Massimo still remembered the first time he had laid eyes on Alice Dawsey, even though it was more than six years ago.
Of course, with his father and her grandfather being such close friends, that was not the occasion on which they had met. A couple of times, they had ended up bumping into each other during Lucas Dawsey's visits to Italy or during the parties that Tommaso promoted for his partners in the USA. However, that party at the Peterson house was the first time he actually looked at her, without the two of them being two children acting strangely.
She had just turned 18 and, hell, he even felt guilty about being 4 years older, but he still couldn't take his eyes off her the entire night. Amber Dawsey was certainly in the most expensive dress and was much louder, but he wasn't one of the dozens of men she managed to catch the eye of during the party. Even
“Are the cookies ready, mommy?!” a tiny body hugged Alice’s leg as she finished placing the latest batch of cookies on the Bianchis’ kitchen counter.“Your favorites are almost ready, darling.” She took off the oven glove to stroke Millie’s hair for a moment “They just need to cool down.”“Did you do the others I asked for?” Her daughter asked, with an expectation that left Alice confused.“The ones with caramel and chocolate drops? Yes, I did. They're over there." She pointed toward the end of the kitchen counter, though her eyes were on Millie's delighted expression “Are you sure you want to eat them? I thought you didn't like caramel that much...”“Uh... Yes, I'll eat.” Mil
“What letter is that?” Alice asked, holding up one of Millie's old colorful cards, which had actually belonged to herself in her childhood."B!" Millie raised her finger excitedly.“And what word starts with B?”“Bee!” Millie looked for the bee figure among the various illustrations that were spread across the table, until she managed to help Alice put the two together.“You are so smart!” Alice pulled her close, hugging her until Millie was laughing, trying to pull away “So, shall we draw the bee and try to write its name, like we did with the apple?” She sat her baby in her lap, reaching for the blank sheets of paper and the colored pencils that were also on the table “You're getting so good at this...&r
“Massimo!” Thea gasped, like a mother who had just seen her son get into an accident, but she didn't even have time to take more than a few steps into the room before a shout from Massimo stopped her.“Don’t come near me!” he growled, but even though he was trying to hide his face as he was struggling to stand up using only his arms, Alice could see the pain and humiliation in his expression “Neither of you! If you don’t want to be thrown out of this mansion right now, then you better stay where you are!” His voice sounded harsher and more menacing than usual, his limp legs making harrowing sounds over the broken glass, dragging the shards across the carpet and certainly forming some cuts in the fabric of his sweatshirt and on his skin.“Massimo, please...” Josiah held his crying wife by the shoulders,
“You shut up too!” Massimo raised his finger in her direction, angry as if she had stabbed him “Me and my treatments have nothing to do with you! You have no idea what I went through to end up this way and what I'm willing to do to get back to the way I was! I don’t give a fuck if you’re a nurse or not. You’re not even my wife to want to meddle in my affairs!”“Believe me, when you’re in a hospital bed again, you’ll be sorry for this.” Alice countered, wishing that all the worry she felt for that man could just disappear, so her heart wouldn't have to break a little more every time she looked at him “I just hope you can realize how wrong you are before your attitude push away everyone who still cares about you, Massimo.”Unable to stand being there any longer, Alice just turned her ba
“Get that rubbish out of my sight, Thea. I already said I won’t touch it.”That phrase, coming from Massimo, was the first thing Alice heard when she and Millie entered the dining room hand in hand, still in their pajamas, finding Massimo sitting there, with the room completely dark. Some fruit, a sandwich and a bowl of what looked like oatmeal were in front of him, while Thea remained standing by his side, observing his haggard and exhausted expression, with deep circles under his eyes...At least, until he saw Alice there.“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled, his posture changing completely, like a porcupine bristling “Do you have any idea what time it is? Why did you get the girl out of bed so early?”“Millie
“Massimo!” Thea gasped, but Alice just held her shoulder, calming her.“So, you just want to do what you want, right?” Alice raised an eyebrow “Okay then.” Calmly, she pulled his plate away from him, making Massimo groan.“What do you think you’re doing?!”“If you're not willing to do something that you know will only be good for you, then that means you're not willing to do the rest either, I believe.” She raised an eyebrow, moving to where he couldn't reach her “Or was I wrong? Thea, could you get the medicine back, please? Since Mr. Bianchi wants to eat, that means he is also willing to do whatever he needs, right?”“You...” Massimo glared at her, cornered as if he had been caugh
“And that’s Rainbow Dash! She likes to fly, so she will stay on your lap where it is highest.” Millie skipped across the garden until she reached where Massimo was, placing her little plastic pony on his knee.“Uh... Thanks. I will take care of her.” Massimo promised hesitantly, taking the toy between his hands as if he didn't know what to do with it, and Alice wasn't very successful in containing her laughter, as he immediately turned to her, irritated "I think I've already had a sunbath long enough. Why don’t we continue this game inside?” he offered to Millie, as careful and gentle as if he were dealing with a soap bubble.“But we just arrived.” Millicent blinked, confused “We still have plenty of time to play!” She clapped her hands, running to get one of her baby dolls, but instead
“Look at that.” Emma Bianchi narrowed her eyes, almost as if she was looking at an insect “It seems that your condition is not as critical as your lawyers said to find an excuse to further delay the process of transferring positions in the company.”“Mother...” the man next to her, who Alice knew very well was Massimo’s half-brother, Dante Bianchi, tried to calm his mother, but neither Emma nor Massimo paid any attention to her.“Do you want me to call the police to get you off my land...?” Massimo questioned, intimidatingly “Or do you want to do this with your own legs, Emma?”“Still disrespectful even after all that’s been through, I see.” His stepmother raised an eyebrow “I thought a situation like this would have at least t
“Look! Here comes our lovely bride!”At the sound of her aunt's cheerful and even slightly emotional voice, Millicent forced a smile, trying to look as light and happy as possible as she walked towards them, as any bride should be. Around her, the engagement party continued exactly as she had left it, flawless with drinks being served to smiling guests and the decor without a single flower petal out of place. Everything was perfect and she could see that everyone there, especially her family, also thought the same.And knowing that almost made her regret what they were about to witness.“You look so beautiful, Millie…” her Aunt Heidi was the first to come over, wrapping her in a warm hug “God, I can hardly believe that soon we will actually see you in a wedding dress and walking into a church...”“You look like you were a little girl just a few hours ago…” Thea, who had been her nanny throughout her childhood, took another tissue from the almost empty box on her lap “And now you are go
Today is officially the last day of publications and, for that, I have a lot to thank all of you for!This was my first story to get an official rating and also my first story to get over 30k (I hope it can reach 50k over time) and I owe it all to you. Thank you so much for commenting, sending gifts, gems and leaving reviews! A part of this story was written by you too, because I wouldn't have been able to get this far without all of your encouragement. I really hope to see you all in my next stories S2 S2 S2Thank you to Shelyn, Lhyn, Sabrina Philemon, Guille C, Rachel, Shantel Osgood and Penny Zagrafidis for always leaving comments. It was always wonderful to wait to read what you thought of the story, as well as all the other amazing people who left a comment.Many thanks to Abc Xyz, Lhyn, Irene Kibanya, Shanna-deen Knight, fizztae45, Arabella, Sarah, Lin Que, Kathrin Kähler, Moonlit tales, Shelyn, tina, Sabrina Philemon, Gabrielle, Blue_Hisbiscus, KayJay, Rachel, essstj, Guille C,
“You look so beautiful, Debbie... Isn't it amazing how that dress makes your hair color pop?” Evangeline hummed, and, even though she struggled, Deborah had her chin held and was forced to look at her own reflection in the mirror before them. “You… You really think so?” she swallowed nervously. “Of course! This will be perfect to shut up all those mean girls who are always talking about how this beautiful red is a mark of the God of Discord. Oh, I would give anything to have hair like that too...” Evangeline sighed, running her fingers through her perfectly straight, snow-white hair. "Do not say that. Your hair is perfect. How could it not be? It is a symbol of the Moon Goddess.” Deborah turned to face her cousin, intertwining their hands “And, don’t worry. I know that before I was always wetting your shoulder with my tears because of this, but... Iron is always saying that my hair is beautiful, so... I have no reason to cry anymore. Whenever he tells me I'm completely perfect...
“Okay, honey. Now… Open your eyes.” Alice asked and, when Millicent opened her eyes and looked at her reflection in the mirror, the smile that appeared on her face made her mother's heart more than happy. “That’s amazing, Mom!” Millie smiled to herself, moving closer to the reflection to observe in more detail the way Alice had painted her eyelids “I’m… I’m pretty, right?” she asked with a shy smile, as her hands nervously twisted the hem of the dark green dress, the same color as her eyes, that she was wearing. “You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, honey.” Alice sniffled, holding her daughter's face, unable to stop the tears from flowing. “Mom, please… Don’t cry again.” her daughter asked, hugging her. "Sorry. It’s just… One day you were my little girl, running around the house wanting to play with your dolls and now… You’re a 16 year old girl, almost as tall as me and getting ready for your first date.” she had to stop once again to stop herself from bursting int
“And this is the role of fibroblasts in the healing process.” Alice spoke on the phone, as she took her pie out of the oven, happy to see that the dough had turned golden and crispy, exactly how her husband liked it “You can read more about this in the Cell Biology book. Any other questions, Lindsey?”“No, Alice.” the freshman sighed on the other end of the line, clearly relieved “You saved my life. And thank you for letting me record our conversation, it will help me a lot to review all of this for the next test. I just hope it’s not as killer as the last one.” she lamented “Mrs. Doherty was right. You are the best monitor we could ask for.” “It’s just my job.” Alice laughed, opening the cabinet doors where the dishes were “Now, if you don't have any more questions, I'll hang up now, okay? And, if any of your friends comment they tried to contact me this weekend and couldn't, can you let them know that I'm busy? And also remind them that my work as a monitor can only take place dur
“I… I’m sorry if your father isn’t a good father.” Millicent said, feeling like it wasn't right to leave him alone there, even though he clearly wanted that "My mother also had very bad parents and they hurt her a lot, until she found out they had lied and were not her real parents…”“I don’t think I’ll be that lucky.” he grumbled, not looking at her.“Well, that's bad, but that's not what I was going to suggest. When I was very little, mommy… I mean, my Mom told me that bad parents make their children wonder what they did wrong to be treated badly. But the real question should be: how can a father or mother be so mean to their own child? Never let the bad words of your family get to you. Just because a person is your family, doesn't mean he or she is right about yoy.” Millicent recited, although the memories of her mother's words were a little blurry, coming from the time when they still lived in that small room in the Dawsey mansion and she didn't even know her father existed.“That
“Okay, class. We are already accommodating your parents in the main auditorium.” Mrs. Keeley, one of the 3rd grade teachers, clapped her hands as she entered the classroom full of children, quickly grabbing the basket full of cookies that was on the table "Everything is ready, so Miss Shepherd will be calling you any moment, okay? Don't forget the chorus of the song and much less the part reserved just for your father. I’m counting on you!” she said, her voice so fast it was almost difficult to understand, as she left the room once again, practically running towards the auditorium where the Father's Day performance would take place. “You shouldn’t have left putting those bows on the brownies at the last possible moment, Poppy!” Cassie grumbled, but still didn't stop applying the glue stick to the glittery paper bows. “It’s not my fault!” Poppy whimpered, desperately trying to glue the bows onto the cellophane of the brownies she was giving her father as a gift “Mom told me she would
“And, as a last question, Mrs. Bianchi, how do you feel, as the creator, seeing your social project come so far and reach so many people positively?” the reporter asked, turning the microphone towards her as the cameras were turned towards them. “It’s a wonderful feeling. Every day, we receive several families who are unable to even obtain a loan to pay their medical expenses and, here, we are able to serve them in the best possible way, often restoring the quality of life that they had lost a long time ago. It's teamwork from a fantastic team of not only nurses, but also doctors and other healthcare professionals, who I was very lucky to be able to bring together here to support this initiative. My expectations for the future are that we can further expand our capabilities and be able to serve oncology and kidney patients soon.” “That’s great to hear.” the reporter said, his excessively white teeth gleaming against the sun as he smiled at the camera. “And that was our interview with
“Elise?” His voice cracked, sounding almost as if all the air had been stolen from his lungs."Are you okay?" she murmured, moving even closer to him to caress his face, her hands feeling as soft as he remembered “Did you have a nightmare? You were talking in your sleep, but I couldn’t understand…”“Elise?! Is it really you?” Micah sat up with a start, but only managed to feel even more confused when he realized he was lying on a bed, in Elise's youthful room, with the same lilac wallpaper and one of the walls covered in sheet music, next to her grand piano. A few meters away from the bed was the balcony, with the glass doors ajar, where he used to sneak into her room after climbing the large empress tree that was right next to it.“Of course it's me…” her eyebrows furrowed more and more “Are you sure you're okay, Micah? I know you spent the whole day helping your father prune the trees in the garden. If you want to go home and get some rest, I don't mind. We can do it another night…”