16.  EVERYTHING WENT WELL

 Everyone is watching me as if they were waiting for me to say what he is asking. Especially mom who looks at me as if she wants to kill me. My father-in-law smiles waiting for me to do it, at my mother-in-law who turns red and lowers her gaze. But above all my eyes meet those of my dad who looks at me longingly.

"Ha, ha, ha..." I laugh nervously, I don't like this man at all. "Thank you, father-in-law," I say, while looking at dad, and I think I saw him half-smile when he heard me call him that.

"Bravo, how was the trip, did you like it?" My father-in-law continues to ask without taking his eyes off me.

"Everything was very nice, dad," Luis saves me by coming to join us, he's certainly keeping his promise not to leave me alone with them, for which I'm very grateful, they really make me nervous with their questions and insinuations, "but now let's eat, dinner will get cold. We'll chat later."

"Dad, are you coming?" I ask, stopping to wait for him.

Yes, Bella, I'm coming," he answers me, he has been distracted looking at the house.

 He apparently likes it because I've seen him smile on several occasions. I think he misses Mima and recognizes her in every detail she made. Luis again invites us to head to the table. And there we all went, we had it set up as Luis said, outside. The terrace is truly beautiful, and the night is lovely this time of year.

 "This is beautiful out here, son!" exclaims my mother-in-law, pleasantly surprised looking around. "It's clear you like flowers, Bella. Did you arrange this?"

 "No, ma'am. It was my grandmother, my grandparents built this house," I answer smiling.

 "Eva, I thought it had been you," she says, and I realize from the look my mother gives me that I've said something I shouldn't have, so I decide not to speak about the matter again.

 "Yes, yes, I did it with her, dear. We arranged everything together, I couldn't leave her alone, you know she's very ill."

 "I knew this exquisite taste had to be your work," my mother-in-law affirmed, and I could see how dad twisted his mouth in displeasure, but said nothing.

"Let's sit down," says Luis. "We hope you'll like what we've prepared with such short notice for this dinner. You should have told us a day or two in advance, poor Bella went crazy preparing everything."

 I like that he said that, although it was very kind, he made them understand that they shouldn't do something like this again. They didn't respond, just looked at each other in silence as they headed to the chairs to take their places.

 So we do, the men sit on the right side, the mothers on the other side, while Luis and I sit at the heads of the table, as good hosts. My mother doesn't stop talking with my mother-in-law as if the rest of us didn't exist. Dad talks with my father-in-law and occasionally, I've caught him looking at me. I smile when that happens and he looks away.

 When we finish, we move to the living room. Luis and I go up to our room to get the gifts, we really look like a married couple. He manages to carry most of them.

Joy reigns as we settle in the living room to distribute our gifts. Everyone appears quite thrilled. I, too, am astounded by my own performance. I have perched on the armrest of the chair where my husband sits, his arm casually resting over my legs.

 The evening passes with Luis spinning incredible tales of all the adventures we're supposed to have had. I simply echo his enthusiasm, exclaiming how marvellous each place he mentions is. Fortunately, neither my mother nor my mother-in-law feels inclined to inspect our bedroom.

As we say our farewells, the last to leave is my father, who, to my astonishment, embraces me more tightly than usual and inquires,

“Are you really all right, Bella?”

Dad lingers after his question, holding me by the shoulders and studying my face as if searching for something.

“Yes, yes... Dad, I'm very well; there's no need for concern,” I reply, somewhat bewildered by this unexpected display of affection. 

 I can't recall the last time he hugged me so earnestly. For a moment, I feel genuinely cherished by him. So this time, I hug him back firmly, and he responds in kind, even planting a kiss on my forehead. As we part, he gives me another penetrating look. What's gotten into Dad today? I wonder. Why this sudden change?

“Luis,” he turns to my husband, who, like everyone else, has been observing us. His tone carries a hint of warning as he says, “Take good care of her. Should anything happen to her, you'll answer to me. I won't have my only daughter suffer on your account. Do you understand? Don't forget who I am, Luis.”

“What do you say, dear?”

My mother intervened, prying Dad away as she always did. Whenever he came close like that, she would whisk him away, and he never resisted. However, today I saw him break free from her grasp and firmly shake Luis's hand. Judging by Luis's expression, it must have been quite a squeeze, until Mum let go and said,

“Luis adores her; he'd be incapable of harming Bella. Can't you see how happy they look? Right, Bella? He treats you very well, doesn't he?” she asked, casting me a threatening glance. I smiled at Dad reflexively, not understanding his behaviour, and nodded. Perhaps it was the wine? He hadn't stopped drinking all night or watching me.

“Dad, I'm fine, I'll call you anything, okay? Go quietly"  I say, trying to calm him down. I don't know what's wrong with him, but he's something different today. I think he even wants to take me with him.

“Don't worry, Mr Sardino, I'll take good care of her; she's my wife,” Luis assured him and looked scared. What's wrong with Dad? Why is he acting like that?