Some of Life's Sweetest Moments
A/N: This is my take on how Gio and Betty's happily ever after would go. It takes place eight years in the future. Gio/Betty with the teeny, tiniest hint of Claire/Ignacio. Pure fluff.
Betty looked down into the crib before her and watched her sleeping daughter's peaceful face, noting each breath she took, every sigh she made. Isabella shifted in her sleep, and as she settled, a small smile graced her face. Betty reached down and lovingly stroked a dark curl off of the little girl's forehead, then brushed the back of one finger down her cheek. The love and contentment that stole over Betty at something as simple as her child sleeping never failed to take her breath away. She'd been standing over the crib just watching for at least ten minutes. She knew she should be as tired as her daughter and that Gio was probably already wondering why she hadn't come to bed yet, that is if he was even still awake. It had been a big day for all of them; it was Isabella's first birthday.
The celebration for Isabella had turned out to be nothing less than spectacular. Honestly, Gio wouldn't have had it any other way. He doted upon her like she was a queen. Isabella had been a daddy's girl from the moment she was born. Betty was sure there would come a day when she wouldn't be so happy about the way Bella had her father wrapped around her pinky, but for now she loved watching her husband adore their daughter.
Gio turned out to be an even more amazing father than Betty had expected. No doubt from all the practice he'd gotten from his nieces and nephews. All of his siblings, save for Antonella, had a whole brood of children. Which was probably why Gio had started the recent petition to start trying for their second child. Betty smiled to herself remembering the most recent conversation she'd had with her husband regarding the subject.
"All I'm saying is that my sister Teresa had four kids by the time she'd been married for five years."
"Your sister had her first child one month after her wedding, Gio," Betty pointed out. "Besides, Teresa is a baby machine. I've hardly ever seen her not pregnant."
"Hey, the Rossis are a very fertile family," Gio said indignantly. "It's in our genes to have lots of kids."
"You know I want more children," she told him. "I just want to wait a little bit longer. I'm enjoying it just being us and Bella right now."
"I am too," Gio admitted, then added, "But it would take at least nine months for a new baby to get here. Maybe longer, depending on how long it would take us to get pregnant."
"Longer? Didn't you just say that the Rossis are incredibly fertile? From the way you tell it, I'm surprised your mere mention of another child didn't impregnate me."
Gio laughed. "I'm good, baby, but I'm not quite that good," he said with an eyebrow raise and a devilish smile.
Betty rolled her eyes and laughed at the same time. Then she said in a serious tone, "I'll think about it."
"Well, that's better than 'Are you freaking kidding me?'" he said with a hint of humor in his tone.
"You threw me off when you mentioned it the first time," Betty said defensively. "And you didn't choose the most opportune moment."
"How was I supposed to know Bella had finger painted the living room and you'd just spent two hours cleaning it up?"
"And that I was trying to work on an article that was due that day and she spent an hour crying and then refused to take a nap."
"Again, how was I supposed to know that?" he asked.
"Just promise me one thing," Betty said, "when we do have more children, you'll stay home four days a week with them and I'll go manage Gio's Sandwich Depot."
Gio's face broke into a grin. "I'll see what I can do," he told her.
Isabella let out another sigh in her sleep, bringing Betty's thoughts back to the present. As Betty leaned down to make sure Isabella's bear was within her reach, she thought of the earlier festivities and found herself still marveling over the amount of guests that had shown up to a one-year-old's birthday party. Of course half of them were a part of Gio's family. But others had been there as well. All of the most important people to Betty had come; her father and Claire, her sister and her family, Daniel and his fiancée, and Christina and her husband. There was only one other person that Betty wished could have been there, her mother.
Betty hadn't realized just how much she still missed her mother until the past year. More than ever Betty had wished that Rosa was still alive to give her advice. A woman should have her mother around when first adjusting to parenthood. The unfairness that Betty couldn't have the luxury that most other new mothers took for granted was almost unbearable during the first month of Isabella's life.
Luckily Betty had an affectionate, though somewhat intrusive, mother-in-law that insisted on helping in any way possible. Betty wasn't sure if she would have survived having a new infant without her. There was one particular moment that stood out the most in her mind.
Betty felt like she hadn't slept in a week, Isabella had been crying nonstop for what must have been hours, Gio had gone back to work because his employees apparently couldn't function longer than ten days without him, and now the doorbell was ringing. She considered leaving the door figuring anyone who took a look at what a wreck she was combined with the screaming infant in her arms would turn around and never dare come back. But the loud ringing persisted so she was forced to oblige the visitor.
Betty was on the verge of tears as she made her way to the door. She was exhausted, her hormones were out of control, and she was pretty sure her baby hated her. She had barely opened the door when Silvia Rossi pushed her way in, "Betty, darling, you look awful," were the first words out of her mouth.
The tears that were just threatening to fall earlier, now in fact did.
"It's okay. All new mothers look awful," she said consolingly. "Why don't you let me watch my granddaughter while you go get some sleep?"
As tempting as the thought of sleep was, Betty was leery. She still wasn't comfortable leaving Isabella alone with anyone but Gio yet, and she barely liked the idea of that.
"Sweetheart, it's okay. I raised five of my own and this sweet little girl makes grandchild number thirteen. I like to think I have some experience with the matter," Silvia said with understanding, clearly seeing Betty's apprehension.
Betty relaxed a bit. She was right. Silvia was probably the most qualified person Betty knew to take care of a baby.
Seeing Betty's resignation, Silvia gave her a smile and took Isabella from Betty's arms. "Now let Nana take care of her girl while you get some rest," she told her.
Betty took one last, long look at Isabella's screaming face before she headed to the sanctuary of her bedroom. As she was settling down to rest, she realized her daughter's wailing had stopped. Betty thought to herself that she must ask Silvia what her secret was and then drifted off to sleep.
When she awoke, the room was completely dark save for a street light shining in through the window. Betty reached over to find her glasses. As she put them on, the clock sitting on the night stand caught her eye.
"7:30!" she exclaimed, sitting up suddenly. She'd been asleep for over five hours. She got out of bed quickly and set about finding Silvia and Isabella. And probably Gio, since he was surely back from work by now.
It didn't take her long to locate the sound of a masculine voice coming from the living room. She was about to advance into the room when she spotted Gio sprawled out on the couch, Isabella lying across his chest. There was a baseball game playing on the TV. Gio appeared to be both watching the game and explaining it to their two week old daughter.
"See, Bella, that's why the Yankees are better than the Red Sox," Gio was saying. Betty couldn't keep the smile off of her face. Any of the worry she felt about Isabella and annoyance at not being woken up earlier instantly melted away.
Still smiling, she walked into the living room. Gio heard her footsteps and looked in her direction. "Hey! You're up," he said enthusiastically.
"Yeah. Why did you let me sleep so late?" she asked, decided to not let him completely off the hook.
"Before Ma left, she threatened she'd do me bodily harm if I so much as thought about going in our room," he told her. "She said you needed to get as much sleep as possible, while you could."
"She was probably right," Betty said, walking over to him. She brushed a hand over Bella's back before leaning down and giving Gio a lingering kiss on the mouth.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"Do I need a reason to kiss my husband?" was her slightly agitated reply.
"Two weeks ago I would have said no, but since Bella was born… yes," he countered.
The man had a point. Since they got home from the hospital she hardly had any time for him. Well, they hardly had any time for each other. Between diapers and bottles and simply just trying to figure things out, they were left with very little free time. And more often than not, instead of doing what they would have done before, like talking or other things that made her still sore body give a protest just at the thought of, they used that time to sleep.
She rested her hand on his cheek and looked into his dark eyes as she said, "It was because I love you."
"Well, I can never hear that enough," he told her, giving her a cocky smile before his lips caught hers in another kiss. "And that was because I love you," he added.
Gio scooted over on the couch to make room for Betty. She settled down on her side lying against him, and rested her head in his shoulder. The arm that wasn't keeping Isabella steady on his chest came around to hold her. Betty was feeling quite happy and peaceful.
She was just about to drift back to sleep when Gio let out a shout. "Damn it!" he complained, "He could have caught that one!"
Betty was still smiling as she recalled that moment. It was then that she realized that perhaps she, Gio, and Isabella would be alright. As she continued to watch their daughter, she realized that they were more than alright.
Her heart swelled with pride at the thought of her husband and child. She wondered if this is how her mother had felt when she and Hilda were young. It was funny how often she kept coming back to the thought of her mother.
All the presents had been open and most of the cake eaten when Betty sat in a chair away from the rest of the party goers. She needed some time to herself after all the chaos of the day.
She looked over at Gio holding Isabella in his lap, the two of them trying to figure out how to work one of her new toys. They both wore a smile on their face, each showing off a set of dimples as they set about the task. Betty found herself smiling at the sight of them. One of them must have figured it out because suddenly the toy began to emit loud music and lights. Isabella squealed with laughter, her dark eyes alight.
As Betty continued to watch them, she found herself thinking of her mother for the first time that day. She'd been so busy and worried that something would go wrong that she hadn't had the time to let herself think about how she wished her mother was still alive to see Isabella's first birthday. Betty smiled sadly as she imagined Rosa insisting on feeding her granddaughter her first tamale.
"Everything okay, mija?" Betty looked around and found that her father had taken a seat next to her.
"Yeah," she told him, though she couldn't quite keep the sadness out of her voice.
"You're thinking of your mother, aren't you?" Ignacio asked.
"Yeah," Betty said again, this time not even trying to mask the sorrow in her tone.
"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss your mother, but today I missed her more than I have in a long time," Ignacio admitted. "Watching you and Isabella reminded me so much of your mother and you on your first birthday."
Tears had started to form in Betty's eyes. "I just wish that she could have known Isabella."
"I know you do. So do I. She would have adored her every bit as much as she adored Justin. She was as wonderful a grandmother as she was wife," he said with a reminiscent smile. He paused before adding, "Betty, she would have been so proud of the wonderful woman and mother you've become. And I know she wouldn't have wanted you to be sad on your daughter's birthday on account of her."
Betty knew that her father was right. She looked back at Gio and Isabella. The toy they had been playing with earlier had been discarded. Gio was bouncing Bella on his knee while he sang along with the radio that someone had turned on. Bella's enjoyment of her father's singing was evident, and it looked like she was trying to sing as well. Betty chuckled to herself. Hopefully her daughter could carry a tune better than her husband.
"You have a beautiful, healthy family, mija," Ignacio said, interrupting her thoughts. "It's everything that your mother and I wanted for you. And when you miss your mother, remember that your daughter will know Rosa through you."
Betty wiped away a tear that had escaped. "I love you, Papi," she whispered to her father, as she wrapped her arms around him.
"I love you, too," he told her, holding her tight as he hugged her. "Now go enjoy the rest of this special day with the two people who are missing you right now."
Betty let go of her father and made her way to where Gio and Isabella sat. Gio noticed her walking towards them and smiled widely as he said, "Hey, there you are. I wondered where you got to."
"I was just talking to my dad for a little bit," she told him.
At the sound of Betty's voice, Bella's head turned. "Mamamama," she gibbered as she held out her arms for her mother to pick her up.
"Hi, baby," Betty said to her daughter.
Gio stood up and as he handed Isabella over, he placed a kiss on top of Betty's head. Isabella instantly snuggled into her mother's arms.
"We missed you," he told her softly. Then he added in a lively tone, "I've been teaching Bella how to sing 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun'"
"It's a good thing I came over then. There's no way she'll learn how to sing anything from you," she said with a laugh.
"Hey," he said with mock hurt, "Is that any way to talk to the man you're bound for life to? Besides, Bella loves my singing."
Lost in her thoughts, Betty didn't realize that someone had entered the room until she felt strong arms circle around her from behind. She leaned back into Gio's embrace, feeling his chest against her back. He laid his head against hers and whispered, "Hey, Honey," into her hair.
"I thought you'd already be in bed," she told him.
"I was. But when you didn't come in I thought I'd come make sure you were alright," he said, one hand now caressing her hair.
"I'm okay. I've been watching Bella."
"Mind if I watch her with you?" he asked.
"Not at all," she responded.
They were silent for several minutes, both content just being together, looking at the life they had brought into the world a year ago to the day.
"Gio?" Betty whispered, breaking the silence.
"Yeah?"
"I'm ready to have another baby," she told him, knowing in her heart it was exactly what she wanted. She felt him smile against her neck before he left a kiss there.
"Good. Me too," he replied before gently taking her hand and leading them to their bedroom.