By Narrator

Two years after the wedding

Time passed and with each new day, the coexistence between Anthony and Nicole was of new discoveries, but even the preferences and quirks of both seemed to leave them even more enchanted by each other. However, the strained relationship between Anthony and Elizabeth, were like a ghost to the kind heart of Nicole, who always believed that one of the most sacred things in life, was the bond between parents and children. She couldn’t live with the reality that her love for Anthony somehow was responsible for the disunity of her beloved’s family.

In turn, Anthony could not understand how after everything his mother did, Nicole still wished to see her get back together with Elizabeth. Anthony had many qualities, but one defect could surpass them all... Pride. And that’s exactly what Nicole tried to fight against every day when she argued that people can make mistakes, but that it’s never too late to fix their mistakes and become someone better than we believe is possible. No one is only goodness or just evil. The two extremes live in constant encounter in our heart. With this, Nicole tried to make her husband see that Elizabeth had a bad side, but somewhere in her heart the goodness was hidden.

It took time, but Nicole finally managed to convince Anthony to allow herself to get back together with her mother. All right, she knew that things would no longer be the same between mother and child who had such different personalities, and to be honest, she didn’t ask for it, she just wanted to see them get along in peace.

However, what Nicole did not imagine was that in Elizabeth’s heart, there was only hurt and room for contempt. The eldest did not verbalize, after all, she did not want to see her son walk away again, but she always held Nicole responsible for the ruin of her family, because at that time, Elizabeth not only lost contact with her son, but also saw her marriage be destroyed. Yes, the elder did not allow herself to see and take responsibility for her own family failure. That’s because we humans are so flawed that we can’t even realize how the modern family has become a group of strangers. Each one with his own mistakes, quirks, problems, loneliness... Each one trapped in his own world. Often the family comes to an end and we do not even realize it, but when this is finally realized, it is easier to find guilty, than to face our own guilt and take responsibility for our chaos.

In Elizabeth’s tormented thought, her days were difficult, lonely... If in the past Elizabeth had faced a war with Anthony, in that present she saw herself in a second war, but this time with her two other children. As she struggled with Mirella, finding that she had decided to go against her will, and now preparing to take her place in a fire department in the city of Seattle, she also had to live with Arthur’s decision to open her own clinic, exempting himself from running the hospital that carried his family’s surname. For the elder, those were difficult days, to which she could not understand that she was only reaping what she had planted.

Well, at least for something Nicole had served, after all, with her influence on her husband, she had managed to convince him to make peace with his mother and take over the Morelle hospital alongside his parents, who although divorced, amicably remain the only majority owners of the enterprise. The relationship between them was still not good, so little Elizabeth could see with good eyes the marriage of her son to the woman she despised so much, because for her, Nicole was synonymous with shame and would never be at the level of carrying the surname of her family. However, just having Anthony run the hospital with her and Octavian was a good start, and made him believe that at some point Anthony would go back on the decision of that marriage.

Although Nicole is a key piece for this rapprochement, things did not come back as before between mother and son. Anthony could not forget what his mother had done to him in the past, nor forgive her truly, but that’s the problem of forgiveness... When it is not true, it becomes suffocating, to the point of suffocating us with the guilt for the lie told, for the memories that haunt the soul, and especially for the words stored in the heart.

By Narrator

"So, how was the procedure?"

Mirella questioned her brother, referring to Nicole’s second attempt at artificial insemination. The first had happened almost a year ago and had not worked, which further frustrated the expectations of the couple who dreamed of having a baby, whether male or female. After many attempts in the traditional way, they see that it is not working and then seek a doctor to understand what was wrong. The truth is that Anthony was always crazy about children, and was capable of anything to have a child with the beloved, whether it was through the natural environment or by insemination. Through treatment, they discovered that Nicole had a complication to make her husband’s and her dream come true. When the discovery would have been made, Nicole went into a deep depression, and once again in her sub conscious, she felt that Elizabeth was right. She and Anthony weren’t born to be happy together.

The truth is that despite being a strong and determined woman, Nicole was also delicate and dreamy, but unfortunately somehow, Elizabeth had managed to create monsters in the heart of the Latin. Monsters who only told her how incapable she could be. And believe me, for a human being there is nothing worse than feeding certainties that takes us to the abyss.

It was at this time that the couple faced the biggest problem they ever had in marriage. Nicole was not allowed to be sexually touched by her husband, who in turn could not understand the reaction of the woman, after all, he was also suffering from the dream that would not have been realized. Nicole and Anthony didn’t notice, but they were very similar when it came to not knowing how to listen, not knowing how to talk. And they forgot that in a relationship is law to exist dialogue.

Lucky for them who say that love overcomes everything. But is it really? Well, they both believed that they did, and that together, although they did not talk about how they really felt, they had overcome the crisis. It was then that a hope arose, but to make it work, Anthony should with the help of the doctor get an egg donation to his wife. At first it was not easy for Nicole to accept some realities, but then she convinced herself to test the treatment, and after that try the new procedure, but together they came to the conclusion that they would not create as many expectations as the first time. Now the fear of failure was even greater than the desire to realize a dream.

"Oh, it was quiet."

"Our what enthusiasm." Mirella narrowed her eyes. She knew her brother’s dream was to be a father, and expected more emotion from him. "Seeing you talking like that makes me want to have a baby too."

Tony ran his hand over his face visibly tired due to his shift the night before.

"Too busy, young lady. Fingers don’t get pregnant, Mirella. I thought you already knew that." Anthony tried to joke to undo the tense mood. "By the way, how’s that idiot boyfriend of yours?"

As the youngest, Mirella was extremely protected by Anthony and Arthur, when it came to their boyfriends. In fact, regarding boyfriends, it should be made clear that Mirella seemed to have rotten fingers to choose the one that would be next to her. However, Andrew had been the only one to whom the girl had really given her heart, but this took a short time, as soon began to arise intense fights between the two. The reason? The boy did not look kindly on his girlfriend’s decision to follow the profession of firefighter. André was extremely sexist, and like Elizabeth, did not agree that this was a profession where women could perform well. André was the first to discourage and ridicule Mirella’s choices, the problem is that everything became even worse when he, who was also a firefighter, saw that the younger Morella, each day gained even more space in the corporation. Space that he longed for and could not.

"First of all, I already told you I’m not a lesbian." The youngest hit right away. "Second, we broke up. Well, actually, I broke up with him."

Anthony realized that despite saying those words indifferently, Mirella’s eyes showed sadness.

"I don’t know if I celebrate now, or if I pretend to be sorry." Anthony said sincerely. "Frankly, Mi. That guy is an idiot. He doesn’t deserve you! You should know that Arthur and I no longer break his face out of respect for you."

The younger one shrugged.

"Well, now you can. Actually, I pay you to do that."

The two brothers laughed. They both knew the younger was against violence, so obviously that would never happen.

"Tell me, what happened to finally do what you should have done long ago?"

"The other day he made the biggest scandal in front of our corporate colleagues. Can you believe he even said that Tadeu was helping me with the equipment because he wanted to eat me?" Mirella’s expression became sad again. "In addition to the disrespect and humiliation I suffered, I realized that he would never respect me as the professional I am. I was really tired of the innuendos he made."

"He’s a perfect asshole." Anthony took a long sip of the juice. The truth is he was jealous of his younger sister, but he wouldn’t admit it even under torture. "You were never good at picking men, you know why" Mirella raised her eyebrow already wondering what was next. "Women, my sister... You like women. And that’s why all your relationships have been frustrated so far."

"Tony, why don’t you shut the fuck up, em? Or rather, let’s focus on what really matters... you and my handsome sister-in-law."

Anthony rolled his eyes, but he knew there was no way, his sister would always exaggerate the beauty of his wife. Of course, he was jealous of Nicole, which is exactly why Mirella chose the words that would make her blood boil. But at that moment he would ignore his sister’s pin.

"Mom said that in cases like Nicole’s it’s hard for the procedure to work, even with other eggs, so... Damn it, I can see the hell at home again."

"Well, don’t mind what Mrs. Elizabeth says, she may want his place, but she’s not God." Mirella said with rebellion.

"Mirella, she may not be God, but she is a gynecologist and understands the problem."

"So you’re already convinced it won’t work? I expected a lot more from you, Anthony." The youngest faced the brother who listened in silence. "She didn’t even bother to take care of Nicole. You needed another doctor for that. And now you let her tell you it won’t work?"

"I know all that, but still, she saw all the tests. Nicole doesn’t know, but I... I showed Mom everything."

He told Anthony with shame that he had concealed from the woman that his mother had known the problem and knew more than indeed Nicole wanted him to know.

"Do you know how wrong this is?" Mirella scolded her brother.

"What did you want me to do? I was lost, Mirella. I needed a second opinion on the case."

"And how are you now? I mean... the wedding, how’s it going?"

"After Nick’s moment of madness has passed? We’re doing fine, I think. I’m afraid this new procedure is just a silent attempt to save our relationship, which despite being new, seems worn out by everyday life."

"I thought you guys had gotten over it." said the youngest.

"I think I failed at some point, Mirella. Nicole hasn’t looked like the same sweet girl I dropped everything for in the past. I understand everything she’s been going through, but sometimes I think she doesn’t want me by her side to face it all.

"Don’t be stupid, you’re just insecure, Tony. But I’m sure your wife loves you. By the way, is the sex still perfect?" Mirella smiled with malice.

"Don’t be nosy, you little brat." Despite scolding his sister, Tony smiled. "But if you really want to know, it’s like you’re slowly finding yourself. As you already know, after she lost our son, Nicole developed a kind of insecurity about her body, so everything is carefully in her time, but still, for me it’s as good as before."

"Shit, I don’t want details, Anthony." The younger one made a funny face. She always felt the same discomfort when talking about sex. As far as Anthony knew, Mirella had not given up on her boyfriend’s insistence, and never went to bed with him or any other boy. "Well, try to look on the bright side. Now she lets you touch her."

Anthony let a sad laugh slip away trying to convince himself that Nicole still desired him as before. The truth is that Nicole did not know, but her husband sometimes wondered if she did not love her anymore, and if the new attempt to have a child was only because he felt obliged to do that because he knew of the dream he had. On the other hand, Nicole martyred herself and feared that her husband seeing that she would not even be able to give her a child, would not realize that Elizabeth was always right when she said that Nicole would never make the other happy.

"You know, I love that woman. I’m capable of anything to keep my marriage well." Mirella smiled satisfied. "By the way, let me go. I have to pick her up at the restaurant."

Years passed, but Nicole remained working in that restaurant. She loved not only what she did, but also the owner of the place who was a nice, loving landlord. Nicole, you may not have gone to college, but you inherited your kitchen talent from your grandmother. However, now she was manager of the establishment, because over time the owner of that place could not trust someone else to take care of what was yours.

By narrator

Shortly after

Anthony was surprised when he arrived at the restaurant where his wife worked and ran into Livia instead of Nicole.

"Where’s Nicole, Livia?" Anthony asked after greeting her friend with kisses on her face.

"Hey, white boy. Earlier today, Nick got a call and left in a hurry, but didn’t say anything, he just asked me to stay in his place.

"Call?" Anthony was surprised. "All right, I’ll go home and call her on the way."

And so he did, but without success, since Nicole’s cell phone did not signal, which was strange if we considered that she never stopped answering a call from her husband.

Upon arriving home, Anthony entered the apartment still worried about the lack of news of his wife. However, as soon as his eyes searched the room, one thing caught his attention... Clothes were scattered around the house, some he knew well as being pieces of Nicole, but others... What the fuck was that? With his heart beating hard, Anthony followed that trail that led to the door of his room. His heart was beating wrong, and with tears in his eyes Anthony held the white door handle. At first he did not want to believe what was about to be revealed, but he could not escape the chaos. So that’s why the wife hasn’t shown happiness by your side lately? Is that why Nicole didn’t want to be touched by her hands anymore?

When the door to the room was opened the heart once in love became broken. As he listened to the sound of the shower, Anthony felt his eyes burn before betrayal. Right there before Tony’s eyes, what the hell was your cousin Tomaz doing there? Where did it start? How did he not notice?