51| resolve

                                    

                                          
•Aria Marino•
         A week later, we are bringing Matteo home. He's walking, very slowly, but he is. I made him some cookies which he ate, he's been eating a lot more and he says he feels better. 
         Although I do not know if I can trust that. He is the type of person to break a leg then go try to run a mile, like he says he is healed but really he is not and he just wants to get over it.
         As we get home, we find mamma already there, waiting for us. After we get him upstairs and in bed, she pulls me aside into the hallway.
         "Tesoro, I know there is a lot going on right now but we have to start planning the Christmas ball. He is okay and yes that is all that matters is him getting better, but we can't not have it." she says to me, making me nod.
        Matteo does not care for the superficial bullshit that his job comes with but he also understands it, as do I. They are important things no matter how much we hate them. "Do we have a date picked yet?" I ask her.
          "We usually do it the day before Christmas, but to give us even just one extra day to prepare, it will be the day after," she tells me and I nod, understanding.
         "Have we spoken to the caterers yet?" I ask and she shakes her head. "Can we set up a meeting today?"
         "Do you have work today?" she asks me. Mamma has asked me many times if I am going to quit my job and she will be very excited to find out that I already did. 
         I pull her in closer and whisper in her ear, "I quit when Matteo got shot. But no one knows yet,".
        She smiles widely, "Tesoro, that is amazing. It was finally time to get out of that miserable place," she says, hugging me. 
        I smile in return, "So meeting today with the event planners?" I ask her and she nods.
        "Thank you, tesoro," she says, walking away.
         I walk back into the room, but Matteo isn't in bed. The restroom door is open and the lights are off, so I check the closet and find him in there folding clothes.
        I walk up to him, placing a hand on his back, "Honey, why aren't you in bed?" I ask him.
        "I need to clean. It has been a while since you have been in here and I cannot deny that while you were gone, I did not have the motivation to clean in here." he tells me, gesturing to a pile of clothes on the island.
         I giggle, "It's fine, I'll do it, go lay down," I say, starting to help him fold the clothes. 
        There's a moment of silence as we stand there together, folding pants into the way they go on the hanger.
        "I am sorry I did not tell you before. I really- I didn't want to keep it from you for that long, I let it go on and I shouldn't have." he says suddenly.
        I shrug, leaning my head on his arm, "I know now, that's what matters. And if you had told me before, I wouldn't have come back. We wouldn't have fallen in love." I tell him.
        I see a stupid smirk make its way to his face. "So what you are saying is that it worked?" he asks jokingly. I smack his arm and laugh. "What were you and mamma talking about?" he asks me.
        I shrug, "I don't know, maybe I will wait six months to tell you," I joke. We both laugh as I walk over to get the hangers for the clothes. "We were talking about the Christmas ball. The event planners and caterers are coming today so we can start planning it. It will be the day after Christmas this year." I tell him. 
        He nods, "Has the theme been decided?" he asks me.
        "I assume not. And if it has, she did not tell me," I say.
        We finish putting the clothes away, then go sit on the couch in our room. There is a knock on the door so I get up to get it and find mamma, "I forgot to mention, that I would like you to pick the theme this year," she says.
        "Really?" I gasp and she nods. "By when would I need to have it picked?" I ask her.
        "The event planners with be here at 6:00," she says. I nod as she walks away.
         I turn to Matteo, a wide smile on my face, "I get to pick the theme this year!" I say excitedly and he smiles.
        "Melodia, you seem excited to do this," he says sweetly, brushing my hair out of my face. 
         I nod profusely, "I am, I love doing things like this," I tell him.
        He chuckles, "Next year, you will be the one planning it completely. It is always the Don's wife's responsibility." he tells me. 
        I smile because what it seems like is this is my dream life. "So what you're saying is I get to stay home, cook, bake, pick up whatever hobby I want, go shopping with my friends, and occasionally plan events like this?" I ask him. He nods, looking at me with his eyes wide. "So why didn't I move to Italy like five years ago?" I ask sarcastically, leaning my head on him. He chuckles, wrapping an arm around me and placing a kiss on the top of my head.
        "Let's go on a walk," he suggests, going to stand up. 
       "Are you feeling okay enough?" I ask and he nods, pulling me up with him. 
       We go downstairs and to the back of the house that leads to the outdoor pool, the gardens, my greenhouse, and some other things.
        We spend a good half hour walking around the estate, talking about anything and everything, but mostly our time apart. It was very evident that it was hard on both of us, but I know that this is where I need to be. This, us, it makes me happy. And I deserve that. We both do.
         As of now, I asked him if there is anything he hasn't opened up to me about since he hasn't told me about the mafia. 
         He thinks about it for a second, then starts talking about a bunch of things. "My Zio, Armando's father. He died right next to me a few years ago after an accident." He stops, thinking about it for a few seconds before continuing, "Okay this one you might get upset about. Remember when we were first going out, not even officially dating, and you went on the undercover date. That ragazzo?" he asks. 
        I nod, "Yes, it was the first night you stayed at the apartment," I tell him.
        "I killed him," he says suddenly, making me stop walking, my jaw drops. 
       "What? Why?" I ask.
       "I think the overprotectiveness got to me, but I just wanted to say it because I did not want to keep any more secrets. That got me to a place I never want to be again. I think being away from you hurt more than the shot." he explains, ending with a chuckle.
        I know it's wrong, it's not okay, but the overprotectiveness was so unnecessarily attractive. "Who else have you killed because of that?" I ask him.
        He hesitates to speak, "Jonah," he says, so quiet I can barely hear him. 
        My brain almost like shut down. Jonah is dead? "When?" I asked him.
       "Not long ago," he replies. We keep walking but it was a lot to process. "Are you okay?"
        "Yes, it is just a lot for my brain. It's not like I haven't shot someone before, some of them have died, and they were people who had killed people and tried to kill agents I worked with." I say to him and he nods.
        His arm is on my back, leading me through the property. "I only do it to people who deserve it, melodia. I am not the type to go killing innocent people." he says.
        "They deserved it," I say slowly, almost like a question.
        "They deserved all the pain you didn't, but you got anyways," he says, squeezing my hip with his hand. 
        I hug him, his hand goes to my head, holding me against his chest. I feel his lips press against the top of my head. I look up and he leans down to kiss me. "Thank you," I mumble, holding him to me.
        "For what, sweetheart?" he asks.
        "Protecting me," I reply.
•••••
       "I feel that these are the best options designed for this theme, we can get you one hundred and fifty of each in this design," the event planner tells me, showing me a picture of a set of plates and bowls.
       They are beautiful white plates with gold detailing. "Okay, that looks perfect, so now that we have all the decor and table setting selected, should we get started on the invitations?" I ask the event planner and she smiles.
       "Of course Ms. Marino," she says, switching pages in her binder. One of the maids brings us all drinks. 
         "Thank you," I tell her, then turn back to everyone else. 
        "The invitations for these events normally have a ticket that go along with it to allow entrance into the event itself, tesoro," Mamma informs me and I nod.
       I look at all the samples and have a few ideas, but none of those designs specifically catch my eye. I hum, then ask for a paper and pencil, drawing out my ideas on a piece of paper and then showing it to them. "Can we do something like this?" I ask. 
        The front page of the invitation was decorated in small swirls and decals along the edges with snowflakes as well. The words 'White Christmas' are written in cursive horizontally across the card. 
        On the second card, is the information with the dress code and everything. The ticket was somewhat the same design. 
        The event planner smiled, "Of course, that's beautiful. Do you want the card in white and the details in gold?" she asks me. 
       I nod, "Yes, that would be perfect." I say. All of the decorations are white with gold accents and everything looks beautiful.
       After another hour of talking and planning, the event planner decides to make her exit with her team. 
       "You did great, tesoro," Mamma says to me, making me smile.
       "Grazie, mamma," I tell her and she hugs me, then she goes home as well.
       I make my way upstairs to our bedroom, to find Matteo already laying down. I go into our closet and find some clothes of his I can wear to sleep, then quickly shower and go into bed with him. For the first time in so long, I am finally spending the night with him.
•••••
i failed that chem final there is no way i passed but then i talked to other ppl and they said that a lot of people failed so it's not just me. NOT PROMOTING NOT CARING ABOUT SCHOOL I DID CRY but i am still passing the class and at this point there is nothing i can do about it so I am just going to continue as i am, i am still passing the class, thankfully
ALSO ALSO from here on out, i think it's mostly going to be like them being happy, getting married, having kids, and all that. so if you love that then keep reading. i can write about this forever 😋
bye bye
~elle 🌸