The Legacy - The Legacy Saga

The Legacy - Part 13

  We are told that trials help to make us stronger, that we have to go through pain to really savor the experience of joy. I have known this for a long time, but I also know something else. The strength that comes from those trials is actually faith refined; the joy that comes after the pain, celestial favor.

Cisely St. John's journal

Fifty-one

Five years later.

Carrying a small tray of assorted homemade biscotti out to the veranda, I place it on the table next to the pitcher of raspberry lemonade. After making sure there are enough napkins and glasses, I sit in one of the padded iron chairs, and with deep contentment, watch Adagio play with Ingo and Phillip. It is a beautiful day. The sun is out and there isn't a cloud in the sky. Thankfully it's not as hot as it has been the past couple of days. Of course, being raised in a similar climate, I adapted to Treviso the moment I moved here.

I laugh at Adagio feigning weakness as Ingo and Phillip wrestle him to the ground and climb on top of his back laughing. Turning over, he growls loudly and tickles the two little terrors. The children squirm away from his reach, then dive back in and repeat the process. I am amazed at the amount of energy they possess, and I can't believe how fast they are growing.

Adagio surrenders, pleading for a time out. When it is obvious the boys are not going to give in to his pleas, he tries a different tactic, which always works.

"Hey, let's go and see what Mama brought out for us, okay?"

"Okay," they say, hopping up and running up to the veranda.

 * * * 

Adagio heaves a deep sigh of relief mixed with contentment as he watches them take off up the hill. He enjoys the time he is able to spend playing with his boys and is grateful for a job that allows him this time.

Standing and stretching for a moment, he looks down and smacks the grass from his clothes. There are stains on the knees of his jeans, but he doesn't mind. It seems these afternoon wrestling matches with the boys always warrant a change of clothes, but it's worth it. He leans his head over and brushes the grass from his hair as well.

When he looks up again, he sees Cisely coming down from the veranda heading out to him. Even after six years of marriage, the sight or mere thought of her never ceases to make his heart skip a beat. He continues to gaze at her as she comes closer, the sun setting off the highlights in her dark auburn hair and adding a shimmer to her brown skin. Her every move is graceful, and just being in her presence is intoxicating. He is thirty-eight now, almost ten years older than Cisely, but he finds his age easy to ignore because she makes him feel so young, and he is thankful every day to be blessed with her as his wife.

 * * * 

Watching Adagio as he watches me causes my heart to flutter. He will always be the most handsome man in the world to me, and I frequently admire how lean and muscular he still is, thanks in part to chasing our sons around. Well, that and good genes. His gaze warms me as I approach him. When he looks at me this way, the rest of the world just falls away. I wonder sometimes if the effect will ever fade. But I only have to look into his eyes and I know it never will.

"It looks like they wore you out," I say, plucking the grass from his tousled hair.

He grins, pulling me into his arms. "You heard my surrender, huh?"

"I did. For a moment there, I thought I was going to have to come and rescue you."

"I was almost ready to call you." He presses me closer, whispering seductively in my ear, "You know, you could have joined us and it would've been even more fun."