Chapter 09
Sixteen years of age...
Seven months +2weeks+ 3days pregnant....
I''m standing at the bus stop with the sun harshly beaming down upon me. Her torturous rays of light
are relentlessly expelling sweat from my tensed body. I feel dirty, like a sweaty pig. It''s only eight
o''clock in the morning. And already. I feel the sudden urge to drown myself in a cold shower. I''m
standing here patiently waiting for my queen to walk around the corner. It isn''t an easy task to do so
this morning. Yet, here I stand. Tall and eager as ever. I always make sure I leave home thirty minutes
earlier than Celeste. This very bus stop is our chosen destination to meet up. Just so we can walk hand
in hand to school together. I leave early making sure her mother sees me exit the house. If I don''t, she
will escort my Celeste to school and embarrass her. Seventy per cent of the time she does not show
and it makes me wild. Knowing she''s being kept home, missing out on school. Just because Mrs
Maddison doesn''t want me near her. Like,ing to school with a full and rounded belly isn''t mentally
and physically hard enough. I know my Celeste puts on a brave face even when she''s dying on the
inside.
I look up and watch as she rounds the corner sporting a baggy hoodie and maternity tights. She looks
more ravishing with every passing day. I walk up to her and ce my hand firmly on her swelling belly.
"Ciao figlia mia," I say in Italian.
"Hello, my daughter." I trante in English looking into Celeste''s eyes.
She ces her hand over mine and smiles.
"You are adorable, you know that Gio?" She giggles, patting my hand.
"Come on, we need to go if we''re gonna make it to ss on time." She groans as she rubs the small of
her back, sighing.
"You sore Caro mio?" I take her backpack from her and swing it over my shoulder.
"Just a little." She sighs again, looping her arm through mine.
"Mama said she can order you a baby bump belt if it will help."
"My mum would only question me where it came from and it will only end up in the bin." She breathes
heavily.
"You just say the word and I''ll let mama know. I can get papa to write you out a prescription for some
ibuprofen?" I say walking. Trying to keep a slow and steady pace for her.
"I don''t feelfortable taking that stuff. I''m young and I don''t know the risks it will have on our baby."
There''s a tinge of worrycing her words.
"Papa wouldn''t prescribe it if there was a slight chance of hurting either one of you," I say, scowling at
the footpath.
"I know.." She sighs. "I''m sorry. I''m just really tired and sore. Things are getting a bit difficult to do on
my own and homes thest ce I want to be. If it wasn''t for Nessa I would have left a long time ago."
My blood starts to simmer, I hate hearing her say, she no longer wants to be at home. Home is
supposed to be your safe haven. If it can''t be your safe haven, then what is it?
"How is little Ms Nessa?" I ask out of curiosity.
I''ll inform Luca of her well beingter this evening. I know he has a crush on her, even though he
denies it repetitively. But, I do love to tease him on a daily basis. It''s one of my favourite pass time
activities...
" She won''t stop stealing my things the little horror." She chuckles, brushing the loose strands of hair
away from her tired face.
"Still adorable as ever then?" It was my turn to chuckle.
"Yes and no."
"Does she have any idea she''s going to be an aunt?" I question.
"No, my parents don''t want her getting attached to something, that won''t have a ce in her life," She
looks up at me with watery eyes. "She thinks I''m eating too much and putting on a lot of weight."
I stop walking and turn to face her.
"Your parents won''t get the chance to put our child into the system, Celeste," I growl. "The Venturi''s will
never let that happen," I promise her.
"How can you say that if you won''t even be here for her birth?" Her bottom lip begins to tremble.
"Papa and Mama promised me. I believe them and so should you. They have never let me down." I
bring her hand up to my lips and press a kiss on the inside of her palm.
"We are family, Venturi''s never left anyone behind no matter what," I inform her of the Venturi way.
~No man left behind.~
" I wish things were different." She says sadly.
"If things were different we wouldn''t have our bundle of joy to look forward to." My heart sinks with her
N?velD(ram)a.?rg owns this content.
loss of faith.
If things were different, we wouldn''t exist together. And that''s a thought I can not swallow, without
wanting to choke.
"I. I just... I can''t do this anymore Gio. I have no freedom, I rarely get to see you, and my mother is
doing my head in. I feel like she''s trying to brainwash me and it''s a battle I''m slowly losing." Tears start
to slowly fall from her beautiful eyes.
"It doesn''t matter how many battles we lose. It''s about winning the war and I can''t do that without you,
Tesoro." I swallow the lump that''s forming in the back of my throat.
With every passing second, I start to realise this is not the Celeste I fell in love with. The Celeste I fell in
love with, was strong, funny and optimistic. It''s crushing my soul knowing that her soul is being
tormented behind closed doors. And there''s not a damn thing I can do, to prevent the damage from
flooding into her gorgeous heart.
~I am not a boy, not yet a man.~
But what am I Giovanni Alberto Venturi meant to do, to stop a broken heart forming in my queens
chest?