Chapter 35 Alice
Chapter 35 – Alice
“I wanted cotton candy too! And balloons, lots of balloons! Oh, and we could watch movies too!” Millie’s breath hitched a little, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to talk without stopping.
“Okay, honey. I think Mr. Bianchi already understands everything you want for your birthday.” Alice laughed, finishing putting her baby’s pajama shirt on “But, remember that the friends we are going to invite can only stay for two or three hours, so we have to choose carefully which games you want, so they don’t be late coming home, okay?”
“Okay!” Millie nodded solemnly, while Massimo who had been by their side, close to the bed, came over with Hoppy in his hands, to hand it to her.
“Don’t worry, Millie. Thea did me the favor of finding contact details for some people who will make your party exactly how you want it.” Massimo assured, with a seriousness that would make anyone think he was talking about one of his more important contracts “And, tomorrow, there’s something I want to show you”
“What?” she asked, elated.
“It’s a surprise. So, you and Hoppy have to sleep well tonight, so that tomorrow morning you can wake up to find out what it is.” Massimo stroked her hair as she hugged Hoppy “But, I think you will like it. So, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“But I haven’t slept yet.” She pouted “Can’t you stay and read me a bedtime story? Mommy always does this…”
“Uh… I…” Massimo swallowed hard “I don’t think I’ll be as good at this as your mother is…”
“It is not so difficult.” Alice encouraged him, also wanting to see him have this type of interaction with Millicent, even though she knew she shouldn’t “Honey, what story do you want to hear today?”
“Uh…” Millie’s small footsteps echoed across the floor, as she walked over to her box of books and rummaged through it for a moment, before rushing back to the two with “The Ugly Ducking! Here!” she left the thin illustrated book on Massimo’s lap, running towards Alice with open arms, so she could put her on the bed “Up, mommy!”
“So… Uh… I just read?” Massimo asked, looking at the book as if he were seeing an alien.
“Has your mommy never read to you before bed?” Millie asked, full of pity, a second after Alice had sat her down next to the pillow.
“Well… I imagine my mother did something like that when I was your age, but I don’t remember.” He shrugged “When I got older, my dad and I used to do crossword puzzles before bed, not read a book.”
“Then it will be a first for you, too.” Alice hid a laugh, laying Millie down and tucking her between the sheets, with Hoppy by her side “Want to do the honors?”
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Chapter 35 Abra
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“Okay, okay…” he snorted, and Alice had to admit that it was a funny image to see that huge man, still with broad shoulders and a firm appearance despite everything that had happened to him, sitting in his wheelchair with the colorful book in her hands and an upset expression on her face “Once upon a time, there was a mother duck who was very excited about the birth of her five little eggs. One after another, they were born, cute little yellow ducklings that said quack quack…”
“You have to do the voices.” Millie explained, looking even smaller in the middle of that huge double bed “Mommy always does.”
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“Do you really want me to…?” he started to complain, but all it took was for Millie to make a pout and a puppy face, for him to sigh, his shoulders falling with defeat “Okay, then. They said… Quack quack…” Massimo made his voice nasal, causing a snort of laughter to escape Alice “However, when the fifth egg opened, the mother duck realized that something was wrong. You are too gray and ugly to be my son, she said to the strange duckling. The Ugly Duckling was sad because his mother didn’t like him, but he still tried hard to get at least one smile from her. However, one night, during a storm when they were crossing the lake, the current carried him away, but neither his mother nor any of his duck siblings bothered to try to help him. While falling from a waterfall, going to a place that was unknown to him, the duckling realized that his family never loved him and that he was totally alone in that scary world…” Massimo’s eyebrows were frowning more and more, as if that story wasn’t making him feel exactly comfortable “Are you sure this is children’s literature…?”
Alice whistled softly, with a finger on her lips, nodding her head so that Massimo could see that Millie had already fallen asleep, her mouth open and her arms stretched out on each side of the bed.
“That… It was more effective than I imagined.” He blinked, closing the book.
“Why do you think I spend so many time with her in the garden? The more space she has to run, the more energy she uses and the sooner she sleeps.” Alice murmured, kneeling on the edge of the bed to kiss the tip of Millie’s nose “Good night, honey. And, Massimo… Thank you.” she smiled shyly at him “Millie could never have a party in a place as beautiful as your house, so no matter how simple the party may be, it will mean a lot. Thank you for doing this for my daughter.”
“It’s no effort.” Massimo pushed the chair close to Millie’s bed as well, reaching out fearfully to stroke her hair “She’s a special child.”
“Yes, she is.” Alice smiled, watching her baby sleep “Every day, I am grateful for being chosen to be her mother. My life would be very sad if I didn’t have her with me.”
“It’s… It’s a relief to hear you speak so lovingly about Millicent.” Massimo commented, looking thoughtful “I know that not all women have a good relationship with motherhood, especially after having babies at such a young age…”
“Amber or my mother told you that I hated my daughter, didn’t they?” Alice guessed, a bitter smile forming on her face.
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Chapter 35–Alice
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“I never really believed it.” He defended himself and was somewhat serious about believing him “They used this justification when I asked why I didn’t see you at the mansion anymore, when I paid a visit. They told me that you were very unstable, always locked in your room and ignoring your daughter, because you hated becoming a mother.”
“I had just given birth and was a single mother.” Alice felt forced to explain “When I wasn’t taking care of Millie, I was sleeping or… I just didn’t have the energy to leave my room and listen to my mother and sister tell me I was a slut” she bit her tongue at the last second, stopping herself from adding that she purposely avoided him, for reasons he would never understand.
“I wish we hadn’t grown apart, then. I wish I had been a part of Millicent’s life much longer… And your life, too.” Massimo recounted, causing Alice’s heart to miss beat after beat, even her breath to become erratic “I don’t know if Amber or Kendra mentioned this to you, but… I’ve sent a few gifts over the years, especially after they told me that you would be a mother. In fact, my memory may be deceiving me, but… This bunny…”
“It was part of the gift you sent me right in the maternity ward.” Alice nodded at that bittersweet memory “My grandfather hadn’t been hospitalized yet. He was the one who brought it to me personally. When Millie was discharged to come home, this was the first toy gave her… And it’s been her favorite ever since.”
“I always knew something was wrong. Kendra and Amber loved to put on a show to look like a good grandmother and aunt in front of me, but of course they didn’t care about Millicent. They never knew for sure where she was or how she was doing. I hate thinking about you and Millicent alone in a house with those two snakes…” he grunted, pressing one of his temples, until finally continuing “Listen, I really don’t care about that. But ever since the Campbells‘ son come here that day, I’ve been wondering…” His words made Alice’s blood run cold, as she realized what he was getting at “Is he Millicent’s father?”
“No, he’s not.” She muttered even more quietly, cringing “I know everyone thinks so, because we’ve been friends since we were kids, but Casey and I have never even… Anyway, he didn’t refuse to take responsibility, if that’s it what do you want to know.”
“If not him, then who?” Massimo continued to ask, making her more and more nervous, to the point where her hands were shaking “Who was the son of a bitch who got you pregnant and just disappeared? Because, if you at least want him to pay the alimony that Millie deserves, I can contact my lawyers…”
“No, I don’t want that.” She got up, wanting to escape from there “The situation with her father is… Complicated. But its alright. Because he is better off away from us and we are better off away from him. I always knew it would be like this, since the day I found out I was pregnant.”
“This man… Did he force you?” His eyes became troubled “Is that why you sound so hurt when you talk about him?”
“No. He didn’t force me into anything.” Alice assured him, although she no longer had the
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Chapter 35 Alice
courage us.”
to face him “In the end, I think it was me who was more to blame between the two of
“He was committed and you only found out later? He at least knows that Millie exists…”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” She bolted for the door, not wanting to cry in front of him.
“I’m not trying to humiliate you, Alice.” Massimo assured her, the moment her hand reached the door handle “I only care about Millicent and I want her to have everything she deserves, including a father who fulfills his obligations, even if they are just financial ones.” (1
“Thank you for caring about her, but we are both fine.” Alice spoke as she left, without looking in his direction “Even after almost five years, I still don’t think Millicent and I fit into her father’s world.”
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