Midwife in the Family Way Read online

  ‘We will talk when I have you home,’ he said softly so that only she could hear. He glanced at her daughter with a smile. ‘Grace can discuss snake safety with her Barbies when the time comes.’

  And so it happened. Grace played happily on the floor in the kitchen with her doll’s house and Emma sat on Gianni’s lap with her legs up along the lounge. They held hands as they gazed out over the veranda rail. Gianni had checked assiduously that no unwanted guests were lurking before he would allow Emma or her daughter outside onto the wooden area.

  ‘It was just bad luck,’ Emma said as she looked down at their entwined fingers. ‘And look what good came out of it.’

  Gianni squeezed her hand. ‘We would have arrived eventually but such a fright has hastened the course.’

  ‘So what course has been hastened?’ she teased, and he smiled down at her.

  He sat back a little so he could see her face properly. ‘So you are ready to listen to me now, are you?’

  She bit her lip. ‘I might be.’

  ‘I do not accept “might” any more from you, cara. The time for hesitation is past.’

  He lifted her off his lap and placed her gently back down again on the lounge. Then he took her hand and dropped to one knee.

  Emma felt a blush rush up her neck and she tried to pull him up off his knees. ‘No. Don’t do that.’

  He ignored her as he gazed up into her face. ‘Even with snakes I would do this. And know I have never knelt before a woman.’ He straightened his shoulders. ‘I, Gianni Durante Carlos Bonmarito, ask you, Emma Grace Rose, to do me the honour of becoming my wife. Will you marry me?’

  Emma felt tears sting her eyes. She cleared the tightness in her throat. ‘Yes, please.’ She blushed and tugged at his hand. ‘Si. Grazie, Gianni. Now get up.’

  ‘So you have been practising for this moment?’ It was his turn to tease as he stayed at her feet. ‘Then I should have said it in Italian. Vuoi sposarmi?’

  ‘In English was fine.’

  She tugged again, and he stood up and lifted her back onto his lap and hugged her. She hugged him back and he felt so warm and solid and precious and she never wanted to let him go.

  Then he reached into his pocket and produced a velvet box. ‘It is bad luck to offer a proposal without the ring,’ he said, and handed the box to her. ‘This ring is my promise to marry you.’

  When she opened it she gasped. On a satin bed lay an enormous white diamond, and she hesitated to even touch it. He lifted it from its bed and slid it onto her finger, and she wondered how he’d guessed the size right. But now wasn’t the time to ask.

  ‘Diamonds for the bride is an old Italian tradition,’ he said seriously. ‘We believe the flames of love fuel the intense heat that creates a diamond.’ She felt the tightness in her throat thicken. But he wasn’t finished. His voice dropped to a murmur. ‘This diamond holds the future facets and joys of our life together.’

  She gazed at the ring on her finger. Unable to believe he had proposed, and with such romance, at the end of such a crazy day. ‘The ring is beautiful. And so was your proposal.’

  ‘As a proposal should be. You are my world and I can wait no longer to keep you safe by my side.’

  She snuggled in, one small cloud on her horizon. She needed to be near her parents, at least some of the time. ‘And where shall we live?’

  He stroked an errant blonde strand of hair tenderly off her forehead. ‘Could you live in Italy some of the time, cara?’

  ‘Wherever you go, my love.’ She could. And Grace would enjoy the change. But Lyrebird Lake was her heartland.

  ‘We will buy here. I have several properties on the lake lined up for your appraisal. Most of the year we will spend at your lake but there will be many journeys to teach our children their dual heritage. And I will teach them how to cook authentic Italian cuisine.’

  She could see it. He understood. She should never have doubted him. Perfect. She sighed. How had she been so fortunate to find a man who made all her dreams come true?

  His voice lowered. ‘I hope you do not mind if we marry as soon as I can arrange for it.’

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  GIANNI didn’t just arrange the wedding—he created the occasion he deemed essential for his bride.

  The reception was held at the Lakeside, in the gardens beside the lake. Gianni hired the entire complex and a wedding planner to create a joyous and authentic Italian wedding that touched the hearts of all romantics who lived in Lyrebird Lake. And brought an incredulous smile to Gianni’s brother Leon’s face when he flew in for the wedding.

  Gianni’s young nephew looked debonair as he danced with Grace, flower girl and flower boy bringing more smiles to the faces of the guests.

  Leon danced with Tammy, Emma’s bridesmaid, and watched with a lightening heart as he saw his son’s first spontaneous smile since his mother’s passing.

  Musicians with piano accordions played gaily while guests danced and silver bags of almonds and biscotti favours with the bride and groom’s photograph emblazoned were handed out as wedding mementoes for the guests. Gianni forgot nothing. And the huge multi-layered Italian wedding cake, topped with the traditional figures of the bride and groom, impressed Grace the most.

  Gianni’s new daughter fell in love with the cake, and such was her delight that Gianni had a tiny version created for her Barbie house so that she could have weddings galore with her friends.

  After discussion with Emma and Rex, Gianni arranged for Emma’s parents to move from Brisbane and back into the family home. He’d secured the services of two sisters and their husbands as twenty-four-hour carers, all trained and empathetic in the care of the disabled, for Clare. Never again would Emma have to worry that her mother was unhappy away from her home.

  The house was adjusted to make it easy for Clare to be cared for, and Rex could return to the town and friends that he’d grown up with. They too shared the joy of their daughter’s wedding without the responsibility of keeping Clare safe and happy.

  Late on the night of their wedding, the newlyweds stood on the deck of their isolated chalet, and gazed out together over the moonlit stillness of the lake.

  In the distance Gianni heard the wind chimes as they pealed joyfully like the antique organ from one of the chapels in his homeland. As he cradled the warmth of his wife’s slender hand in his he stared out at the star-filled sky and thanked God and the woman beside him for the joyful turn his life had taken.

  He pulled her back against his body, her softness like balm to his now quiet soul and the tiny bulge of her stomach firm beneath his hand reminding him of more fulfilment to come. He rested his chin on the top of her head and sighed deeply as the last of the tension dropped from his shoulders.

  ‘We must have chimes in our new home,’ he said, ‘I find such pleasure when the breeze stirs them.’

  Emma turned in his arms and smiled before she leaned up and kissed him with a teasing promise of more. ‘There’s no wind, my love. It’s our lyrebird bringing his wedding gift to us. Our own special lyrebird to keep us safe for the future.’

  ‘Cara mia, ti voglio bene,’ he said in Italian as his heart swelled. ‘My darling, I love you.’

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-7532-8

  MIDWIFE IN THE FAMILY WAY

  First North American Publication 2010

  Copyright © 2010 by Fiona McArthur

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