Chapter 244

It was a bright and sunny day, filled with talks and laughter. The Lamberti estate was full of guests, including different families who were all present for Lucio’s birthday party. His birthday was two weeks ago, but today felt like a good day to celebrate his existence.

A month had passed since everything went down, and for the first time in forever, things were actually going great. Everything was nice and peaceful.

“I’m happy to see all of you here together.” Lucio grabbed my hand to connect it with Christian’s. We glanced at each other, and a soft smile appeared on Christian’s lips.

“So am I.” He spoke. It still seemed unreal, but our relationship was perfect. Every now and then, we had minor disagreements, but that was it.

“And you?” Lucio looked over at Cesca, who held Siena in her arms. “You should get along with your daughter-in-law.” He spoke. “Serena has always been like a daughter to me, so I need all of you to take care of her in the future.”

Hearing him speak as if he wasn’t going to be around anymore was hard to handle, but at the same time, it was something we couldn’t avoid. Despite his cheerfulness, he had become even skinnier and had lost most of his strength.

“Don’t worry. We get along very well.” Cesca cooed, kissing Siena. Whenever it didn’t involve the way I was raising Siena, sure—I would say we got along great.

“Uncle Chrissie, we need you to play hide-and-seek with us because they are cheating!” Gianna looked up at her uncle with her hands on her hips.

“S-sure.” Christian stuttered at the young girl bold enough to intimidate someone like him. She was starting to look more like Gio and acted like him too.

I giggled as Gianna pulled him to Dario and scolded them to pay attention to her rules.

After punishing his father, Dario had become a warm person and an even better leader.

Although it had been decided that he would be running the family business from the west coast to start over his life, having him around removed most of Christian’s burdens and granted him enough time to spend at home with his family.

“It’s good to see they’re getting along—isn’t it?” Lucio followed my eyes. “Shouldn’t you be with your family?” He looked at the Alfonzos.

As always, dad bragged about his achievements while Beau sent daggers with his eyes, joined by Franco who was trying to find away to make himself the topic of conversation. The relationship between dad and his so called enemies was still rocky, but it was definitely getting there.

“You’re my family.” I looked back at Cesca and Lucio. “I’m good here.”

“You’re right—you are.” Lucio had a proud look on his face. “Did you know who came to visit me yesterday? Marc!” I could hear the joy from his voice.

Marc, who had distanced himself from the Lamberti business, had become nothing more than a best friend to Christian, and in a way, it was a good thing.

Spending time with a longtime friend without having to talk about business all the time eased his mind.

“How is he doing?”

“Good.” Lucio informed me. “He also agrees that you and Christian should finally set a date for the wedding.”

“Oh, really?” I gulped, making him laugh. After all the things we had been through with the cheating drama—I felt unsure about my feelings.

I knew I wanted to be with Christian, and I did want to marry him, but endless thoughts were going through my head.

What if he got bored of me after our marriage and would find some other Serena at a stripclub?

What if I couldn’t live up to his expectations and he filed for divorce?

I trusted him, but at the same time, I knew we were still not at that place and had changed my mind about rushing things.

“Maybe after the baby is born.” I bit my lip, regretting my words. By the looks of it—Lucio wouldn’t even make it to the baby’s birth.

“Luc, should give her Siena’s presence.” Cesca saved the conversation, staring at her granddaughter. I felt terrible for admitting it, but Siena was definitely her favorite, and somehow I believed it had to do with her still not believing Christian had a daughter.

“Yes, yes—her present.” Lucio reached for the necklace around his neck, and I could already sense what he would do. “I got this from my father, and he got it from my grandfather and so on.” He struggled to release the necklace.

He was in a lot of pain; however, Lucio Lamberti would never admit it. Those were Franco’s traits and the same which got handed down to Christian and Gio.

The only one who had missed the family tradition was Enzo, who was still at the resort with Luca, trying to fix whatever this twisted family situation had done to him.

I couldn’t accept this necklace for my daughter—but I couldn’t disrespect Lucio either. Just nod and smile.

Cesca placed Siena on Lucio’s lap but did not let go of her. “Please grow up knowing grandpa loves you very much, and don’t ever forget about me.” He said before pushing the necklace into her little jean pocket.

I felt a sad feeling in my heart and held back my tears. Bawling my eyes out at this man’s party would just come off as plain disrespectful, and I couldn’t do that.

“I will remind you of her every single day.” Cesca kissed his cheek and grabbed Siena. “I’ll make sure she won’t forget about you and all you’ve done for this family, ever.”

Okay, that was it.

My lips trembled as I let the tears roll down my cheeks. “I’m sorry.” I covered my face with my hands and looked away, huffing.

“I told you no one is allowed to cry today.” Cesca rushed to my side, leaning her head against my shoulder so she wouldn’t drop Siena. “Today is supposed to be a happy day!”

“I know.” I wiped my tears. “I’m just so grateful—“

“Why is she crying?” A voice interrupted us. Ashamed and apologetic, I looked at Christian, who pulled me in his embrace. “What did you do, mom?”

I could hear the sound of Lucio’s laughter.

“Nothing, these are happy tears!” Cesca defended herself. “How am I to blame for this?”

Lucio cleared his throat, slowing down his laughter. “You must marry this girl, and the two of you must live a long and happy life.” He spoke, taking a peek at his wife.

Was that the same look Christian gave to me?

Looking at Cesca and Lucio, those two deserved much more time together, but fate had a different plan.

“We will get married.” Christian poked my invisible bump. “After the baby is born.”

Not if it was up to me.

Lucio coughed loudly, Cesca handed me Siena to rush to her husband’s side. “What is it?” She held his hands. “Are you tired? Do you need sleep? Do you need me to—“

“No.” Lucio yawned, grinning at her. “I’m still having fun. Take me around the garden.”

“Sure.” Cesca’s hand got pushed away before she could reach the wheelchair. “I want to take a walk…just this time.”

A walk?

I pushed Christian forward, telling him to respect his father’s wishes. Christian was the same man who didn’t want Lucio to hold his own knife, fork or glass. It was that serious.

“Yes, we can take a walk.” Christian surprisingly went with it. “Serena, you should come with us.”

“Sure.”

“And do you want me to call over grandpa—“

“No, no—this is fine. I already spoke to him some time ago, so it’s okay.” The sides of Lucio’s lips curled. He paused to take a look at Franco. “This is perfect.”

Just as Lucio wanted, we walked through the gardens of the Lamberti estate. Christian and Cesca supported him while I walked behind with holding Siena.

“These flowers are really nice.” Lucio took in the smell, admiring his creation. Cesca and Christian, who didn’t have anything with flowers, kept their mouth shut.

The two often came off as rude—it was obvious they didn’t want to hurt Lucio’s feelings.

“Christian, Serena?” Lucio grabbed our attention. “My wife has been too ashamed to bring this up…

but when I’m not here anymore—I would like for you to move in with her, keep her company in this dark and lonely mansion.”

“Lucio!” Cesca whined. I giggled and caught up with the three so that I could see the embarrassed look on Cesca’s face.

“So you want us to move in with you?” I tapped my chin, pretending to be in deep thoughts. It felt like for once, I had the upper hand in this love-hate relationship with his mother.

“I suppose we can do that—why not?”

“Really?” Christian and Cesca spoke at the same time.

If Lucio hadn’t brought it up, I’m sure Christian would’ve, and I could not tell him to not be with his soon to be grieving mother.

“Dad, I would be honored to take over this house.” Christian brought his lips to Lucio’s cheek, showing him affection.

It wasn’t like Lucio would die within the next minutes, meaning we had more than enough time to adjust and renovate the mansion to our liking.

“I don’t mind living with my second mom.” I poked fun at the situation, anticipating the day the cold woman would one day accept me as her daughter.

“Thank you.” Cesca’s lips trembled in fear at the new nickname I had made up for her. “I appreciate that.”

“Now that I know your mother will be in good hands, I can finally be at peace.” Lucio let out a heavy breath. “This is the happiest I’ve been in a while.”

Those were the exact words he had spoken after Dario told him Berto was no longer alive. ‘Now I can finally be at peace.’

“I feel the same.” Cesca agreed.

Lucio stopped in front of a big area of lawn. “I want to lay down on the grass.” He said. “It’s been years since I’ve done that.”

Without asking any further questions, Cesca sat down Lucio on the lawn and joined him.

The sight of seeing someone as ‘fancy’ as Cesca sitting on the ground was not something I thought I would ever get to experience. The soft laughter belonging to Christian and Lucio said I was not the only one.

Cesca sneered. “Is this entertaining to you?”

“It’s just…In all those years we’ve been married, you’ve always refused to sit on the ground.” Lucio brushed a strand of her hair to the side. “But I’m glad to be here with you.”

“I’m sorry.” Cesca spoke apologetically. “Had I known it was that important to you, I would’ve done it a long time ago.”

“It’s okay.” Lucio gasped for air, letting out a terrific sound. The way he was breathing didn’t sound good at all, and the stiff expression on Christian’s face was the confirmation I needed.

His request to the garden, his words about finally being at peace, not wanting his father to join us on our walk?

He couldn’t fight or hide his pain for much longer. He had already decided it was enough.

“Knowing I am loved by the most beautiful woman in the world is more than I could’ve ever asked for.” His voice grew weaker.

Cesca who was still in a good mood, was in deep denial and did not notice what was happening.

“And Christian?” Lucio choked in his words.

“Dad,” Christian whispered, kneeling to take a look at his dad. He gently pushed his hand behind Lucio’s head to lay him down on the lawn. “I know, it’s okay.” Christian repeated. “We’ll be fine.”

I took a small step forward and swallowed my breath as Lucio used his last bit of energy to press his hand against Christian’s cheek.

“You grew up well, Chris.” He whispered before letting his hand drop. “I’m…proud.”

Not losing the smile on his face, he slowly closed his eyes and took one last breath.

Christian who had remained unexpectedly calm, raised himself from the ground and dropped his head.

That’s when I knew we had lost him.

“Are you tired? Should I bring you upstairs?” Cesca, still trying to ignore the truth, brought her hands to Lucio’s shoulders, roughly shaking him.

“Sweetheart, this is not the time for jokes.” She spoke in tensed laughter. “Don’t worry. He’s always like this.” Cesca turned to us. “Christian, you know how he gets!”

I was a coward.

Same as Christian, I was not strong enough to face her and lowered my head while listening to her desperate yells.

“Lucio!”

The sound of Christian’s voice was the only thing giving me the strength to raise my head again.

“Mom.” He spoke softly, reaching for Cesca’s hand as he tried to pull her away. “Mom, please don’t be like this.”

A delayed sound of a sob left my mouth as it finally hit me that the man who was there for me when all I cried out for was someone to help me, had passed over to the other side.

Christian’s gaze fell on me for a second and after knowing I would be okay, he focused on his mother, who was still shaking her husband’s body.

“You can’t do this. Wake up!” She exclaimed. “Please don’t leave me!”

“Mom.”

“Please take me with you!”

“Mom, that’s enough!” Christian yelled out after hearing those painful words. Losing one parent was already bad enough.

“No!”

“It’s enough, please.” He forcefully pulled her from the lawn and wrapped his arms around her as loud cries left Cesca’s mouth. “It’s okay.”

This day wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.