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And Ivy loved it. With every new child there was even more love to give. And while it wasn’t always easy, there were many hands to make light work of it all. Maria and Micha had bought some land nearby and were halfway through their villa’s build. Enzo had visited in time for Ivy and Antonio’s marriage blessing and he’d fallen in love with the area. And for a man who had never really settled in one place for more than three months, it was perhaps telling that he had bought a villa on the other side of Antonio’s land and was currently spending summers here in Tuscany.
Ivy was happy to have Erin so close. While Ivy’s Italian was now as good as it could be, it was refreshing to be able to come back to speaking English every now and then. It was also helpful with the children, who they were raising as bilingual. With Enzo as much American as he was Italian, there was an even split and she didn’t feel as outnumbered as she’d originally feared she might.
Every year they came together for the long, hot summer months of the children’s holiday. Especially as it coincided with Antonio and Ivy’s anniversary.
Nine years ago, they’d gathered the people who meant the most to them, family or friend, blood or bond, and celebrated their love for each other. They had carved out their own way of honouring their relationship—one that wasn’t bound up in paperwork, or hollow vows, or rings…though Antonio had been somewhat surprisingly insistent that she wore a huge white puffy wedding dress—that secretly Ivy hadn’t been so mad about.
With words and promises that they’d written themselves, they’d shared their love, their honour, their worship of each other with their nearest and dearest, and then revealed the fine line, intricate tattoos on their fourth fingers, their commitment to each other indelibly marked on their bodies.
It had been a beautiful day, and one they marked each year with a huge celebration with the family members they wanted to have with them. And then towards the start of autumn they would return to London, where Ivy continued to volunteer at the library. It gave her the flexibility to travel elsewhere when they had the time, and prevented her from being a drain on the library’s precious resources. And the moment they were free from the school timetable they would return to Italy. Return to their home and their family.
Jamie had even visited briefly with his wife when his leave had permitted. And she’d been finally at peace to see him settled, finding his feet and a family in the army, with a structure that he’d always needed.
About three years ago they’d received word that their father had passed and together they had gone along to a funeral full of strangers, for a man they barely remembered but felt some obligation towards. It had been hard for her but Antonio had been waiting for her when she’d got home. He’d offered to go with her, but she’d wanted it to just be her and Jamie. It had brought up a few things for them both, but with patience and support, and the love Antonio poured into her and their family, she’d been able to get through it as well as she could have hoped.
She felt his arms wrap around her now, pulling her gently back against him as a summer breeze swept the scents of rosemary and mint through the garden.
‘Mmm…’ she sighed, feeling herself relax into the husband she loved more and more each day.
‘Are you ready?’ he asked, nudging her head slightly to the side so that he could place little kisses on her neck.
She shivered appreciatively. ‘Ready for what?’
‘The Gallo clan chaos.’
She laughed. ‘No one is ever ready for that,’ she confessed. ‘Is it bad that I’m thankful that it’s justus? That your mother is the only one who entertains the rest of them?’
Ivy wouldn’t have them there by choice, never forgiving them for the way they had treated her husband. But Antonio did…
‘No,cara. That’s not bad of you at all. You know I wouldn’t want them in the house,’ he assured her and she was happy.
Alessia was due to arrive soon and Maria would be hot on her heels, not wanting to miss out at all. Ivy had liked the woman she’d met ten years ago on sight, but in the months and years that followed, they had become like sisters, the same as with Erin, who would also arrive soon with her husband and children.
‘Then I will always be ready for the Gallo clan chaos,’ Ivy replied happily and confidently.
Dio mio, he loved his wife, Antonio thought as he placed a kiss on the curve of her neck and deeply inhaled the soft scent of her. If he could bottle it…he’d never share it. He’d hoard it like a man obsessed, he admitted wryly to himself.
He’d never imagined the kind of happiness, the kind ofcompletenessshe had brought to his life. Ivy had shown him what love really was when she’d slipped into his heart and healed the hurts he’d been trying to ignore for years.
And when she’d nervously told him that she’d like to adopt he’d been hit with a punch of emotion so powerful he’d been stunned into silence. It wasn’t something he’d ever thought consciously about. It wasn’t something he’d even planned for his own future—the idea of children and a wife being almost inconceivable to him. But the moment she had voiced her desire he’d known how right it was.
Not that they’d gone into it blindly. If anything, he’d been overly cautious, consulting every resource to ensure that he was best placed to look after children who would need a huge amount of emotional sensitivity. He’d spent six months with a therapist, ensuring that he was prepared not only emotionally himself, but for the kinds of emotions that his future children might experience too. Ivy had been by his side, encouraging and supportive, and had joined him for some sessions.
The first night their first child had spent under their roof had been one of the most terrifying and wonderful moments of his entire life and there wasn’t a single person in the world Antonio would have chosen to share it with other than Ivy.
‘Have I told you today how much I love you?’ he whispered into her ear.
‘Well, this morning you told me you loved that thing I did with my—’
‘Ivy Gallo, there are children present,’ he warned, loving the way he felt her smile vibrate through her body.
‘You can tell me again if you like?’ she offered.
‘I love you more and more with every single moment that passes,amore.’
She turned in his arms, looked up at him with such conviction in her gaze his heart stopped. ‘You are the love of my life. The only one. Ever. My heart is yours, Antonio,’ she said, bringing a dampness to his eyes that he could never be ashamed of.
‘What are you doing next August?’ he asked, gently pulling her into a sway timed to the music drifting out from the kitchen, where Agata was making lemonade and mint tea.
‘Here, I think. Why?’
‘I was wondering if we could get our wedding blessed.’
‘Again?’ Ivy asked on a laugh, confusion in her eyes. ‘Why?’
‘Because it will be our tenth anniversary,’ he said with a smile. ‘And because,cara,’ he confided in a whisper, ‘I want to peel the biggest, puffiest white dress from your body again. Once was not enough,’ he admitted, feeling their bodies stir from his words. ‘And then, when we’re naked and together, you can do that thing I love with your—’
Ivy cut him off with a kiss just as their eldest son came running around the corner with his younger sister and brother hot on his heels and in a heartbeat the wordsMammaandPapàwere mixed with kisses and laughter that both Antonio and Ivy would remember for the rest of their lives.
Friends and family always marvelled at their happiness, and whenever he was asked what his secret was, Antonio would reply,‘A judge, a marriage and a librarian.’