I want a family with this man. A big one.
I want to be the kind of mother that I always wanted. I want to give my kids the kind of childhood that I never had.
"Do you want gelato?" Dante asks.
I look up at him. The sun hits his eyes so perfectly, making them look like warm honey. And that sweet gaze is all for me.
He truly makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
I nod.
We head back to the shore. He buys gelato before we head back to Ida. Her face is hidden behind her new camera. She’s beaming from ear to ear as she takes photographs of us walking toward her.
"I got the cutest photos of you guys when you were in the water," she says.
Dante hands her the soft ice cream. I'm about to take a bite of mine, but she stops me.
"Wait, no," she says. "We need to take aesthetic photos first."
She makes me hold my ice cream cone next to hers as she clicks a picture.
"Perfect, you may eat now," she says.
We sit down on the blanket. Dante reapplies my sunscreen as Ida shows me all the photographs she took. I've never seen photos of Dante and me together. And the sight of us captured in time makes me unreasonably happy.
"I love them, Ida," I say. "You're really good at this."
"Thank you," she squeals.
She's wearing a white maxi skirt and a loose top. We've been to the beach before, but she never came swimming with us. Inoticed that she's not comfortable showing skin. I wanted to ask her about it, but I didn't want to overstep.
"I think the two of you are my muses," she says.
She stops on a picture of Dante looking at me while I look down at the water.
My heart squeezes in my chest. I can't believe that this man is all mine. It's the way he looks at me, like I meaneverythingto him.
After a lifetime of being made to feel like I wasn't enough, it's still hard to believe sometimes.
We have sandwiches and gelato for lunch. Ida insists on taking pictures of everything. Dante takes the camera from her and takes photos of his sister and me.
For once, everything feels so normal.
There are no expectations. There is no pressure to be anything. I'm celebrated just for being myself. I finally feel like I belong somewhere.
I finally have a home.
It'slate afternoon by the time Ida and I go shopping.
I love being with Dante, but the joy of female friendship is incomparable. We find the cutest dresses to take pictures in. She gets a blue maxi dress with long sleeves. I get a bright pink dress that makes my tan pop.
We change into our new dresses and get some fun accessories as well, including a shell necklace and too many rings.
"I don't remember the last time I had this much fun," Ida says, beaming at me. "You're like the sibling I always wanted."
"I'm standing right here," Dante says.
"I love you too, little brother," she says.
