A/N: OK…the next part. Not 100% happy with the way I "resolved" some of the issues between Eva and her family; but hopefully it's enough! :)
All mistakes are my own! Last part will be up by the end of the week as it's all ready to go.
Thanks!
No Better Than This
Part 2 of 3
Tommy sat next to Eva at the head table at the front of the large dining room. When he was given a formal tour of the villa earlier in the week, he was astonished to see the absolute grandeur of the place—who had a formal dining hall that could accommodate up to a hundred people at one time? He wasn't exactly sure how many people were at this party tonight, but the dining room was quite full.
At the head table, Salvatore and Elena Vittoria sat in the middle, having the best view of the dining room to watch their guests enjoy their meal. They took absolute pleasure in hosting parties, and they had definitely gone over the top for this New Year's Eve party—essentially, their way of announcing that they were back. Tommy really wasn't sure how much the guests at the party knew of what happened with the couple, and a part of him thought that the majority of the guests didn't care—everyone seemed to have welcomed the couple back with open arms.
They were currently finishing their secondo course in what was quite the elaborate full blown Italian dinner. Tommy was convinced that the cost of throwing this party must have been something completely outrageous; and he didn't have a real sense if this was normal or was tonight different because of the special occasion. Chalk it up to the mysteries that was Eva's family.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Eva asked him quietly, setting her fork down and reaching over to grab his free hand. She was used to these elaborate parties from growing up—but she realized that this was definitely not something Tommy was accustomed to.
"I think by the end of this trip I am going to have gained a ton of weight," Tommy joked, taking the last bite of the delicious steak. "I don't know how you do it."
"Do what?"
"How you kept so svelte if you ate like this growing up," Tommy joked.
"Must be my good genes and metabolism," Eva replied, taking a sip of her red wine. "My parents have gone a bit over the top this year. I don't remember there being so many people growing up…"
"Well, I'm sure they have a reason to celebrate this year," Tommy said, watching her parents toast a couple who had come up to the main table to relay their well wishes.
"I guess," Eva shrugged, glancing around the room.
She was happy that she and her parents were finally on the same page—but it was moments like these that she realized how she was really world's away from her family. That she really was a different person now.
Eva and Tommy walked out to the backyard of the villa, making their way to a shaded pergola that was next to the pool and small waterfall.
There was a long table and chairs set up under the pergola, and Tommy could already see an older couple enjoying their breakfast in the shade.
"Mama, Papa," Eva said, announcing that they were there.
Turning towards the voice, Salvatore and Elena Vittoria both stood up and walked over towards them.
"Benvenuto!" Elena said, a big smile breaking out on her face when she saw her daughter. "I'm so happy that you're here!"
She walked over to Eva and engulfed her in a big hug. Elena pulled back as her husband approached, unlike his wife he was more reserved in his greeting, knowing very well that his daughter had not completely warmed back up to him yet.
Tommy stood a bit off to the side, watching their interaction carefully. Elena was chatting animatedly with Eva in Italian, catching up quickly. Eva had not said much to him about the current status between her and her parents—he just knew she had seen them only twice since their reunion in Spain several months ago.
"Mama, Papa…this is Tommy McConnel," Eva said, grabbing Tommy's hand and pulling him over to them. "We work together at the ICC and he's also my…" Eva trailed off, again, trying to figure out the best way to describe Tommy.
"Your compagno?" Elena said, with a knowing grin of a mother.
Eva nodded, returning the smile. She wasn't going to hide who Tommy was to her; especially since she knew her family would clearly see right through it.
"It's a pleasure meeting you both," Tommy said, reaching his hand out in proper formality.
Salvatore reached out, grasping his hand tightly and gave him a firm handshake—you could tell he was assessing who this person was. Elena, on the other hand, ignored the extended hand and gave the young man a warm hug with a proper Italian greeting.
"Welcome to our home, please make yourself comfortable," Elena said; you could tell she had played host to guests frequently. "Come, sit down and enjoy some breakfast."
They sat around the table as Merna and another woman appeared with a fresh pot of coffee and trays of pastries and fruit. A bowl of muesli with dry fruits were placed in front of Eva, and she smiled that Merna had remembered her favourite from her childhood.
"When you called yesterday to say you were coming to visit during the holidays, your mother and I were very excited," Salvatore said, "we were hoping that you would come home."
"I haven't been home for the holidays for a few years—thought it was about time," Eva explained, pouring some milk into her bowl. "And, I think there's much that we need to talk about…"
"Yes, there is. I know your last visit did not end on a good note—we need to fix this. A new year is coming upon us, and I think it's time for everyone to heal and start a new chapter," Salvatore explained, taking a sip of his strong espresso.
Eva had to hold her tongue, she wanted to say something but knew this wasn't the time just yet. Tommy glanced over at Eva, picking up on some of the growing tension now that they were all sitting together. It was funny that the words her father was saying were very similar to what his Granda said to him less than a week ago in Belfast. Similar, but the circumstances were quite different between the two families.
"Tell me Tommy, how much has Eva told you about our certain…situation?" Salvatore asked, staring across the table at Tommy pointedly. "How much do you know?"
"I know enough. I know that she believed the both of you were dead for over the last ten years. That your death when she was young had completely shaped her life, and your sudden reappearance in Spain a few months ago has not been the happy reunion that you'd imagine it to be," Tommy said straight-forwardly. He wasn't going to give the man the benefit of doubt, at least not until he felt he deserved it.
"Ah, so basically, you know nothing," Salvatore responded, a bit of edge to his reply. "My daughter has to understand that her narrow view of the events that have transpired since our return is not the whole story. That it's time she really learnt the truth."
"Tore," Elena said, using her husband's nickname. "Per favore, can we please finish breakfast first? This is not appropriate conversation at the table."
"No, this must be said. If you want to continue to shelter her from the truth, than that is your choice Elena," Salvatore continued, looking at Eva. "We've been given this second chance, and it's time she learnt the truth."
Eva watched her dad carefully. She knew they had avoided this subject when they last saw each other a few months earlier—it was as if they were walking on egg shells back then, not wanting to rock the boat. But, now, it was no longer time for pleasantries.
"Then explain to me, papa, why did you lie to the family—to me—all these years?" Eva began, putting her spoon down and focusing her sole attention to her father. "You say that both you and mama were in hiding and that you were forbidden to contact anyone."
"This is true," Elena offered.
"That is a lie," Eva said.
"Figlia, what are you talking about?" Salvatore said.
"After we saw each other last, I contacted one of my former colleagues at the Polizia di Stato to make a formal request to review your file, the file of Sergio and Angela Pellegrini," Eva said, using the aliases of her parents. "I was told I did not have the proper clearance to request such file—but with some help from a good friend at work…"
Sebastian, Tommy thought. It had to be him.
Eva turned to look at Tommy who was sitting beside her. He reached out to grab her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"I was able to obtain a copy of the report, and it clearly stated that while yes, you were under witness protection following the accident, that order was lifted over four years ago, and that you were no longer under protection after some type of arrangement was made."
The look on Eva's father's face dropped, knowing that she must know the true timeline and circumstances to what had happened.
"For all these years, I thought my parents were dead. That first year after the accident—do you know how absolutely low I got? There were moments where I couldn't continue on; that my whole world was crashing down. Merna would sit with me every night as I cried—I cried for my mother, my father, my family—everything that I knew was my life. It was all gone," Eva said, her voice getting more and more emotional as she tried to not break down. "And, just when I was starting to feel better; when I thought that maybe I could carry on…to find out the truth about you Papa—about what you were doing for all these years. It was like a slap in the face. The father I knew would never be associated with crime and the mafia…there was just no way."
"Figlia, I am not proud of my past," Salvatore said, cutting in. "I was young and impressionable when I got involved and things happened very quickly. I did everything I could to keep you and your mother away from that life; that you didn't know what was going on was to protect you."
"Did you know?" Eva asked, looking at her mother.
Since finding out what her father did, she had always wanted to know how much her mother really knew. Was she an innocent bystander? It was one of the biggest unanswered questions she had—over the years she wrecked her brain and memories to see if there were any signs or hints that her mother knew.
"Not at first," Elena answered quietly, knowing she couldn't avoid the questions. "When I met your father, I thought he simply ran a trucking company and over the years his business continued to grow. It wasn't until after you were born and was getting ready for school that I found out what Tore was really involved with," she finished, looking over at her husband. "I had my suspicions over the years, but he was a good husband and a good father. I loved him, I was going to stand by the man I loved."
"Eva, please understand that while yes I chose the paths I did, there were a lot of areas that were outside of my control. After Elena found out the truth, I wanted to leave the life—but that was nearly impossible. I will spare you all the details; but a few years before the accident, I began collaborating and informing to the polizia, with the plan of somehow finding a way to get out; to maybe move our family somewhere else so we could begin a new life…that was always the plan…"
This was the first time Eva had heard this before.
"It was?"
"Yes. I was ready to give it all away, start over again. I wanted to be at peace, and we were going to do it. The plan was for us to all move to South Africa, to begin a new life there—just the three of us. But, a week before we were supposed to leave, something happened and we had to change the plan quickly," Salvatore said, retelling the story for the first time for his daughter. No one except his wife really knew all the details that had happened.
"I can share all the details with you later, but for the sake of a simple explanation—the Zanetti family discovered that I had been collaborating with the authorities and they were not happy at all. They were looking to move their territory south from the northeast where their stronghold was. My handler at the polizia discovered that the Zanettis had put a hit out on me and they were going to target me during my scheduled monthly meeting with, Nicola Conti, who was the son-in-law to the head of the family."
Salvatore took a sip of his espresso, trying to figure out the best way to continue.
"After discussing with the authorities, it was decided that the best course of action was to go along with meeting Nicola and set it up so that there was an accident and where we could disappear into protective custody—instead of just disappearing, we needed to make it seem like we had been killed; to get them off our backs."
"If that was the plan all along, why did you leave me behind?" Eva asked, the obvious question. "If you knew it was going to happen; what about me?"
Elena glanced at her husband and then back to her daughter.
"The plan all along was for you to come with us, but the night before it was supposed to happen you had come into our room so happy about the skating competition you had that weekend—literally bubbling with excitement."
Eva remembered exactly that night—it was her last memory of her and her parents together.
"You had been training hard and were ready to skate your new programs. After you had gone to bed, that night we decided that it wouldn't be right for us to rip you away from the life that you had—that you needed to live a normal life; not one on the run and always looking over your shoulder. That was something we decided we couldn't burden you with."
Tommy's heart broke hearing this admission from Eva's parents.
"So, that afternoon instead of picking you up from school like we had originally planned; we asked Merna to go with a driver to get you…so that you'll be safe and away from what was about to happen."
Tears were starting to stream down Eva's face. She quickly wiped them away, and she tried to keep her emotions in check.
"You realize that your desire to let me live a normal life was impossible, right? After the accident, there was nothing normal about my life again. That you can't just make a decision like that and expect me to have just rebounded back all fine and dandy a few months later."
"Yes, we both knew this; but we believed in our decision and we knew we raised you as a strong young woman who still had her entire life ahead of her to look forward to."
"It wasn't your decision to make…" Eva whispered.
"Since that day, we've always questioned if we had made the right decision. We wanted you to be able to continue with your life, and get to live as normal of a life as possible. We had negotiated with the polizia that all of our money was put into a trust for you; so that your future would be secured."
"When we became Sergio and Angela Pellegrini, we knew it wasn't going to be forever. We were hoping there would come a time in the near future where it would be safe for us to return to you, and the rest of the family. That was always our hope and dream, but we didn't realize how long that was going to take to happen."
"But that still doesn't explain the last four years—the polizia no longer had you under protective custody yet you decided to wait until now to resurface—why?" Eva asked, wanting to really get to the bottom of what was going on.
"Eva, please understand that while we were gone we had try to keep tabs on you, the family and what was happening. I knew that Bruno and Francesca were working very hard to legitimize our business and really build something that would have a legacy for this family," Salvatore explained. "When you entrusted them to be the caretakers for the family's fortune, they were very strategic and smart in the way that they transformed what could have been questionable business dealings, to something completely legit and reputable. This process was painstaking and took time, and there was no way that I could resurface until everything was in order. I couldn't jeopardize what they were doing and the future of this family—that was too important."
"So you kept away because of…business?" Eva asked, disbelievingly. "You made me and everyone else think you were gone for four more years because of BUSINESS?"
She thought she had heard it all and couldn't think there was anything her parents could say to make the situation even worse. But, to find out that the reason they stayed away was because of business and money…that just blew her mind away.
"We had to ensure that the family's future was secure; we couldn't be selfish, there was too much at stake."
"Selfish? I don't know about you; but the decisions you made were absolutely selfish. You didn't for once consider my feelings—the family's feelings…" Eva said, getting worked up.
Tommy listened, not liking where the conversation was going—it was sounding more and more like a crazy soap opera.
"Look around you Eva. This lifestyle we have, that our entire family has—it's all due to the decisions we've made. Our family has worked so hard to rid ourselves from our dark past, and it wasn't an easy choice to make. But, it had to be done."
"None of this matters," Eva said, waving her arms around her to the surroundings. "I would have gladly given all of this back and not have a single penny to my name if it meant that we could have been a family sooner," Eva exclaimed.
"Eva, you are letting your emotions get the best of you. I don't think the rest of your family feels that way; we did what we had to do to ensure our future."
"You're sounding like a broken record," Eva said, clearly frustrated with her parents. "I get it, you had to secure our future and that's what you did. But, have you ever thought the cost for that future wasn't worth the price you paid?"
"Sometimes, no—I didn't think it was worth it. But then I see how our family has thrived and I see how well you are doing—that you're happy, doing something that you are passionate about. That was all I wanted for you, for us and everyone. So, maybe there were some years of pain; but I think everything has happened for a reason and we must find a way to make peace of the past and look towards the future," Salvatore said, finishing up.
"I hope you have it in your heart to forgive us, mia bella figlia," Elena said reaching across the table to grab hold of Eva's hand. "I don't expect this to happen right away, but hopefully we can begin to heal and start the new year afresh."
The weight of the conversation was starting to set in, and Eva really wanted to just get a breath and regroup. Tommy could clearly see her begin to squirm.
"Eva, why don't we take a walk? Maybe you can show me around the house?" Tommy offered, hoping to break the tension slightly. "You have a beautiful home Mr. and Mrs. Vittoria," he said, always being respectful.
"Grazie, we are glad that you are here. But, please, call us Salvatore and Elena," Eva's mom said, giving the Irishman and reassuring smile.
"I'd love to show you around," Eva said, folding her napkin on the table and pushing back her chair. Tommy stood up as well, and they both excused themselves from the table.
When they rounded the corner and were out of sight of her parents, Tommy stopped Eva. He didn't say anything as he engulfed her in his arms and held her tight. It wasn't a few moments later when he heard her tiny sobs. He hugged her tightly, running his arms reassuringly on her back.
"I've got you sweetie, let it out…let it out…"
It hadn't been easy, but since finally hearing the truth about what happened with her parents, a great weight had been lifted. She wouldn't say that everything had been resolved; but they were taking steps towards it and she had spent more time with her parents together and individually the last few days.
A part of her hadn't fully forgiven her parents completely, but she also realized that they had been given a second chance and she wasn't going to be the one who held a grudge forever. She would learn to forgive, and try to move on. Her heart was healing, but it needed time.
She would be the first to admit that spending time with her parents, her extended family at home was something she was really enjoying—having been away for so long, it was nice to finally reconnect with her family. She hadn't realized she had missed so much over the years.
Looking around the room filled with family and friends, Eva felt truly at peace with her decision to return home. She resolved to come home more often in the future. They weren't a perfect family—no family was, but they were her family.
"You ok?" Tommy whispered, leaning over from his seat next to her. He had noticed that she no longer was eating and seemed to have gone off to another world.
Eva smiled. She knew one of the reasons that had made this trip home bearable was the fact that Tommy had been with her. He had been her rock through it all. He listened as she vented, held her when she cried, gave his honest opinion when she asked, didn't judge and most of all, he didn't run for the hills. Their relationship was so brand new, but she already knew that she was in it for the long haul and she couldn't imagine her life without him in it now.
"Yeah, just thinking…" she replied, turning her attention to Tommy fully.
"Are you thinking about whether you are going to finish your tartufo?" Tommy joked, eyeing her barely touched dessert.
"Weren't you just saying you've been eating too much?" she smiled, picking up the spoon and quickly taking a bite of the rich raspberry and chocolate dessert.
"I wouldn't want a perfectly good dessert go to waste," he replied, gladly taking a bite of her dessert when she reached up to him with the spoon.
"You better watch it though; I really do keep you around just because of that amazing body of yours…" she said with a laugh, patting his tight stomach lightly.
"I feel objectified!" he joked, leaning over and giving her a quick kiss.
She placed her right palm against his cheek, loving the feel of his warmth against her.
"Thank you Tommy," she said seriously. "I don't think I've said it, but thank you for coming home with me. I couldn't have done this without you."
"There isn't a place I'd rather be. Although, your dad still scares me," Tommy commented, looking over Eva's shoulder to her father who was jovially talking with Bruno.
"Oh, trust me, you had it pretty easy. I can remember all the times when I was younger he would scare away all the boys who came by."
"You had boys coming by when you were younger?" Tommy asked, in mocked horror.
"Cut it out!" she laughed, slapping him on the arm lightly. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and rested her chin on his shoulder, leaning against him. "I think he likes you, no?"
"I don't know about that…but at least I think we have a good understanding of each other," Tommy said with a faint smile.
Tommy was enjoying his coffee, sitting in the bright sunshine at a small little coffee shop that faced the piazza not too far from the hotel that they were staying at.
They had spent the better part of the day exploring the sights of Castiglione Della Pescaia, stopping by Church for morning mass with Eva's uncle Romano who was the town priest. They had wandered along the water and slowly picked their way back towards the small town centre.
They had made plans to have dinner with Zia Giada and Zio Vito; Eva's mother's older sister, and their entire family that night. Eva had left Tommy to enjoy his coffee leisurely as she walked a few blocks to the town's bakery to pick up one of their famous raspberry chocolate amaretti cakes to bring with them. It was a major faux pas to show up as a dinner guest without bringing something for the hosts.
Eva hadn't been gone more than a few minutes when a black Mercedes sedan turned the corner into the piazza and suddenly pulled up to the curb right in front of the coffee shop. A few seconds later, the back door opened and out stepped Salvatore Vittoria, dressed in an impeccable tailored suit. He said a few words to the driver before walking over towards Tommy.
"Tommy, I thought that was you," Salvatore said, standing next to the table. Tommy stood up and extended his hand as a greeting. "What are you doing here?" he asked, looking around to see if his daughter was around.
"Eva's at the bakery picking up something for tonight," Tommy explained. "She should be back soon."
Since their first meeting at the house a few days earlier, they had spent a bit more time with her parents and Tommy could see that their relationship with Eva was slowly starting to heal. Slowly.
"If Luciano sees her, she's going to be there for a little while—he owns the bakery and growing up every time we stopped in he would sneak Eva a treat. I'm sure he hasn't seen Eva in a while," Salvatore recalled fondly, thinking back to those childhood memories. "Do you mind if I join you? I'm a bit early for my next meeting."
"Sure," Tommy said, gesturing for him to sit down at his table. Salvatore signaled one of the waiters who must have recognized him, as his doppio espresso was quickly placed in front of him.
"How are you liking your stay?" Salvatore asked, taking a sip of the drink. "Is this your first time in Italy?"
"No, I've been to Italy many times for work, but never for a vacation like this."
"Right, I forget that you and Eva work together. How is that?"
"Working at the ICC? It's challenging and I enjoy it. Every day is never the same."
"No, son, I mean, how is it working together? I'm sure there must be…challenges to it."
Tommy was a bit surprised at his line of questioning. The few conversations they had over the last few days were not of a personal nature, at all. It was like they had kept to "safe" topics, and made sure not to offend the other.
"What do you mean?" Tommy asked, wanting to get a bit more clarification.
"I mean, it must be a bit difficult to have to work with somebody every day at a high intensity job, and then go home with them, too—being together all the time."
Technically, they hadn't worked together since they had decided to give their relationship a chance. But, they had been skirting around their feelings for quite some time now; and he couldn't imagine seeing that dynamic change now that they were "official."
"Eva and I both have a tremendous amount of respect for our jobs and what we do—while yes, it is a high pressure job, I think having your partner understand what you go through day in and day out is a remarkable advantage in a relationship as they truly understand what you are going through."
Salvatore took another sip of his espresso and thought for a moment before continuing.
"For the three and a half years after the accident, Elena and I were constantly on the move—we bounced around from Tunisia, Greece, Egypt to Romania until we finally arrived in Turkey. By the time we got fully settled in Ankara, it had been almost four years since we had left Italy. In those four years we had no indication of what was happening back at home—our handlers forbade any communications with Italy. But we stumbled upon a lucky connection back home when one day we were shopping at the local market when we ran into Bobby. Merna's sister had been working for our family as a cook for a few years by the time we had left, and her oldest son was in Italy studying. As our luck would have it, Bobby was now an exchange student at the University of Ankara studying political science. When he first saw the two of us in the market, he thought he was seeing two ghosts! We didn't tell him all the details, but through Bobby we were able to find out information about what was going on at home. He was working at a stall in the market and we would go every weekend to get updates."
"So you kept tabs on what was going on in Italy?"
"Yes and no. Bobby was only able to tell us what he knew—he would call home and speak with his mother every week and got updates. We didn't want his mother to know what was going on so he had to be careful as to what he could ask…"
Salvatore paused, collecting his thoughts as he had realized he had started to ramble.
"What I'm trying to get at is when Bobby told us the news that Eva had decided to join the army, her mother and I were quite surprised. We were shocked. The girl we had raised did not have one mean or violent bone in her, and she was not confrontational or somebody who would be on the attack. We had realized then that a lot had changed since we left and that we really didn't know our daughter very well anymore—at least not in the way parents should."
Tommy listened carefully, not knowing exactly how to respond to the revelations. He knew that her parents' death and finding out their mafia roots was the primary catalyst in her decision to join the army. She wanted to fight the elements that her parents were part of; that took them away from her.
"Why are you telling me this?" Tommy asked, not understanding why he was giving him so much backstory to what had happened.
"I just want you to understand that even though Elena and I have been absent from Eva's life for all these years—I know she's grown to be a very independent woman. Maybe her mother and I don't know exactly everything that makes her tick or her deepest thoughts and wants—we're going to continue to work on that. But do know this, Tommy, she is still our daughter—our only child—and regardless of what our place in her life presently is; I will not hesitate or need a second thought to act if you hurt her in any way," Salvatore deadpanned, giving Tommy a hard stare.
He was laying his cards out on the table.
"I don't know you very well, Tommy, but of what I can tell and see you have become a very important person in my daughter's life. That is not something you should take lightly as one of the things I know true about Eva is that she's very protective of her feelings and won't just simply open up and love someone. The fact that you have this place in her life, it speaks volume of you. But, don't for one second get complacent or feel comfortable. If you hurt my daughter, even in the slightest, you will have to answer directly to me, capire?"
Tommy returned his hard glare, not backing down or showing any sign of weakness.
"I'm glad you're taking such an interest in Eva's life and her relationships—lord knows it's been something that has been missing for most of her life. Yes, you don't know me very well, but I have the utmost respect for Eva and I would never actively do anything to hurt her, I can promise you this."
"And you don't think there's any issue with you mixing both work and pleasure together?"
"Well, I don't think it's for you to judge. But, we'll find a balance and we'll address any issues as they arise. I'm willing to put the necessary work into this relationship; and I know Eva feels the same. We want to make this work."
"That is good to hear. And what are the long term plans and the future, Tommy?"
"We haven't really discussed those things yet; we're living in the moment and taking each day as it comes. But I am definitely in this for the long haul—if Eva will have me," Tommy said, a small smile showing.
Salvatore's face softened, seeing how enamoured the young man was towards his daughter. He was a protective father, and had to make sure the young man knew this—but he could see the obvious love between the two that made both him and his wife relieved that their daughter had found some personal happiness.
"Tommy…Papa?" the two men turned to the voice, seeing Eva approach them with a curious look on her face. She was holding a large cake box with a few smaller boxes piled on top of it.
"Mi figlia, I see that Luciano has loaded you up with treats," Salvatore said, standing up and giving her a hug once she had placed the boxes down on the table.
"He did. We chatted for a while and I met his new grandson—What are you doing here?" Eva asked, still surprised to see her father sitting at the coffee shop with Tommy.
"I was on my way to my next meeting when I spotted Tommy enjoying the beautiful day—I was running early, so I thought I would join him."
Eva gave Tommy a look, silently conveying her question to confirm if this was true. He nodded and gave her a small smile, to let her know it wasn't a big deal.
"Speaking of my meeting," Salvatore said, glancing down at his watch, "I should get going—I'm now running behind. It was nice chatting Tommy," he said, reaching for his wallet and leaving some bills on the table. "Will you come by the house tomorrow?"
"I think so, we'll call before coming over, ok?"
"Molto buona—your mother would like that. She could use some help with finalizing the party plans," he said, leaning over and placing a quick kiss on Eva's cheek before turning to head back to his car. "Ciao!"
Eva watched as her father headed back to his car, disappearing into the backseat as the car pulled out back on to the road.
"That was unexpected, no?" Eva said, sitting back down on the vacant chair. "Everything ok?"
"He appeared out of nowhere," Tommy said, with a chuckle. "But, everything is fine—we had a nice talk."
"Really? Should I be worried?" Eva teased.
"Nothing I couldn't handle. I'll tell you more later…lets go!" Tommy said, giving Eva a quick kiss before grabbing the boxes and making their way back to their hotel.
He had shared with Eva what her father told him and she found it quite ironic that he was becoming this protective papa bear when he really never was in that role growing up. To have to say he had her back when she was a grown adult was a bit unnecessary, but she guessed that was what fathers did. Who knew, she was still trying to work out the father-daughter relationship.
"I think the mystery of my parents still have a long way to be solved; but at least we're making progress," Eva commented as she watched as another couple came over to chat with her parents.
"That's all you can ask for. Both our families are works in progress," Tommy replied honestly
"Lets make a promise that our family is going to be less complicated, ok?" Eva said, reaching to place a quick kiss on the cleft of his chin.
"Our family, huh? Already thinking that far ahead?"
"Being here, surround by my past and family—it has made me think more and more about the future. Our future," Eva admitted. "I know there's still a long way to go; but I can actually see what it looks like—what I want."
"And what does it look like?"
"Oh you know…the house with the white picket fence, the dog, 2.5 kids…" Eva joked, getting Tommy to laugh. "I see a happy life and future—that's all that matters. Having such a dark past always made me think I would never get past that; but now I know I can…and I want that..."
"Sounds perfect to me."
TBC