THE MAFIA’S HEIR

BIANCA’S POV

The moment we got to Milan, I instantly missed being at Nonno’s mansion in Sicily.

“I miss there too.” Manuel muttered beside me, and I released a lazy smile in agreement. It was the way he had the ability to always read my mind, that got to me the most.

“Do you have an idea when Nonno is returning to Milan?”

“You think he would tell me when he didn’t let you know?” He chuckled in disbelief. “He said nothing to me.”

“Really? That means the gold empire project would be put on a hold until he returns.”

“I doubt.” He shrugged. “Nonno doesn’t neccessary have to be present for activities to continue. Moreover, this is the part of the project where he isn’t really needed much. It’s the human resource manager that has to work more now.”

“Hmmm.” I nodded, but couldn’t help the unsettling feeling in my stomach. “Are you sure it was best we left him all on his own?”Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

“Biancaaa…” Manuel chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. “You have really grown so used to taking care of that old man. He is fine, Bianca. He has always stayed in Sicily alone. Don’t be worried. You should worry more about the baby.” He frowned, making me release a sigh. He was right to be worried about our baby.

For the past 3 days I had been spotting a lot. It was even Manuel who noticed it first, and called my attention to it. At first I told him not to worry because it was part of the things I had suffered earlier in the first trimester of my pregnancy. But then, the spotting got heavier and it worried even me as well. He informed Nonno, who insisted we returned to Milan immediately, so I could go see the Doctor. These men could be extremely dotting.

“The baby is fine, my love. Don’t worry so much.” I placed my hand on his, trying to be strong.

“Hmmm.” He nodded. The rest of the ride was very short, because it didn’t take us so much time before we got to the hospital. It didn’t come as a suprise to me that the minute we landed Milan, Manuel had insisted we go see Doctor Luigi before heading home. The moment we got to Doctor Luigi’s office, Manuel knocked so eagerly, making me release a chuckle. The man was really worried.

“Come in.” The doctor’s voice resounded from inside the office, and we took it as our cue to step in.

“Ahh! Manuel.” Doctor Luigi grinned widely the moment we stepped in. “And Bianca”. He added. “Welcome. You didn’t say you were gonna be stopping by.”

“So sorry if we may have caused you a bit of inconvenience, but it is an urgent matter on our end.” Manuel responded.

“No, it’s fine. I was actually about retiring for the day. I over extended my shift for the day, and it’s a good thing you caught me right on time, before I stepped out.”

“Great then!” Manuel grinned, putting his hand on the small of my back and leading me to the seats opposite Doctor Luigi. The moment we sat down, Doctor Luigi commenced interrogation.

“So what’s going on?” He asked, and before I could even say a word, Manuel beat me to it.

“Yes, about that Doctor….” This was so awkward. Having Manuel here was very awkward, jeeezzz! I didn’t know if I was supposed to laugh, or cry out in embarrassment. But what I sure knew was the fact that my husband was extremely cute when he was worried for me. After a few minutes of dwelling in my own thoughts, I zoned back in on the conversation between both of them. “…. yes. So, it’s got me all worried and stressed out. Please I want to be sure that my wife is just fine.”

“Okay, Bianca.” Doctor Luigi called to me with a small smile on his face.

“Yes?”

“You would have to tell me exactly how you feel and answer a few questions, as I cannot completely rely on the things your husband just told me.”

“Understandable.” I nodded. The next second, Manuel was holding my hand in his. Wasn’t this man being too sensitive at the moment? I wanted to burst out laughing at his behaviour, but didn’t want him feeling bad.

“So, when did you start seeing these spottings?” Doctor Luigi asked, keeping his eyes fixed on me like I was gonna lie. Why did everything just seem funny today?

“Three nights ago.” I said. “Manuel and I were about having our bathe together, when I went to pee in the toilet. Immediately I got off the toilet, he noticed the bloodstains on the seat of the toilet.”

“Hmmm.” He hummed, looking deep in thoughts. “Okay.” He nodded. “So, did the spotting get lighter or heavier as time passed?”

“Heavier.” I answered.

“Have you been on any kind of medication lately?”

“Of course, not.” I shook my head in slight confusion. “I only take the normal hormonal supplements that you prescribed months back.”

“Hmmm….” He nodded as he wrote whatever it was on his notepad. That was when I even noticed he had been jotting things down. Slowly, I started getting worried. I hope this wasn’t as serious as Manuel was thinking it was? “So, have you both been sexually active lately?” He asked, eyeing Manuel and I.

“Yes.” Manuel was the one who answered.

“Okay. So when last did you both have sex?”

“He stopped touching me since the spotting started.” I blurted out. It was something I never really felt the need of talking about with Manuel, but I felt hurt when he suddenly started refusing my advances. Neither had he tried making advances towards me. It hurt my pride because more than anything, I thought he was….

“I stopped because I didn’t want to hurt you.” He said to me. “You were already spotting and whether you like it or not, I definitely cannot help but feel you are going through pains. I would be a fool to consciously add to it.” He gritted out, making me release a sigh.

“But you should have told me all of that, before pushing my hands off your body last night, and the night before. And the night before that.”

“Bianca, you should know by now that I don’t need you to make the first moves. I am that addicted to your bo….” He trailed off and looking at Doctor Luigi, who just watched us to his own entertainment. For a moment, we had forgotten he was here with us. “You didn’t even tell me this was a problem.” Manuel whispered to me, causing me to roll my eyes.

“Really?” I gritted out. The funny part of it all was the fact that we were still holding each other’s hand.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered, making me go soft immediately.

“Sorry to interrupt your rather cute session, but we must continue our…”

“It’s totally fine, Doc.” Manuel nodded. “So sorry for the interruption.”

“That’s alright. So, I take it that you both haven’t had sex since you discovered the spotting three nights ago?”

“Yes!” Manuel and I chorused.

“Before I go further, I must commend you Manuel. It was a very brilliant decision to discontinue sex with your wife. Not a lot of men are that sensitive to things.”

“Thank you Doc.” Manuel gave a small smile. I so felt good as well, knowing he had stopped touching me not because he was disgusted, but because he was worried.

“Yes. So, my next question is specially for you Bianca.”

“Okay.” I nodded.

“It’s safe to say that you and your husband had intercourse the day before you noticed the spotting, right?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.” He took down some notes on his notepad. “So did you experience any kind of discomfort or pain during your last time together, or the times before that?”

Welllll, this was the moment of truth.

“That was only during the last time we had sex. Before we noticed the spotting.” The way Manuel had detangled his hand from mine, had me drowning in a mix of sadness and amusement. Was he being serious right now?

“Are you being serious right now?” He asked the exact question in my head. “You were in pains and didn’t think it right to let me know?”

“I wouldn’t say I was in pains per say.” I shrugged. “It was just a slight discomfort that I ruled off, as being sore.”

“Did we have a lot of sex that day?”

“Well…. no. But…”

“Exactly my point!” He cut me off. “How could you be sore when he didn’t even go at it a lot of times. You’re hurting my feelings.” He muttered the last part.

“I’m sorry.” I said, giving him that puppy dog eyes, and just a few seconds later, he was smiling.

“Wow.” Doctor Luigi sighed in clear exhaustion. We were tiring him out, and it was funny to me.

“So, that means you would have to come with me for further examinations, in order to ascertain the sole cause of this. Spotting during the second to third trimester of pregnancy is not so usual, and can be due to several factors.”

“Am I okay?” I blurted out, fear quickly taking over.

“Calm down, Bianca. At least, you are not bleeding, which is encouraging. After the test, we would ascertain what the problem is, and deal with it squarely.”

*

*

Cervicitis. That was what Doctor Luigi diagnosed as the problem. My cervix was inflamed, but he said it wasn’t something a few doses of antibiotics couldn’t take care of. I was particularly relieved because of the many things I had already imagined as the problem with me.

“You’d be fine baby.” I looked up to see Manuel smiling at me, and my heart literally lurched. How was I going to stay for days or even weeks, without having this man touch me? That was demoralizing on it’s own. The doctor insisted that we didn’t have sex for a while, until the spotting ceased. “Let’s just get home fast, so you can have some rest.”

“Okay.” I muttered and looked out the window of the car. We were already on our way home, and truly, all I justed wanted to do was rest.

It wasn’t so long before we finally got home. Almost everyone was out, leaving just Mia, who was sitting in the living room and watching the television when we stepped in. She seemed to be very elated when she saw us walk in. I missed her too. We literally hadn’t seen each other for 3 weeks, and it was so much time to be apart.

“Oh, my darling!” She whined. “I thought for a moment that you both might have decided to take Sicily as your new residence.”

“But of course not.” I chuckled. “I missed you so much.” I went into her warm embrace and sighed contentedly. I missed my mom as well. And my papa. Before I could even think twice, I asked Manuel. “My love, could we go see my parents any day within the week?”

“But of course, baby.” He smiled.

“Hmmmm…” Mia’s eyebrows danced in happiness. “I love the change of titles. It’s really cute and for the life of me, I cannot believe this is really happening. You both are together!”

“We have been together for almost 3 months now.” Manuel muttered.

“No!” His mom shook his head. “You have been together in marriage, but not love. I’m so happy how you both have nurtured your relationship and grown together. There would definitely be a lot of obstacles on the way, but you have to remain steadfast. I’m glad you both were able to sort out your misunderstandings.”

“Thank you mom.” I smiled, and she quickly shared a look of happinesd with Manuel.

“Hmmm… ‘Mom!!’.” She giggled excitedly. “I see I have a change of title as well. I love it.”

“I love it too.” I leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek, after which I started walking towards the staircase. Just before I got there, I remembered something important.

“What’s the matter?” She asked, noticing the little frown etched over my face.

“Has Alexander been here all week?” I asked, and her a sad smile came on her face.

“Not since you both left, dear.” She supplied.

“So, where is Bella?” I asked.

“She is upstairs. She barely steps out these days, and she is really losing a lot of weight. I do not want the baby getting affected.” She said in worry. I was worried as well. Why was Alexander doing this?

“I should give Alexander a call.” Manuel muttered. “This is getting out of hand.”

“I’m glad you are finally seeing things that way.” I muttered.

“I never said he was right to stay away from Bella.” He defended.

“But you did say he needed time.” I shot back. “You no longer think he does?”

“You two have to understand that the things of the heart takes time.” Mia said, sitting on the couch and gesturing for us to sit as well. We obliged and took the empty sofa just beside her.

“Alexander naturally needs time to get over the heartbreak and everything he must be feeling. But then, that is why we are here in his life. To shorten that time he think he needs. We have to make him realize that on the long run, all the time he has spent, trying to get everything, is just time wasted. The stage of his marriage isn’t a stage where he has the liberty to take as much time as he needs. His marriage is in a very critical stage, which means he should spend more time trying to patch things up, than the other way around. He would come to realize that making efforts to make things work, would help him get over the heartbreak he feels.”

“This makes soooo much sense.” I nodded in agreement.

“Yeah.” Manuel agreed.

“You both already know that Alexander’s parents do not really…..” She paused, thinking of the right word to describe the situation.

“They do not give a damn.” Manuel bluntly said, making me chuckle. “But for real. Uncle Alexander most certainly doesn’t want things to end up well between Alex and Bella.”

“Which is why we have to help them.” Mia said. “Manuel, you have to put a lot of pressure on your cousin. I know the young man is having it bad, but it’d be worse if he doesn’t fix things up with his wife.”

“Alright. I would call Alexander now.”

“Don’t make it seem like you are calling him to come see Bella.” I rushed out. “Just tell him that we are back and…”

“I understand. Let me just call him now.” He said. He quickly took his phone and dialed Alexander’s number. There was a moment of silence, before he finally spoke out. “Hey man.”

“….”

“Yeahhhh. We just returned today. Wouldn’t you come to see me and your dearest ‘assistant’?” He glanced at me mischievously, and I chuckled.

“….”

“That’s fine. We would be expecting you then.” And he hung up.

“He said he’s coming?!” I asked enthusiastically.

“I am equally suprised.” Manuel smiled. “He said he’d be here by evening.”

“Ahh!” Mia groaned. “My boy just misses his wife.” She shook her head sympathetically. “He just wants an opportunity to see her, which makes me wonder. Why is he holding back?”

“Because we haven’t made an effort to push him.” I smiled.