Before You Say Goodbye

46

The whole day yesterday, Roman took me places around his hometown. The Kennedy Museum of Art and then a few vineyards. Showing me places that the locals usually take for granted, but the tourists do not.

Legs aching, dirty from playing in the vineyards, and starving, we had come home ready to scarf down anything we could get our hands on. Thankfully, Alice had cooked a feast. So many Italian specialties laid out in front of us; we laughed and exchanged stories as we ate the delicious food.

Because of all the tiring activities of the previous day, I woke up very late Wednesday morning. A heavyweight lay across my stomach and I groaned, shifting on my already uncomfortable bed. The mattress was hard than I was used to and kept me up most of the days, adding to that I didn't understand what this heavy thing on top of me.

Complaining to myself about the dead weight on me, I pried my eyes open, rubbing them with my hands to remove whatever sleep I had left in them. Looking down at my stomach, I groaned again. No, this can't be happening.

The heavy thing that lay on top of me was a hand and the body that it was attached to was Roman's. The more I tried to push his hands off me, the more he held on to me, tighter. "Roman," I pushed at his arm, "You're trying to kill me."

"Don't worry, I won't kill you," he mumbled, rolling us over. He held my back against his chest, "I like you too much."

Sighing, I let him cuddle me, "You're not supposed to be in here so late; what happened to 'stop whining, Adeline, I'll sneak out before the sun rises', huh?" I huffed, "Alice's going to kill us."

"Why do you keep talking about killing?" he asked, pressing a kiss into my neck, "It's too early for that."

Roman has been sneaking into my room the past two days and honestly, only after he was here I'm able to fall asleep. In the morning, he usually woke up before everyone else and sneaks back into his room so we don't get in trouble with Alice. We don't talk, we don't kiss, we just fall asleep in each other's arms and so far this has been the wonderful part of this vacation. And something I looked forward to every night.

"I'm serious. You need to get back to your room. Now."

"Okay, okay," he grumbled, rolling out of my bed. Standing over me, he leaned down pressing a kiss to my cheek, "I'm going to miss you."

I smiled. "I'll miss you too, you cheeseball. Go freshen up and meet me downstairs."

With the smile still on my face, I watched him open the door, looking both ways into the hallway before quickly sneaking out of the room. It took me a few more tries but I too finally got off the bed. I freshened up and after making sure I looked presentable, I made my way down the hallway.

"I just don't understand why you would bring that girl with you, Zia," a new, unfamiliar voice said, and realizing she was talking about me, I stopped short, listening in on their conversation.

"Because she's Roman's girlfriend and he wanted her here with him," Alice said, sounding exasperated, "And I also happen to like her a lot. You'll like her too, I'm sure, once you meet her."

"I doubt that," the woman's smug voice replied, "When I was young, my parents never let me go out of the state with someone they hardly know. My boyfriend was only allowed to talk to me under someone's supervision," she scoffed, "What kind of parents raises her?"

Right. So the judgy aunt was here.

Alice had mentioned during dinner last night that her sister's eldest daughter and her children might visit us today. Roman had then kindly given me a heads up on how arrogant and judgy his aunt Aida could be. What he failed to mention was the three boys and two girls she'd brought with them. I looked at them around the corner before hiding back behind the wall. Wow! How many kids does she have?