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“Oh, come on now. Lucia. Please.” His head turns. He’s pushing down on the arms of his chair, getting ready to heave himself up. I never saw his age so clearly before.
His mouth twists. “We’ve had all this before.”
“Daddy, all my life you’ve complained about the family being a number three. How we deserved to move up. How it should be our time.”
“So?”
“You took your shot, Daddy. You had your time. You know that in the Life, retirement is never the end. You’ll be an elder statesman. One of the wise heads. At the top table.”
“That’s never for a third grade family.”
“And that’s what I’m telling you, Daddy. Move aside. I’ll take over. With me in charge, the family moves up. We’ll fulfill all of your family ambitions after all.”
So Daddy wont forget who’s the boss now, I tell him, “And I’m taking Mikey with me, Daddy.”
I offer Mikey to sit in back with my three princes, but he smiles and shakes his head.
“I’m very happy to be back in the driver’s seat, thank you.”
Alessio, Bruno and Carlo look at me quizzically when Mikey says, “Onward and offward, Princess?”
“Wait,” I tell him. “Where’s Diabolo?”
Mikey gives me a rare smile. “He’s right up here, Princess. I sneaked him into the footwell.”
Diabolo pops up and peers over at me, panting as he props his big paws on the back of the seat.
Alessio flinches. “I don’t like dogs.”
“You’d better be good to me then, Prince,” I tell him, “because Diabolo will do anything to protect me. Isn’t that right, Mikey?”
“Anything, Princess.”
Carlo says, “Then he’s definitely one of us, Lessie,” and he winks at Alessio. “Better start getting used to it.”
EPILOGUE
Most days now, we eat in the bright, cool sunken conservatory, around the big table. Since Jago’s departure, the mood of all the domestic staff, old and new, has cheered up beyond recognition.
I stop to chat with Tilly, the new kitchen maid, on my way down breakfast. She and the other kitchen staff are working extra hard while we search for a replacement housekeeper.
The boys don’t help the process with Alessio’s demand for a butler, and Carlo’s insistence that we hire from the suburb, where he has a school foundation going. Bruno says that he doesn’t mind but, he naturally prefers all staff and personnel to have military training.
So, meanwhile the kitchen brigade are all overworked, and as the new girl, Tilly seems to get in the crossfire of everyone’s complaints. Still, we made a small raise in everyone’s pay and the all the discussions and negotiations are good natured. From my point of view, this old Gothic pile should be turned into a museum or a weekend venue for spooky haunted house thrills.
If I could choose, I’d implode the whole ugly thing and bury my dark secret under the rubble.
This place is big enough to house the cast and crew of a vampire epic. Not a growing family. Although, we are starting out as a larger small family than most.
What I want is for the boys and me to move into a new house. A house big enough for the four of us, plus guests. And babies, of course. Oh, yes, all of the four of us — I so love to say, ‘the four of us.’ It still gives me tingles.
We all want babies. Many babies. But I want to have them in a modern house.
This place feels like everything is run by steam with copper pipes and huge crank handles.
I have plans. I will be meeting with architects later today.
When I get to the conservatory, a muscular rumble of low voices echoes among the clink of cutlery and china. The men’s argument sound incendiary and I wonder if it will remain verbal, or if there will be new crockery and glassware to buy, yet again.
