Brando came along with me and Mia as we explored the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. We took the lift into the glacier and were welcomed by ice sculptures that were carved into different shapes, all illuminated with magical light: deer in a field of flowers, a fast car, even a dragon. She yearned to touch everything, her mind a curious little playground.
“Oooold!” She pulled her finger back, shivering and laughing. Then she did it again, once she knew what to expect.
I took plenty of pictures of her first real snow experience, some with her daddy and the rest of our family, and then Violet offered to take a picture of the three of us together.
Once we were off the glacier and onto the skiing area, I lifted my faux-fur hood against the onslaught of wind and snow. We posed, with Mia scrunching up her nose and saying, “Eeeeeese!”
Brando and I laughed into her, a look passing between us that communicated silently,This is our northern star of happiness.
I didn’t want him to miss out on the skiing and snowboarding though.
Rocco and Dario had already hit the slopes. Romeo was doing fancy work on his snowboard, using some of the railings as a slide. All the Fausti men were good in snow.
Luca was one of the best, and I noticed how he watched his sons, pride on his face.
I was secretly thankful that Brando had learned how to ski and snowboard in Alaska and had practiced every time we took advantage of the Alps in the past.
The men were even considering skiing the Matterhorn itself. Even if I wasn’t pregnant, I would have never tried it. Brando would enjoy the challenge, though.
A shock of fear momentarily made me stare at him, but the men weren’t going today, and perhaps wouldn’t.
Mia and I watched Brando for a while, and I was able to take pictures while she stared up at the sky, watching the snow drift down, opening her mouth. She seemed to be entranced by how the flakes felt on her tongue, the feel of them against her face, and the way they drifted, like minuscule snow ballerinas.
Peculiar. That’s exactly what she was. She got that from me.
Her daddy was far from peculiar. He was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen, and like always, attracted attention.
The snow bunnies watched the men, even Luca, while they spoke to each other in different languages. Some I understood. Some I didn’t. It was easy to understand a nudge to the ribs, though, when one woman wanted another one to look.
The blatant staring and flirting bothered me. Before I could get too agitated, my stomach spoke up. If I didn’t have food, and fast, anything that was left over from the morning was about to make a reappearance.
Violet, Aunt Lola, Eunice, Juliette, and Maggie Beautiful (or as Luca called her, Margherita) had decided they were hungry too.
The six of us set off for the Restaurant Matterhorn. Rosaria and Carmen, along with Sylvie, Vincenzo’s wife, followed behind. We had men in tow, too, our security detail.
Rosaria made a comment about feeling nauseous. Carmen made one about Dario being worried about the altitude. I took the comments for what they were. They all thought they might be pregnant too.
Juliette had told me in confidence that she and Romeo had been trying again, and they were holding out to see if this month would be the month.
The comments made by Rosaria and Carmen were harmless enough, but instead of telling us, they said them loud enough for us to hear. They were letting us know, but in a way that was almost obnoxious.
The comment made by Luca at the restaurant had irked Rosaria. It was the same when he showed me attention. There were times she made a comment posed as a harmless joke when I knew it was a dig.
Given the fact that I lived with the queen of subtle digs and sarcasm all my life, Rosaria wasn’t being subtle at all. If there was one valuable lesson I’d learned from my sister, Charlotte, it was that even though she set the bait, I didn’t have to take it.
Rosaria would have to stew or spit it out. Until then, I wasn’t touching thatkäse.Cheese, in German.
Mia was excited about having something other than snow to eat too.
Half of our table was filled with food I’d ordered for myself. I didn’t remember being this hungry with Mia, but it was either food or die at this point.
Claiming that our table was too small, Rosaria, Carmen, Sylvie, and their detail took a table a few away from ours. Since Dario’s feelings toward Luca leaned more toward Rocco’s, Carmen did the same with Rosaria. Sylvie seemed unsure, not sure who to sit with.
For almost our entire lunch, I had to listen to Aunt Lola give me advice on how other women could be jealous.
“For some women, it is rare to find a good friend, because other women will hate them no matter what they do.” She shook her head. “Jealousy is a bitch. The same as the woman who holds it in her heart.”
I hadn’t said a word about Rosaria, but Aunt Lola seemed to be picking up on certain vibes. She had brought it up, no qualms whatsoever.
