Sharing Alessio

Prologue 3

The past is our definition. We may strive, with good reason, to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it, but we will escape it only by adding something better to it. ~Wendell Berry

Francesca Fioretti* was an Italian model/aspiring actress/TV personality who Logan Echolls had met during his visit to Italy in 2009. He had been to a dinner where some of Italy's most influential people like Lapo Elkann, Beatrice Borromeo, Fabrizio Corona, Belen Rodriguez, Simona Ventura, Elenoire Casalegno, Luca Argentero and Elena Santarelli were. Francesca was there as well, just at another table.

Fabrizio Corona, an italian ex paparazzo and scandalous media personality with whom Logan immediately got along, introduced him to Francesca. She was gorgeous, with the typical Mediterranean curvy body. She had long brown hair and dark eyes, sultry lips and a great body.

Logan found himself attracted by this goddess, he loved every aspect of her...even the terrible english and thick accent. Maybe what made her even more attractive was her non resemblance to any of Logan's ex girlfriends. He always went for blondes who had light colored eyes and pale skin. Francesca was completely different.

They kept a long distance relationship for about a year, he would go visit her almost every to weeks unless he was filming and she would go visit him every time she didn't have TV appearances. In summer he spent two months in Italy with her and with her family. In August they left for the US and this time Francesca didn't go back to Italy. She stayed with Logan.

Their relationship was wonderful, of course they fought a lot. She, being Italian, had a completely different way of seeing things. He liked spending every single minute he had, she on the other loved 'il dolce far niente'*. Or she didn't like going out to have sushi or chinese food. She liked having dinner at home, she liked spending hours doing Polenta in winter. And she hated brunches. To her breakfast was: cappuccino and cornetto*; then around 1 pm it was lunch time. And at 8 pm dinner. It was impossible for her to accept combining breakfast and lunch together and having dinner at 5 or pm. "Roba da matti"* she would say.

She was also very passionate. He loved fighting with her. He would pick up a fight just to hear her curse in Italian. "Stronzo", "Pezzo di merda", "Vaffanculo", "Fottiti", "Và a morì ammazzato, coglione."*. He loved the way she moved her arms around even more than the usual. He felt the urge to push her against the wall and kiss her.

They were always on the covers of magazines...even Italian ones. He kept making movies that were box office hits, Francesca kept working as a model becoming one of the Victoria's Secret Angels.

He really loved Francesca. But sometimes, while she's sleeping next to him, he can't help but think about that petite blond that had been part of his life not so long ago. They way she just disappeared after their Freshmen year at Hearst. None of her friends heard from her or knew where she was. Not even her father. That's why he was so surprised when he saw her in February 2011 walking around LA.

He called her name. Twice. And she didn't turn around. A part of Logan hoped he was wrong, hoped that she wasn't Ronnie. However when he yelled out once more the small figure stopped and turned around.

He doesn't remember how he was able to convince her to have dinner with him. Or if they had one too many glasses of Prosecco, because the only thing he remembered was waking up, naked, with her snuggled up in his arms in a rundown motel room. He wanted to wait for her to wake-up. Offer her breakfast. Beg her to get back with him. But then he thought about Francesca, and the paparazzi. Why would he destroy everything that was good in his life to be treated like shit from Veronica? He had a gorgeous woman who loved him waiting at home. He didn't need her. Not anymore. He went on in life and realized that he could be happy even without her.

So he got up, put his clothes back on and left the room. He paid the room and gave the guy a few thousands to have him shut up about the whole situation. And with that he left without feeling a sense of remorse. He had a taxi leave him in the city. He walked inside Tiffany and bought the prettiest engagement ring they had. When he got back home he proposed to the woman he loved.


A house is not a home when there's no one there to hold you tight.~ Luther Vandross, A House is not a Home

Logan (and Francesca) loved spending time with his nephew Nick. He could see so much of himself in that not so perfect little boy. The vivacity, the fights in school, the attitude.

Also he loved his sister's apartment, there was something about that reminded him of his mother.

It took him seven years to realize why it reminded him of his mom. It was the the fact that it didn't really inspire him the word 'famiglia', like his own childhood house. It was cold and it looked ike Nick probably lived there alone. So when the maid told him Nick was in hospital, Logan got there as quick as he could. Everything clicked back together. Nick was a vicim of abuse, just like he was. He cursed himself for not realizing before. He didn't believe the excuses Trina was pulling out. He promised he wouldn't press charges against her if she left Nick's life. Immediately. And never came back. However he made sure that son of a bitch named Freddie Walford disappeared from the face of the earth.


The guys who fear becoming fathers don't understand that fathering is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man. The end product of child raising is not the child but the parent. ~Frank Pittman, Man Enough

9 months. 40 weeks. 274 days. 58,320 hours. 394,200 minutes. 23652000 seconds. Give or take a few days, hours, minutes and seconds.

That was gonna be in how long Logan Echolls would become a father. A real dad, not an uncle who plays house with his nephew. This child would be his and Francesca's...his wife. And that scared the shit out of him. He was great with Nick, but would he be as good with his own child?

Francesca kept assuring him that he would be 'un papà perfetto'. He remembered her saying.

"Amore, you have so much love to give. Do you look at yourself when you are with Nick? You are great. You love him and you will love the bambino I'm carrying. I know, I have a feeling about it. This child will be loved from his first day to his last." He took Logan's hand and placed to her still flat tummy. "Ti amo. And I know you can do it."

His fears kind of washed away the first time he held in his arms his son, Alessio Filippo Echolls.

But he realized he could be a dad a week after they took him home. He was crying and Logan got up instead of Francesca, he walked in the nursery and took the baby boy in his arms. Alessio looked at him in amazement and slowly stopped crying. Francesca slipped her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Vedi ti ama anche lui."*


Your children need your presence more than your presents. ~Jesse Jackson

He isn't sure of when everything between he and Francesca went at 'puttane'*. One moment they were happy and for several moments later they despised each other. Francesca said she hated the fact that he worked so much. That he missed her and Alessio's birthday. That he took Nick to live with them but wasn't dedicating him much time either.

Alessio was 5 and a ½ when they divorced. 4 months later Francesca wanted to move back to Italy.

"What? You're just going to leave America?" Logan asked in anger. "You can't take my son away like this."

"Really? We haven't been living with you for what? 7 months? And how many times have you seen your son, huh? 7 or 8?" Francesca slammed her glass on the table. " You didn't even come over for Christmas, you just sent an entire toy shop over at our house-"

"I couldn't come over...I thought he liked his presents."

"Of course he did. He's 5 per l'amor del cielo*. But you know what he kept asking me? Huh, you know? He asked me where's papà. All day long. So now he's happy cause you give him toys, but what about when he grows up and he realizes that you never have time for him, huh?"

"So that gives you the right to take him to Italy? How's that gonna solve anything?"

"No it gives me the right to give him a real family. You're rich and you have your own cazzo di aereo* when you want to see your son, you can come to Italy. You made your bed, now lie in it."


A child, like your stomach, doesn't need all you can afford to give it. ~Frank A. Clark

He rarely flew to Italy, just for his son's birthday and for Christmas. He sent him toys and money. However his heart would break every time Alessio would ask him on Skype when was he going to come back. Or when he would visit his son and Alessio would cry when he hurt himself and push Logan away saying: "Voglio la mia mamma*, not you don't know how to make it stop hurting!" He realized he's become like every other famous dad on earth. He was an absent parent who replace love with toy and money, and he needed to change that. Because the little boy infront of him didn't want toys as much as he wanted a daddy. He was going to ask for a joint custody. Alessio would spend six months in the US and six in Italy.


*Francesca Fioretti does really exist. If you want to have an idea of what she looks like either type in her name on google or click here: club . doctissimo . fr/pericolosa/celebrita-15638/photo/francesca_fioretti-7974020 . html and www . mondoreality . com /francesca-fioretti-concorrente-grande-fratello-9-foto-video/(Take off spaces)

*Dolce far niente-Sweet doing nothing. There isn't an actual english way of saying...it's the beauty of doing nothing. The beauty of having breakfast in a piazza on Sunday's, of having lunch with your friends, of spending time with your family.

*Cornetto-Croissant.

*Roba da matti. Crazy Stuff.

*Stronzo-Asshole, Pezzo di merda-Piece of shit (in English it sounds very offensive...in Italian it isn't, it's more like jerk.) Vaffanculo- Fuck you, Fottiti-Fuck yourself, Và a morì ammazzato (Vai a morire ammazzato)- Literally it means 'Go die getting killed,', it's used like Fuck you...it just isn't considered swearing. Coglione- Literally it means testicle. Used like 'Dickhead, Asshole, Jackass.'

*Vedi ti ama anche lui.-See, he loves you too.

*Puttane-Literally means Sluts. In this case it means Everything went to hell.

*Per l'amor del cielo-Lit. For the love of the sky...For the love of God.

*Cazzo si aereo- Fucking airplane

*Voglio la mia mamma- I want my mom.