The women had gathered
refreshments and light snacks and settled into Rose’s private sitting
room. Iced tea with lemon for the girls
and Pina Colada’s for the older women.
There were fresh vegetables with choices of either ranch dressing or a
spicy Cajun dip mix and also finger sandwiches that were left over from the
birthday party.
Madame Alpha Gina and Annie
both remarked to Rose on how nice the sitting room had turned out since Rose
had it redecorated as a 40th birthday present from Frank and her
children. The wall above the chair rail
was covered in pale mauve wallpaper with small crème and burgundy flowers
interwoven throughout the pattern and below the chair rail was shadow-box
wainscoting painted burgundy that perfectly matched the wallpaper and the
woodwork was painted in the coordinating crème color. Dark green silk drapes covered the windows on
the back wall with a gas powered stone fireplace between them. A crème colored leather sofa faced the
fireplace and two dark green chairs were placed nearby, flanking the stone fireplace. A large family picture dominated the pride of
place area above the mantle showing both Carlucci families and the love and
closeness between the two families was evident.
The walls were decorated with pictures of her family throughout the
years, involved in their many athletic pursuits and Pack functions. All in all it was a very feminine room and
one Rose retreated to get away from her extremely masculine husband and their
seven sons. The only one who was allowed
in the room without an express invitation was Sophia, who also used the room as
a getaway.
Madame Alpha Gina turned
around and saw the wall to wall bookcases with the door flanked between the shelves
and started laughing. “I thought you got
away from your obsessive reading of romance books,” she said.
“Oh no, being married to
Frank I still need all the romance I can get.
Just don’t tell him I said that,” she told her best friends with a laugh. “He tries, really he does and I love him more
then anything in the world, but his idea of romance is to rotate the tires in
my car or growl if he sees another man look at me, then look at me and
grin. I still think he’s eighteen
sometimes.”
“Men,” stated Gina with a
sigh. “Did I tell you Carlo almost ran
one of the Omega’s from the store the other day? I had been grocery shopping at our store and
Trent, Gary and Kendra’s son, helped me to the car to load the groceries in the
trunk. Apparently Carlo saw him from the
office and came running out of the store like a bat out of hell, skidded to a
stop and growled loudly at him and made him submit, all the while hollering
“MINE”, like the poor boy didn’t know who I was. I was mortified and called Kendra and
apologized, thankfully she understood since her husband still does the same
thing to her too.”
“Joe about took Vinnie’s arm
off last month when we went to the Ford dealership to pick out trucks for Paulo
and Michael for their sixteenth birthday.
He apparently made the colossal mistake of opening the door for me and
then touching my back to help me over the threshold. Joe started growling, squeezed Vinnie’s arm
and said “MINE”, like Vinnie didn’t know that.
I mean he’s only grown up with us and is both boys Godfather,” said
Annie with just more then a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “After being together
over twenty years and having six youngsters together, I think everybody knows,
I mean seriously. Plus, it’s not like Vinnie doesn’t have a mate and four youngsters
himself.”
“Rose, did you get a chance
to tell Gina what happened at the Hospital job site up at Hagerstown
“I haven’t heard anything
about this little tale yet. Carlucci
Construction is building that new complex of Doctors offices up there, aren’t
they?” questioned Gina.
“Yes, we are. Frank and Joe were so proud they got the job,
even though their bid wasn’t the lowest.
Carlucci Construction has gotten such a good reputation throughout the
state that many firms are coming to them first and not even sending out
requests for bids from other construction companies,” said Annie with pride.
“Anyway, I went to the job
site to drop off lunch for Frank, Joe and Annie, it was my turn since it was
Annie’s week to work in the office. We
were standing by the trunk, getting the cooler out of the back and all of a
sudden we hear, ‘bend over a little further baby, show me what you got, ooh
honey give me a little more wiggle, sweetie I think I’ve died and gone to
heaven, and several other things we can’t mention right now.’ Well, Annie and I looked at each other and
giggled,” said Rose. “Nothing like a
little male appreciation to make you feel better about turning forty.”
“Apparently Frank and Joe
didn’t feel the same as they came flying through the door of the construction
trailer office like it was on fire, grabbed us and hauled us into their sides.
They growled low in their throats, and said ‘MINE’. Turns out the group of guys were an electric
crew that had been brought in from a Pack from the Eastern
Shore . You never saw a
group of guys scatter that fast once they realized who they had been heckling,
and what the consequences could be.
Frank and Joe can be just a bit intimidating,” Annie said with a
laugh.
Sophia and Maria, who were
sitting on the floor between the sofa and coffee table, were looking at their
mothers and Madame Gina and giggled quietly listening to them talk about the
men in their families. Everyone knew how
possessive male Weres were, but their fathers and apparently Alpha Carlo took
it way over the top.
Sophia wondered if Anthony
was going to be as possessive and decided she would have to talk to him about
it since she had outside interests she would continue to pursue, such as the
dance classes her and Maria attended.
She wanted him to understand she understood the need to be possessive,
but she would continue to have a life of her own, not just as his mate.
Rose looked at her daughter
and niece and said quietly, “I bet you two have a lot of questions and we will
answer anything that you ask. First
though, we will be telling you a lot of information about the mating pull and
what it means. Then we will go into the rules
that you must follow no matter what temptation you may be feeling. To follow those temptations could mean
banishment from the Pack Sophia and Maria, so please listen carefully. We realize this is a lot to digest right now,
that’s why we put notebooks in front of you so you can write the information
down and any questions you have.
Remember we will always be here to answer any questions you have and to
discuss anything you need to.”
“We want to make sure both of
you realize how proud we are of the young ladies you have become. We know with so many older brothers and
cousins it hasn’t always been easy, especially since they are so protective of
the both of you. But there are reasons
for that which you may not be aware of,” said Annie.
“One of the reasons why young
female Weres are so protected is that in the last fifteen years there have been
fewer and fewer females born, not just in our Pack, but nationwide. I’m sure you’ve seen the difference in how
many males there are in the Pack versus the number of females. The decision was made by the Alpha Council
that all unmated females would be protected at all cost, since they are the
futures of the Packs. One rule is they
are always to be escorted by at least one male member of their household,
unless they are with their parent. Another
set of rules that were put in place is the rules for dating and we will get
into those in more detail later since it is much more involved,” added Gina.
“The last mandate is they are
to be trained in self-defense, but not necessarily combat, that was left up to
each individual pack. South Mountain
Pack follows these mandates and then amped them up, which is no surprise
considering that Frank and Joe, as the top two Beta’s, are in charge of
security for the Pack,” said Gina and all five women started laughing knowing
how overprotective Frank and Joe were.
“Any questions so far?” asked
Rose to Sophia and Maria, “Like we said earlier this is a lot of information to
comprehend, and we are just getting started.
Feel free to interrupt us, if we say something you don’t understand.” All three women noted that the girls had
written the mandates into their notebooks.
“Okay, then we will get
started with the first rule about unmated females always being escorted by one
male member of their household if their parents aren’t there. Nationwide, in the last several years, the
number of underage Weres being mated unwillingly has decreased because of this
and the mandatory age of eighteen was put into effect to protect underage
female Weres from predators, rape and unwanted mating. Well, obviously this is one rule Frank and Joe
have amped up. All unmated female Weres
in our Pack are always escorted by at least two males or more depending on
where they are going and what they are doing.” stated Madame Gina.
“We don’t want to get you worried,
but remember to always be on guard, if your wolf tells you something is wrong, listen
to her. Trust your wolf, she will have a
better sense of your surroundings then you will and if you feel uneasy at any
time, immediately tell your escorts, whether it be Anthony, your brothers,
cousins or your parents. Remember your
safety is the most important thing and we would rather overreact then to have
something happen to you,” continued the Madame Alpha.
“As you have been taught, if
your escorts give you the command ‘PROTEGGERE’, go immediately with them
without question, no matter what you are doing.
You have been taught that ‘PROTEGGERE’ is a command that is only used in
an emergency and using that command means they feel a threat and want to remove
you from the situation,” said Rose with a firm voice. “Sophia, I want to stress this to you, I
don’t care if you are in the middle of an argument with Anthony, if he or
anybody else gives you that command, then you go. No questions, no pouting and no trying to
pull away from him.”
Sophia and Maria made a note
in their notebooks – if ‘PROTEGGERE’ is commanded, must immediately follow all instructions as
taught, no matter what is going on. Dire
consequences if our fathers find out we disobeyed.
“Maria, since you and Sophia
are usually together and she will be spending more time in Anthony’s company,
he will become your primary protector as well as Sophia’s. The Clan will follow his lead pertaining to
the safety of both of you when you are together. If he isn’t around, I’m sure your brothers
and cousins will revert back to what they have always done in the past with you
and Sophia, but we’ll check with your father and Uncle Frank just to make
sure,” added Annie.
The girls made another note –
Anthony primary protector with Clan
following. Revert to normal if he isn’t
here.
“If anything, Anthony will be
even more overprotective then your brothers and cousins, since he will be
protecting his intended mate. I’ll ask
you in advance to not get upset with my son if he starts acting like an ass,
but knowing my son, I know that’s a hopeless cause. Look at what he did to poor Scott tonight, he
hadn’t even publicly stated his declaration, let alone talked with us, Frank or
Rose or more importantly Sophia. Which
reminds me, Sophia did he say anything to you about the mating pull that we
didn’t notice? I never saw him talk to
you tonight, except to wish you Happy Birthday.
Did I miss something?” asked Gina.
Sophia and Maria wrote – Anthony will probably act like an overprotective
ass, but Madame Gina said not to worry he can’t help it.
“No, Madame Gina, he never
spoke to me before the incident with Scott.
When he said Happy Birthday, he was looking and talking to Sal, not
me. He never even said anything when he
knocked me into the pool,” said Sophia with a blush and a giggle as she
remembered how it felt to be held by Anthony.
“I saw him following us with a frown on his face and his arms crossed
over his chest as we walked around thanking everybody for coming to the party,
but honestly, I had no clue what he was doing and why, I figured our brothers
were busy and had asked him to follow us, and that was why he was frowning.”
“That’s what I thought. That boy has no concept of patience or decorum;
he’s just like his father sometimes. The
least he could have done was wait to declare himself after talking to his own
parents, let alone yours and especially you Sophia. I’m surprised you aren’t upset he declared
himself without talking to you first,” said Gina.
“Well, I can’t say I’m not a
little upset. I had always pictured it
being a little more romantic like giving me a bouquet of daisies and taking me
out to a nice restaurant, like Roberto’s,” said Sophia with another giggle and
even deeper blush. “But him telling
Scott to let go of ‘his girl’ several times was kinda cute, and then saying he
was gonna rip ‘his arm out of his body’ was definitely exciting.”
“And hot, really hot. Scorching hot,” said Maria and leaned into
Sophia’s side as the girls fanned themselves with their hands and giggled
uncontrollably.
“Do you know how Anthony’s
father declared himself to me?” asked Gina.
Both girls looked at their
Madame Alpha and said no.
Annie and Rose looked at each
other, then at Gina and started laughing hysterically. “I think Anthony is taking after his father
more and more, thank goodness he didn’t knock her to the ground,” said
Annie.
“Or finish up like Carlo did,
Frank, Joe and the boys would have killed him,” said Rose laughing so hard she
was crying. Sophia and Maria looked at
each other in bewilderment while the three older women continued to look at
each other and laugh.
“Carlo, Frank and Joe had
been away all summer for a mandatory sabbatical and missed my seventeenth birthday
party, on the day of their return Rose, Annie and I were walking down Main Street
Sophia and Maria were looking
at their Madame Alpha with wide-eyes, and had their hands in front of their
faces trying to hide the giggles that were pouring out of their mouths. Annie and Rose had their heads down and
continued to laugh hysterically.
“After he was uhmm uhmm,
finished,” Gina said with her hands in air quotes around the word finished, “he
got up and had to face my father and brothers.
Daddy asked if he had anything to say, Carlo said ‘he thought I may be
his mate’ and Daddy said if that display meant anything, I better be his
mate. So you see Sophia, at least
Anthony behaved himself at least a little, but it appears that behaving
inappropriately seems to be a Rossi trait.”
“Your father and your Uncle
Joe weren’t any better Sophia. When you
get older we’ll tell you some of their adventures, but to be honest with you,
you may never be old enough,” said Rose with a chuckle, as Annie and Gina
looked on knowingly.
“Now, about the mating pull,
as we have been telling you, once a male Were finds his mate, his first
instinct will be to protect her, whether she feels this is needed or not. They will growl and want to fight men who happen
to glance at you or inadvertently touch you.
This is normal, not always wanted, but normal. They can’t help but act like Neanderthals
sometimes,” Madame Gina said. “The best advice I can give you is to go on with
your life like you have always done. Keep
in mind, if you look at or talk too long to another male, especially one that
isn’t a family member and is unmated, your intended mate will feel this
overwhelming need to re-mark you as his.
So be prepared to be hauled up against him, and have him sniff your neck
and hair.”
Both girls wrote – men are Neanderthals, put up with his
growling and posturing.
“This sniffing will not only
calm them down by reassuring them that you are fine, but it will transfer his
scent onto you and yours onto him, ensuring him that you are his. They will scent you like this every time you
are away from them for any length of time, or they think somebody has gotten
too close to you,” finished Rose.
Both girls dutifully wrote – let him sniff us to calm him down, even if
it annoys us, he needs this for reassurance.
“I personally found with Joe
that it was easier and reassured him more when I would go up to him after we
had been separated, I think it fed his massive ego. For me, it was just easier then being hauled
up against him like a sack of potatoes,” said Annie.
Sophia and Marie giggled at
that remark, as they had both seen their mothers doing the exact thing and the
look of possession on their fathers faces.
Sophia made sure to write that little fact down in her notebook – walk up to Anthony to reassure him, and do
it often, she looked at Maria’s notebook and saw she wrote – walk up to ______ to reassure him, and do it
often. Both girls looked at each
other and grinned.
“Another thing you will
notice is your mate will want to feed you all the time. The men take mandatory cooking classes, but
the majority of them still can’t cook worth anything, unless it’s out on the grill,
or they order Chinese food or pizza, they are really good at that. The best thing to do if they invite you over
to dinner is to eat beforehand, this way if the food isn’t good at least you
will be full. Actually, Anthony is a
pretty good cook, but eat before you come over anyway,” said Gina.
“The men don’t realize we
know the real reason for the cooking classes, which is so they don’t hurt or kill
us. Weres heal fast, but even food
poisoning takes a while to get over,” Rose said with a laugh. “Somehow though, I think it makes them
nervous to cook for their mates, especially their intended mates. Almost as if it’s a job interview or
something, like they have to get the Ziti cooked just right, or we would leave
them. I know when I was dating Frank, I
ate so much overcooked and undercooked pasta it was pitiful, and I would look
at him and smile and he would look so proud of himself I couldn’t tell him how
awful it was. His cooking has gotten
much better over the years though, and he does an exceptional job at heating
leftovers and is even better at ordering take-out.”
“Joe is really good at
heating soup. You would think after
having a chef teaching him how to cook for twenty years he could at least cook
something edible, the only thing I am able to stomach is when he cooks on the
grill,” added Annie.
Sophia and Maria both wrote
in their notebooks – eat before going to
their house for dinner, compliment him and don’t let him know how bad it really
is.
“Oh, and watch out for ‘the
move’, Joe had this move he would do when I came over for dinner. He told Frank and Carlo about it and they
tried it too, so I’m sure it is being passed onto the boys. When I would be at the sink or in the kitchen
to help clean up the mess he made, he would casually put his hand on my waist
and lean into me and reach for something.
He would scent my neck and hair and whisper something inane into my ear,”
Annie said laughing, “I knew exactly what he was up to, but I just played along
and it made him feel better. Every now
and then, if he got too close, I would hit him upside the head. I really enjoyed that part of it.”
Both girls dutifully wrote – watch out for ‘the move’ and hit him upside
the head if needed.
“Mama, I’ve seen Daddy still
do that to you,” said Maria with a giggle. “Sometimes you laugh and sometimes
you still hit him upside the head.”
Everyone in the room laughed along with Maria and her mother.
“Do you have any questions so
far?” asked Rose to both Sophia and Maria.
“No ma’am,” they both
replied.
“Okay, next thing we are
going to discuss is your training. As we
said previously, all underage female Weres are taught self-defense classes, but
all females in our Pack are also taught combat training. The reason for this is we wanted to make sure
that not only could you defend yourselves against an attack, but taking the
offensive would throw your attacker off kilter for a few moments, allowing time
for reinforcements to come in to help or allow you time to escape,” said Madame
Gina. “What phrase do Frank and Joe
teach you?”
“The best defense is a good
offense,” stated Sophia and Maria in unison, “and working hard and working
together will always make us winners no matter what the eventual outcome, and
make sure we kick their ass before they kick ours.”
“Frank and Joe sure have a
way with words,” Gina said with a laugh.
Rose and Annie hung their heads down laughing, they knew the first part
of the motto, but had never heard the last line before that night.
“Well, I guess that covers
your training. It seems Frank and Joe
have things well in hand. Now comes the
most serious part of the discussion,” said Madame Alpha Gina. “Dating and the rules that must be followed,
I’ll let your mothers handle most of the discussion and comment when
appropriate.”
Both girls wrote – follow our motto and kick some ass when
needed.
“Before we start, I do want
to say I am happy that you are Anthony’s chosen mate; I could not imagine him
with a lovelier young lady and hope the both of you are extremely happy. Finding your mate, especially at such a young
age, is extremely difficult, but the final result will be its own reward. For your mother and me, that final result
will be grandchildren, but that will be years and years down the road. Many, many years,” said Madame Gina with a
twinkle in her eye.
“Thank you ma’am,” said
Sophia with a blush on her face at the thought of having little ones with Anthony
and what that meant. Maria looked at her
and the two girls leaned into each other and started giggling.
“Girls, the rules are
something that must be followed at all times.
Maria, these rules will apply to you when your intended mate is found,” said
Annie with a smile, “and I bet your father is hoping that is years in the
future. So for now, we will address
everything to Sophia.”
“Sophia, you will never be
allowed to be alone with your intended mate.
Knowing your father, I’m sure he will make sure you will be accompanied
by at least two of your brothers or cousins at all times, plus Maria since you
are usually together. Please follow this
dictate, for temptation can be great and the consequences dire if something
unforeseen happens,” stated Rose with a calm gentle voice.
Both girls wrote – NEVER be alone with our intended mate;
ALWAYS have at least two family members.
Follow rules, temptation is great but consequences dire if not followed.
“Both of you were brought to
the Pack Doctor for a complete physical the morning of your fifteenth birthday
and were given an internal exam. This
was done to ensure your purity. This
exam will be done the morning on your birthday up to and including your eighteenth
birthday. If you have been found to be
breached, then you and your partner will be expelled from the pack. You must remain pure until your eighteenth
birthday, this is not only a Pack mandate, but a Council mandate and must be
obeyed,” stated Madame Alpha, “the only other reason why you would be breached
would be rape. If that happens, you of
course would be protected and not blamed, but the penalty for the male
committing the rape would be death.”
Both girls wrote – MUST REMAIN PURE UNTIL EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY,
WILL BE EXPELLED FROM PACK IF FOUND OTHERWISE.
“For the first year, until
your sixteenth birthday, the only physical contact you will be allowed will be
for Anthony to scent your neck and hair and pull you into his side, never fully
against your front or back. When you are
watching TV or at the movies, you will be allowed to sit next to him and he
will be allowed to hold your hand or put his arm over your shoulder and you may
lay your head on his shoulder. Am I
clear on this?” Rose asked looking Sophia straight in the eye.
“Yes, mama,” said Sophia and
wondered when their first official date would be and what they would do. She was so excited that she hoped that she
would be able to sleep tonight. She was
glad Maria was staying overnight; at least they would be able to talk about this
privately.
Dutifully both girls wrote – scenting allowed, able to hold hands and
have his arms around our shoulder, embrace from the side only, no hugging from
the front or back. NO KISSING. Sophia
followed the ‘no kissing’ rule with a frownie face and when Maria saw it she
grinned.
“By now, I’m sure most of the
Pack knows about the declaration since the entire school was present at the
party. The Pack grapevine will take care
of the rest I’m sure, but Alpha Carlo will make the formal announcement at the
next Full Moon Ceremony. Your teachers
at South Mountain High will also be made aware of the situation and they will
also be keeping an eye on the two of you.
What you need to worry about more then that though is your brothers and
cousins,” said Rose. “And I’m sure they
will do everything to make sure the rules are followed to the letter, if not
make up their own rules.”
Both girls wrote – teachers will be aware, watch out for
brothers and cousins being even more overprotective then usual. Follow our motto and kick some ass if needed.
“We will have to discuss with
your father what exactly he is permitting Anthony to do as far as his courtship
with you. I’m sure they are discussing
you driving to school with Anthony and coming over for dinner and other
things. Once the men figure out what
they will allow, we will look at what rules they put into place and we will
change them and add some as we see fit,” Rose said with a smile at her
daughter.
“Don’t let my son dictate to
you what you can or cannot do Sophia. If
you want to do something, then do it, as long as it doesn’t put you into
danger. Male Weres can be dominating,
but if you explain to them you want to do something, they will generally fall
over themselves to make you happy. And
if all else fails, then look at him with tears in your eyes, and say ‘Please
Anthony’ in a pleading voice. It is a
typical female trick to get what we want, but it works every time,” said Gina.
“You know that trick very
well Sophia, you use it on your father and brothers all of the time,” said Rose
with a laugh. “And Maria, I’ve seen you
give that look a hundred times too, we have both taught you well.”
Both girls giggled as they
wrote – don’t put up with dominating
behavior from our mate, explain what we want and if we don’t get our way, use
‘the pouty puppy dog look’ with tears.
“We will have more meetings
as things progress with your courtship, just remember to relax and have fun. Do
either of you have any questions?” asked Rose.
“Mama, do you think Daddy
will let Anthony come over to the house as much as he did before?” Sophia
asked.
“I’m sure he will; remember
Anthony was best friends with Gianni, Marcus, Lorenzo and Damian before he felt
the mating pull. As long as he follows
the rules, I’m sure he will be allowed to see you as much as he wants,” said
Rose with a smile at her only daughter.
“Madame Gina, does Anthony
like to go shopping? Maria and I go
shopping every Saturday morning, and I wonder if he would like to come with
us. We usually go out to lunch and
depending on the boy’s schedules, sometimes we go bowling or to the movies
afterwards too,” asked Sophia with a shy look on her face.
“I’m sure Anthony would love
to go to spend time with you. I’ll be
honest, he has no interest in shopping and I bet he hasn’t been to the mall in
years, but I bet he changes his mind pretty quick especially if both you and food
are involved. That boy loves to eat,”
Madame Gina said with a smile to Sophia.
“Can you tell me what his
favorite foods are, especially cookies,” asked Sophia.
“Sure, Anthony likes Peanut
Butter Blossoms; you know those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey’s Kiss
on them. As far as food, the boy will
eat anything you put in front of him, but he seems to favor steak and au gratin
potatoes. He also likes to drink Sweet
Tea, but without lemon.”
Sophia wrote in her notebook
– bribe Anthony with food if needed,
likes to eat. Cookies – peanut butter
blossoms. Food – steak and au
gratins. Drink – sweet tea without
lemon, try and get him to like lemon.
“Madame Gina, is Anthony
still planning on going to the University
of Maryland
“Yes Sophia, Anthony is
planning on attending MD, as all Pack members do who want to go to
college. South Mountain Pack has a lot
of influence at U of MD, but you still need to keep your grades up to ensure
admission. The future of the Pack depends
on the younger generation,” stated Madame Gina. “We have Pack members as Doctors, lawyers,
business leaders and even the Assistant Chief of Police and most of his department, not
to mention a Senator. Our Pack is
more diverse then other packs, but Alpha Carlo and the Beta’s feel it is in our
best interest to assimilate ourselves into positions of power in the human
world to further Pack interests. These
positions of power enable us to maintain our secret and enhance our Packs
safety.”
“Is there anything else
before we rejoin the men? It’s almost
12:45 AM, and I’m sure Anthony would like to say goodnight to you before he
leaves,” asked Rose with a smile aimed towards Sophia and Maria.
“No ma’am,” both girls
responded and jumped up and started fixing Sophia’s hair and Maria tried
smoothing the wrinkles out of her dress.
“Mama, do you think I have
time to run-up and get myself fixed up a little before the men come upstairs?”
asked Sophia as the two best friends edged towards the door.
“Make it quick, I’m sure
Anthony is in a hurry to see you,” responded Rose, but both girls were already
running down the hallway giggling.
“Oh my,” said Rose throwing
herself back on the sofa. “That was one
of the hardest things I’ve done as a mother.
At least when Maria goes through this, she will already be familiar with
the process and hopefully it will make it easier on you Annie.”
“I think you did a marvelous
job Rose. Sophia and Maria are both
wonderful girls and if my little Angelica had lived, I hope she would have been
just like them,” said Gina with tears in her eyes. Both women came over and hugged her, the
heartbreak both women felt for their friend hadn’t diminished in the fourteen
years since her only daughters’ stillbirth.
“I’m so sorry Gina, I never
even thought about how hard this must be for you,” said Rose with tears
streaming down her face. “Please forgive
me.”
“The two of you have been my
best friends since we were little ones and you have always offered me comfort
in my deepest sorrow,” said Gina, quietly sobbing as she was held by Rose and
Annie. “Sometimes the only comfort I
have been able to feel is to watch your daughters grow into the women I hoped
my Angelica would have become. I’ve
always considered myself as a second mother to both of your girls, and I thank
you for allowing me that.”
As the women held each other
and cried quietly, they strengthened their bond as women, friends and mothers. Gina allowed her memories and images of
Angelica to wash over them through the mental bond, the joy that was felt upon
learning of her pregnancy, the first sonogram, seeing Anthony rub his moms
belly and talk to his sister, Carlo in a children’s store picking out little
dresses with a smile on his face. Then
the darker memories and images came.
Gina and Anthony on the way
to the Rossi’s store, going through the intersection and getting hit broadside
by someone who ran the red light. The
pain was intense, but it only caused the women to hold each other tighter, then
darkness descended. Followed by the
bright lights of the operating room as they tried to save Gina and Angelica,
but there was no hope for the beautiful little girl.
Gina allowed Rose and Annie
to see the memories and images she had never shared before, Carlo holding his
little girl with tears streaming down his face and whispering words of love and
comfort she would never hear, telling his precious daughter she would be called
Angelica, because she would always be his little Angel in heaven. Carlo whispering she shouldn’t be scared
because her grandparents were waiting for her in heaven and would take care of
her until her mommy and daddy got there and he would love her always, then
bringing her little body up to his face and memorizing her scent knowing it
would be the last time he held his precious little girl.
The three friends quietly
held on to each other as their sobs slowly lessened. No words were needed between the lifelong
friends as they felt the love and companionship flow between them.
They gradually heard sounds
of laughter, footsteps on the stairs, the refrigerator opening and their youngsters
and mates talking. They looked at each
other and smiled knowing that no matter what heartache presented itself, they
would get through it together as always.
With a last look at each other, they wiped their faces with the tissues
Rose provided and prepared to join their families.
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