THIRD PERSON

Valentino took a shopping cart and pushed it toward a waiting Josephine. "Remind me again, why exactly do I have to go shopping with you on this beautiful Saturday? I still have to write an essay, and besides, it's much too cold." Shivering, he pulled his scarf closer to his face.

Josephine looked at him in confusion. "Well, 1. it's my turn to cook this weekend, 2. Matteo would have driven me too, but nobody seems to trust him, and 3. you were the first to say he would drive me."

"Barely my sister for a week, and she's already as cheeky as her brothers." He ruffled Josephine's hair and grinned. "What have I done to deserve this?"

With a red face, she quickly tried to smooth her short hair before running after him into the supermarket. She should have worn a hat. "And 4. you said you wanted to go to the library anyway!"

Valentino raised an eyebrow at her, and Josephine smiled innocently. "So I did? Well, if you say so, I have to believe you. After all, you would never lie to me, would you, Josie?"

"Never" is a big word, she thought, and felt guilty. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't worry, you can make it up to me with your Christmas present. Do you have all your gifts yet?" he asked, reaching for tomatoes. There were still a few days until Christmas, but just the thought of it stressed Josephine out a little. She was glad that everyone would give homemade gifts, so at least she didn't have to feel guilty about spending money. She had most of the presents already: she and Matteo would bake cookies for the housekeepers, the dogs would get a fallen branch, but she still had to ask Riccardo and Domenico to carry it because the branch was too heavy for her alone. With Valentino, she planned to watch a sunset from the rooftops of the city; he had told her how much he enjoyed seeing it in Spain. For Matteo, she made a herb bed for the windowsill because he was always complaining that he had to rely on dried herbs to cook in winter. Vito was getting a glasses case that Domenico said she could take and which she had painted with meaningful designs. All she was missing were gifts for Riccardo and Domenico, though she wanted to ask Vito for permission regarding Riccardo's gift. For Domenico, she planned to make a bracelet out of the laces from the shoes she was wearing when he found her, but she wasn't sure if that was a good idea.

"No, I'm still missing Domenico and Riccardo. What about you?" she answered, glancing at her list to see what ingredients she still needed for the meal. Did the recipe call for peeled vegetables, and if so, how much did the peel weigh?

Valentino grinned again. "Luckily, I have all mine. I can't imagine what would happen if I didn't have them all so close to Christmas! I would go crazy. I'm impressed that you can deal with it so calmly, Josie. I couldn't do that!" Josephine tried to maintain a neutral expression, but he could see how unsettled she was. "Sorry, that was mean. Are you looking forward to Christmas already?"

"I guess. What about you?"

"Oh, I love Christmas. It's the most wonderful time of the year! Rico and Matteo are on holiday, Vito and Domenico are usually off too, and we're all together. All the time. In a small space. It's a dream, my very own personal gift from Santa Claus," he explained expansively.

Josephine could already imagine why he liked it so much. "Because you like to cause chaos?"

"Exactly! Anyone can have a peaceful Christmas. Tension makes it a real celebration. How did you celebrate Christmas in the past?" asked Valentino as they wandered through the aisles. There really wasn't much going on for a Saturday.

"I've been to St. Benedict Church with Carl for the last few years. They hold a Christmas dinner every year, and you get a care package, and if you're lucky, other donated items. One year, I got a sleeping bag. That was great," Josephine recalled. "I don't really remember what it was like with my parents. I can remember presents, but I can't say if we had any traditions or what they were. Do you have any?"

"We eat a lot, play something, eat again, watch some kind of film, and then eat again. Which reminds me, we definitely have to watch a winter film tonight." Valentino looked around and spotted the cosmetics department. "Oh, perfect! I still need some Christmas red nail polish anyway. Well, we don't really have any traditions either. We used to visit our grandparents' house in Italy, but since we stopped flying there, everything has been a bit more relaxed."

She looked at him curiously as he walked purposefully to the nail polish shelf. "And why don't you fly there anymore?"

"It's probably because of me." He laughed. "You have to know that our grandparents are conservative in many—though not all—things, and I had a phase when I had very long hair." Valentino shook his head. "I don't know why I thought it suited me. Ask Domenico; he'll be happy to show you photos of it, but don't judge me! I was young and naive." He raised his index finger imploringly, and Josephine nodded quickly. "Where was I? Oh yes. In any case, Nonna didn't think it was funny at all and cut off my braid while I was eating. I've never seen Vito so angry." Valentino's face darkened briefly, but only for a moment. "We flew home that same day, and for a while, Vito blocked all contact with them until Nonna apologized to me. Now we fly back there in the summer, but since then, we've stayed here for Christmas. Luckily, if you ask me. My cousins are a handful; we're almost gentle compared to them." Josephine snorted and immediately tried to cover it with a cough. "Do you want to say something?"

"No." She quickly looked at the shelf and pointed to a nail polish. "What about that one?"

"Very well, I'll respond to your poor attempt at changing the subject." He looked at the nail polish. "Yes, that's good. What about you? Don't you want to buy one too?"

Josephine sucked in a breath in surprise. She should wear nail polish? Her? "That's not possible!" she blurted out uncontrollably. She couldn't wear nail polish!

Valentino looked at her, irritated. "And why shouldn't that work? Did you suddenly lose all your nails?"

"Because—because—," Josephine stuttered, feverishly searching for a convincing argument. She couldn't find a plausible one. "I don't know," she finally admitted.

"Very good. Then we've settled that. Go on, pick one, and when we get home, I'll help you put it on. If you don't like it then, we can always take it off again. What do you think of those neon pink ones?" He pulled a bottle from the shelf, but a look at her skeptical face made him put it back. "No, maybe something more subtle to start with. Which one do you like?"

She chose a color that wouldn't be too noticeable and felt strangely exhilarated as she placed it in the shopping cart. She had never owned nail polish before! As they continued, she asked why his cousins were a handful, and Valentino took a deep breath.

"First of all, you need to know that out of our sixteen male cousins, ten work in the family business, and the other six are too young to be involved. Vito's decision not to tell Riccardo and Matteo yet is met with some displeasure, even if they ultimately have to respect his decision. Unlike us, they were taught from an early age what it meant to be part of the Marini family. Each of them has a fixed place there. We are the exception because we live in the States and are, so to speak, independent of them. To be honest, I think they expected Vito and Domenico to fail after Dad died, but eleven years later, nothing like that has happened." Josephine could see how proud he was of his brothers' success. "Being exposed to expectations so early has definitely left its mark. Additionally, they think more traditionally and are more coldhearted, I would say. Except for cousin Xander; he's really a sweetie-pie. My three female cousins, for example, are super spoiled but will never be allowed to work in the family. We don't like them, and you won't like them either. You'll see what I mean once you get to know them."

"Do they even know about me?" she asked. After what she had heard, she couldn't imagine that her 'adoption' into the family would be welcomed there. Would Vito send her away if his family didn't want her?

Valentino shrugged. "I don't know. But they'll probably see it on the Christmas card at the latest."

_______________

Vito was sitting in his office, trying to concentrate on the takeover contract for a construction company when his private cell phone rang. He was surprised to see that it was Dr. Bradford calling. He quickly tried to remember whether Josephine had an appointment with him, but she wasn't actually due back for two days. "Dr. Bradford, good to hear from you. Can you tell your husband that I thanked him for the plants? I've rarely seen Josephine so excited."

"I'm glad to hear that, and I'll tell him. But that's not the reason for my call. I hope I'm not disturbing you, but I have a question," said Dr. Bradford.

"Is something wrong with Josephine?" Vito frowned. When he saw her this morning, she seemed stable.

"Not exactly, no. I heard that custody has now officially been granted to you, and you might remember our conversation at the beginning about her privacy."

"Of course," Vito replied, irritated, and took off his glasses. He still couldn't get used to them. "Is there anything I should know?" He couldn't imagine that, after all, he had the impression that she was at least not getting any worse, but on the contrary, was slowly coming out of her shell.

The way Dr. Bradford inhaled didn't bode well. "Someone hacked into my system and looked through the patient files. Specifically just one." Something inside Vito froze. Something that immediately understood what that must mean. "So I wanted to ask if, by any chance, it was you?"

"No."



Hello there! Just like @SMase01 I'll be on vacation the next weeks, so no update for a while.

See you soon!