Chapter 3 - THE OTHER GRANDMOTHER'S PLAN
"You chose them?"
Luca stood perfectly still, holding the cream-colored cards.
Evelyn Bellini nodded.
"Yes."
Vanessa caught her mother's arm.
"Please don't make this worse."
"I'm trying to explain something your fiancé clearly doesn't understand."
Luca placed the cards on the table.
"I'm listening."
Evelyn glanced at Teresa.
"When Vanessa was a girl, her paternal grandmother made my life miserable."
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"Mother."
"No, darling. Let him hear it."
Evelyn continued.
"She criticized how I fed Vanessa, how I dressed her, when I allowed visitors. She behaved as though because she'd raised a son, she knew more about my child than I did."
Teresa looked distressed.
"I'm sorry you went through that."
Evelyn's expression softened momentarily.
"Thank you."
"But I've never tried to tell Vanessa how to raise her baby."
Evelyn hesitated.
"You've offered advice."
Teresa blinked.
"About what?"
"The baby clothes. The feeding arrangements. The nursery."
Teresa looked bewildered.
"I asked whether Vanessa wanted help preparing the nursery."
"And you mentioned how you raised Luca."
"Because she asked me."
Evelyn looked toward her daughter.
Vanessa shifted uncomfortably.
I remembered that afternoon.
Teresa had been showing Vanessa how to fasten the little buttons on the sweater.
Vanessa had asked whether Luca was a difficult baby.
Teresa laughed and told her he'd hated being dressed.
That was all.
I couldn't keep silent.
"Mrs. Bellini, may I explain something?"
Evelyn looked surprised.
"About what?"
"The conversation you're referring to."
Vanessa turned sharply.
"Emily, this is family business."
Luca held up one hand.
"She's allowed to speak."
I swallowed.
"Mrs. Moretti didn't tell Vanessa how to dress the baby. Miss Bellini asked what Luca was like when he was little."
Teresa nodded.
"That's right."
I continued.
"Mrs. Moretti said he used to pull his socks off before anyone could get his shoes on."
Several guests smiled.
Luca glanced at his mother.
"That sounds like me."
Teresa almost laughed.
Evelyn looked at Vanessa.
"Is that what happened?"
Vanessa's cheeks turned pink.
"More or less."
"Then why did you tell me Teresa was correcting you?"
Vanessa looked away.
I felt a strange shift in the room.
Evelyn had arrived prepared to defend her daughter against an overbearing grandmother.
Now she was discovering that at least one of the examples she'd been given wasn't true.
But she wasn't ready to abandon her argument.
"My concerns about newborn safety remain perfectly valid."
Luca nodded.
"Then we'll take them seriously."
Evelyn seemed surprised.
"Good."
"But we'll discuss actual safety concerns. Not invent reasons my mother shouldn't be called Grandma."
Teresa touched his sleeve.
"Sweetheart, I don't want to fight with anyone."
He turned toward her.
"I know."
She looked at Evelyn.
"I would never take your place."
Evelyn frowned.
"What?"
"As the baby's other grandmother."
Teresa smiled sadly.
"I've been looking forward to meeting you properly. I thought perhaps we'd both have stories to tell."
For the first time, Evelyn looked genuinely uncomfortable.
"I hadn't considered it that way."
Vanessa folded her arms.
"Can we stop pretending this is only about a name?"
Luca turned toward her.
"Then tell us what else it's about."
Vanessa pressed her lips together.
"Your mother has expectations."
Teresa lowered her eyes.
"What expectations, dear?"
"Coming whenever she likes. Being involved in everything. Treating the baby as though it's another chance to raise Luca."
Teresa looked devastated.
"I've never said those things."
"You've already started preparing things for the nursery."
"The sweater?"
"Not just the sweater."
Luca frowned.
"What else?"
Vanessa looked toward the sideboard.
"Ask Emily."
My stomach tightened.
I knew exactly what she meant.
A week earlier, Teresa had asked me to help clean a small wooden rocking chair.
It had belonged to Antonio's mother.
Teresa wanted to place it near the nursery window.
When Vanessa objected, Teresa immediately agreed to leave it where it was.
I explained that.
Luca listened.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
"So my mother offered a chair. You said no. She accepted it."
Vanessa said nothing.
"Where's the problem?"
"She keeps trying to make herself part of our plans."
Luca looked at his mother.
"Because she's excited about the baby."
"Because she doesn't understand boundaries."
Teresa's eyes filled.
"Vanessa, I would've respected any rules you gave me."
Vanessa looked at her.
"Would you really?"
"Yes."
"Even if I asked you not to visit for the first few weeks?"
Teresa hesitated.
It was the first time she'd been asked directly.
Then she nodded.
"If that's what you and Luca decided together, I'd respect it."
Vanessa looked surprised.
"And if you couldn't hold the baby without help?"
"I'd accept help."
"And if you weren't invited into the delivery room?"
Teresa looked confused.
"Dear, I never expected to be there."
Evelyn glanced at her daughter.
Vanessa's expression tightened.
Luca leaned forward.
"Vanessa, have you actually asked my mother what she expects?"
No answer.
"Or have you spent weeks telling your mother what you think Teresa wants?"
Vanessa's eyes filled with angry tears.
"You have no idea how much pressure I've been under."
"Then tell me."
She looked at Evelyn.
Her mother looked back.
Something passed between them.
Not an argument.
More like a warning.
I noticed because Vanessa's face changed immediately.
She stopped looking angry.
She looked frightened.
Luca noticed too.
"What's going on?"
Evelyn reached for the invitation cards.
"We can discuss the wording later."
Luca covered them with his hand.
"No."
Evelyn sighed.
"Luca, there are practical matters surrounding the baby's arrival that you haven't considered."
"Such as?"
She hesitated.
"The living arrangements."
He frowned.
"What living arrangements?"
Vanessa whispered, "Mother, don't."
But Evelyn continued.
"Surely you knew Vanessa wouldn't be recovering here."
Luca stared at her.
"Recovering where?"
Evelyn looked from him to her daughter.
May you like
Then she answered.
"At my house, of course. We weren't planning to bring the baby back to this mansion after the birth."
