Page 51 of The Doctor's Promise
Bepi ran up to his grandfather, and Stefano swung him into his arms. Rafael’s beautiful, elegant mother, Eloise, came up to them, and kissed Rafa’s cheek. “Hello my boy. And hello again, Dr. Castor… may I call you Noemi?”
“Of course, Mrs. Genova.”
“Eloise. Now, Rafa tells us you have something to tell us? Why don’t you all come through; we’ve had some food prepared and some punch.”
Noemi looked at Rafa who nodded encouragingly. Yup. They were doing this. They were going to tell his parents about the twins. She held Rafa’s hand tighter.
She couldn’t help the gasp when Eloise and Stefano led them out onto the patio. The grounds were huge and beautifully landscaped. Noemi realized she was gaping when Eloise chuckled. “I’ll take that as a compliment, dear.”
“You should! Your home, these grounds, wow.” Noemi knew she sounded starstruck, but the place was sensational. Suddenly she felt like an outsider, and a jolt shot through her. What was she doing in this world?
Luckily no one else seemed to pick up on her discomfort, and soon they were sitting down, Bepi happily playing with his grandparent’s dogs, and Rafa was taking Noemi’s hand. “Mom, Dad, I won’t keep you in the dark any longer… you’re going to be grandparents again. We both know it’s crazy fast, but Noemi has made me and Bepi so very happy. I hope you will give us your blessing.”
Stefano and Eloise looked at each other and for a moment, Noemi had a nightmare vision of them throwing her from the house for ‘trapping’ their son. Instead the older couple beamed and embraced them both. “Darlings, we’re so happy for you.”
Noemi was relieved, but she still felt as though something was being unsaid. She waited until Rafa and Stefano were strolling around the grounds to speak to Eloise.
“Eloise… I know this must be a surprise to you, especially with me being Thomasina’s surgeon. I assure you, my relationship with Rafa began way, way after Tomi passed.”
Eloise smiled. “What makes me think you’ve been practicing that line?”
“It’s not a line—”
Eloise held her hands up. “I meant no malice by that. What I meant was you seem desperate to convince us that you didn’t start a relationship with Rafa by design. Darling… we already know that. Rafa has spoken to us about your romance, and believe me, my son is an excellent judge of character. If he had thought that you weren’t genuine in any way, he wouldn’t be with you.” She patted Noemi’s hand. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re a successful surgeon, a career woman. Rafa is very lucky.”
Noemi felt her anxiety lessen, and she smiled at the other woman. “I love him so much. You raised an incredible man.”
Eloise thanked her then sighed. “If only I could have raised two such men.”
“Zani?”
Eloise nodded. “He’s not a bad man, nor a vicious one; he’s just… rootless. Our money spoiled him.”
“Maybe in time, he’ll calm down?” Noemi wished she could reassure the other woman, but Rafa had made a promise to his brother, and she wasn’t about to break that promise for him.
“He’s forty-three, Noemi, I think his time to calm down was about twenty years ago. Do you have siblings, Noemi?”
Noemi nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. She needed to call Leo, to try to explain what was going on. “I do. A sister. Adoptive sister—I was adopted by my family—but we’re very close.” She hoped that wasn’t a lie now.
They spent a couple of hours with Rafa’s parents before traveling home. Rafa had supper with them before excusing himself to go to the hospital. “I won’t be long, honey. If you want to go see your sister when I get back, I can drive you?”
Noemi shook her head. “I’ll call her. I expect she won’t want to see me yet.”
Rafa kissed her forehead. “In that case, I might go to the office to make sure everything is good there. Do you mind?”
“Not at all, baby. Bepi and I will play some games, maybe do some reading.”
“Momma Bear.”
She grinned. “It’s good practice. Besides, I’ve been neglecting Mouse too. We’ll have some fun out in the yard.”
Rafa kissed her. “Take care of our babies in there.”
“I will.”
Noemi playedwith Bepi and Mouse until both the dog and the boy were exhausted, then as they cuddled up with her on the couch, she called Leo.
At first, she didn’t think her sister would pick up, then as she was about to end the call, she heard her voice. “This isn’t a good time.”
