Page 226 of Vita Mia

Mirabella shook her head sadly.

“There’s no need to be hostile. Haven’t we all paid enough?” Catalina interjected.

“I’m sorry,” Marietta mumbled. “Am I being hostile? I’ve spent so much time being angry it’s hard not to be. Even now, when I feel so blessed.”

“There’s nothing I can say or do to change the past Marietta. But this could be a fresh start for all of us, for the kids. We have all done things. We have all lost... and suffered. Can we find common ground?” Mirabella tried again.

“No, we can’t,” Marietta said. “Let’s be honest, we were never meant to find each other. I guess it was destiny that we did, but we’ve never really been sisters. When I had a chance to choose I chose Lorenzo, and when you made your choice you chose Gio. Sisters don’t do that to each other.”

“The past. It’s all in the past,” Catalina insisted.

“It’s real for me. It’s present. Look at my husband, what’s left of him. Look at all of us. We are better apart. I’m sorry, but all I want from this visit is the freedom to go and never see any of you again.”

“She is the reason Lorenzo is here Marietta! She went into hell to help him and bring him back.” Catalina seethed. “You need to show more compassion, considering how much compassion she’s showed to you!”

Marietta laughed. “Compassion? Is that what you call it? I don’t owe any of you anything. That’s what I learned in the ten months I rotted in hell.”

“That was your doing!” Catalina shouted back. “You betrayed the family, more than once. What about you and what you have done!”

“Alright that’s enough,” Mirabella said. She leaned forward and looked her sister in the eye. “Catalina can you and Zia give us a moment. We have more to say to each other.”

“I’m done,” Catalina stood up abruptly. She swayed as if she felt faint. Zia glanced up with concern. Mirabella and Marietta both looked at her confused. She forced a smile. “Sorry, just a little tired. Armando has a cold, I was up with him all night.”

“Come, let’s go to the kitchen and I will fix you some tea,” Zia said. She helped by taking Catalina’s elbow. However, before Catalina turned away she stared at Marietta. “We loved you. No matter what you think or the conspiracies you tell yourself the proof is that you and Lorenzo are alive. That is family love. Run from us if you want too, but my blood is in Lorenza’s veins. Mirabella’s blood is in your veins. We are family. The only real family you’ll ever have.”

Marietta looked away unable to respond. Catalina put her arm around Zia’s shoulders and walked her out. When she was gone Mirabella let go a deep sigh. “I don’t know where to begin. I feel like this is the last time we’ll see each other, be with each other.”

“I hope so,” Marietta mumbled.

“I wish you knew MeMa, I wish you and I both knew Lisa.”

“What difference would that have made?” Marietta frowned.

“I don’t know. Maybe none. Or maybe if we had them it would have helped us both grow up in love. Because that’s where it starts. The beginning. You are either raised in love or survival. It makes us the people we become.”

“I’m not crazy Mirabella. I know what I did. I shot your husband and I wanted him dead. But you have to know that your punishment of me didn’t fit the crime. I was pregnant and scared. I begged for my life and you sent me to Africa, to give birth in hell. No. I wasn’t brought up in love like you. I was raised to survive. That’s what I’m doing. I’m trying to survive. I realize now that my survival means I have to put distance between me and you. For good.”

“That’s what it comes down too. The men we love. Not the love we shared?” Mirabella asked.

Marietta shook her head sadly. “I can’t be healthy here, I don’t want Lorenza to see who I am when I’m with this family, when I’m consumed with jealousy and bitterness. I want to be a good mother to her. I want a fresh start for us. Look at Eve. What future do you think being born Giovanni’s daughter will she have?”

The comment hit Mirabella dead center into her heart. She was shaken to her core. Tears welled in her eyes and she wiped a few that fell. She couldn’t help it. Eve and her children were constantly on her mind and heart and she knew Marietta had made the comment to hurt her. That meant there was nothing they could do or say to each other without hurting each other.

“Fine, you and I have made our choice. I just... I want to hold Lorenza. For the last time.”

Marietta looked down at the babe in her arms and then to her sister. She rolled her eyes and stood. She walked over and handed Lorenza over to Mirabella. The toddler hugged Mirabella immediately. And the love she felt was as close to the love she wished existed between her and her sister.

“No matter what you think of me, I love her. I will always love youpiccola,” Mirabella said to Lorenza. She kissed and tickled her niece who bubbled with joy. Even Marietta smiled at her daughter’s exuberance.

“She’s missed you,” Marietta confessed.

“I love her, so much. Promise to tell her that,” Mirabella looked up.

“And if the kids ask about me?” Marietta asked.

“I will always tell them about their feisty auntie,” Mirabella smiled.

Marietta smiled. She glanced to the door. “What do you think they are talking about? Being brothers? What Giovanni hasn’t admitted or even told the entire family about?”

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