“Mommy? Can’t we go home?” Massimo murmured, trying to warm his cold little hands on the scarf full of holes that was around his neck.
“You’re home now, honey.” His mother spoke with a smile on her pale and tired face “And, soon, your father will take you to see America, too. Isn’t that exciting?”
“But, you’re going with me, aren’t you?” he practically begged, something bad squeezing his chest as they approached on foot that huge house, the biggest he had ever seen, just ahead.
“I…” Giulia hesitated, making Massimo sure that things weren’t as right as she was saying “If I’m feeling better, then I certainly will.”
“So why can’t we go to the
Even though his desire to continue standing in the middle of the darkness of his room was strong, Massimo still forced himself to go through his routine as if nothing was wrong. Bed, bathroom, wardrobe. Making the bed, cold water on his face to wake him up, and any clothes other than the boxers he'd been wearing to bed lately. Oh, and brush his teeth well, too. Millicent would always try to escape brushing her own teeth when she realized he hadn't done the same. Massimo had to be her example.Finally, with a long sigh, Massimo opened the door to his room, trying to lock inside not only that damned nightmare, but also the memories of all the disastrous birthdays he had ever had, since the day his mother had died.The ramp he had requested to be retrofitted to the main staircase was now ready, which meant he had much quicker access to the ground floor rooms than
“And then, now transformed into a real boy, Pinocchio lived happily ever after alongside his father, Geppetto, and the talking cricket.” Massimo closed the book on his lap, looking up to watch Alice pat Millie, who looked like she could barely keep her eyes open, but was still fighting sleep.“We played a lot, took a shower and listened to a story.” Alice took her hands off Millie’s back, laying her down on the bed “Now it’s time to sleep.”“But I want to talk to Massimo on the phone…” Millie yawned for a long time, raising her little hand towards the can on her bedside table, even though it was impossible for her to reach it.“We can do it tomorrow, honey.” Massimo laughed, moving closer to the two so he could cover Millie completely &ld
“Very well, Alice. You only go so far.” Massimo grumbled, just as Alice pushed his chair through the door to Dr. Lewis's office “Ask Josiah to take you somewhere. Just be here in an hour and a half.”“Are you sure you want me to stay? I can help with something...” she offered, preparing to take off his coat, but Massimo pulled at his jacket as if she were trying to undress him completely.“Having a family member around is always good, Massimo.” Dr. Lewis said, looking more relaxed than Alice had ever seen him so far “Are you sure you don't want to...?”“What happened to medical confidentiality?” Massimo growled, now sounding really angry “I want to do this alone. Which part didn’t you understand?”
After just over an hour of talking with Ruby Bennett, Alice felt more confused than ever as she walked down the clinic hallways toward Dr. Lewis's office. At the same time that this woman could sound more sincere than anyone else in the world, she also seemed to hold hundreds of secrets deep in her eyes. Well, not even Alice could deny that she was treating Lucy very well, almost to the point of being considered her friend, but...Was that in itself proof that she wasn't planning to attack Lucinda behind her back to get the position of daughter-in-law of Hugo Peterson, the oil tycoon?God, Alice needed to pause those thoughts and save them for later, before her head started to hurt. Now, she just needed to walk Massimo to his car so they could go home...“Alice.” The last voice she needed to hear called
“Stop it, Alice!” To her shock, Casey grabbed her wrist, almost making her lose her balance “Do you really think that cruel, paralyzed man is better than your family? And a brother-in-law who continues to worry about you even after you married the first man who came along?”"Let me go!" Alice tried to hit his shoulder, but Casey just grabbed her other wrist.“I don't know what kind of brainwashing he did to you, but if you don't take advantage of this opportunity now, you will regret it! You can believe my words! Massimo Bianchi has the potential to make your life and that of your daughter much worse than it is now...”“Get your hands off my wife!” A scream made them both stop and turn towards the end of the corridor, where Massimo was coming from, his chair faster tha
Alice’s old books of infectious diseases and wound dressings were probably a little out of date, but opening them to study a little still made her feel really good. If, for now, Massimo was avoiding giving an answer about her finding a job and a source of income for herself, then at least she could spend that free time studying so much as she could with the books, that her teachers had given her as a gift when they found out that she was going to leave college because of her pregnancy, and all the trustworthy websites that she could find on the internet.If she stopped to be realistic, then maybe she would stop believing that one day her dream of having a nursing degree would come true.And that was why, at least in that area of her life, Alice preferred to deceive herself.“Mommy! Mommy!” the ma
Hello, everyone! I'm here to thank everyone who has read Alice and Massimo's story so far. The only reason this story continues is because of your support! I promise that I will continue doing my best to maintain the frequency of two chapters a day in July! ^^Remember, if you like the story and want to help it go even further, consider leaving a comment, review or gem! Every help from you is precious!
“Lady! Lady! Look what a cool backpack Massimo got for me!”“Millie! Don't run! You might end up falling...! And don't leave your backpack that close to Lady! She might end up chewing and ruining it...” Alice tried to warn her daughter while at the car door, but obviously Millicent didn't pay her any attention, continuing to run towards the main door, with the colorful ball in her arms.“If Lady ends up turning the thing into her new chew toy, that’s okay.” Massimo shrugged, leaning on the car door so he could move to his wheelchair “There are three others in the store. The seller will keep them for us. What matters is that Millie is happy.”“You'll regret saying that when she becomes a teenager who asks you for things like jewelry and sports cars.” A
“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…”