His mother sniffled again. “I know. But all I remember is your sister crying in my arms after he left, and…. It’s hard for me to think of anything else. And I miss you and Ricky. It’s going to be months before I see him again….”
“I know. But think of the things your grandson is seeing and experiencing.”
His mother groaned. “Tell me about it. He spoke to me in Italian for the first two minutes of the call.” Now she seemed to brighten. “He seems to love this nanny you have for him, and tells me that they only speak Italian.”
“Yeah, Mom. That was Bianca and Ricky’s idea. I had nothing to do with it.” He was so proud of his son. “Mom, I have to get home. I love you, and I’ll give Ricky a hug from you.” He hurried through the streets, passing throngs of tourists heading in every direction.
“Okay. Love you too.” She hung up, and Chase picked up his pace. He reached his building and hurried up to their new quarters. It had taken them less than an hour to move from the residence hotel to a small two-bedroom furnished apartment less than a block away. They had a little more space, and it felt more permanent than a hotel. Ricky stood as soon as he cameinside, dressed and ready, with his dinosaur suitcase right next to him. Bianca stood, and he thanked her for watching Ricky and for being willing to continue watching Ricky.
“Everything is ready for your trip,” she said gently, kissing Ricky on the forehead. She smiled at both of them and left in an equal hurry. Chase hoped she had fun weekend plans too.
“Let’s go,” Ricky said.
“I need to change my clothes, and then we can go.” He hurried to his room to the sound of Ricky’s sighs. “Christ on the cross didn’t sigh so loud.”
“Huh?” Ricky asked as Chase closed his door. He undressed and put on comfortable clothes and good walking shoes. Then he grabbed the bag he’d packed that morning and found Ricky in the same place.
“Andiamo,” Ricky cried. He hurried to the door, and they left. Chase held one of Ricky’s hands, and Ricky pulled his bag over the cobbles with the other. One good thing about being here: they had both gotten used to a great deal of walking.
Antonello waited for them just inside the station, and he led them to the track and onto the train. “I was starting to get worried.”
“Dewey called.” Chase figured that was all he had to say. He didn’t want to start the weekend talking about him.
“Where do we sit?” Ricky asked as Chase turned toward the back of the train.
“Where are you going?” Antonello asked as he headed forward. “We’re this way. I booked us business-class passage.” He led them through a door into a car with plush seats around nice tables. “We have this entire area.”
“Can I sit by the window?” Ricky asked. Chase nodded and let Ricky get into his seat while he stowed the bags and sat down himself. “How fast does the train go?”
“Really fast. It’s one hundred sixty miles to Rome, and it will take an hour and a half. So the train goes about a hundred miles an hour.” As Antonello explained, they began to move. It was barely perceptible, except for the station passing outside, and soon they were speeding through the Tuscan countryside, smooth as glass even though at times they were moving nearly 280 kilometers an hour.
When Ricky started to fidget, Chase got out his activity bag with coloring book and crayons. Then he sat back, relaxed and content. “This is nice.”
“It is.” Chase agreed. He was tempted to close his eyes, except he didn’t want to miss anything.
“What do you want to see in Rome?” Antonello asked.
Chase shrugged. He hadn’t given it much thought. “Things that we can do outside. I don’t think Ricky is up for museums and stuff like that.”
“There’s lots to do.”
“No naked people with bare penises,” Ricky declared before scrunching his face. “And no boobs.” He didn’t even look up. The people in the seats across the aisle from them did, with snickery smiles. Chase rolled his eyes, and Antonello smiled.
“There’s a pool at the villa, so you can go swimming,” Antonello told Ricky, which got a real smile.
“If that’s the case, we may never leave the villa,” Chase said, ruffling his son’s hair.
Antonello leaned over the table. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” His eyes grew deep and his voice rough. Chase’s throat ached, and he was glad for the table or else he’d have made quite a spectacle of himself.
“I wanna see things… after swimming….”
Antonello smiled. “Like what?”
“Bianca said to see the Trevi Fountain and the Coliseum, and the building with a hole in the roof.” He rattled off the highlights. “And I want gelato.”
Chase tickled his son. “Of course you do.” He looked over at Antonello for guidance.
“The oculus at the Pantheon,” he supplied, and Chase nodded.
