The lap of life

Chapter 19: Monaco, day 2 - museum

The morning was fresh and bright in Monaco when Toto decides to make your day special: after the quiet brunch the day before, you are ready for a new adventure and, knowing your passion for dinosaurs and fossils, Toto suggests to visit the Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology.

His vintage Mercedes awaited us, gleaming under the Mediterranean sun, and soon you found yourselves speeding along the picturesque streets of the city.

-

The museum turned out to be an architectural marvel, with its modern lines contrasting with the ancient history it housed inside.

You enter, welcomed by the cool air and the slightly dusty scent of ancient artifacts: the halls were spacious and well-lit, with glass cases protecting millennia-old objects.

But what immediately caught your attention is the gigantic skeleton of a mammoth in the center of the main room: its enormous bones were perfectly reconstructed, a towering testament to a bygone era; you stop, enchanted, to gaze at that immense fossil: every detail of the bones seems to tell a story of ancient times.

Toto approaches silently, putting an arm around your shoulders; you feel the warmth of his body through his light jacket, so you rest your head on his chest, without taking your eyes off the skeleton.

As you stood there, lost in your thoughts, an elegant woman approached: she wore a cream-colored slightly flared summer dress, reaching down to her knees, paired with a pair of golden sandals and her brown hair was gathered in an elegant chignon.

With her there is also a small child, perhaps five years old, dressed in an adorable T-Rex costume; his eyes sparkled with curiosity as he observed the fossil.

The woman stops next to you, looking at the mammoth but also at you with admiration.

"How wonderful to see a grown-up girl still spending time with her father," she says, with a friendly smile, "my older son doesn't want to do that anymore..."

Toto, perplexed, responds only with a simple "Eh?", that betrayed all his surprise.

Before he could say more, you decide to intervene; you smile at her and say "It's always nice to spend time together" and nod in farewell, then you take him by the hand, leading him to another room of the museum.

-

You walked through various halls, each filled with prehistoric wonders, until you found a quieter area, away from prying eyes; Toto is still confused and continues to look at you as if he wanted to tell you something but didn't have the courage.

"Are you still thinking about what the lady said before?"

"Lady?! She is surely younger than me..."

Congratulations y/n, you always say the right thing at the right time...

"My love, both you and I know that we have an age difference... How to say... Important. But we also know how much we love each other! You are important to me..."

"Meine Liebe, du weißt nicht, wie sehr ich dich liebe. Aber werde ich der Richtige für dich sein? Bist du sicher, dass du deine Jugend nicht verschwendest?" (trad., not heard by y/n: "My love, you don't know how much I love you. But will I be the one for you? Are you sure you're not wasting your youth?")

"Huh? What did you say?"

"That it's time for us to finish the museum tour if you want to get to the gift shop before it closes. Let's go honey"

-

After finishing your tour of the museum and buying plenty of souvenirs at the shop (Toto had helped you to choose some miniature fossils and reproductions of ancient tools), you head back to the car, with your bags full of prehistoric treasures.

The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky with golden and orange hues, as Toto started the engine and we drove home.

The soft hum of the engine and the picturesque scenery should have made the journey pleasant but you feel a strange tension in the air; looking at Toto you notice that, despite his effort to smile, his gaze is lost in thought, with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" you ask gently, breaking the silence.

Toto looks at you for a moment, his smile a bit more strained than before.

"Nothing, everything's fine" he replies but you can feel hesitation his voice.

"You know you can tell me anything," you insist, placing a hand on his shoulder, "what's bothering you?"

He sights deeply, keeping his eyes on the road.

"I was just thinking... How wonderful it is to spend time together, like today, but I wonder if we do enough, if I do enough for you..."

His words touch your heart.

"Toto, every moment we spend together is special to me. It doesn't matter what we do, what's important is that we're together!"

He nods but his smile remains sad...

"I know but sometimes I feel like I should do more, offer you more... Today at the museum was wonderful but then that woman... made me think..."

You squeeze his shoulder more firmly and and then slide your hand behind his neck, letting it enter the collar of his shirt making him shiver.

"You don't have to prove anything to anyone. What matters is that we're happy and I feel like in paradise when i'm with you, every day"

Toto smiles again, this time with more warmth.

"Thank you, really... I'm lucky to have you"

As you continued your journey home, the sun slowly set and the sky transformed into a blanket of stars.

You feel that, despite his worries, you are united and ready to face whatever the future held for us together; Toto thinks the same, even if he's planning something to show you (or maybe show the world) how much he cares about you.