Page 23 of Hello Goodbye Amore

“Bianca teached me. See. ‘Ciao, bello. Dov’è il bagno?’” he added with a grin. It was always good to be able to ask for a bathroom.

“Those are good. Do you know more?”

Ricky nodded and began speaking full sentences. The syntax was a little off, but Ricky told him about seeing the Duomo and walking over the Ponte Vecchio. Then he seemed to go off script and put together his own thoughts, which were jumbled, but it was a valiant effort.

Chase came up next to them as Antonello gently corrected Ricky and had him repeat the phrases correctly. Geez, he was smart and soaking things up fast.

“Apparently he and Bianca speak in Italian now, at least most of the time.” Chase lightly bumped Antonello’s shoulder, and he set Ricky on his feet. Ricky hurried to the other side of the bridge, and they followed. “Coming here was the best thing for him. He’s learning a second language and is being exposed to so many different things.”

Antonello nodded. “I’m sorry about this morning. I woke up and didn’t want him to find us. I had to sneak back into the house because I didn’t want to face my mother’s questions.” Herested his hands on the railing, watching the water as it flowed beneath them. “My cousin’s wife is pregnant.”

“The one we met here on the bridge with some other woman?” Chase asked, shaking his head.

“Yes. Aria is pregnant, and my mother shared the news as though it were the coming of the apocalypse. Of course she’s using it to add pressure for me to find someone and get married.” Maybe coming here was a mistake. Chase hadn’t asked him, and he’d just barged into their day. With the way he felt right now, he was not going to be adding any fun or joy to the day.

“And are you?” Chase asked.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. Maybe it’s time I just told my parents the way things are. They will explode with drama, but then it will be over and I can deal with the fallout.”

“You have to do what you’re comfortable with,” Chase said.

Antonello had expected him to press him to open up, but no. He truly seemed to understand and was backing Antonello. He almost didn’t know how to take it.

“I wish I knew a way forward for you, but I don’t.”

“I know. This is my own problem.” There was no easy answer. His duty to his family told him one thing, and yet that was not at all in line with parts of who he was. Up until now he had hidden the part of himself that didn’t fit, but that became more difficult each day. Something was going to break, and the longer it went on, the more he was convinced that it was going to be him.

“Maybe. But there are times when we all need someone to talk to.”

“Daddy, can we go now?” Ricky pointed toward the city side of the bridge.

Chase scooped him up. “Let me guess. You saw the gelato shop and want some?” He swung Ricky in the air to giggles ofdelight. “We can get you some, but we need to go farther away from here.” He strode toward the city, with Antonello next to him. They passed a store sellingpietra duraitems, and Ricky asked to stop so he could look at the pictures.

“Gramma would like one,” Ricky said.

“We already got something for her,” Chase told him.

Ricky pooched out his lower lip. “But they’re pretty.”

“I know, but we don’t need one right now. Maybe later, okay?” Chase distracted him with tickles and got Ricky out of the store and down the street past the way overpriced gelato shops. One thing was a truism in Florence: the prices got higher the closer you were to the Ponte Vecchio. At least in general. That was part of the reason their shop was so successful. His father had long ago decided that the family would sell their goods at the same price at all their stores in the city, regardless of location.

“But I want gelato,” Ricky said as he came to a stop.

“There’s lots of places.” Chase took Ricky’s hand and led him around toward the Duomo and back to where Antonello had taken them a few days ago. “See?”

Ricky picked out his flavor while Antonello sat at one of the tables on the sidewalk, waiting for them to get what they wanted.

“We got you one,” Ricky cried as he handed Antonello a chocolate pistachio cone. “Daddy said you would like this.” He sat down, and Chase gave Ricky his cone before joining them.

“I swear I’m going to balloon up the longer I stay here. It’s almost like being on holiday all the time. There’s always excitement, and the city seems like a party every day.”

“You get used to it. After years of that sort of energy, you learn to ignore it, because you have to. Every day can’t be a holiday, as you put it, because work needs to be done. And after a while, it just gets exhausting. I walk by the Duomo every day, and on Sundays my parents attend Mass there. It’s our family church. To the tourists, it’s an architectural wonder, but to us,it’s something more personal. So many of the things the tourists flock to are just part of our everyday lives. My family makes part of our living by tourists crossing the Ponte Vecchio, but for the rest of the city, it’s a bridge to get us from one side to the other.” He shrugged.

“You really love this place,” Chase said.

“I do. It’s fun,” Ricky interjected. “There are all kinds of fun things to see, but too many naked people.” He stuck his tongue out, and both Antonello and Chase chuckled.

“I like it too, and I’ve seen those naked people since I was younger than you.” Antonello smiled, and his gaze shifted to Chase.

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