Page 65 of Under Her Skin
Hero couldn’t stop staring at her. She studied every aspect of her mother’s face, seeing every similarity, and every difference with her own. The shock of the sudden reunion was making herbreathless.
“Cara mia… are you all right?” Arturo put his arm around her, and she leaned into him, grateful for hispresence.
“I am … think I am … I just …hello,” she said in a rush, to Priya who smiled. “Hello … hello … hello ….”Hero couldn’t stop saying it until she burst intotears.
Priya looked at Arturo, who smiled and nodded, gently steering Hero into her mother’s arms. Priya cradled her sobbing daughter’s head in her arms. “I’m sorry, my love. I’m sorry I had to give youup.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Hero managed to choke out. “I had the best life, thebest… you did the right thing … I’m just so glad, so happy that I’ve finally metyou.”
Hero felt so overwhelmedthat the rest of the day passed in a blur. Eventually, Arturo took her back to their hotel todecompress.
They lay together, and Arturo stroked her face as she shook her head, disbelieving. “Four years ago … I lost my husband and my daughter. I had my parents and a bad relationship with Melly. Today … I got my mom back, I have the love of my life next to me, and two sets of parents who both want to be in mylife.”
Arturo smiled. “And Melly lovesyou.”
“Well, that’s still up for debate.” Hero grinned, then laughed. “I can’t really get it into my head, but I have a huge freakingfamily.”
“You suredo.”
Hero turned to gaze at him. “And the best part, always, isyou. Really, I mean it. With you I can go from one moment, experiencing the most erotic, kinky experiences to the next day the most wholesome, life-affirming, incredible family time. It’s you, Turo. You gave melife.”
“I think you’ll find that’s your mother,” he joked, deflecting her compliment, but she shook her head. She placed her hands on his face, her eyesserious.
“I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anybody. Anybody, Arturo.” She took a long shaky breath in. “When I came to Como, I was broken. Completely broken. I just didn’t see a way out of the darkness. I bought the Patrizzi apartment, intending to spend time there drawing and reading and listening to music, until the day I plucked up enough courage to take a handful of pills and swim out to the middle of the lake and not comeback.”
Arturo rocked back at the thought. “No…”
“Yes. I’m not proud of how cowardly that plan was. Even sleeping with you that first time. When you appeared behind me on the street, and you touched me … I thought, why the hell not? But then, the moment you were inside me, I knew there was light in the world. It felt like a rebirth being with you. Even when Peter was sticking that knife in me, and you were dying, I knew, somehow, we would makeit.”
Arturo’s eyes were still full of pain, so Hero went on. “Today was mind-blowing for me. And you and Mom and Dad and the Lamberts all did that for me. I can never pay you back, except for in one way … which is why I waited untiltonight.”
Arturo was confused as she got up from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. As she walked back to him, she smiled. “I wasn’t sure, wasn’t convinced, but I got the hotel maid to find me one of these when we got back this evening. And I took it while you in the showerearlier.”
She handed Arturo a white plastic stick. “Don’t worry, I rinsed the pee off.” She giggled at his bemusedexpression.
He blinked and stared at the stick. Two bright blue lines. It took a minute for him to process what they meant, then he looked up, his face breaking into the widest smile. “Really?”
Hero chuckled. “Really. You’re going to be a Papa,Turo.”
She screamed with laughter as he pulled her onto the bed and kissed her. “Remember this day, Turo … rememberit…”
“You think I’ll ever forget this moment,piccolo? Never,never…” and he kissed her until she was breathless andgiggling.
Seven months later…
“I’d tell you to push, but I don’t want to get smacked again,” Arturo said ruefully as Hero yelled out herpain.
She shook her head and grabbed his hand. “No jokes. This hurts like amotherfucker…” She bore down again, growling wildly as she pushed, and the doctor calledout.
“Good, Hero, good … one last hard push. Ready? Three … two … one …push!”
Hero screamed like a banshee but then felt her child’s head emerge from her, then the rest of the baby slid out. She started to cry as the baby did, and as Arturo helped her settle, they brought the baby tothem.
“Congratulations, Signore, Signora … it’s aboy.”
Arturo kissed Hero’s head then his son’s, his tears covering both of them. “He’s perfect, he’s perfect …you’reperfect, thank you, thank you …” He couldn’t stop kissingHero.
She was smiling through her tears. “Look at him, Turo. He looks just likeyou…”
Indeed, their son already had a covering of dark brown hair, and when he opened his eyes, his eyes were a startling green like hisfather’s.
Hero looked up at her husband. “We did it,Turo.”
“Wedidit,piccolo.”
And they cradled their son and knew the future was bright and full oflove.
The End.
