Chapter 12 - THE BOY WHO BELONGED TO US
The Sunday dinner table was full again, but it looked entirely different.
The twenty-three silent, judging relatives were gone. The sycophants and the mob captains were replaced by people who actually mattered.
Luca sat at the head of the table, not in a dark wool suit, but in a comfortable sweater, laughing as Leo tried to balance a meatball on his spoon.
Next to me sat the caretaker from Elmwood, who we had hired as Leo's full-time nanny, though she felt more like family now.
There were no whispers. No mistresses. No secrets hidden in coat pockets.
I stood up to clear the plates, but Luca caught my hand.
"Sit," he said gently. "I'll do it."
He stood, gathering the empty dishes and carrying them toward the kitchen.
I watched him go, a profound sense of peace washing over me.
"Auntie Rose?"
I turned to Leo. He had abandoned his meatball and was holding a piece of paper.
"I drew you something," he said, sliding it across the table.
I picked it up. It was a new crayon drawing.
This time, it wasn't a picture of a red-haired woman and a scared little boy.
It was a picture of a house with a garden full of massive, scribbled flowers. Standing in the center was a tall man, a little boy, and a woman with brown hair holding the boy's hand.
At the bottom, written in much neater handwriting than before, were the words: My Mom and Dad.
Tears pricked my eyes, but they were tears of overwhelming joy.
I reached out and pulled Leo into my lap, hugging him tightly. He wrapped his small arms around my neck, resting his head on my shoulder.
"Do you like it?" he mumbled into my sweater.
"I love it, sweetheart," I whispered. "It's perfect."
Luca walked back into the dining room, stopping when he saw us. He looked at the drawing on the table, and a soft, radiant smile broke across his face.
He walked over and wrapped his arms around both of us, resting his chin on the top of my head.
We had lost my mother. We had lost Clara. We had navigated betrayal, blackmail, and a world built on blood and lies.
May you like
But as I sat in the house that was finally truly mine, holding the son who had brought me back to life, I knew we had won the only thing that mattered.
We had survived. And we were finally home.
