Page 67 of Twin Surprise for the Italian Doc
‘She can’t wait,’ another voice said, in heavily accented but perfect English. ‘And neither can I.’ A tall woman with a tumble of black, curly hair and a rounded belly of earlypregnancy edged past Matteo and walked straight towards Georgia.
‘I’m Adrianna,’ she said, her smile lighting up her face. ‘Matti’s sister. It’s so good to finally meet you, Georgia. He’s told us so much about you.’ Her gaze dropped to the bundles cradled protectively in Georgia’s arms. ‘Oh, Mama...you have to see. It’s Mita and Lia all over again...’
‘I have to find somewhere to put this lasagne.Matteo...where’s the oven?’
‘I’m sorry, Georgie,’ he said. ‘I tried to stop them. I said I had to talk to you first, and make sure you were okay with this...’
There were tears rolling down Adrianna’s face now as she gazed at the twins. ‘They’re justperfect, aren’t they?’
There weren’t many people who could look at screaming babies who needed both feeding and changing and describe them as perfect,but the upward glance from Matteo’s sister told Georgia that this woman knew exactly how she felt about her babies. And how stressful this was.
‘Let me help,’ she said softly. ‘Please?’
‘And me.’ Teresa Martini was an older, smaller version of Adrianna. With the same smile that was brimming over with love. ‘My heart was broken when I heard that you didn’t have your mama to help. Don’t blameMatteo. We couldn’t let him come back without us.’
‘But... I thought you were sick. That you were in hospital...’
‘Pff...’ Teresa flapped a hand. ‘It was nothing. I’m fine.’
‘They thought it was a heart attack.’ Matteo had come close. ‘And then that it might be angina. They kept her in to do all the tests but sheisfine. It was something muscular, probably.’ But he was looking worried. ‘Thisis too much, isn’t it? I knew it would be. I tried to tell them.’
Both women were reaching for the babies.
It should have been terrifying and Georgia knew that, if she wanted it, Matteo would tell his mother and sister to back off.
But it wasn’t terrifying.
It felt like...family...
And if her babies were being held for a little while by a loving aunt and grandmother, then there would be nothingin the way of Matteo holdingher...
* * *
‘So...Isabella Kate, then? Bella for short?’
‘Sì...’
They’d had to wait until they were alone together, after a taxi had been summoned to take Matteo’s mother and sister to their hotel, to start talking about private things. Like how much they loved each other and how sorry they were that things hadn’t been handled well and, of course, what they weregoing to name their precious babies.
It had taken too long but how could he complain when he could see how the first representatives of his family were taking Georgia and the twins into their hearts so willingly. Nurturing them with food and love and laughter and tears.
And Georgia hadn’t been totally overwhelmed by this small invasion, even when they’d taken over completely and tidied the houseby putting away groceries and folding washing while they waited for the lasagne that his mother had carried all the way from Italy to get thoroughly heated in the oven.
The meal could have been in a courtyard garden back home, with grapevines overhead and tired children sleeping in corners like puppies. A little bit of Italy in rural Scotland. The best of both his worlds because Italy was hishomeland and Scotland was the homeland of the woman who was the centre of his world now.
Matteo blinked hard to prevent his vision being blurred by any tears. He stooped to place the softest kiss imaginable onto the swaddled bundle in the bassinet. ‘Ciao, Bella,’ he murmured. ‘Sleep tight.’
His arm tightened around Georgia’s waist as he straightened. They both shifted their gaze to the neighbouringbassinet.
‘And our son?’
‘Bella was my choice. Maybe you should choose his name.’
‘You’ve given Bella a name of your closest friend. Maybe he could be Luca? And Pietro after my father for his middle name.’
‘Oh... I love it.’ Georgia’s sigh sounded like relief. She followed his example and bent to kiss their baby boy. ‘Ciao, Luca,’ she whispered. ‘You sleep tight, too. Please...?’
She wassmiling as she turned back to Matteo.
