His Sunflower

47 - Bonus

'I never knew a safe place, until I looked into your eyes. That's where I saw my future, and forgot about my past. I saw all of my dreams, and forgot my failures. It was in your eyes, where I forgot about the monsters I was afraid of, and stopped running from the ones hiding inside of me. You don't even know it, but that safe place, in your eyes, saved me. You saved me.'

"Luna Gabriella Rossi, get back here and clean up your toys before your papà gets back home", I told my 5 year old daughter, but of course after hearing the car door shut from outside, she knew Luca was home and that was her cue to run to the front door to see him.

"I've cleaned up my toys mamma!", Leo said proudly, all his toys placed neatly in a box in the corner.

"Well done mio principe (my prince)!", I reply, giving him a hug and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"Papà, Papà!", Luna squealed as Luca lifted her up in the air and twirled her around.

"Mi sei mancato un sacco, mia principessa (I missed you loads, my princess)", he said, setting Luna down and joining us in the living room with Luna glued to his side.

She had Luca wrapped around her small finger and he loved it; Leo on the other hand was a total mamma's boy.

"Anche tu mi sei mancato un sacco, mio principe (I missed you loads too, my prince)", he said lifting Leo up and giving him a big cuddle.

As soon as Luca spotted all the toys on the floor, Luna started to put them all back and Leo helped, wanting to get it all cleaned up quickly so they could be ready for dinner.

"What about me?", I teased, leaning against his chest as his arms wrapped around me gently.

"Il mio cuore mi fa male per essere stato lontano da te per così tanto tempo, il mio girasole (My heart hurt from being away from you for so long, my sunflower)", he replied, kissing me softly.

"I hate it when you have to go into the office", I whispered against his chest.

"Me too baby, but I'm home now", he whispered back and placed a kiss on the top of my head.

"It smells great, tesoro (sweetheart)", he said, washing his hands and then beginning to set the table.

I blushed, mumbling a quiet 'I hope it tastes good' before calling the kids and getting them ready for dinner.

Quickly putting food in Forza's bowl, I called him to the kitchen so he was able to eat his dinner at the same time as us.

I washed my hands and put the pot of pasta in the middle of the table. I put the food in everyone's plates, which Luca kindly put out, and then sat down in my seat.

"How was work papà?", Leo asked whilst grabbing a handful of cheese to sprinkle over his food.

"Busy, but I'm done for Christmas now so I'm all yours", he said with a cheeky smile, which meant he was going to spoil them more than usual during his time off.

"Cosa hanno fatto i miei mini girasoli oggi? (What did my mini sunflowers get up to today?)", he asked whilst having some water.

"We did some painting with Mamma! Her painting was so pretty!", Luna replied with a big smile on her face.

"That sounds fun, I can't wait to see what you guys painted after dinner."

"Are you ready for this weekend, amore mio? (my love)", Luca asked, turning his attention to me.

This weekend was my first art exhibition. After having the kids and helping Luca with the financial side of his business, I decided that I wanted to do something for myself and that's when I decided to get back into art.

After years of persuasion and support from Luca, I decided to put together a small exhibition to sell some of my work and put all of the money I make towards helping domestic abuse survivors.

I was terrified about showing my work to other people but I knew that it would be going towards a cause so personal to me and even if I can help one just person, it would make all the difference.

I told my family about my idea a few months ago and my Papà jumped on the idea and financed it all; he sorted out the venue, food, drinks and invited all the people he knew.

I just hope that it's successful and that my art is good enough for people to want to buy.

"It will be okay baby", Luca whispered to me, holding my hand and giving it a squeeze.

"I hope so. I just want to be able to help people that were in the same position as me. I was lucky that you saved me but other people aren't as lucky", I said quietly, wiping my damp eyes with my sleeve.

"How did I get so lucky to have such a beautiful, kind-hearted wife, hm?", he whispered, giving me a kiss and wiping my tears with his thumbs.

"Is mamma ok?", Leo asked, dropping his fork and getting off his chair to give me a hug.

"I don't like it when mammas sad", Luna said quietly, wrapping her small arms around me and joining the group hug.

I smiled at both my angels and gave them a tight squeeze.

"Mamma isn't sad, she's just really happy that she has the best family in the whole word", I whispered to them.

"Ti amo mamma (I love you mamma)", Leo whispered to me.

"Anch'io (me too)", Luna added.

"Anch'io vi amo entrambi (I love you both too)", I whispered back, kissing the top of their heads.

"What about me", Luca asked with a dramatic sad face.

The kids fell for his fake tears and were quick to give him a hug and some I love yous too.

We finished off dinner and cleaned up before getting the kids ready for bed. Once they had gotten changed in their pyjamas and brushed their teeth, we read them a bedtime story and they both fell asleep quickly shortly after.

After giving them a final good nights kiss, I closed the door and went towards our bedroom.

I took off my make up, brushed my teeth and got changed before joining Luca in bed.

He pulled me into his arms and I rested my head on his chest, tracing over his sunflower tattoo.

"Thank you Luca", I whispered, breaking the silence.

"For what, my Liliana?", he questioned.

"For being in my life, for sticking around when things got hard and for reminding me that even broken things can be loved," I replied, lifting my head up and placing a kiss on his jaw.

"You know, from the moment I saw you, I fell in love with you. When I first met you all those years ago on the park bench and you ran away, I made my mamma take me back there every day for months to see if you came back," he admitted, looking sad.

"If only I figured out what was happening to you sooner, I could have done something to help you", he whispered, running his fingers through my hair.

"You couldn't have known, Luca," scolding him slightly for even thinking that.

"I'm just glad we found our way back to each other", he said quietly.

"Soulmates always find their way back to each other", I replied, reaching up and kissing the love of my life.