The Blossom of Rose

Epilogue

7 years later

Summer rays of the sun illuminate our house from the arched windows fitted into the gold-accented walls. A calm breeze floats its way through the kitchen from the open patio where the laughs of the children sing into my ears. I cut the sandwiches up into little triangles and place them neatly onto the cheeseboard.

Carlos, our 5-year-old son, is sitting up on the counter reading his book aloud to me, "the b-ea-r had br-ow-n brown f-ur fur..."

"Good try," I encourage him quickly glancing at the sentence in the book, "but what sound do e, a and r make when they're together?"

His small eyebrows furrow together and it baffles me how much he looks just like Luca when he does that.

Carlos is the quiet, intelligent one. Luca even told me he reminded him a lot of himself when he was younger before tragedy struck him.

"e, a, r. It makes ear," he perks up proudly and I nod my head with a smile, "b-ear. Bear."

"Well done. Good boy," my eyes rake in simply how happy that realisation made him and my heart warms.

I finish chopping up the strawberries, orange slices, raspberries and blueberries and then align them all next to each other. Then, I wash my hands and in a separate bowl, I cut up an apple and add some more orange slices and grapes simply for Gianna since she's allergic to berries. I made some ham and cheese sandwiches, normal cheese sandwiches since Aurelia doesn't like ham and a tuna sandwich for Carlos because he's lactose intolerant.

Yeah, being a mom is stressful but luckily I haven't gotten their preferences mixed up.

"Mama," Gianna's 4-year-old voice calls and she runs over wrapping her little arms around my legs.

She's been out with Marco for the past two hours. He uses her to get the attention of women because, and I quote, women adore men who can take care of innocent children and I adore my adorable niece. But, she is also undoubtedly his favourite out of all of them so he loves spending time with her.

"Hi, Gia," I rub the back of her head, "how was your day?"

She blabbers in her timid voice about Uncle Marco taking her to the carnival and meeting a girl who he thought pretty.

"I got a date with the woman," Marco smirks, lifting Gianna to the sink to wash her hands and his own.

"You need to stop using my daughter," I roll my eyes at him, adding five of the mini packet of Oreos next to the fruit.

"Your mama's being mean to me," he pouts at Gianna with a whiny voice and then steals one of the crisps from the board, making me glare at him. Gianna sends me an adorable scowl to defend her uncle.

I continue preparing the picnic and screw my eyes shut when they cloud with black, dancing spots. I shake my head to rid myself of them and grab the counter to keep my balance.

"Carlos. You and GiGi go outside," Marco says and then adds finality in his tone, "now."

Their footsteps echo away but they sound a little disorientated as do Marco's words of asking if I'm okay.

As I step away from the counter, the black spots dance in my vision again and I grab my head while my legs can't hold my weight anymore, causing me to sway.

"Woah, I got you. I got you," Marco catches me by the waist and sets me down on a chair. The hum from the fridge lets me know he's filling up a cold glass of water for me and I press that to my head when he gives it.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Ever since I woke up this morning I've been feeling off. It's...weird," I try to explain the best I can and the cold water causes a calming sting down my throat.