When our honeymoon ended, we drove north from Positano, through Naples, and back toward Florence. The drive was too long to make it in one shot, so we decided to stay with my parents on the journey.

Muse and I spent our time exploring the village, eating lots of pasta, and fucking after dinner. Every day was the same as the previous one, but it felt like a new adventure every time. If she weren’t already pregnant, I would have knocked her up by now.

We were thirty minutes from the house when Muse spoke. “Con?”

“Yes, Muse?” I drove with one hand on the wheel, my other hand resting on hers on the center console.

“I love Verona. But…I love it here.”

“Where’s here?”

“Florence.”

I turned to her, still aware of the open road ahead of me. “And what does that mean?”

“Remember when we talked about moving here? To be close to your family?”

“Yes.” That was a long time ago.

“Well…how do you feel about it?”

Did it really matter how I felt about it? She was my wife now. She got to call all the shots. “Everything is settled in Verona, including stuff for the baby. My land is there. It’s close to work. Moving right now would be an ordeal.”

“Moving is always an ordeal…”

“Muse, if you want to move, just tell me.”

“No, I want your opinion. Do you want to move?”

I shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind being close to family. It would make my parents happy, especially since Vanessa is so close now.”

“I love Verona too, but I want to be close to your family—”

“Our family.”

She smiled. “Our family. I would love to be close to them. When you’re at work, I can always spend time with them with the baby. Vanessa is close by, and she’s always been my friend. Carmen is there too, along with your aunt and uncle. If we’re going to build a family, I want to be close to family.”

It didn’t sound like this was a discussion anymore. Muse was asking me to give her what she wanted. When I wasn’t around, she wanted some other kind of comfort. She wanted to raise our family with family. In Verona, I was her only companionship.

“I thought you could make a studio here and drive or fly to Milan when you need to…but I know that would make your job less convenient.”

Yes, it would be less convenient. But I would be happier knowing my wife was happy. “Let’s do it.” I turned my eyes to the road, missing her reaction.

She let out a quiet gasp. “Really?”

Hearing the happiness in her voice took away all my doubts. The process of moving everything to a new place would be a lot of work, especially when we had a baby about to join us. Even if we hired people to do it for us, we would still have to sort through everything. But that seemed irrelevant in light of her joy. “Really.”

She clapped her hands together. “That makes me so happy. And your parents will be over the moon when they hear the news. All they want is for both you and Vanessa to be close by. Now that Vanessa is down the road, you’ll all be together again.”

“Yeah. But too bad Vanessa is so down.”

“That won’t last forever. She’s a strong woman. She’ll make it through.”

“Yeah…” I still hated her depression. It seeped into my skin and penetrated my lungs.

“I can’t wait to tell your parents. They’ll be so excited.”

I remembered the sadness on my mother’s face each time I returned to Verona. It broke her heart every single time, made her miserable. Both of my parents wanted the four of us to be united, to be together all the time. I didn’t want that when I was younger, but now that I was older, I didn’t mind. My father and I had become friends in addition to father and son, and Muse found a good relationship with my mother. “Yeah, they will.”

We greeted my parents, talked about the honeymoon, and then had dinner together in the dining room. Lars had prepared a feast that neither one of us needed, but it was so good that we didn’t restrain ourselves.

Muse had a much bigger appetite than before, so she always seemed to be hungry.

When I held my wineglass, I felt the bite of the metal from my wedding ring dig into my skin. I still wasn’t used to wearing it, to feeling the metal grow hot and cold with my body temperature. It had a significant weight to it, a weight I still hadn’t become accustomed to. Completely black, it would match the color of my suits. My father wore a similar ring, but that wasn’t where I drew my inspiration.

“How’s Vanessa doing?” I asked.

The happy banter between the four of us died away. Mom’s smile faded, and instead, she pressed her lips tightly together in the form of an unhappy grimace. Father looked down into his wine, composing his sentence in his mind before he spoke aloud. “Overall, she’s better. But she’s not great.”

I wanted Vanessa to get over this guy as soon as possible, not so I wouldn’t have to deal with her sadness, but so she would be happy. I didn’t like my sister like this, a shell of the person she used to be. So full of life and joy, she was wonderful to be around. She had a spark that could start a forest fire. She had a smile that was brighter than Christmas lights. But all of that faded away once she lost Griffin. “That’s too bad…”

“There’s this handsome young man who’s showed interest in her,” Father said. “But she didn’t reciprocate his advance.”

“Handsome young man?” Both of my eyebrows rose off my face when I heard what my father said. He never talked about potential suitors for Vanessa, and he certainly didn’t describe other men like that. He mentioned Muse was a beautiful woman once, but that was the most I’d ever heard him say.

Mom’s smile returned. “Your father likes him.”

“Wait,” Muse said. “Did you meet him?”

“No.” Father drank his wine then set it down. “I was in the gallery when it happened. He didn’t see me because there was a painting in between us. He walked in and asked her to dinner. He has a gallery down the road. Apparently, he’d come in and bought one of her paintings, unaware that she was the artist who created it. And then she bought one of his, not knowing he was the one who’d made it.”

“Really?” I asked. “What are the odds of that?”

“That’s what I said,” Father said. “They seem perfectly compatible. And when she said she wasn’t ready to date, he said he would wait.”

“Aww…” Muse’s eyes softened.

“And he said he would like to see her as a friend,” Father continued. “He was a perfect gentleman, but he wasn’t weak either. He’s good-looking, confident, and successful. I dug into him after I left and liked everything I saw. He’s one of the biggest painters in Italy, and he has galleries all over the world. He’s self-made, which I respect.”

“He sounds perfect,” I said. “I like him already.”

Mom shrugged. “But Vanessa doesn’t…”

“I don’t think that’s the case,” Father said. “I think she does like him…which is why she doesn’t want to see him.”

I hated Griffin for coming into our lives. If he hadn’t, Vanessa would have met this guy and let him sweep her off her feet. She’d be happy right now, finding her perfect match. But she was still hung up on a criminal.

“She’ll figure it out,” Mama said. “In her own time. Heartbreak and healing can’t be rushed. She’s smart for going at her own pace. It’s only been two months.”

“Only?” I asked incredulously. “That’s a long time.”

“She was pretty infatuated with Griffin,” Mom said. “I’m not surprised. I think she needs another month and then she’ll be ready.”

I never understood what Vanessa saw in Griffin. They say women have a thing for bad boys. Maybe that was the explanation behind it. “Well, we’re over halfway. I want my sister back. I even miss how annoying she used to be…”

Mama smiled, knowing I didn’t express my true feelings about Vanessa. “She’ll be here soon.”

“I miss her too,” Father said. “I never expected to have such a strong and brilliant daughter, someone I’m so proud of. She’s never put up with bullshit, and she’s always understood her self-worth. Independent, smart, and wonderful. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better. I can’t wait for her to be happy again, and this time, stay happy.” Father was never much for words, but whenever he spoke from the heart, it was always poetic.

Mama rested her hand on his on the table. “She will be.”

Father moved his fingers in between hers and gripped her hand, his thumb swiping across her soft skin. He gave her an affectionate look, a look he could never hide from us. I saw it all the time when we were growing up. I used to find it repulsive, but now that I was older, seeing my parents still in love made me happy.

It made me want that for myself.

Muse turned to me. “Con, you should tell them the good news.”

“What good news?” Mama turned back to us, pulling her gaze off my father reluctantly.

Father looked at me but kept his hand on Mama’s. “Tell us.”

Muse couldn’t stop smiling. Her hair framed her face, and her beautiful eyes were brilliant, pregnant with excitement.

It distracted me for a moment, seeing my wife look so happy. I’d only been married for a few weeks, but I realized all I wanted in life was to keep doing this…making her smile. My priorities had changed after I met her, but now they’d changed again. It was an enormous responsibility, but I took it on without pause.

I felt lucky that the woman I loved adored my family as much as I did. She wore the Barsetti name so effortlessly, had become a part of us since the day she’d met everyone. She wanted to be with them even more than I did, to spend her spare time with my parents and sister when I wasn’t around. “We’ve decided to move here.”

Mama’s eyes swelled to twice their size, and her mouth popped open with a silent scream. “Really?”

Father didn’t react so profoundly. But a smile stretched across his lips, a look of genuine joy. “That’s great news.”

“You want to raise your family here?” Mama dropped his hand, moving toward Muse anxiously.

“Yes.” Muse moved her hand to her stomach. “Verona and Milan are beautiful, but when Conway is at work, I want to be with family. I want our kids to be with family.”

Mama’s eyes softened in a whole new way, and this time, tears accompanied her expression. “Crow…isn’t that wonderful?” She turned back to him, so happy that she looked sad.

He didn’t have the same dramatic reaction, but he was definitely happy. “It is. It’s what we’ve always wanted.”

“Our babies are back,” she whispered. “We can see them all the time.”

“Yes, we can.” My father wrapped his arm around her and held her, letting her lean on him.

Muse turned to me, a knowing smile on her lips. “I knew they would be happy.”

“Yeah.” I grabbed her hand on her stomach. “And I know we’re going to be happy too.”