Black Widow | 18+

28 | Healing Over Time

She wished she saw it more when she had been with Leandro, but seeing it come to Rico's face did more than enough for her. 

Rico had his parent's eyes however, but his eyes were so intense, a mix of that deep obsidian that his father possessed that would change in the light and become a fascinating green. 

Artemisia was wondering if he would end up looking exactly like his father, he was getting very tall for his age and his mannerisms were the same, even when Artemisia had told him off for his jealousy or constant state of alert. 

But all in all, Riccardo was Artemisia's son, and before restarting her life she couldn't imagine having an inch of the happiness she possessed now. She felt totally blessed to have the privilege of raising such an incredible child, one who was caring and understanding, had a strong sense of morals and loved his mother even when he was angry. 

She hadn't been the only one raising Rico however. Jacob and Alvaro had been the best friends, but also uncles to Rico she could have ever asked for. The first two years of his life the pair of them stayed with her as much as they could, only taking occasional trips to the States to check on business, a business that they had moved to Washington to distance themselves from the conflict. 

They'd made a new rule that they weren't getting involved with big operations. 

The pair had helped Artemisia in the hardest times, but had laughed with her through them, and they'd all embraced the best times. The three were unbreakable. Jacob and Alvaro moved back to Washington when Rico turned three, something Artemisia pushed them to do, and developed the organisation that David had left behind. 

 Also, being in Athens and being able to relax in a totally different setting to where her past had played out before, it meant that she could make friends. 

Artemisia had a group of women in her life who she loved dearly, and who loved her. Granted they were all in their thirties, but they cherished her and treated her like a sister. 

Xavia was 34, her son was in Rico's class at school and they had met last year.
Selene was 36 and she had two kids in the same school as Rico and had been introduced to Artemisia through Xavia 

They were her two ports of call, and now at the age of 26 as a single parent, she had never been more grateful for the help. 

Carina was very much still in the picture, but it was harder given how secretive their communication had to be. It was always a case of making sure Carina was alone, which was difficult since there were always people around her house in Sicily, especially now that her husband Pietro had climbed higher up the ranks 

They spoke once a week minimum, always making time for one another, and they had seen each other sneakily on impromptu holidays seven times since Artemisia had fled. Carina would always be her number one, regardless of the circumstances, and the pair would laugh and cry about motherhood together. 

But there was a part of her that would always feel a bit broken when those phone calls ended, she thought of Sicily, of Leandro, Anton, even Romulo sometimes. Artemisia knew better than to ask about them though, and even if she ever had, Carina knew better than to say anything. 

Leandro looked like he had moved on. Carina knew it couldn't have been further from the truth, but the battle between the two men had flatlined, producing something quite beautiful really, but as a result Leandro had to get back onto task and only focus on strengthening the family and developing the empire.