6

ANNA

the following week was our wedding anniversary.

5 years

Antonio had already told me we were going out for a weekend but I didn't know where on that one he was adamant he wouldn't say.

but since it was a weekend we couldn't have gone far.

I was thinking back to that evening when I had asked him some questions

FLASHBAK

"are we bringing the children?" i had asked him

"maybe!" he had answered, laughing

"Are we going far?"

"maybe "

"Have we already been there?"

"perhaps"

"But all maybe tonight!" I had exclaimed irritated.

He was teasing me.

"Of course, it's a surprise, I won't tell you anything"

"At least a hint" I begged him.

"no nothing!" he said categorically

END FLASHBAK

even now I was thinking about where we could have gone

when he arrived, saying as he leaned against my desk "I've sent Alfio to fetch the children so we'll be alone tonight".

I almost glared at him.

"Don't you like the idea?" he asks, surprised. Usually I welcomed his initiatives.

but this time it was different...

"no it's not that, I was just trying to figure out where we were going next week"...

"You can't wait a week to find out! You used to be more patient!" he teased me.

"Old age!" I said.

using the excuse that he liked it better.

"Yeah, right!" he says, smiling "Come on, let's go".

Let's go to a small but nice restaurant where we used to come often it was the same restaurant where before enrico was born when I had told him that I had remembered the day I had thrown the present in his face he had knelt down in front of everyone asking forgiveness for the words he had said to me that day.

I didn't want to come for a while after that, I felt embarrassed, but when I told him one evening he commented 'what nonsense' and we returned shortly afterwards.

By now they knew us and knew about her mania for being a bit secluded, so they gave us a table that was not too prominent.

after supper we lingered around for a while and I had missed being alone so we could talk quietly without being interrupted all the time and walk around hugging each other without having to be constantly vigilant to see what they were doing.

"we'll have to do this more often!" I admitted as we walked back to the car.

"then I did the right thing!"

"yes" I replied tired, my feet were a mess all day in heels, the next day I was going to wear something different....

When we got home, I was so tired that as soon as I put my head on the pillow, I fell asleep.

Even though I always get up at the same time in the morning I didn't even need to set the alarm clock anymore ...

When I woke up, he was already looking at me.

"Don't you ever sleep?" I told him reproachfully.

"Not when I have something on my mind!" he replied.

"What's on your mind right now?" I say, holding him tighter.

"mmm I have to think about it!" he replies but in his eyes he had a promise a few moments later I felt his hands on me those hands so big and strong that made me go into ecstasy ...

my body was shattered every time it seemed as if every atom of me dispersed and then returned to its place .

and it was like that that morning too even if a part of me was not completely aware of what was happening ...

at the same time we said each other's name

"anto"

"anna"

"Come on, you tell me first!" she says caressing me again.

"no I just wanted to tell you that ..." I look at him and leaning my lips on his but without kissing him I just say "I love you" and only then I kiss him intensely so much that this time he stops me

"We have to get up!" he says

"Yes, but you didn't tell me what you wanted to tell me!" I point out.

"it doesn't matter we'll talk about it some other time" he said getting up but I stopped him

"I say looking at him with malice, but he takes my face in his hands and with a very sweet tone that makes my guts twist he says

"It's nothing really, just an idea I had, but it's a long one, we'll talk another time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes and now get up or you're really going to make me late" he says mischievously.

So we got ready to go to work and while I was thinking ....

I said to myself that maybe I had understood what he wanted to tell me.

I tried not to think, wishing I was wrong, but in spite of everything my head recalled the memories

I remembered well when the doctor had said that I was pregnant with enrico my despair I had so many things to do ... instead he was so happy....

in the end I had everything all the same, but at what a price!

And then he was so moved when he read the engraving on the watch.

Since that Christmas morning he had never taken it off....

I think back to the joy of when he was born, which lasted so short a time because of the disappearance, and even though six years have passed, I am still moved and at the instant the tears roll down my face I feel him embracing me and turning me towards him he asks me in amazement

"why are you crying?"

"It's nothing," I say, reaching for a handkerchief, "I was reminded of when Henry disappeared as soon as he was born.

"And why were you thinking about that?" he asks me calmly

"Wasn't that what you wanted to tell me this morning?"

I ask and he does not deny it, on the contrary ...

"Then I was right not to speak considering the effect," he said a little sadder than in the morning.

I could easily guess what he was thinking

Enrico hadn't been planned, we had been together for so little...

and Silvia...

She had turned our lives upside down from the moment she was conceived. It was a stressful time and the pregnancy had been traumatic.

I spent the whole pregnancy remitting and I was so nervous that whatever they told me I started screaming like crazy even with him who always supported me and was always so sweet ....

Even after she was born the first months were very stressful ....

and now I found myself afraid that it would start all over again....

"It's not that ..." I pause then continue saying "if another Silvia happened I don't know what I would do! Do you remember how I was? I looked electric.

"You could have guessed that a hurricane like that would happen" she said, smiling.

"I can stand one, but two..."

Actually, I could already stand them, father and daughter, they were the same in this respect, they were a volcano of energy and ideas that you could hardly keep up with, the only difference is that, being an adult, he knew how to manage his energy better, but unlike me, who if I didn't rest at night in the morning I felt like a wreck, to him it was enough to sleep even for an hour ...

"Then let's wait for him to calm down a bit" I hear him say.

"Yes, that's better," I tell him, putting my arms around his neck.

"Of course if I knew it was another Enrico I was immediately available.

he laughed, happy with the answer

Imagining why he looked like him, but it wasn't just that Enrico had always been more manageable, and I don't know why, but looking at him reminded me of Roberto.

maybe because of that night on the hill?