‘Of course.’ Val waved his hand dismissively as he turned to Nat, took her hand and once again turned it over and kissed it. ‘It was nice meeting you, Nathalie.’ He released her hand and looked at her for a long moment. ‘Alessandro and Juliano are doing well. Much better than the last time I saw them. You’re good for him, I think.’
‘Valentino,’ Alessandro growled. ‘Già abbastanza.’
His cousin didn’t look remotely chastened by Alessandro’senough. Nat on the other hand was looking a little stricken.
‘Oh, no.’ She shook her head as she shot Alessandro an alarmed look. ‘It’s not like that,’ she denied quickly. ‘I’m just… helping out until my place is built.’
Val winked at her with a smile on his face, leaving Alessandro in no doubt his cousin didn’t believe a word. ‘Of course.’ He gave her a small smile before looking between them and bidding them, ‘Arrivederci.’ And then, as if he knew he’d put the cat amongst the pigeons, he grinned. ‘I’ll show myself out.’
14
‘I think he got the wrong idea.’
Alessandro shook his head, knowing Val had deliberately misunderstood the situation. ‘It’s fine, he was just teasing.’ Another text chimed and he said, ‘I’m sorry I have to call?—’
Her quick urgent nod cut him off. ‘Go.’
Alessandro was so grateful she understood. Such a change from Camilla, who had never liked being interrupted by calls from the hospital. Walking away he tapped the number on his screen and spent fifteen minutes talking to the hospital superintendent before returning to the living room to find Nat and Julian sitting on the sofa, watching the television.
‘Is it bad?’ she asked.
‘No.’ Alessandro shook his head as he sat beside them, Julian automatically crawling into his lap. ‘Fit, healthy forty-year-old male. But there’ll be more.’
‘Had he been travelling?’
‘Yes. He’s just got back from South America.’ The epicentre of this new virulent strain. ‘They’re chasing down his fellow passengers and his other contacts now to quarantine them.’
Thanks to geography, swamp flu – a mutant form of influenza A – had, until today, been kept from Australia’s shores. It hadn’t been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and wouldn’t be because the R factor was below one, but the rest of the world was seeing higher than normal fatality rates, so protocols would need to be followed to lessen the impact on the population.
Julian giggled at something on the television and Alessandro’s arms momentarily tightened around his little body. ‘It was good seeing Zio Val again, yes?’
Craning his neck to look at his father, Julian’s thumb slipped out of his mouth as he nodded enthusiastically. ‘I love Zio Val. I like how he calls me Juliano.’
Alessandro felt his son’s unintended criticism like a punch to the gut. He’d told Nat the first day they’d met that Camilla had preferred to use the anglicised version of their son’s name and he’d resigned himself to sticking to her wishes. Sticking to what was familiar to Julian.
But… maybe he didn’t have to?
He glanced over Julian’s head at Nat, searching her gaze, silently asking her what he should do. When she smiled encouragingly and nodded, it gave him the impetus to broach the topic. ‘You like that,il mio piccolo bambino?’
Julian nodded enthusiastically and Alessandro’s heart skipped a beat. He wanted nothing more than to use the name Val had used but, at four, did Julian understand what he was giving up? ‘You know,’ he said, feeling his way slowly forward in the conversation, ‘Mummy liked you to be called Julian.’
Alessandro held his breath. He and Julian didn’t talk about Camilla much. Occasionally, as they’d emptied the boxes, they’d come across something and Julian would say something aboutmummybut that was it. Nat always encouraged it when ithappened, just as she had, in private, suggested that he facilitate those kind of conversations with his son.
You should be able to talk about the woman you both loved so much.
That’s what she’d said. And he knew she was right. Except hehadn’tloved her, and down that path lead a ton of guilt and recriminations.
Julian shrugged his little shoulders. ‘I like Juliano better.’
Alessandro looked at his son, his heart stretching in his chest, growing bigger, like a balloon ready to burst. He’d expected tears, withdrawal, a return to the sadness at the mention of Camilla. Not a matter-of-fact reply.
‘I can…’ He hesitated and looked at Nat. She nodded at him and he continued. ‘I can call you Juliano too, if you like.’
He swore Nat held her breath as well as they both hung on Julian’s reply. The boy simply nodded, said, ‘Okay’, stuck his thumb back in his mouth and returned to watching the television.
Alessandro let out his breath on a rush of relief and a feeling that he’d knocked down another fence that had been keeping him from his son. He looked at Nat, who was blinking back tears, her eyes shiny. She obviously knew it too and he wanted to pull her close, put his arm around her and snuggle her in beside them because she’d been such a big part of all this.
But her very sensible insistence that they keep their relationship from Julian…Juliano… stopped him. So, he smiled back at her instead and mouthed, ‘Thank you,’ creeping his hand along the back of the sofa to interlace his fingers with hers. He wanted more but this was nice too. He’d take this for now.
