Marina One Shot (EN) - Part 2

For Better Or Worse

Carina and her brother Andrew had been living with their grandparents for four years, since their mother Lucia passed away. They lived in Belpasso, a small village near Catania in Sicily.

Once a year, they spent the summer with their father. Each time, they hadn't been in the same town. But the last time, last year, they'd gone to join him in Seattle, and within a few months, Vincenzo had told them he'd met a woman.

As soon as school was out, they were to join their father in Seattle, but this time, Vincenzo had asked them to move in with him and his new partner. He was finally going to settle down.

This constant moving was one of the reasons they hadn't brought them with him in the first place.
They were still young and he didn't want to lug them from city to city, school to school.

But today, Seattle was serious, with this woman it was serious; so serious, in fact, that he had told them they were engaged to be married this summer, just waiting for their children so they could all be present for their union.

Yes, because in addition to inheriting a stepmother, without having lived with their father for four years, they were inheriting a brother a year older than Andrea and a sister a year younger than Carina.

The boy, Mason, had already been living with Vincenzo and Katherine since they'd moved in together; as for the girl, Maya, she'd been living normally with her father, who'd won custody of her in the «division of property».

She lived with her father and went to a sports school five hours' flight from Seattle. In New Orleans. Unfortunately, her father had died two months ago and she would have to move back to Seattle to live with her mother.

Her father's friends Owen and Teddy had agreed to let Maya stay with them for the remaining two months of school, but at the end of the school year, at the start of the vacations, the blonde would be forced to go and live with her mother, which hadn't been the case since she was eight. Maya wasn't particularly close to her brother, or her mother, but with the recent death of her father, it wasn't as if she had much choice.

Carina and Andrea had arrived two days before Maya at Vincenzo and Katherine's house.
Andrea had his own room, as did Mason. Maya and Carina had to share «the attic» - it wasn't an attic in the true sense of the word, but it was a room under the roof that ran the length of the house, a very large room that had been emptied to make a bedroom for them.
The school system was different in Italy, and even though Carina was a year older, she would be in the same grade as Maya.

It had been decided that they would share the room because the boys would be staying longer with Vincenzo and Katherine, while the girls would be leaving in two years' time for university.
The room was about fifty square meters on the ground, and the slope of the roof was quite high, more than ten feet off the ground.
Vincenzo had repainted the whole room white, bought two large beds and separated the two spaces with a Japanese panel.
This way, they could each decorate their side as they wished. They also both had windows, both had closets he'd made himself and both had desks, so he'd done his utmost to make them feel at home in this room, even if it was shared.

- "Cosa vuol dire che devo condividere la mia stanza?" [What do you mean, I have to share my room?]

- "Mi dispiace, tesoro, so che non è l'ideale, ma tra due anni tu e Maya andrete all'università e se vuoi puoi invitare qualche amico." [I'm sorry, darling, I know it's not ideal, but in two years you and Maya will be going off to university and if you want you can invite some friends over].

- "Quali amici, papà? Tutti i miei amici sono a casa a Belpasso." [which friends, dad? all my friends are at home in Belpasso].

- "Carina, ti prego... sono passati quattro anni da quando abbiamo vissuto insieme e volevo davvero avere finalmente te e il tuo fratellino. Mi dispiace ricominciare la mia vita, so che sei arrabbiata con me, so che avresti preferito che rimanessi single, senza dubbio, rispetto a tua madre, ma io amo davvero Katherine. È una donna molto buona, sono sicuro che andrete d'accordo." [Carina, please... it's been four years since we lived together and I really wanted to have you and your little brother at last. I'm sorry to start my life again, I know you're angry with me, I know you'd have preferred me to stay single, no doubt, for your mother, but I really love Katherine. She's a very good woman, I'm sure you'll get on well together].