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Chapter Eighteen
‘Ciao, Marta,’ I said confidently as I opened the door. I’d told Lorenzo I would greet her. I knew I couldn’t hide forever.
‘Sophia…’
Marta still looked at me like she’d just drunk a pint of vinegar, so no change there.
I picked Leo up from his chair.
‘Look! It’sNonna!You’re going to stay with her for a few days, won’t that be fun?’ I said, thinkingrather you than me.I handed Leo to her, picked up his bag and opened it up.
‘Latte.’ I pointed to the bottles of breast milk I’d included so she could see that this time I hadn’t forgotten. There was also a fresh tin of formula, which would be plenty to get him through the weekend.
I’d been introducing Leo to formula since last week and he’d been fine. Good timing too as it meant I didn’t have to prepare a load of milk to leave for him. I’d still have to express whilst I was away, though. Otherwise my boobs would get too full and painful.
Lorenzo and I had also decided that from next week, we’d start introducing him to solids. Couldn’t believe Leo was six months already.
Marta nodded to confirm she’d seen what was in the bag, then gave Leo a kiss and a cuddle.
‘Everything okay?’ said Lorenzo.
‘Yeah, I was just showing your mum the milk. Everything’s there.’ This time I was a hundred percent sure. Like Santa, I’d made a list and checked it twice. Well, more like twenty times. There was no way I was going to fuck up again.
I was glad I’d got seeing her over and done with. It was awkward, but hey. It could have been worse.
Lorenzo chatted to Marta in Italian, I think also checking she had what she needed, and then we said our goodbyes to Leo. He cried for a bit, but after she rubbed his back and said some stuff to him, he was fine.
Marta really did have a knack for keeping him calm. Whatever we thought of each other, it was reassuring to know that I could trust her. There was no way I’d feel comfortable being away from Leo for so long otherwise.
We locked up the house, put our things in the boot and set off in the car to Florence.
‘So…what’s the plan, Batman?’
‘Batman?’ Lorenzo frowned.
‘Yeah…don’t worry. It’s just a saying. What’s on the schedule for this weekend?’
‘Schedule, schedule, schedule!’ Lorenzo rolled his eyes. ‘You know I love you,mi amore, but you worry too much about routine. Is good.Sometimes. And I have make plan of what we will do this weekend, but some things will happen naturally,sì? Please relax. Let me take care of things.’
I guessed I was a bit rigid with my routines. It was the only way I knew how to get everything done. At least I was better than I was two years ago before I made big changes to my life. Well, I hoped so anyway…
‘Glad you have a plan! Can’t you give me a little, tiny clue?’
‘Scusa. Sorry, no clues. Is a surprise. I will tell you about our first activity later. You must be patient. Perhaps you would like to have a little rest while I drive?’ He smirked.
Oh, he’s good. Done like a pro. Lorenzo knew that as much as I always preferred to stay awake when he was driving so that I could keep him company, after a tiring week and the extra-early start this morning, I couldn’t possibly pass up a golden opportunity to have a nap. Especially if we were going to be doing a lot of walking around. And if I was sleeping, I wouldn’t be able to ask him any more questions...
I know it sounded bad, but one of the reasons I wanted to know what we’d be doing is to find out how much time he’d allocated to sightseeing. Part of me would be happy to just lie in bed all day, but I quickly pushed that thought out of my head. Lorenzo had said this weekend would be about having fun and it’d been a while since I’d done that, so I was definitely up for it.Fun, that is. Just to clarify, I meant I was up forfunin its purest sense. Not fun in the bedroom…
Oh God.That was a good point actually. We were going to be together. Alone. In a hotel. What if Lorenzo wanted to have sex?Shit.
Yes.Let me take his advice and get some sleep. Otherwise I knew I’d spend the whole journey overthinking and fretting about that.
Lorenzo has made a big effort to organise this weekend, so it will be fine.
Yep. Everything will be totally, absolutely, completely fine…
‘Soph, wake up,’ said Lorenzo.
