Chapter 124: A Ceremony

**Althaia**

The following day I didn’t have to do my usual training, and I could spend quality time with Damiano instead. We went on a long walk around the vineyards, and I even got to meet more people from the village. I had never gotten so many hugs and kisses from people before in my life, and they were all so happy to see Damiano and me together. It gave me another opportunity to see how Damiano interacted with his workers. It was much more different than how he interacted with his men, of course. He was being a bit more gentle with them, and I knew it was because this place was close to his heart.

It really was a village for itself with its own charisma and lovely people. And just beyond the vineyards, there was even a market! There were sales stands to buy vegetables, fruits, bread, and whatnot since it was quite a bit of a distance to the nearest store. A colorful stand caught my eye, and I walked closer to see what it was. It was a beautiful stand with varieties of dry fruits and nuts. The man who owned the stand was delighted when we greeted him and gave us samples to try.

“Wow, this is so good!” I exclaimed when tasting the dried mango. It was sweet and soft and tasted much like candy.

“Can we get some?” I asked Damiano, and he looked amused by my question.

“You don’t have to ask.”

“Well, it’s because I don’t have any cash on me…”

“Don’t worry about money. We got plenty of it. Buy whatever you want.” He almost ordered me. I turned to the man and asked him to give me a little bit of everything. We ended up with two bags, each filled with smaller bags so they wouldn’t be mixed. I smiled when the man thanked Damiano many times when he paid him a generous amount.

As we continued down the market, I took in a big whiff, and my mouth watered a little.

“Oh, something smells good.” I didn’t even wait for Damiano to say anything before grabbing his hand and dragging him in the direction of that delicious smell. I let out a small gasp in excitement when I saw it was freshly baked loaves of bread. A big stone oven where bread was currently baking, and it smelled amazingly good. I almost wanted to close my eyes.

“Buon pomeriggio.” I greeted the lady at the front, who was busy fumbling around with some stuff and hadn’t looked up yet.

“Buon pomeriggio.” She chirped and looked up with a smile. Her eyes widened when she spotted Damiano. She let out a sound of excitement, wiping her hands on her apron as she made a small run around the stand to greet him. She was a small woman but still managed to grab his cheeks, pull him down to her, and give his cheeks kisses. I couldn’t help but laugh a little at the sight. Italian women were indeed something else and so straightforward.

Then I stared at them dumbfounded when they started to speak. It went fast, not allowing me to even catch a word of what was being said. When Damiano said my name, the woman turned to look at me, and I knew he had introduced me as his wife. Delighted by the news, I was pulled into a bone-crushing hug. She was surprisingly strong for being so small!

She started to speak to me, but I had no idea what was being said. I looked at Damiano, seeing him laughing a little at how confused I was looking right now and begging him with my eyes to help me out. I think he probably explained to her I didn’t understand, and they exchanged more words before she went behind her stand again.

“How can I ask if I can buy some bread?” I asked Damiano, and he slowly said the words one by one as I repeated them to her. Thrilled, she grabbed a bag and started to fill it up, and I tried to tell her I didn’t need that many, but she dismissed me real quick. I grabbed Damiano’s wallet from his pocket and took some money to give her. I handed her the money to take, and she gave me one disapproving look.

“No!” She slapped my hand and pushed it back to me. I gaped at her. What was it with Italian women slapping my hand away when I tried to pay for something?!

“Yes!” I said firmly and handed her the money again, which earned another slap as she started to speak rapidly.

“She’s saying you’re disrespecting her. She is giving you the bread as a gift.” Damiano translated.

“I just want to pay for once … “ I sighed but smiled at her when she handed me the bag filled with freshly baked loaves of bread. An idea came to mind when we thanked her for the bread. I grabbed Damiano’s hand, quickly put the money on the stand, and made a run for it.

“Grazie!” I yelled over my shoulder as we ran away. I slowed down once we had made a safe distance, catching my breath as I had been laughing during the small run.

“So rebellious.” Damiano laughed, and I grinned at him.

“I don’t take orders very well.”

“That you don’t.” I stuck my tongue out in a teasing manner before opening the bag and grabbing a loaf of bread. It was just as I had imagined it would be when I ripped a piece; crusty on the outside and super soft on the inside. My mouth watered once again, and I took a bite, closing my eyes a little at how good it was.

“Oh, my God! This is seriously the best bread I have ever had!” I said excitedly. I fed him some bread, and he agreed with me.

“By the way, what language was that?” I asked him as we took our time walking back to the mansion while enjoying the bread I couldn’t seem to stop eating.

“It’s Sicilian.” My brows went up in surprise.

“Ah... I have actually never heard anyone speak Sicilian before.”

“It’s mostly spoken in their own village and towns.”

“Makes sense. It sounds familiar yet so different at the same time.”

“It’s because Sicilian has Greek elements along with Arabic, French, Catalan, and Spanish.”

“Oh, I see!” That made sense since I found some words familiar, but since they had talked fast, I hadn’t entirely comprehended any words. I stopped walking and turned to look at him.

“This is embarrassing.. but I never asked if you actually spoke any other languages.” I felt my face start to get hot in pure embarrassment. I was supposed to know this! He just smiled at me as we walked again.

“Not many know, but other than Italian and Sicilian, I speak French and Spanish as well.”

“Shit, that just made you even sexier.” My comment had him smirking at me.

We made our way back to the mansion, and the bread was so good I couldn’t stop eating as I looked around. I let out a sigh of satisfaction and patted my stomach once I was full.

“It actually looks like I’m pregnant.” I said and looked down at my stomach. It was poking out from eating too much already, and the amount of bread I had eaten left me bloated as well. Damiano stopped to look at me.

“Hmm… It does look like you’re pregnant.” He said and put a hand on my stomach, caressing my food baby.

“Are you saying I’m fat?” I teased. His eyes snapped to mine, his eyes getting a shade darker, a different emotion swirling in them as he pulled me roughly into him.

“I’m saying you’re hot, mama.” His deep voice went low, and I forgot to breathe for a moment. My knees buckled a little. If it weren’t for Damiano holding me, I would have fallen to the ground. My eyes went wide, and he gave me that devilish smirk when he realized what had happened.

*He made my knees weak!*

*Literally weak!!*

“You good, mama?” He continued, now knowing the effect it had on me.

“Fuck, Damiano… How far away are we from the mansion?” I squeezed my thighs together, which didn’t go unnoticed by him. I was desperate to have him. And I wanted him, now.

“Five more minutes. Why?” He knew why but he wanted me to say it.

“I need you to knock me the fuck up.”

“Gladly.” He swooped me in his arms, and I raised a brow at him. “It’s faster if I do the walking.” It had me giggling when he sped up.

֎֎֎

Later, Damiano told me to get ready. I didn’t know what I was getting ready for, but I assumed it would be something important as I had noticed he had taken out some of his finer suits. I stood in the bathroom in my robe, finishing up my makeup, and tried to decide how to style my hair. I pulled my hair up to see if I should do an updo or keep it down.

“Leave your hair down.” I looked to the doorway, seeing Damiano leaning against the door frame.

“Are you sure?” He walked closer to me and took a strand between his fingers.

“Yes. I love it when you leave it down. I also love it when I can wrap my hand around it like this.” He wrapped his arms around my hair, gently tugging it to make me look up at him. He placed a small, sweet kiss on my lips that had tingles erupt inside of me.

“So, where are we going?” I asked him once I was pleased with my hair and makeup.

“Not a place you know of.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“Okay, so, what are we doing then?” Damiano shrugged while he looked at me, amused.

“You will see when we get there.” I gave him a blank look. My curiosity was dying to know.

“I brought you your dress.” I followed him into the walk-in closet, seeing a gown bag already hanging.

“Oh, is that the dress that was kept a secret?”

“It is. I chose it for you.” Excited that he picked it out, I unzipped the bag and was immediately stunned by the dress.

“It’s gorgeous...” I touched the soft fabric as I admired it. “Of course, it’s red.” I chuckled.

“It’s my favorite color on you.” He took out the dress from its bag while I dropped my robe. He helped me get dressed, and while he did so, I noticed his eyes lingering on my stomach. My food baby was gone now, but it had him act so differently when he saw what it could possibly look like. And I loved every single moment of it.

I looked in the mirror, admiring the amazing dress he had picked out for the occasion. A stunningly red dress with a one-arm off-shoulder, a deep sweetheart neckline with a silver beaded band following the neckline, and stopped down to the side of my waist. It had a split but with a long trail behind me.

“You look gorgeous, Mrs. Bellavia.” Damiano said, and he kissed my bare shoulder. It never failed to make me shiver in delight when he called me by my new name. I turned around, checking him out as he was dressed in a fitted burgundy velvet blazer with a black dress shirt that hugged his frame.

“And you look delicious, Mr. Bellavia.” I bit down on my lip as I took absolutely no shame in checking him out. He was my husband, after all. I could ogle as much as I wanted to.

“It’s time to go, my love.” He took my hand and led me out to the car.

We had been driving for a while, and I looked out to see if I could hint where we were going. But since I wasn’t familiar with Italy, I had no idea where anything led. We soon came to a stop, and I looked around at our surroundings. We were high up, overlooking the ocean and mountain that curved around. The sunset glistening on the water had the view look even more magical.

“This way.” Damiano led in the direction where a stone staircase was, lights on either side of the stairs as we made our way down. I noticed more light appeared walked down the stairs. And then suddenly I heard loud cheerful noises, and a small gasp escaped my lips.

“What’s going on…” I asked once we had made it down. The place was so beautifully decorated with a gold theme, with even crystal lights hanging from the palm trees. And so many people were present, it was almost intimidating.

Another gasp came out when I saw Cara, Arianna, Lorenzo, Cecilia, Ava, and more people from back home were here. They were all smiling big at us, and Cara waved, looking ecstatic.

I looked at Damiano. My heart was beating faster as I had an idea what all this was.

“A ceremony for you. It’s time to take the oath, my love.” He smiled, and I mirrored his expression.

*It was happening.*

___

Follow my Facebook page, Author Mariam, for visuals! :D