*****
I was wringing my hands nervously, waiting for Aldo to come get me from the car. Last night, he had decided I was to meet his family first thing this morning.
That was not possible due to my morning sickness, but we managed to arrive at the estate right before noon.
He had gone in first, to see if everyone was home, as he requested, and was to come back and take me to them.
I was so nervous, I feared I might puke in front of everybody. I didn’t even see him stop at my side before he put his hand on my shoulder.
“Are you alright?” he asked, concern painted all over his face.
I nodded.
“Are you sure?”
I nodded again, clearing my throat.
“Then, let’s go, my love. Let’s get this bullshit over with.”
I clung to his arm, not trusting my knees completely, and followed him into the house.
He guided me to the large room his family was gathered. His blood family.
I saw his mother the second I walked through the door. A small woman, looking to be over seventy years old, she gave me a disgusted look and turned away.
“What is that doing here?” she asked another woman, who was sitting beside her. Before she could answer, Aldo spoke:
“She is here because I have an announcement to make.”
“No, you don’t,” his mother said, her words sounding final. She acted like a woman who was used to wielding great power.
“Yes, I do.” Everyone looked at him, looking surprised by his boldness.
The matriarch looked him up and down, squinting with judgment in her eyes.
“Is she pregnant?” she finally asked, and I thought I would faint.
“Yes.” I knew he wasn’t the type to beat around the bush but his blunt admission would only work against us.
“That explains it, then.” She turned to me. “How much?” she asked.
“Three weeks,” I stuttered, unsure of what she was asking. Her thick accent confused me, on top of everything else.
“No, I meant how much money do you want.”
“What?”
I looked up at Aldo, too shocked to even speak. He squeezed my hand and gave me a reassuring look.
“She doesn’t want money and what she wants, at the moment, is not up to discussion anyway. We’re here because I wanted to offer you the courtesy of learning about our engagement from me, personally.”
I was as surprised as everyone else. It was the first time I was hearing about his decision and it was all becoming too much.
I felt my knees give in. My mind couldn't catch up and help me out, so I slipped out of Aldo’s hand and hit the floor with a thud.
I could barely make out the commotion going on around me. Someone that smelled like Aldo carried me to a large sofa, while someone else yelled for a doctor.
I waved the option off, feeling I could do without any more fuss, but my gesture went unnoticed as they were starting to argue with each other.
I was gradually coming to my senses so I managed to understand the exchange. They were speaking in Italian but the words hurt just the same.
His mother insisted his stunt was all nonsense and that she would not, under any circumstances, agree to such a marriage. I thought I heard her present an array of other, more suitable options for the head of a respectable family, but Aldo wouldn't hear of it. The old woman argued that for someone to enter the family, one had to bring something to the table and I was of no value to her.
Then, Aldo confessed that the lucrative resolution to their most recent problem had come from me. His mother called him a liar, her last words a statement of pure hate. She declared him disowned for wanting to bring filth into the family and before anyone realized what had just happened, I heard her start for the door.
“Basta,” I shouted, unable to keep my thoughts silent anymore. Everyone turned to me. “Posso capire tutto quello che avete detto.”
I had to let them know I understood what they said.
I struggled to sit up, supporting myself on Aldo’s arm.
“You have no right to talk about me like that. You don’t know me, you’re not better than me and, above all, I haven’t done anything to you or your family to explain your hate.”
She started to speak, but I cut her off.
“I do not care about what you want to say right now. You had your chance to speak and used it to muddy your own son. If you don’t have the sense to judge a person by who they are, you have no right speak before me. Much less to make decisions like disowning Aldo. Do you understand what you just did?”
If looks could have killed, I would’ve been slayed a long time ago by her venomous gaze.
“You just chose a prejudice over your own son, your blood.”
I felt a knot in my throat, but I didn’t want to cry. I haven’t realized that I was already crying until Aldo wiped my wet cheeks and cradled me into his arms.
“It’s alright, my love. It’s alright,” he whispered, protectively.
I needed to say more, I felt I had to defend the father of my child, but his mother spoke before me:
“Where is that doctor? This woman is pregnant, for God’s sake.”
I looked up at Aldo, but he seemed as confused as I was.
“We have called Don Giorgio already, Signora,” someone said.
“Good. What are you waiting for, Aldo?”
He frowned.
“Take your fiancé upstairs. You’re not going to keep her on her feet all day, are you?”
*****
THE END