straight off. "Logan Cascini's wife, Lucia, painted it as a baby gift," Marianna told her. "There are supposed to be eleven different baby animals hiding in the fields. So far Ryan and I can only find eight."
"It's amazing." This was a gift that would amuse a child for years to come. Something Louisa would want for her own child. "Makes my breast pump look lame," she said.
As exquisite as the painting was, however, it paled in comparison to the cradle below it. Ryan hadn't exaggerated. It was gorgeous. It wasn't that the piece was fancy; in fact the design was actually very modest, but you could feel its history. The tiny nicks and dents told the story of all the Amatuccis that had slept safe in its confines. She ran her hand along the sideboard. The restorer had done a great job, polishing the olive wood to a gleaming dark brown without destroying what made it special.
"My great-grandfather built this when my grandfather was born. According to my father, it was because my great-grandmother demanded he not sleep in a drawer. Baby Amatuccis have slept in it ever since."
Louisa tried to picture Nico as a baby with his thick dark curls. Bet he had a smile that could melt your heart.
She wondered why he hadn't told her what he was planning. But then, why would he? No doubt the idea came to him when Marianna had announced her pregnancy. If she recalled, the two of them had hardly been friends at the time. Not like they were now.
Actually she wasn't sure what they were to each other anymore. Did a friend lie in bed listening for the sound of footsteps in the hall, relieved yet disappointed when the steps didn't draw near her door? Did a friend watch her friend while he worked, wondering what it might feel like to run her hands down his muscular arms? Louisa doubted it. Yet she had done both those things the past couple of days.
Then there was the fact she was continuing to stay at the vineyard. The headlines had stopped. There was little reason she shouldn't return to the palazzo and start figuring out what she wanted to do for the future.
So how come the two of them were continuing to cohabitate as though they were a couple?
"...godparents."
She realized Marianna was talking. "I'm sorry," she said. "I was thinking about something else."
"Here I thought I was the one with distractions," the brunette teased. "Please tell me you'll pay better attention to your goddaughter."
"G-goddaughter?" Was Marianna asking what Louisa thought she was asking?
"Ryan and I were hoping you would be Rosabella's godmother."
Godmother? She had to have misunderstood. In Italy, a godparent was expected to play a huge role in a child's life. More like a second parent. And they were asking her?
That's why they'd insisted on including her in the photograph. "Are-are you sure?" she asked. "There isn't someone you want more?" Her brother Angelo's wife, for example.
"Ryan and I can't think of anyone we'd want more," the brunette said, reaching over and resting a hand atop hers.
"But the scandal?"
"Who cares about the scandal? The scandal is what makes you so perfect. We want our daughter to grow up knowing that doing the right thing isn't always easy, but that truly strong people find a way to make it through."
Louisa couldn't breathe for the lump in her throat. Marianna and Ryan...they thought her brave? Talk about ironic. She'd felt nothing but fear from the day she discovered Steven's duplicity. "All I did was tell the authorities the truth." And seize an opportunity to escape.
"You did more than tell the truth. You paid a price publicly. It couldn't have been easy being destroyed by the press the way you were. That's the kind of person I want to help guide my daughter. A woman who's strong enough to bounce back."
Had she really, though? Bounced back? There were still so many fears holding her back. She wasn't sure she'd ever completely escape Steven.
Still, the invitation meant more than Marianna would ever realize. Louisa felt the tears pushing at her eyes. Seemed like all she did was tear up lately. "You just want me to give you a better baby gift," she said, sniffing them away.
Marianna's eyes were watery. "So is that a yes?"
"Yes!" Louisa didn't stop to think twice. "I would be honored."
"Perfect. I'm so happy." The brunette clapped her hands together the way a child might when getting a special gift. "This will be perfect. You can teach Rosa how to be strong and gracious, and her godfather will teach her how to be smart and respect tradition. Along with winemaking, that is."
Wine? "Who are you going to ask to be godfather?" she asked. As if she didn't know. There was only one man who fit that description.
Her friend looked at her with surprise. "Nico, of course."
Of course.
"Is that a problem?"
Only in the sense that she and Nico would be bound together for the rest of Rosa's life. Flutters took over her insides.
"No, no problem," she said.