Page 72 of Meet You Half Way
“I know,zietto,” I said, a hitch in my throat.
“And you will be magnificent,” he added, sitting back in his seat. “Won’t he, Jamie?”
“That he will,” Jamie agreed, another squeeze but this time on my thigh. I shared another smile with him, liking that softness in his gaze.
Giulia bustled into the room then, platters in her arms which Jamie rushed to help her with which I knew would ingratiate him in her heart forevermore. Giulia sure loved it when ‘her boys’ pitched in to help.
We were soon dishing up our plates, my mouth watering at the prospect of Giulia’s spaghetti a la carbonara with guanciale, egg, pecorino cheese and black pepper. She’d also made arancini balls and a Caprese salad which I knew was made with tomatoes and basil fresh from their garden.
“Oh I am definitely marrying into this family one day,” Jamie enthused as he took a bite of arancini.
“I should hope so,” Giulia replied. “We can’t wait for grandkids and Mateo deserves to be made an honest man of.”
“Zia,” I groaned, watching as the three of them all smiled at me.
“Where do you think you would like to be married?” Giulia continued as though she was completely oblivious to my discomfort. I had literallyjustouted myself to the world. Marriage was not on the cards for at least the foreseeable future. Decades at least.
“That would be up to Mateo,” Jamie answered smoothly, ignoring my heavy sighs. “I’ll marry him wherever he wants.”
“I know a wonderful wedding venue just up the coast in – ”
“Stop,” I said. “Stop with the wedding talk please. Jamie and I literally just became boyfriend official. There will be no more talk of weddings.”
“It’s in Ives Inlet,” Giulia added in a whispered undertone to Jamie. “I’ll give you the pamphlet later.”
“Deal,” Jamie whispered back and I just had to laugh while simultaneously rolling my eyes as I caught a very happy glimpse into my future.
“I met with your parents yesterday,” Dante suddenly stated, the mood in the room plummeting.
“Did you?” I asked, throat suddenly dry.
“I did,” Dante grumped and I knew whatever had been said was not good for me. “I told them they were a pair of obstinate fools for letting you walk out of their life and that they would die sad, lonely deaths.”
“Wow. You don’t mince your words, uncle,” I said, squirming in my seat. Jamie’s hand had landed back on my thigh and I appreciated knowing I had his support even when I hadn’t asked for it.
“I won’t where your wellbeing is concerned,tesoro,” he stated. “I told them what a wonderful person you are and that anyone who loves you would be proud of the man you have become. And now you’ve found yourself a wonderful man to share your life with. I am so very, very pleased that you have been able to accept yourself, Mateo. I confess I don’t know what is going to become of your stubborn parents but I wouldn’t lose hope for them entirely.”
I said nothing, Dante’s words lifting me more than the negativity my parents’ views brought into the equation. And that was more telling than anything else.
“You of all people know how hard it has been for me to get to this point in my life, Dante,” I replied. “A lot of that struggle for personal acceptance has been down to the views I’ve heard from my parents my whole life. I think I’ve come to accept that those divergent views will never be bridged and I’m going to have to be okay with it. Because somewhere along the line I managed tobuild my own family. I have found all the love and acceptance I need from you both and I think that makes me one of the lucky ones.”
“We’re very proud of you,” Giulia said, tears sparkling in her eyes.
“I know. And I think I’d rather just live with that kind of love and acceptance rather than spend my energy convincing my parents that there is nothing wrong with me. So I don’t want you to waste your time on them either. I’m happy with who I am and the people I have around me.”
Jamie squeezed my thigh before he leant across and kissed my temple, the motion so loving I felt my heart squeeze in my chest. I looked across at Dante and Giulia, seeing so much love in their eyes and a shared happiness that I had found my place in the world, and I thought that maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t mind so much if Giulia did happen to share those pamphlets with Jamie.
Not that I would be telling either of them that any time soon.
CHAPTER 29
jamie
Ipulled up at the front of Mateo’s house, an unexpected flutter of nerves hitting my stomach. Why I felt so nervous was a little ridiculous given that Mateo had spent the entire week since Sunday night with me, scarcely leaving my bed except for doing those pesky things. Like going to work.
We’d gotten very good at doing things Mateo’s way. Had put in a lot of practice and hard work there but it had been worth it. So very, very worth it.
But now it was my turn.
