46. DANTE

It’s been three hours and it hasn’t gotten weird. That’s a good sign.

Ike and the children got back less than ten minutes after Amanda and I finished our… exercises. Barely enough time for a cooling naked swim in the pool. The five of us have been together since.

Amanda keeps sneaking glances at me and smiling. I smile back. It’s like we’re teenagers.

Was it too soon? We’ve known each other less than a month. But stranger things have happened, surely. Such as getting married to fulfill a ridiculous decree.

It was the only time I’ve ever said those words to a woman. I assume it was the first time for Amanda. We didn’t really talk about it after.

“Uncle,” Oriana calls from the pool. “Did you know that cowboys were tougher than Roman soldiers?”

“Is that right?” I say, cocking an eyebrow at Ike. He gives me a sheepish grin.

“Because they had guns,” says Vito. “Roman soldiers only had swords.”

“Well, that makes perfect sense,” I say.

Amanda giggles. “You need to stop taking history lessons from my father.”

“Can we call Ike something different?” Oriana asks. “Ike doesn’t sound right.”

Ike wags a finger at her. “Watch it, kid, that’s my name you’re talkin’ about.”

“What would you like to call him?” asks Amanda.

“I don’t know,” says Vito. “What do you think we should call you?”

“Don’t matter to me,” Ike says. “Just don’t call me late for supper.”

Amanda glances at him. “Doesn’t look like that’s been happening much, lately,” she says with a grin.

“Brat,” he grumbles. “Try’n raise a kid right, whaddaya get?”

“Can we call you nonno?” asks Oriana.

Amanda and I share a smile.

“No-no?” Ike says. “What kinda name is that?”

“Not no-no,” I say. “Nonno.”

Amanda places a hand on his.

“It’s Italian for grandfather, Dad.”

Ike looks around at us, stunned, as the children grin widely. This is where the marshmallow peeks out from under that leather exterior.

“Well,” he says, clearing his throat. “I suppose that’d be all right.”

“Yay!” they cry in unison.

I move over to where Ike is sitting and place a hand on his shoulder.

“They’ve never had someone like you in their lives,” I say. “You and Amanda are always there for them, listening to them, playing with them. So many of the people around them tell them what to do, how to act. You simply want to be with them.”

Amanda and I exchange another look. Her eyes glimmer as they catch the setting sun.

I could look into them for the rest of my life and never get tired of it.

“Well, I do it ‘cause I love it, not ‘cause I have to,” he says. “And as long as they’ll have me around, I’ll be around for ‘em.”

He turns to the children. “’Cept when they rat me out to their uncle and Amanda about cowboys and Roman soldiers!”

He leaps into the air from the edge of the pool and drops into the water like a boulder, splashing water everywhere.

As they play, Amanda sidles up next to me and takes my hand.

“You may not realize it, but that’s one of the most important moments of my dad’s life,” she says.

“I do realize it. And it’s kind of fitting, don’t you think? After all, you and I had a pretty important moment earlier.”

She lays her head on my shoulder. “Yeah, we did.”

“Do you feel better about the future now?”

“Yes.”

“Do you promise to take everything Isabella says with – what did Ike call it? A salt lick? – from now on?”

She laughs. “Yes, I do.”

“Good.”

“Besides, we’ve got real things to worry about,” she says.

“Like what? Princesses don’t have to worry about things, especially not my princess. Haven’t you ever seen a Disney movie?”

“It’s funny you say that,” she says. “Because Chancellor Huber looks like the bad guy from one of those movies.”

I shake my head. “Huber is a paper tiger. You said it yourself, the people love us, and it’s the people who count.”

“I get the feeling that most of those people are younger, though,” she says. “I hate to say it, but historically, those are the people least likely to vote. I don’t think a referendum would be a slam dunk for us.”

“It would be a lot easier if someone would go on camera and tell the real reason why the councils want the monarchy gone,” I say. “They want to take over my family fortune. It’s essentially state-sanctioned embezzlement.”

She grabs my mouth between her fingers and squeezes, turning my face into a fish mouth.

“Look at that face,” she says in baby talk. “Who could steal from a face like that?”

“Somebody tryin’ to steal from you, son?” Ike asks, toweling himself off.

“It’s just politics, Dad,” Amanda smiles. “Nothing to be concerned about.”

“My neighbor Lloyd Thompson had to deal with some rustling a while back. We all knew who it was, so we got together and had a little chat with ‘im outside the bar in Shelby. Fist-to-face conversation, if you get what I mean. Them cows were back in Lloyd’s pasture two mornings later. Just showed up outta nowhere.”

I seriously consider sending Ike to talk to Huber for a full ten seconds before dismissing the idea.

“It really is nothing to worry about,” I say, pulling Amanda onto my lap. “I’d rather focus all my attention on making this lady happy.”

“What about us?” Vito asks as they arrive, dripping from the pool.

“You’re already happy,” I say. “Right?”

They grin.

“No,” says Oriana.

“No,” says Vito.

“Whassat?” Ike pipes up. “Someone callin’ me?”

He picks them up as they squeal in protest.

“No! No!”

“That’s me!” he cries, jumping back into the pool with the two of them. “Nonno!”

Amanda and I giggle uncontrollably as the three of them wreak holy havoc in the pool.

She leans close to my ear.

“Are we really going to make it?” she whispers.

“I think we are,” I say. “I really do.”