"Mia, can you see who that is?" Aunt Feli shouts from the kitchen where together with Maria she's cooking an old Italian pasta.

She has been promising this dish to me for weeks and now... well, let's say I am taking a little advantage of being pregnant.

"Si, Aunty," I shout right back at her and enter the house just in time to welcome Grandpa who shows up in the living room accompanied by a very refined and beautiful lady.

She looks close to Papa's age, tall and thin, with a straight and proud posture, crowned by a warm, intoxicating smile.

The moment I came in her eyes glued to me in a stare filled with an admiration that I didn't know how to welcome.

"Lucia!" Aunt Feli shouts in a pitched tone, telling me that the surprise has hit her heart with joy.

Aunty rushes toward Lucia still wiping her hands on the apron she is wearing and grabs the surprise visitor in a strong hug.

"I haven't seen you in years! What are you doing here?" Aunt Feli says looking into Lucia's eyes, dominating the entire room as if this has been especially dedicated to her.

Lucia laughs loudly and caresses Aunty's hair while staring into her eyes, evidently thrilled with the welcome she gets.

"Important matters brought me here," Lucia replies and shifts her eyes on me who I'm dumbly smiling to everyone, having no idea what's going on.

Am I the important matter? Who is this lady and why do those black big eyes of hers seem so familiar?

As Grandpa Lucas can read my mind, she comes closer to me and gently pulls me closer to Lucia.

"Mia, this is Lucia Capozzi, Raffa's mother," he introduces her.

The earth slides from under my feet, involuntarily making me lay one hand flat on my lower belly as if trying to protect the little life inside.

"Lucia, this is my..."

"Oh, I know who she is!" she cuts his words short and swiftly leaves Aunt Feli to reach me and pull me in a strong hug as if we are old souls finding each other in another life.

I welcome that stronghold with all my being and curl my arms around her back as if hugging a piece of Raffa.

"You are so much more beautiful than I have imagined," she says after indulging in loosening the hold and exchanging it with an intense stare.

"Now I see that my son has no chance of falling in love with you."

My ears are burning and my face sting with heat and I'm pretty sure I'm red as a tomato.

"You know about us..." I mumble.

"I know everything about my son. I know all of his good and all of his flaws. And I know he doesn't deserve much, but his heart, very well hidden, is kind and warm," she makes a full presentation of her son in one breath, ticketing my soul.

"I... don't really know what to say..." I whisper shyly.

"You don't have to say anything. You're already doing a lot," she replies confidently touching gently my belly and telling me she knows about the baby.

The muscles tighten on my back making me jump one step behind, pushing her hand away and frowning with anger.

In truth, I got scared, a fear that only a mother can feel whenever there's danger around her baby.

"Oh, NO! No, no, no! Don't be afraid. I didn't say anything to Raffa. I wouldn't dare," she becomes weary about my reaction and steps closer to me trying to grab my hand but I walk back again, wanting to have nothing to do with this lady whom I see today for the first time and she already knows everything about me.

"Feli, why don't we allow the two ladies to have a private talk?" Grandpa Lucas says while coming closer to me and hugging me gently. "I will be right here, sweetheart. Don't worry," he whispers in my ear before kissing my temple and squeezing reassuringly my hand.

"But I don't want to talk to her," I say.

"Mia, nothing of what you don't want will happen, today or any other day to come. Not from my side," Lucia speaks and walks a few steps back, waving her hand to Grandpa Lucas and asking him to leave with her.

"No... Lucia, wait..." he protests, asking Raffa's mother to stop then he turns to me. "Mia, sweetheart..."

"No, Lucas. I understood you don't need to..." Lucia tries to back away from the dislike of my Grandpa.

"Alright!" I shout, feeling caught between the necessary thing of talking to Lucia and my desire to leave.

"Grandpa, Aunty, please leave us alone," I impose my own rules which are adopted immediately, with no delay, and here we are, the mother of the man I love and I, staring at each other while we both try to find the best mean of opening the whatever discussion she has in her mind.

Once we are alone, Lucia walks close to me and grabs my hand leading us both to the living room sofa where we sit one next to the other, my hand being still buried between her soft and frail palms.

"Mia... I can call you Mia, right?" she starts.

"Yeah... sure... you can."

"My son has no idea I'm here and frankly, he wouldn't like it a bit if he knew. Although I have been keeping a very close eye on him and I know almost everything of what he does or what he doesn't, we are not very close."

"That must be tough," I reply sharply and she smiles shyly at me, with a tint of bitter sorrow in her eyes.

"I know what you mean. And I also know that being part of the Benito family, you know well the secrets, the rivalries, and not so peaceful history of Sicily families. Anyway, I hope one day I'll have the chance to tell you all about it, but for now, I only wanted to know if..."

"Yes?"

She lifts her tearing eyes at me and watches me in silence for a few short moments.

"If you could let me be part of your life and... my grandson's life," she finally dares to say.

"Grandson?! And if it not a boy?"

"That's not what I meant..."

"But you said it. Look, Mrs. Capozzi..."

"Lucia, please," she invites me to say.

"Mrs. Capozzi, today I'm not planning to make either you or Raffa a part of my life or my baby's life. I hardly manage to wrap my own head around the fact that..."

"A child is a blessing, no matter the circumstances between you and my son. I'll say it again, nothing of what you don't wish will happen and I will personally see to that," she says and gently touches my cheek with her bony knuckles and her eyes float in tears again.

I don't have the strength to reject her, the strength or maybe the will because her words and voice are so much filled with love and care that I really feel her genuinely honest.

I exhale long knowing I will give in.

"Well... Lucia, if you really feel this way I will ask you just as I've asked my mom and dad, please give me time. The past few days... weeks..." I mumble unable to decide how long my life has turned upside down "... my past couple of years have been... not very gentle with me... and..." I try to explain myself but a spree of sobs chocks my words and I lower my gaze, defeated and incapable of continuing.

"Mia, come and leave with me, in the States. Raffa will know nothing about it and... he almost never calls, less to talk about visiting. It's the last place where he can find you or even ever imagine you would be," she quickly says making me freeze from my cries and snapping my eyes at her.

I stare into her eyes, big back eyes that remind me so well about Raffa, hearing the wheels of my brain working suddenly and analyzing the offer I've just received.

In truth, it's an unbeatable offer. Her place is one that Raffa would never think of and he would never look for me there.

From the look in her eyes, I can tell that the love she carries for Raffa doesn't seem to know boundaries and it's very obvious that I'm already her favorite.

"Look, take your time, I'll tell you what. Take time and think about it and then let me know. Lucas and Enzo know how to find me," she says and the sweetness in her eyes and the warmth of her smile make me melt and able to nod only, with my cocky attitude crushed under her motherly care.

"May I have a hug?" she whispers and I agree, engulfing myself in her embrace just as I did when she came in, completely surrendered to the one that shares the same blood and flesh with the father of my child.

"I'm supposed to leave here on Saturday evening. There's a reception Papa wishes me to attend. Affari di famiglia, you can imagine," I tell her smiling. (Family affairs).

She laughs, finally a bit more relaxed, looking even more beautiful than before.

"Oh, fidati di me. Non conosco niente di meglio degli affari delle famiglie siciliane," she replies and hugs me again, the joy of me having allowed her to be closer to me shining on her face. (Oh, trust me. I know nothing better than Sicily family affairs).

"Everything alright here?" Grandpa Lucas asks, peeking his head from the hallway.

Lucia and I shift our eyes toward him, both at the same time.

"More than alright, Lucas," Lucia replies and stands up ready to leave.

"I won't keep you longer, sweetheart," she tells me while Grandpa shows himself in and walks close to us.

"Thank you... for coming here. It has been a real pleasure..." I try to say.

"The pleasure is all mine. And... my son has an undeserving luck to have met you..." she jumps in.

Haven't I told you I'm her new favorite person?!

"We all get what we deserve," I reply in Raffa's defense.

By the end of the day, it's Raffa she talks about, the man that has my heart trapped and my soul surrendered to.

She smiles and grabs my hands planting a kiss on my forehead and squeezing me in a strong hug.

"No matter what you decide, you have me on your side," she whispers before letting me go.

Grandpa Lucas takes his share of hugs and kisses from me and they both wave back at me before leaving the house.

I stand there, rooted to the floor for a few more moments, rewinding the film of this meeting, realizing that more than anything in my life, I'm being blessed with people who seem to love me unconditionally, no more and no less.

I breathe deeply and finally leave the living room to return to my mug of tea on the patio which most probably is cold by now.

My thoughts are still trapped in the events of tonight and I feel a strong urge to fetch my phone and call Raffa, tell him I met his mother and how wonderful she is.

I wished I could share that with him, I wished I could tell him what wonderful grandparents his child has, what a blessing he is for me, and how much I'm missing him.

But telling that means blowing up my chance to a secret place to hide, the best offer I could think of.

"So, will you go Lucia?" Aunt Feli asks showing up on the patio out of the blue and leaning against the door frame with a cup of fresh tea from which he sips a little and another that she offers to me.

I take the mug and frown at her, even though she is staring into the depths of the scenery in front.

"Well, I might. There are higher chances to have a more private space there," I scold Aunt Feli for snooping into my and Lucia's conversation.

"Cazzate! Trust me, sweetheart, there is no privacy in our family or any other family linked to us," she leisurely replies while walking around me and taking her seat on the sun bed next to mine. (Bullshit!)

I smirk, never agreeing more.

"What do you think I should do?" I ask her, needing an opinion from someone who has been to me just as a mother as Mamma Eve was.

"I believe you should cut the crap and call Raffa. And marry him, per l'amor di Dio," she bluntly speaks. (For the love of God)

"But.." I jump to say.

"I know. I know you don't like it, but you asked me what I thought you should do."

"I didn't mean that," I pout and dive into the chair, warming up my hands on the hot tea mug.

"I have known Lucia for a very long time. Her younger sister and Enzo had a baby daughter years back but they were both murdered by Capozzi the father because they dared to love each other," she says a story that cuts my air and makes me freeze with horror.

"So I believe that you are lucky that your family and Raffa's family have been and are on good terms. I believe you two are so lucky that any second you second apart is an offense to the suffering of your father and Lucia. I believe that Raffaello loves you so much that he's willing to put up with your stubbornness, frankly, I don't know for how long, but hey, you know better, right? I believe his love for you is unquestionable because trust me, he knows very well where you are and every move you make and he'll always know, no matter how delusional you are to think you can hide."

"Aunty..." I try to scold her for being so roughly blunt with me but actually stop there, knowing she's right.

My eyes sting with tears and my heart bleeds at the truth of Aunt Feli's words.

I never knew Papa had a child before me. I never knew that child died. Moreover, I never knew Papa had another love, other than Mamma Eve. Nobody could guess knowing them the way I know.

They breathe for each other.

"And I also believe that Lucia's place is the best in case you don't want Raffa to find you or suspect the place you are, provided you manage to get out of here without him knowing. Lucia and Raffa are not talking for years, silly little brat..." Aunt Feli mumbles at the end with anger for Raffa and empathy for her friend, Lucia.

"Do you trust her?"

"With my life," she quickly replies and that is enough for me.

"Then, it's settled," I seal the plan and proceed to sip my tea, the second to get cold tonight.

Uh, adulting is rough!

~~~~~
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