“Momma,” Avery says, coming over to me wearing her Cinderella gown, looking like a princess, the sound of her dress swishing along the way. Her hair is softly curled with a new tiara on her head, this one with baby-blue rhinestones to match the dress, obviously. “Look at my glass shoes.”
“They aren’t real glass,” Markos assures me. I chuckle and shake my head as she lifts her big poofy dress to show me the clear plastic shoes. “Vivienne knows someone who—” I laugh because whereas this would have shocked me, I don’t know why I’ve come to expect it.
“Look at them,” Vivienne says, the smile on her face from ear to ear. She also has changed into a beautiful baby-blue lace dress that fits her amazingly. “We should get a family picture.”
“Yes,” Stefano agrees, slipping his hand in mine, “let’s get a family picture.”
I walk with him to the corner of the patio and stand next to him. He places his arm around me, pulling me to his side, with Avery in front of us. Vivienne takes the picture and then I call over one of the people who are setting up this tea party. “Would you mind taking a picture of us?” I then look over at Vivienne. “Come on, Grand-mère,” I say in the best French I can muster. She comes over and stands next to me as Markos goes on the side of Stefano. The five of us smile for the picture. “Now,
just the three of you,” I tell Vivienne and Markos as they stand with Avery. Instead of standing behind her, Vivienne gets down to Avery’s level and Markos follows as they hug her in the middle. The picture is so beautiful, I know I’m going to get it framed for her room.
“Now, shall we have tea?” Vivienne asks, clapping her hands as Avery walks over to the table.
“Vivienne,” I call her name softly and she looks over at me. The smile on her face fades as she comes over to me.
“Is everything okay?” she asks me, the worry etched over her face.
Her hands reach for mine. “I just want to thank you,” I say nervously, “for everything you’ve done for us.”
“Oh, Addison.” She smiles. “I’m just thankful you aren’t keeping Avery from me.” She blinks away the tears and all I can do is squeeze her hand.
“I will never keep her away from you,” I say honestly. “My girl deserves all the love in the world.” I look over at Avery, who is sitting in a chair with Markos and Stefano on each side of her as she explains to them how to drink tea. They both hang on to every word she says as if she’s describing how the sun and moon work.
“We would do anything for the two of you,” Vivienne assures me softly and I look back at her.
“Nothing can take the place of your mom,” she says gently, “but I’ll be here for you in whatever you need even if it’s to talk about Stefano. Or complain about him. I love my son but no one is perfect.”
She tries to make a joke of it, but all I can do is try not to become a blubbering mess in front of her.
I swallow the lump in my throat, breathing out slowly before I answer her, “You’ve known about her for two weeks and you’ve done more than my mother has ever done for us. And she’s known about her for her whole life.”
“Are you guys going to join us?” Markos asks from his seat, holding a teacup with his pinky up.
“She’s already eating all the cakes.” I look over at Avery, who has chocolate on her cheek and also whipped cream on her nose. Stefano grabs a napkin and cleans her face and she just smiles at him, the two of them scrunching up their noses at each other.
I stand here while Vivienne walks over to the table and Markos gets up to pull out her chair. She kisses his lips softly before sitting down and grabbing one of the linen napkins to put across her lap.
Stefano gets up from his chair and comes over to me, bending his head. “Are you staying here so you don’t scuff the shoes?” he whispers in my ear and I can’t help but chuckle. “Do you want me to carry you there?”
“I’m good,” I reply, looking down and taking a step and then another one. He pulls out the chair for me, just like his father did to his mother. “Thank you,” I say and he bends his head and kisses my lips.
My eyes go big in shock, as he moves over to his own chair. “So we can assume you two are together?” His mother doesn’t skip a beat.
“We are,” Stefano says at the same time as I say, “We haven’t discussed it.”
His parents just look at us. “I remember that,” Markos says and Vivienne just rolls her eyes. “I sent her a fish.”