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I walked into the bedroom calmly.I mustn’t let her get to me.
‘Marta, gli armadi… lascia per favore.’
‘Non capisco,’ said Marta.
Oh, here we go again. The oldI don’t understandroutine. I know that I definitely saidcupboardsand toplease leave them alone.
Let’s try again. This time I’ll ask her to come into the kitchen.
‘Per favore, la cucina.’ I gestured towards the kitchen because, annoyingly, I couldn’t remember how to say the word forcome.She followed me reluctantly.
‘Please do not touch,’ I said, opening the cupboards and waving my finger.
‘You need help with the beers?’ Lorenzo walked into the kitchen.
‘Sorry! I haven’t forgotten. I was just trying to explain to Marta that I’d prefer it if she didn’t rearrange the cupboards. It makes itreallydifficult to find things. I wanted to bring you guys some crisps to go with your beers, but everything has been moved.’
Lorenzo nodded and then started speaking to Marta in Italian. Sure enough, I heard him use the same words I had for cupboards and to not touch them. He rested his hand gently on Marta’s shoulder and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She nodded, squeezed his cheeks and then left the kitchen.
‘Is all fine. Mamma understands. You want me to help you find them?’
‘It’s okay. I’ll do it. You go back to your friends.’
‘Grazie. You are doingverywell with your Italian, Soph. I am proud of you.’ He wrapped his arm around me and gave me an encouraging squeeze. ‘Is good to see you have conversation with Flavio and Amadeo. The lessons and your studying is helping,sì?’
‘Awww, thanks!’ I kissed him firmly on the lips. It was nice to hear that he thought I was making progress too. ‘Yes, they are. Still a long way to go, but I’m feeling more confident.’
‘Bene. I go back to the garden. Flavio is with Leo.’
‘Cool, I’ll be out in a sec.’
Once I’d found the crisps and taken them out to the boys, I’d come and put the cupboards back how they should be. I didn’t mind Marta helping out, but I wasn’t going to allow her to take over. Yes, she was his mother. But ultimately, she was a guest. This was still our home. Lorenzo and I made the rules. If I wanted to eat ketchup, I would. If I wanted to keep my herbal tea in a certain place, that was where it would go. There would be no more sucking up or biting my tongue to please her.
Yep. If Marta didn’t like the way the cupboards were arranged or anything else in this house, she had two choices: get over it or leave.
