AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirteen
‘Ciao, amore!’ Lorenzo came in the living room with our favourite band, the Eclectic Detectives, blaring from the portable speaker.
OMG.
I slapped my forehead. He looked ridiculous! He was swinging his hips in time to the music whilst pouting, trying to balance spaghetti above his top lip like a moustache and making funny faces…
‘Piccolino!’ he shouted, lifting Leo from my arms into the air and blowing raspberries on his stomach as he brought him back down. Leo let out his little laugh, clearly enjoying the show. Unsurprisingly, the spaghetti didn’t stay on Lorenzo’s face and tumbled onto the floor after a few seconds.Honestly.He’d become a real clown since Leo was born. Always trying to find some way to entertain him. It was so funny to watch.
The song switched to the “Macarena.” Lorenzo must be playing the “Fun with Leo” playlist he’d created.
‘Come on,mamma!’ said Lorenzo, doing a terrible impression of a baby voice and grinning at me. ‘Dance!’
Juggling Leo in his left arm, Lorenzo brought his right arm out in front of him, turned his palm upward, then put it on his left shoulder.
‘Come on, Soph!’
Oh, what the hell. After my conversation with Robyn, I needed cheering up.
I put my hands on the back of my head, down on to my hips one at a time, then both Lorenzo and I moved our hips around in a circle three times before jumping to the left and clapping. Funny how I still remembered the moves after all these years. Or maybe it was because I’d seen Lorenzo perform it for Leo a few times. I loved that he didn’t take himself too seriously. He’d do anything to make me and Leo smile.
‘Bene!’ cheered Lorenzo. ‘Again!’
Lorenzo kept us dancing for twenty minutes. I didn’t know how he had the energy after working and then going for a run straight afterwards. It was exhausting, but great fun. Good exercise too. It was typical of him. Whenever Lorenzo saw me looking down, he’d always do a silly dance until I burst out laughing. Normally I preferred Leo not to have too much stimulation before bed, but we all needed a bit of fun sometimes, and I was sure that once Lorenzo gave him his bath and bottle, Leo would be nice and calm.
‘I forget to say thanks for fix my sweater.’ Lorenzo smiled, picking up the jumper and holding it close to his chest. He’d just put Leo to sleep and was sitting beside me on the sofa.
‘You’re welcome!’
I’d noticed Lorenzo had a hole in his blue jumper when I was doing the washing, so thought I’d attempt to sew it up. I sayattempt, because the last time I’d done any kind of sewing was when I was fourteen and had to make an apron at school. I always took things straight to the dry cleaners, so if someone had suggested before that I sit down and sew myself, Iwould’ve laughed. But love does funny things to you. It makes you want to do stuff you wouldn’t normally, just because you enjoy seeing the man you adore happy.
I knew this was Lorenzo’s favourite jumper (it was mine too, because it was the one he had worn the morning after our first steamy night together), so Iwantedto mend it for him. I remembered stashing one of those mini sewing kits you get in hotel rooms in my make-up bag ages ago (not because I had any intention of using it, mainly because it was free), so I used that. It probably took me longer to thread the needle than it did to sew up the hole, but I got it done and it looked pretty good.Who knows?This could be the start of something. Today I fixed clothes. Maybe one day I could be making them.Ha!Although with the state of my towering to-do list, I wouldn’t hold my breath…
‘So, how it go with Robyn?’
I filled him in on our conversation and my concerns.
‘Is difficult,’ he said, taking my hand in his, ‘but you will have to trust Robyn and see what happens. Hope everything will be fine.’
‘I really hope so.’
‘Try not to worry or push yourself too hard. Remember we are human. People get sick. People make mistakes. Is normal. Everything cannot always be perfect.’
I heard what he was saying, but pushing myself was important. If I hadn’t pushed myself before, I wouldn’t have gone on the cookery holiday and I wouldn’t have met Lorenzo. And if I didn’t push myself to keep the business running smoothly, then we’d lose clients.
‘I know I can do better, so I have to try.’
‘I understand, but is important to also be kind to yourself and not work too hard again,sì? Especially as you have to find more time to study.’
I know he was worried about me slipping back into my old workaholic ways, but I was fine. I wasn’t working anywhere near as much as I used to. Those days were long gone. My life was much more balanced and thanks to my list, I was already making progress. I’d ordered a load of Italian textbooks and study guides, and strangely enough, I was even looking forward to my next class. There was just one problem…
‘Yeah…I wanted to speak to you about that. I’ve got a lesson tomorrow evening, but I know you’re working, so…’
‘Is fine. Mamma can stay with Leo? No?’
I cringed.
There was no way I could face Marta after last night. It was too soon. Sometime next century might be more bearable.Just.
