April 10, 1994

Caro diary,

I can't tell you how relieved I am to finally be home. The flight was long, but fortunately I was able to discover a fondness for little bags of pretzels that I didn't know I had before. And when I say home, I mean Florence. America is nice, but that law that they have where you can't drink until you're twenty-one? I think that's just B.S.

Anyway, when we arrived, we took a taxi from the airport to our casa. Did I mention that Damon got us a house in Florence? Actually, most people would probably call it a mansion, but there you go. It has my pool and my gym in it, where I work out often to keep myself in shape.

Whenever I do so though, Damon gives me funny looks and asks me why I still bother to work out. I am a vampire after all he says.

To which I respond "I've had two kids, but you can't tell, can you?" that shuts him up really fast.

We unpacked quickly and then met in the kitchen to chat. Dante had something very interesting to tell us.

"Okay, I have some interesting news, Mama. Remember when I told you about that trip I took here my senior year? Well, Il palazzo Del mare is only open for tours in June, July and August. Now it's closed to tourists and from what I heard, the caretaker only visits the place on the weekends."

I looked at him thoughtfully. "What are you saying, Dante?"

"I'm saying that we should go home. After all, that is where you and Papa were happiest."

Damon grinned. "Lovely sentiment Dante, but your mother is too much a moral person to break and enter, even if it might save her marriage."

Then I slammed my palms on the table. "Listen Damon, I love you and I want our problems to be fixed just as much as you do, so if you don't mind, I'm willing to bend the law a bit so that we can have much overdue time alone!"

After I finished my rant, I sat back down in my seat, and everyone was silent. Damon had a startled look in his eyes. I knew why. I'd blatantly refused to sleep with him for five hundred years and now, suddenly that was a first priority.

Doing so wasn't so easy. I packed a single small bag of clothes and we all got into the car and drove that night. When we arrived, we found that the door to the house was locked. Andria gave Dante a hairpin from her skirt pocket and he jimmied open the lock.

Then, we pushed the door open and were immediately thrown into darkness. Because of the desire of the historical society to keep the place authentic, it had no electric lighting. We held onto each others' hands until we came into a room and fell onto the bed.

"God, it's dark in here," Andria whispered once she was able to stand up again. "Does anyone have any matches or anything like that?"

"I brought a flashlight," I whispered back. "I knew how dark it would be."

I rummaged around in my bag until I found it, then I flicked it on.

The light that erupted into the room was beautiful.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Dante asked.

"You and Andria are going out, and Bella and I are staying in," Damon told him. Then he pulled some money out of his pocket and split it evenly between the two of them.

They left together and after they were gone, Damon looked at me.

"So, are we going to do this or not?"

I nodded. "Of course. Just give me a second."

I went into the bathroom and put on the stuff I'd worn last time we'd been in bed together, although this time, I felt differently. I felt like the fourteen year-old virgin I had been on our wedding night, and that made me not want to go out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Did this mean that this time it was for real then?

Finally, Damon came in to see what was taking me so long. He was wrapped in the silk sheets and I could still clearly make out his form beneath them.

"Are you coming, Carina?"

He asked it like the simple question that it was.

I looked back at him and said "Let's make this a bit more interesting. Did you bring a deck of cards?"

He grinned. "Strip poker?"

I nodded."You got it."

To tell you the truth, we were in bed before the game was even over. The first real time, (last time didn't count; I had wine in my system) in five hundred years wasn't difficult, and it felt good. It let the burden be lifted off my shoulders. It healed me.

Soltanto a Firenze,

Selina

A/n- Not over yet!