January 19, 1914
Rose stretched as far as she could into the top cupboard to put away the dishes. It was after noon and she was about to prepare a little lunch for herself and Maria. Today was Rose’s day off from the theater. Jack had hired Fabrizio to work in the gallery as a sales assistant. It was something that they both enjoyed, spending most of the day in each other’s company after being apart for such a long time.
Rain beat down heavily and the black clouds promised it would continue for a while. Rose looked out the window and sighed heavily. She heard footsteps coming from one of the bedrooms and assumed that Maria had awakened. She was due to give birth any day now.
Rose was growing excited to meet the children. Seeing Maria’s pregnancy had caused Rose to feel slightly broody, but she and Jack were young, and even though they had not yet talked about children, she hoped they would be able to have a child of their own soon.
Maria approached the kitchen in her nightdress, holding her swollen stomach. Rose looked at her sympathetically, knowing how difficult it was for her to get comfortable.
“Are you all right?” she asked her as she sat down at the dining room table.
“I don’t know.” Maria held her head, feeling a slight headache. “I haven’t slept at all and the babies don’t seem to be moving very much.”
Rose filled up the kettle and put it on the stove to boil before sitting next to Maria at the table. “Maybe they are ready to come into the world.” Rose smiled, touching Maria’s hand slightly. In recent months, the two had grown very close.
Maria turned to Rose, tears in her dark brown eyes. “I do hope so.” She smiled through her tears. “I can’t wait to meet them, to see my Fabrizio hold his children.”
Rose had never witnessed anyone so happy as Maria and Fabrizio. Despite Maria’s past, Fabrizio had fallen in love with her. “He will be a wonderful father.” Rose knew that he would be. Somewhere deep inside, though, she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of the fact that Maria was having children.
“He will be. Fabri has been so great to me. After you and Jack left Paris, I got into trouble with a client. He…well…he raped me.” Maria looked at Rose. “That is why I had to make sure you got away from it all. I knew what the bastards were like. I roped you in simply because I was jealous of you and Jack.”
Rose squeezed her eyes shut. She breathed out heavily and stroked Maria’s hand. “But that’s all in the past now. You need to forget about all of that now, Maria,” Rose told her. Since Maria’s arrival in Santa Monica, she had not forgiven herself for what she had roped Rose into back in Paris. She doubted she ever would. “You’re about to have two babies. You need to concentrate on that now, not the past.”
Maria felt a slight twinge in her stomach and her face screwed up slightly at the pain. It wasn’t unbearable, but she knew that soon she would be in labor. “I can feel them coming.” Maria smiled, putting a hand on her stomach and feeling slight movement from the babies.
“Maybe you should go back to bed,” Rose suggested. “Save all of your energy in case your contractions start today.”
“I think I should.”
“You go. I will fetch you some lunch. You will need it in case those babies decide to come into the world today.”
Rose watched as Maria disappeared into her bedroom. She moved slowly and knew that soon there would be two newborn babies around the house. She contemplated sending John, the young man from next door, to fetch Fabrizio, not wanting to leave Maria alone in the house.
Pulling out a small sack of potatoes, Rose thought about what to make for dinner—something simple. Rose was lost in her own thoughts of Maria when she heard her shout. Knowing something was wrong, Rose immediately rushed into the bedroom to see that Maria’s nightdress was wet and covered in blood.
“Oh, my.” Rose quickly ran into her own bedroom and pulled out a linen nightdress. “Let’s get you changed and then I will send John to get Fabri and the doctor.”
Maria nodded, allowing Rose to help her out of her wet nightdress. “Ouch.” Maria fell backwards slightly, feeling a contraction. Rose offered her hand. She held it, squeezing it slightly until the pain subsided. It wasn’t too bad, but she knew that it would get worse. Once in the nightdress, Rose helped Maria back into bed before running next door to ask John to fetch Fabrizio from work. He was soon to be a father.
*****
Two hours later, Maria’s labor hadn’t progressed very far. Dr. Howard had come forty-five minutes before and told Maria that labor could take a while. Fabrizio was at his wife’s side, holding her hand and wiping her forehead. All Jack and Rose could do was look on and wait.
It wasn’t until four hours later that Maria pushed her babies into the world with Rose by her side. Fabrizio had been shooed out of the room when Maria was ready for pushing. Loud cries could be heard coming from the bedroom.
Rose emerged with tears in her eyes. She had just witnessed the most wonderful thing. Fabrizio stood and Rose held out her hands to him before hugging him just once.
“You have two beautiful children. A girl and a boy.”
Fabrizio jumped up and down before Jack patted his back. He was hesitant as he walked into the room where his wife had just brought their children into the world, but as he saw her cradling their babies, tears fell freely from his eyes.
Dr. Howard pulled down his sleeves and smiled as he saw the look on Fabrizio’s face. This was one of the most rewarding parts of his job, seeing the happiness on the parents’ faces.
“Oh, Maria, darling. They’re angels.” Fabrizio sat on the bed and stroked his wife’s soaked hair before kissing her forehead gently.
“They were worth the pain.” Maria couldn’t take her eyes away from the children. “Would you like to hold them?”
Fabrizio looked at them, so tiny and fragile. He had never held a baby before and didn’t want to hurt them in any way. He looked at the doctor, worry evident in his eyes. Dr. Howard smiled. He was only thirty years old himself, but had delivered plenty of babies. Fathers always seemed to be the most nervous when it came down to holding their offspring for the first time.
“Don’t worry. You won’t hurt them,” Dr. Howard told him.
Slowly, Fabrizio took his son from Maria and looked at him intently. Both were beautiful children, with olive skin and dark hair, which they had obviously inherited from both of their parents, although their lips resembled their mother’s.
“What will we name them?” Maria asked Fabrizio, tears in her eyes.
“I’d like to name our daughter Amelie after my mother.”
Maria felt her daughter move around in the small blanket in her arms. The name fit her nicely. She felt like an Amelie.
“And our son?”
“Jacob.”
“Amelie and Jacob Di Rossi.” Maria spoke almost silently, waiting for the reality to sink in that she was actually a mother. The children really were gifts from God. A small knock sounded at the door and Jack poked his head in.
“Is it all right to come in?” he asked quietly, seeing the lovely scene before him.
“Of course. Come in,” Fabrizio whispered.
Dr. Howard went to the door and took a look at the new family. “I have to go. If you need anything, just drop by the hospital. I will have one of my nurses drop by in a week or so to see how the little ones are doing,” he told them.
“Thank you so much.” Maria readjusted the way she was sitting and felt some pain from giving birth. She would be sore for a while.
“Congratulations.” Rose bent over Fabrizio’s shoulder and looked at the baby. She felt happy for her friends, but she also felt as though this was what was missing from her life. She felt she could raise a child now. She felt the need to be a mother.
“Do we have names?”
“Jacob and Amelie,” Fabrizio told them.
*****
Three hours later, Maria had fallen into a deep sleep, exhausted from the day’s events. The babies were asleep in their crib and Fabrizio sat in the parlor with Jack. The two smoked cigarettes and Jack had opened a bottle of wine in celebration of the birth.
“I cannot believe it, Jack. I am a father.” Fabrizio grinned, taking a puff from his cigarette. He hadn’t smoked in such a long time. Jack’s lips curved into a smile.
“You’re all grown up.” Jack took a sip from his glass. His face screwed up a little. He wasn’t a huge wine drinker and wasn’t too keen on the drink.
Silence fell for a few seconds. Fabrizio finished his cigarette and stubbed it out before turning his attention to Jack. Four years they had known each other, and Jack had grown up a hell of a lot more than he had. Jack had fallen in love with Rose the first time he had met her and Fabrizio had seen the two of them grow closer during their time in Paris.
“I’m so glad that you have seen my babies, Jack.”
Jack blew out smoke and looked at Fabrizio. “So am I, Fabri. It didn’t feel right, not having you around. When Rose and I left Paris, I missed you so much.”
Fabrizio nodded. “The house was lonely without you.”
Jack smiled, knowing how he felt. After leaving Paris, he had felt like he had left so much behind, but he knew he had to sacrifice everything for Rose. Jack’s mind wandered back to Tommy and Sharon, the friends they had made in Ireland but who had been lost on the Titanic. Jack had never found out what happened to them, and thinking about the fact that Sharon had died while heavily pregnant made him feel sick to his stomach. He hoped they had found peace somewhere now.
“You know, Fabri, Rose and I met this Irishman and his sister when we sailed on the Titanic. He was Irish through and through. He was such a good guy.” Jack took another sip of his wine. Closing his eyes, he thought of all of the souls who lost their lives. “He died with the ship and his sister.”
“Oh, Jack…”
“I think you would have liked him.” Jack smiled.
Silence fell for several seconds before a shrill cry sounded. Fabrizio immediately stood and ran to attend to his children. Jack reflected on how different things were now. Fabrizio and Maria were parents. He and Rose had a new life in Santa Monica. They were all growing up.