Chapter 29: Relax and Pompeii.
Max and Spencer started their tour less day making love two times, one in their bed and one in the shower.
They decided to spend the day at the pool area so she put on a two piece blue swimsuit and on it a white dress while Spencer was wearing a green short and a shirt.
They went downstairs from breakfast. They ate the typical Italian breakfast, caffè latte with bread for Spencer while Max preferred rolls, butter and jam, and add some fruit. Then they had cookie-like rusk hard bread, called fette biscottate.
Later they went to the pool, Max was sitting in a deck chair sunbathing while Spencer was reading.
The pool started to fill with families, children playing and swimming. Max looked at Spencer.
"Spence, do you want to get in the pool?" She asked looking at him.
He looked back at her then the pool "do I have to?" He raised his eyebrow.
"Please?" She said like a little kid "I thought you said you were cure of being a germophobic"
"I am..." he said and this time was her turn to raise an eyebrow "...with certain things"
"Nothing will happen if we get into the pool Spencer" she pouted at him and he sighed.
"Ok let's go" she smiled big and he took off his shirt and stood up and also did Max.
She held his hand and they got in the water. It was a little cold but soon they got used of it the water temperature was great.
They swam around the pool, it was big and with a lot of kids with their fathers or mothers playing with them.
"Did you ever think about having kids?" She asked looking at him.
"I did. When he held Henry I thought it could be nice to have on my own but this job was all my life and my first time out of work was after getting out of prison. For every 100 days in the field I had to stay 30 out" he said as they swam "then Maeve's stalker killed her and I lost my faith in finding someone" she held his hand gently and kissed his cheek "then I met you and in months I found what I couldn't in 14 years. So my hope's of being father are there" he smiled and looked at her "what about you?"
She sighed "well I once did... when Sammy was born but as I said I didn't want to get married but also didn't believe in having kids without getting married" he looked at her confused "don't look at me like that Spencer... I'm a contradiction, but anyway... I think that I accomplished my first goal. Which was getting married I think my next step will be having kids" he smiled.
"So we are both agree about being parents" she laughed and nodded.
"Yes, we are" she hugged him. Then she saw some people playing volleyball in the pool "did you ever play volleyball?"
"No" he shook his head "I'm not good with sports"
"Ok I understand, not all people were born to practice a sport" she looked at the game "so if you want you can go back to our table and I will play here for a while"
"You sure, have fun" she smiled and kissed him "yeah babe I'm sure, you go back to your book. I will be right here" he nodded and swam back to their table while she joined the team.
Spencer walked out of the pool and on his way to their table a kid called him "sir... excuse me sir..." he turned to see the kid. He has a cast around his leg "do you know how to play chess? It just... I broke my leg at the Coliseum and now my vacations are doomed" he sighed.
"Umm yeah I know how to play but where are your parents?"
"My mom is doing pilates with "Mr. Handsome" and my dad is playing volleyball. My sister is flirting with a guy 5 years older and my brother is playing with his friends so I'm alone"
Spencer looked around. He was unsure but at the same time felt sorry for the poor kid "sure I can teach you" the kid smiled big.
"Thank you! I'm Steve and you?"
"I'm Spencer. Nice to meet you Steve" Spencer sat down "ok do you know the basic concepts of the game?" He nodded but Spencer to make sure explained again everything.
How every piece moves around, the main goal of the game and some rules.
When Steve could say everything correctly Spencer decided to play with him to teach him some basic strategies.
The kid was a quick study and after some games it was getting harder for Spencer to checkmate him.
After almost an hour Max and Steve's dad were going back to their tables when they saw Spencer and Steve playing with some kids behind each of them.
Max walked to her husband "um... Spence, what are you doing?"
"I'm playing with Steve. He made a good play and I need to protect my king"
She laughed and looked at the kid then his father "so this is your husband?" He asked and she nodded "I'm glad my son met him. He is so clumsy that he broke his leg yesterday at the Coliseum" he looked at his son "so my wife and I bought him a chessboard and he found someone who could teach him" he laughed.
"And he found the best. But I'm worry I may lose my husband for the day" she laughed looking at Spencer so focused on the game he did not say anything to her.
Spencer finally made his move and after some more minutes the game was over and they decided to stop right there.
"Maybe tomorrow?"
"I can't. My wife planned something for tomorrow and I have no idea what it is" Steve nodded "but maybe on Saturday we can play, if you want" he smiled.
"Sounds great! thank you Spencer" they shook hands and the man walked back to their table. Max was drinking some water and reading a book.
"Hey baby, what are you reading?" He asked sitting next to her.
"Inferno by Dan Brown. I never have time to read it so everytime I went to a pool I brought it to read it but I found something more interesting" she put down the book and smiled "how was the game?"
"It was nice. I won but it was harder. He is pretty good" he explained how everything happened and she laughed gently.
"I think kids love you after all" she laughed remembering what he told her about the Reid effect with kids and animals "the curse was finally broken"
He laughed and nodded "could be. And how was your volleyball game?"
"Awesome. My team won the first game but the other team won two games and we had to move so another team could play. That's where I met Steve's dad, Salvatore, he said they were from Virginia and came here because his mother died and of course they decided to bring their children with them"
"That is terrible. Have to travel across the Atlantic to see your dead mother" he sighed.
"Yes it is. I always was scared when I got a call from the nursery house my mom was in back in Vegas. And it was in the same country" Max held his hand and kissed it.
"What about we order something to eat? I saw pizza. I bet pizza in Italy must be better than anything we ever ate"
Spencer laughed and looked at her with thankful eyes. He got used to the idea of losing his mother at any moment but still the thought hurt him.
"Sure I will call the waiter and order" he did it and after some minutes they were eating pizza. They were small so he ordered two and after a few more hours they went back to their room.
They took a shower and then lay in bed to watch a movie.
"so what did you plan for tomorrow Max?" He asked curious.
"Well I decided to give you an especial day. I bought a tour to Pompeii" she looked at him "you were so excited about going so I thought we could visit it"
"I love you Maxine" he said seconds after she finished then he placed his hands on her cheeks and kissed her gently before she complained about her full name "thank you" he smiled and rubbed her cheeks.
"You are welcome" they kissed again. It escalated into something more and they ended up making love again.
They decided to skip dinner and just sleep early because their trip would leave at seven in the morning the next day.
The next morning they decided to buy something on their way to the place they will meet with their guide and the other people.
When they arrived it was six thirty so they bought something to eat and met with some other people, they talked to them until the van arrived, they hopped aboard and travel south in air-conditioned comfort to Italy's Campania region.
As they traveled, they listened tales about the colorful southern Italian area and Mt. Vesuvius.
"After the volcano's infamous AD 79 eruption, lava and volcanic ash destroyed the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Evidence of those ancient streams of lava is still evident in the area" said Spencer and their guide looked at him surprised.
"He loves the history" said Max smiling and everyone looked at them, then the guide showed them some pictures in their LED screen.
"Pompeii was once a thriving Roman city; today the town is best known for its UNESCO-listed archaeological digs, which are home to a wealth of relics" said the guide.
When they arrived they saw incredibly preserved fossils and other ruins, plus plaster imprints of the town's victims who were buried for years.
There you can see the remains of the Forum and Teatro Grande, where some 5,000 people could once be seated.
The tour guide told them about day-to-day life for the Pompeii locals as they wandered streets where ancient shops, cafes and even brothels could be found.
Their guide let then some free time for sightseeing, and after that they had a Neapolitan pizza lunch.
They stood in front of them and said "Normally we could hike the Mt Vesuvius but from November 20 to March 31, the Mt is unacceptable" a lot of people sighed and cursed softly, the man continued "So the hike is replaced with a visit to the iconic City of Naples, where we will take a panoramic bus tour and have some free time to walk around the city center"
The city was beautiful and Max made sure to take photos of everything they saw. Then they returned to Rome.
Spencer and Max slept on their way back to Rome. When they arrived the guide woke them up and they took a taxi back to their hotel.
They spent their Saturday in the hotel with their new friends. Sunday was their last day so they decided to buy more souvenirs for the others left.
When they have it they used their night putting their things in their suitcases, then lays in bed and fell asleep hugging each others.
That was the best week they had and they will keep this amazing city in their mind, hoping to return some day.
OOooOOooOO
Hope you liked this. The next one will be their return to Washington.
Read you later.