Chapter 32

Spring was never Gia's favorite season. The allergies in the trees bothered her and the constant rain was dreadful. At least in California she didn't really have to worry about all that so much. Strapping Theo into his stroller, Gia pulled on her sneakers and grabbed her phone and her purse. She had plans to visit the new vegan market and see if she could get some fresh strawberries for Theo to put on his cake. Daisy hated the fruits bakeries put on pastries. She preferred to buy them herself.

"Why is mama so picky?" Gia looked at Theo in the stroller and asked. "Which one?"

Theo raised his hands towards both the strawberry boxes. His pacifier fell out of his mouth as he fussed for the red berries. Aaron, Gia's security and bodyguard, laughed as he picked up the pacifier and tossed it into the basket under the stroller.

"Little man's hungry," he said.

"His teeth are coming in," Gia frowned. "He wants to chew on everything."

Theo shrieked as he grew impatient for his strawberries. His cheeks turned red and his shoes were about to fall off from how hard he kicked the stroller.

"Just a second," Gia said as she approached the lady at the register behind the metal cash box. "You act like we don't feed you at home."

Quickie grabbing some cash from her bag, Gia paid for the two boxes of strawberries and looked around the small farm stand for where she could wash them. Theo was beginning to fuss more and more.

"Just a second, my love," Gia said. She dug through the small diaper bag and pulled out the bottle of water. Spotting a picnic table under a large oak tree, Gia pushed the stroller over to the shade and while Aaron quickly washed one of the big juicy strawberries.

"Alright, alright," Gia unbuckled Theo from the stroller and placed him on her hips. "Here you go, you big baby!"

Theo grabbed the strawberry with both hands and shoved it into his mouth.

"Theo, no," Gia clicked her tongue. "You're going to choke."

She stuck her finger inside his mouth and scooped out some of the big chunks. Aaron watched her from the side while still keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.

"My kid used to do that when he was younger," he said.

"Yeah?" Gia laughed. "How old is Blake now?"

"He's seven," Aaron said proudly. "He a big man now. Taking care of his mama and his little sister."

"When are you visiting him?"

"Probably after your semester ends," Aaron shrugged. "Your brother said you'll be home."

"Oh I guess Luca already made summer plans for me," Gia rolled her eyes. "But I am happy for you, Aaron. I hope you have fun seeing your kids."

"Thank you."

"Where do they live in Florida?" Before Aaron could answer, Gia's phone began to ring in her pocket. "I'm so sorry."

"No worries," Aaron stepped back.

Recognizing Carla's number on her phone, Gia accepted the call and brought the phone to her ear, "Hello?"

"Hey," Carla's voice was crisp and clear. "I've been trying to get in touch with you guys but no one is picking up. Where's Luca?"

"He's in a meeting," Gia said. "Is everything okay?"

"No," Carla paused. "I just got a call from mom a few minutes ago."

"Grandma?" Gia felt her heart sink with worry. "Why did she call..."

"Angelo.....he....." Carla hesitated. Gia heard her take in a deep breath, "Angelo had a brain aneurysm. It ruptured. He's in surgery right now."

"Oh...." Gia's heart began to beat fast. She slowly sat down on the picnic table and placed Theo on her lap, not caring at all that he was dropping strawberries all over her jeans. "Is he.....will he be okay?"

"It's hard to say," Carla said. "The surgery will take time and the recovery will take longer."

"I see..." Gia's chest tightened with emotions she did not wish to feel. "Have you told Luca?"

"No," Carla said. "I'm trying to reach him."

"He'll be home soon."

"I know," Carla paused again, making Gia's mind spin. "Maria is alone right now."

Gia didn't say anything. She knew where the conversation was headed and she was frightened.

"She asked for all of us to go to Del Mare," Carla delivered the news slowly.

Gia shivered despite the warm spring air in her hair. Her back tensed and her legs felt numb. She began to tremble.

"You should talk to Luca," she said.

"I will," Carla announced. "But I wanted to see how you felt about it too."

"Do I have to go...?"

"We can't leave you here alone," Carla said.

"I won't be alone," Gia protested. "Aaron is here and Daisy and Theo."

"Daisy and Theo would be coming with us," Carla said. "Maria wants to meet Luca's wife and her great grandchild."

Gia's heart twisted in fear. She did not like what she was hearing. It made her feel as if someone had yanked off the safety blanket she had spent the past two years knitting around herself.

"I don't like this idea," Gia said. "All of us in Del Mare? Isn't that exactly what dad wants?"

"He's not really in the right condition to do anything right now," Carla said. "And he won't be for a while. Besides, Luca will be in charge of everything. He's Angelo's power of attorney."'

Gia shook her head, "I don't know, Carla."

"I know, baby," Carla let out a deep sigh. "I know you're scared. So am I. But we need to be there for Maria right now. She's too old to be handling all this on her own. And she's dying to meet Theo."

Gia looked down at the little baby that would carry on her family's name. Beside Daisy, Gia, Carla, Luca and Eric, no one else knew that Theo wasn't Luca's biological son. As soon as Daisy had agreed to marry Luca, Eric had to sign over all his rights to the baby. Which he did happily. On Theo's birth certificate Luca was listed as the father and thus making him the heir to the Silvano family business. Of course, Maria would want to meet the baby.

"We don't have to go right away," Carla continued. "Let me talk to Luca first and see what happens."

"Okay," Gia chewed on the inside of her cheek. She really did not want to go back to Del Mare.

Not just because of her father. But because of a certain pair of October eyes she never wanted to see ever again.

_______________________

"Daisy," Luca called to the blonde with slight panic in his voice as Theo grabbed a fistful of cake. "Daisy!"

"Good lord!" Daisy frowned as she rushed forward and grabbed Theo's hand. "I gave birth to a monster!"

"He's just-" Luca lunged forward and grabbed Theo's other hand as he moved fast as lightning and grabbed more cake. "Excited."

When he realized he could not bring his delicious treat to his mouth, Theo let out a high pitched cry. He looked at Gia sitting across the table as if she would come in to save him.

"He's not going to sleep tonight," Daisy said with disapproval as she watched Luca place another slice of cake on Theo's highchair.

"He'll be fine," Luca laughed, letting go of the little boy's hand.

"He barely ate the other slice," Gia said. "It's wearing most of it."

"Luca's in charge of baths," Daisy shrugged.

Sitting down with her cup of tea, Daisy pulled her leg up and watched Theo and Luca. The little boy was obsessed with Luca. Every night when Luca got home, Theo wouldn't leave his arms. Luca didn't complain either. It was as if they had a special bone being the only two male species in the house.

"Any news from Carla?" Gia asked, her heart pounding slightly in her chest.

"She's flying out to Del Mare tomorrow," Luca said.

"Is that....safe?" Daisy asked. "You don't think it's a ploy to get us there, do you?"

"No," Luca shook his head. "Dad's actually in the hospital."

"Are we going...?" Gia sat forward.

A blanket of silence fell over the dinner table. Luca stared at Theo as Daisy and Gia waited for him to answer. His hands were gentle and soothing as he pushed back Theo's dark hair and wiped off some of the white frosting. Thrilled with the attention he was getting, Theo raised his hand to give Luca a taste of the cake he was smushing. Chuckling, Luca leaned forward and took a bite of the cake.

"Thank you for sharing, my love," Daisy cooed, moving forward to look into Theo's eyes. "Can Mommy have some cake?"

Gia smiled, feeling a bit of her anxiety fade and be replaced with a warmth as Theo offered Daisy some cake. Her eyes shifted towards her brother as she watched Luca gaze at Theo and Daisy with a strange look in his eyes. But when he sensed Gia staring, Luca cleared his throat and slowly turned away.

"I think we should go," he said, picking up a piece of napkin and wiping his fingers.

Gia closed her eyes. She had been expecting that answer. But that still didn't help with the wave of fear that washed over her. Her stomach was in knots as she took in a deep breath and opened her eyes once more.

"Maria has called many times since the wedding," Luca said. "She wants to meet Daisy. I was using the delivery and Theo being so young as an excuse but I don't think it'll fly anymore."

"But is it safe?" Gia asked once again. "We'll all be there...you know how he feels about all of us."

"He's also in the hospital," Luca said. "Look, G. I get where you're coming from. But at the end of the day, family is important. Especially in Del Mare. If we don't go and something happens to dad, people will talk about it forever."

"What about....the other one?" Gia felt her throat tighten.

Daisy slowly turned her head towards Luca. She wanted to hear what his plan with Daniel was too.

"You want to go back to New York, right?" Luca said slowly. He let out a deep breath and rubbed his jaw. "I guess I have to stop hiding you in California sooner or later."

"Just like that?" Gia asked in suspicion. She was shocked by her brother's changed attitude. It wasn't like him to let out his stubborn guards so quickly.

"Just like that," Luca said, holding Daisy's gaze from across the table.

"So what now?" Gia asked. "We're supposed to just go hang out at Del Mare and pretend dad didn't try to kill me?"

"We obviously will have a lot to work through," Luca acknowledged. "But I think going there is a start. And if we see that things aren't good....we'll leave."

"What's going to happen when Daniel shows up?" Daisy asked.

Luca lifted his lashes and turned his attention to Gia, "That depends on Gia."

Like a piece of paper crumpling, Gia felt her insides wrinkle from the pressure that was on her shoulders. She toyed with the salt shaker as her brother continued to watch her from where he sat at the dinner table.

"I will break all of his bones if he comes anywhere near you," Luca announced. "But it's your call if you want to hear him out first."

"What's there to hear?" Gia asked, her voice a bit breathless.

Luca slowly nodded, his eyes getting lost staring at the salt shaker in Gia's hands.

"Maybe this will be a good thing for all of us," Daisy said optimistically. She reached out across the table and took Gia's hand. "We can attend Isabella's wedding."

"She's still not married?" Luca looked up in confusion. "She's been engaged forever."

"In the time that she has been engaged, you and Daisy got engaged, got married and Daisy had Theo," Gia laughed.

"Well, our wedding doesn't really count," Daisy shrugged.

"That's what Maria kept saying," Luca rubbed his forehead again as if he was fighting off sleep.

"I can't believe this," Gia said, chewing on her bottom lip and shaking her head slightly. "I'm going back to Del Mare."

"It'll only be for a week or two," Luca said to ease some of the tension in Gia's words. "We make our appearance and then we leave."

Gia turned towards Daisy, "You're coming to Del Mare."

Daisy nodded.

"I think it's going to take me some time to digest this news," Gia said.

"Understandable," Luca said. "Just know that I won't ever let anything happen to you. There or here."  

I know it's a short chapter, I don't want to rush the story and make it feel sloppy 

Do you think going to Del Mare is a good idea?