Chapter 18

The silence inside the bedroom helps Matteo calm down a bit. It's what I wanted as well. Well, the surge of people coming in kind of overwhelming for him and we should've laid some plan right before we did this dinner. But Fabio thought getting our family together would eventually help us move forward.

After all, if this setup didn't work out, I'd got moved out, of course, with my son.

Matteo yawned and stretched his little arms up. He's getting sleep and I think it's best for him to rest rather than to be around everyone downstairs. I could stay here as if I don't really matter there.

But the fact that I'm just trying to evade the thought that someone was here for Fabio. And I still don't have any idea who that girl is.

Did Fabio get another girl pregnant?

Maya-maya lamang ay may kumatok sa pinto. The door opened and Ale's head popped sneaking in to see me. He smiled when he saw me while my shoulder dropped when I saw his face.

"You really don't have to see me every now and then, Ale," I told him.

He chuckled. "It's kind of a duty now, I guess."

"Well, thank you for coming to see me again," I said and then he sat next to me on the bed. "What's going on downstairs?"

"They're busy talking to that girl," he said, creasing his forehead. "It seems like you don't know her, do you?"

I shook my head. "No, I haven't met her before or even heard her name mentioned by Fabio so she's new to my world."

"And why is she here?" he asked, but I don't have the answer to it, but shrugged off my shoulder. "I don't think it was the right time for her to show up. At this moment, she could do something worse."

"Like what?"

"You've seen her stomach, right? It's big," he said. "And she seems so close with Fabio's parents."

"Yeah, I noticed that, too," I said. "But she could be a family friend or whatever. She could just be here celebrating with us and with no other intention."

Ale slowly nodded his head, making an upward smile. "You know what, you should be there. Mingle with them and know the story. You wouldn't know anything by babysitting Matteo here all day."

"I could, but I cannot leave him alone."

"Leave him with me, you know I'm the best when it comes to babies," he said.

"Sure... I'm trusting you, but I'll be back."

"Don't get back so quickly," he said, putting his hands up in front of my face. "Take your time. I believe the yard sounds peaceful as well... so we might go there."

"Could be a good idea. Sure, let's go and get back to them."

I fetched some things for Ale to have for Matteo in case something happens. We left the room and upon reaching downstairs we were met by auntie and uncle asking if they could look after Matteo. Hindi naman umangal si Ale at inabot din ang anak ko kay auntie at kay uncle ang mga gamit nito.

"Where are they, auntie?" I asked.

"They're outside," she said.

"Pati si Fabio?"

Tumango si auntie sa akin. "They seem too full of themselves, to be frank."

Natawa naman ako nang bahagya sa sinabi niya. It's something I couldn't agree more.

"Go and see them na, hija. We'll be taking care of the baby handsome boy, Matty!"

They went to the living room where they spend making themselves entertained by Matteo's cuteness while their son, Lorenzo, who's also in the yard hanging out with the rich.

We both went towards the yard. I slide the glass door letting the cold wind greet me. It made a little shiver all over my body when that felt so weird. Fabio saw me. He waves his hand at me and made me come to them—with that girl, obviously.

I wasn't still able to confirm if she was his ex-girlfriend because if they did... did this new get-up of this girl who showed up happen before Fabio took the responsibility for me?

Did Fabio just plant his sperm on every woman he met?

"Hi," maikli kong pagbati sa kanila. Only both of them are talking, maybe they are catching up or more than that?

Lorenzo's talking with Fabio's parents and that could be all about some business shit I don't have interest in listening to or making a start in any conversation. This is where I should be. Know what else Fabio had done before me.

"Sei cosi carina," she said. (You look so nice.) "E come ti chiami? Scusa, colpa mia," she laughed it off so I faked a laugh as well. (And what's your name again? Sorry, my bad.)

"Non vi siete ancora conosciuti formalmente," Fabio said. "Giana ti presento Jacinta, la mia compagna. Jacinta ti presento Giana, mia amica." (Both of you haven't formally met yet. Giana meet Jacinta, my partner. Jacinta meet Giana, my friend.)

I thought he will introduce her for something else, maybe Ale heard it wrong.

"Piacere di conoscerti, Giana," I said, shake her hands. (Nice to meet you, Giana.)

"You seemed so soft, Jacinta. I like that," she said, giggling. "Fabrizio mentioned to me that he met you in the Philippines. Am I right?"

I nodded to confirm it. "Si."

"Cool, the Philippines is such a lovely place. Did you know I modeled there one time?"

I shook my head because I really don't fucking know who she is.

"Oh, that's alright. But now you know me, you'll know me when I'm back in the Philippines again. Oh, you'll be going back there, right?"

I look at Fabio and it seems like he doesn't want to save me out from this conversation, so I have to stand up by myself.

"To tell you the truth, as much as I love to say here in Sicily, the Philippines is my home so you're right, I'll be going back there."

"That's still in the planning process," Fabio interjected. "We haven't really talked about it yet, but we will."

"Oh, you'll go there, too?"

He smirked. "Why not, right? I could've—we could stay there for good."

"That's big," Giana said. "But it's your decision... but you've got something you cannot take away from your life here in Sicily. You know that."

And with that, I wonder what she was talking about so I had to come up with something else to get her attention.

"You're actually blooming in your pregnancy stage," I said. "We'll I haven't seen your pre-pregnancy looks, but you look awesome... how long it has been now?"

"I lost count in weeks, but it's going around 7 months," she answered. "It's my due in September, but at that time I'll be in Milan. If you have time, you guys can visit me there."

"I have the plan to go to Milan," Fabio said. "Of course, with Jacinta and Matteo."

"I just wanna ask," I interrupted which is the right moment. Those things Fabio's mentioning about, I wasn't aware of those so I don't know what he is talking about. "How did the two of you meet? It seems like the two of you have known each other for a very long time."

"Has it been a long time?" Giana wondered, looking at Fabio to get his response. "I don't think so..."

Sa puntong ito, kinukutuban na ako. I don't know what will I get from this conversation, but for the sake of peace of mind kailangan kong gawin 'to.

"Fabio's my ex," Giana said. "And that's something we don't talk about anymore, but remain good friends. I guess that's where we should leave that."

"Oh..."

"And where's your partner?" I asked.

"Where do you think?" she questioned me back with a smirk plastered on her face.

"Do you want some drink, Ja?" Ale put his hands on my shoulder. Tumango naman ako. "Sure, I'll be back."

"Who was that though?" Giana asked pertaining to Alessandro. "Your friend?"

"Yes," sagot ko sa kanya. With that question, I know Fabio's interested to know more further.

"How long have you known each other?"

"Since the moment I came here to Sicily," I answered. "Less than eight months. He's been there with me for the whole time of my pregnancy. He actually owns the bar in the city where I worked for a couple of months just to save up some money."

"Hm..." she hummed, creasing her forehead. "This doesn't make sense to me. So, where have you been all the time?" She looked at Fabio and put him in the spotlight.

"I was away," sagot ni Fabio. "That's a long story."

"Oh, I don't care, I'm all ears anyway and I've got time," she said.

Fabio chuckled, shaking his head. "No, you don't. I think you need to go home and get some rest." Nilingon naman ako ni Fabio. "You, too, Jacinta."

Saglit lang din naman ay bumalik si Ale na inabot sa akin ang isang glass ng wine.

"I'll take my wine first," sagot ko naman.

Giana smirked and tapped Fabio on his shoulder. "I like her, Fab."

"Well, I do, too."

Saglit lang ay tinawag si Fabio ng parents niya so excuses himself from us.

"I also gotta go to the bathroom," Giana said. "My bladder's about to explode."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

She shook her head. "I'm a big girl, Jacinta. I can do this. Thanks, anyway."

Nang umalis si Giana at pumasok sa loob para magbanyo, naiwan na naman kaming dalawa ni Ale.

"Do you think this dinner will be a memorable one for you?" Ale asked.

I scoffed. "Totally, but in a good way... there's something I'm missing here."

"What could it be?"

I shrugged off my shoulder. "I don't know yet, but I'll figure that out. You know, can I go back to working at your bar?"

He chuckled, shaking his head putting his hand on my head making a mess out of my hair. "You're not going back to work at the bar. You have Matteo to look after and care of. He needs you more than the bar. How about your work at the vineyard?"

"I resigned," I said. "Well, Fabio made me do it, and I feel like I have no choice so I did it anyway. I had fun there even if it was quick."

"Do you think Fabio's trying to stop you from the things you love?"

Hindi ako nakasagot. Fabio's trying so hard to make it up to me, I'm giving him chances to prove himself to me. Sometimes these decisions I made thought was the decision I shouldn't have done, but I did them for the sake of another thing.

There are a lot of things to know more about Fabio, and knowing his past with Giana added a bit more to that mysterious history. There's more to discover and what could it be?

While we were hanging out in the yard, we were all surprised when we heard screaming coming from inside the house. When we figured out it could be Giana, Fabio hurriedly run inside the house. We all followed them until we found Giana sitting on the floor and had her hip hurting.

Fabio and Ale helped together to get her up from the floor, but Fabio insisted to bring her to the hospital. His parents agreed and I just went with it. I watched them get into the car and drove away.

Napakunot na lamang ang noo ko. Naramdaman ko ang mahinang pagsiko sa akin ni Ale.

"So... that was her ex-girlfriend, huh? What could've been worse than that?"

"He could be the father..."

"I didn't say that, huh? You did..."

I let out a deep sigh. "Well, you said what could've been worse than that, right? That could be it... it makes sense... it really makes sense."

"Spero che ti sbagli," he said. (I hope you're wrong.)

I tried to put a smile on my face, but deep inside of me, I know some things are wrong... I could be wrong, but I also could be right. I just don't know. This is where everything lies now. All existential probabilities.

#BirthOfLiesInSicily #BOLISChapter18 #WTS9