80

"What is so humorous?" Alessandro asked.

Natalia whipped her head around so fast, I almost didn't catch it. He was walking over to us. He stopped in front of me to plant a kiss on my cheek before doing the same to Natalia.

Once he was done with his greeting, he turned to me. "I came out here to tell you that Saint has arrived and that the food is ready," he informed me.

I smiled and immediately shot out of my seat. Alessandro guided me into the house where Saint was talking to my mother. I could tell by her smile that she was already smitten with him.

"They've been talking for about fifteen minutes," Alessandro whispered into my ear. "You better go get him before she steals him from you."

I snorted so loud that it grasped their attention. Santino smiled once he saw me and my mother was practically running over to me.

"Be careful, Miss Maria!" Janice exclaimed.

"I love him. He is such a fine man-"

"Mama!" I laughed.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. He's just so respectful and charismatic. Now, I understand what you mean!" she said, fanning herself. I glanced over at Saint who winked at me. Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to my mother. He was anything but respectful and charismatic when I first met him.

"The table has been set," Alessandro stated.

He showed us to the dining room where a large, glass table sat in the center of the room with a beautiful chandelier hanging just above it. All kinds of food from pasta to steak was on the table, ready for us to dig in. Alessandro sat at the front of the table. My mother sat directly beside him. I decided to sit by her with Saint sitting next to me. Not too soon after, Natalia rushed into the room and sat down in the other seat beside Alessandro.

"Sorry for taking so long," Natalia apologized. She replaced her bikini with a black pencil skirt and skin-tight, white turtle neck.

"It's okay. There was no rush," my mom told her with a forgiving smile.

After a prayer, we began to eat. After placing the food I wanted on my plate, I settled into my seat where I could feel Saint move his hand over to my thigh.

My mother and Natalia flooded the room with conversation. The two of them went from talking about the pool to the best razors for shaving. My mother was wrong. It wasn't me who shared a lot of similarities with her, it was my mother. I could see that both of them had more things in common than anyone in the room.

Alessandro appeared to be used to it as he ate his food in complete silence. I could tell he wasn't a man of many words.

"Are you enjoying your time with your family?" Saint whispered in my ear.

A smile came across my face. "I am. This is more than I could have ever asked for. Thank you for helping me," I whispered back.

"Thank you for helping me, too," he responded.

We continued to eat in silence. Saint would sometimes caress my thigh and both my mother and Natalia would keep all the conversations going. Sometimes I would comment and so would Saint. I found it enjoyable just watching everyone. It was so hard for my mind to comprehend that my reality was with my family. I wasn't alone anymore.

Once everyone finished eating dinner. We all went outside to enjoy a fire that was made. There was even the softest sound of Italian music playing for us. We each had our own chair. Only this time, I was sitting next to Alessandro.

"Do you like Natalia?" he asked me. I turned to him and watched the light from the fire reflect on his face.

"I do. She's very easy to talk to," I answered. "Plus, Mom loves her."

We both looked up to see Mom and Natalia dancing foolishly with Janice struggling to get my mother to sit down. Just watching them made me laugh. Mom was trying her best to get Saint to join them.

"Yeah, she's quite a talker," was all he said.

"You aren't, though," I pointed out.

He shrugged his shoulders. "There's always too much to say, and sometimes I find it easier to say no words at all."

"You must keep to yourself a lot," I said.

"I do," he answered.

"We get that from Mom. When I was little. I used to always want to go out like my friends did back in elementary school. The only times Mom left the house when it wasn't for work, it was to be at my violin recitals. She was always there. We had a Uncle that Mom used to watch over. He was schizophrenic and needed to monitored since he hated taking his medication. Both of them together hated leaving the house. Now that I think about it, I'm starting to assume it's some generational curse." I laughed.

Alessandro smiled. "I'm assuming this uncle watched over you in the absence of our mother, no?"

"Yes. He was the one that made sure I never gave up in finding her. He taught me everything I know, and I will never forget him. He was a great man," I answered.

At the realization that he passed away, Alessandro nodded his head and cleared his throat.

"I wish I had known you were out there alone. I would've been there for you, Reyna," he told me.

His kind words were enough to stab me in the heart but in the most perfect way. I smiled.

"I'm just happy you're here now," I said.

Saint made his way over to me. He held out his hand for me to take and once I slipped my hand into his, he pulled me up against him.

The familiar song played on the speakers. I live for her.

Saint had an arm around my waist with his hand entwined with my own held out. We swayed to sound of the song as we stared into each other's eyes with the crunch of the fire joining us aiding us in rhythm.

"This is the best night of my entire life," I whispered, tearily.