This made Carmine jolt awake from his daydream.
“Just that he wanted me to find happiness in the same way that you and Papa have.”
Now she turned toward him. Their gaze meeting across the divide from the two beds.
“Have you ever had love?”
With a lump in his throat, Carmine nodded.
“And lost it,” he replied.
“Oh darling. That is the problem with love. It is like a fairy. Magical in so many ways. But so very hard to keep hold of.”
A tear rolled down his cheek.
Instantly she leapt off her bed and onto his. She wrapped her arms around him and they both wept. The tension of the last day falling out of them.
“He could have died,” Carmine said.
“Not likely,” Maria replied. “If I have to lock him in the house when he gets home, that’s what I’ll do.”
Carmine sat up. “More jigsaws?”
“He’d better get used to them.”
He’d never felt so close to her as he did at that moment.
“I’m gay,” he blurted out.
She took his hand in the same way Stefano had. They’d clearly been together so long that even their actions mirrored each other.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” she replied. “You’re my first baby boy. I held you in my arms and thanked God that he’d sent me such a beautiful and wonderful creature. I’ve never stopped thanking him and never will.”
“You must have thought double that when you had Monica.”
His mother sighed. “In a way. She wasn’t the prettiest of babies.”
Carmine sniggered. He’d seen the photos and it was an understatement.
“Nonna refused to let us visit the village until she was a toddler. By then she was the beauty she is today.”
They both fell about laughing. The emotional rollercoaster rattled on.
“You’ve never told me that before.”
“And don’t you dare repeat it,” she warned him.
“I promise.”
“Never underestimate our love for you, Carmine.”
“I won’t.”
Telling his parents the truth about himself had been easier than he’d expected.
“I should have done this years ago.”
“I agree but you weren’t ready. Now this love that you lost. Is that why you came home?”
