Chapter Text
“Do you need another pillow?”
Shaking her head softly, Evelina rested her head on Dani’s shoulder, “No, it’s perfect as it is.”
“The snow is getting heavier,” Closing his eyes, tears stinging them, Dani kissed her head lightly, his stomach churning over and over, “We might get snowed in.”
Smiling, snow always her favourite weather, Evelina looked out the large floor to ceiling window and chuckled as a fond memory came back to her, “Remember the first winter we lived here and Arlo jumped over that wall into the snow drift?”
“He just disappeared,” Dani giggled, the sound slightly more manic than usual due to the emotions surging through him, “And Dahlia told her classmates that we’d buried him in it!”
Laughing, the carefree sound interrupted by a cough before continuing, Evelina closed her eyes, “All the arguments there were about this move and yet it was the best thing for all of us…”
*
“Absolutely not!”
“Mav…”
“No, Lina, just no. I’ll take you to court if I have too…” Hands on hips, fury written across his face, Maverick’s tone was acerbic, “We had a deal. You live within forty minutes of my house.”
“You are in fucking Switzerland most of the time!”
“You are not moving my daughter that far away. End of. I’ll take you to court if I have too.”
Furious at the blanket refusal to discuss the potential move, Evelina fastened her coat, fixing Maverick with a sharp look, “Then I guess I’ll see you in court then.”
“What?” Stunned, every arrangement they ever made made only between them, Maverick shook his head in disbelief, “You can’t be serious? We have an agreement!”
Biting her lip, having hoped they could settle the disagreement amicably, Evelina shrugged, “We made an agreement over a decade ago when we had a tiny baby. We now have a teenager who is being absolutely hounded by the press in Spain… You escape to Switzerland for more than half of the time. It will make absolutely no difference to you if we live in Andorra, but it will make all of the difference to my children. I’ll see you in court.”
*
“He was just scared,” Fingers carding through Evelina’s hair, Dani sighed gently, “The papers tore him to shreds for that court case.”
Evelina nodded, the fall out seeing Maverick branded by a certain element of the Spanish press as a selfish and neglectful father, “He didn’t deserve that, but he was being a prick.”
“He was,” Dani chuckled deeply, that the most fraught time they’d had since Evelina’s breakdown, “He saw sense in the end. I think he loved Andorra even more than we did in the end!”
Laughing gently, shaking her head, Evelina looked up at Dani, “We did the right thing, bringing the kids away from Spain, it was the right choice.”
“Absolutely,” Dani leant down to kiss his wife, their lips brushing softly, no intensity in it, just comfort, before they broke apart, chuckling at the sound of a toddler stomping up the stairs, “How did two people as small as us have such a heavy-footed grandchild?”
*
“I’m surprised you bothered asking me, with me being such a neglectful father and all…” Maverick sat down at the table, Evelina sat with Dani, her parents, her in-laws, Marc and Alex, “What’s this about?”
“Lose the tone,” Scowling at the younger man, Livio’s defence of his daughter was instant.
“Ok,” Interjecting, Maverick and Livio having had some spectacular arguments over the year, Evelina fixed Maverick with a kindly look, “I never said you were a neglectful father, or a bad father, not once. Moving here wasn’t about attacking you, it was about protecting my children, and I think the eighteen months here have shown it was the right call, especially for Dahlia.” Taking a deep breath, Dani squeezing her hand, him the only one knowing why they were all there, Evelina bit her lip, “And with what I’m about to tell you it’s going to be the best thing all round.”
“What’s going on Lina?” Suddenly seeing what was in front of him, a gathering of Evelina’s nearest and dearest, and she and Dani looking frankly shit, Maverick licked his lips, “Is it Dahlia?”
“No,” Shaking her head, smiling, the gesture genuine, but tinged with sadness, Evelina took a shaky breath in, “The children are all fine… …”
Leaning forward, hands on the table, Livio’s concern showed in his soft tone, “Evelina? Do you want to go for ice cream?”
“I’m afraid ice cream won’t fix this one Papa…” Closing her eyes, the words sounding like they were coming from someone else’s mouth, Evelina listened to the stunned reactions of everyone around her, their hearts breaking in the way hers had, “I have cancer, and it’s really bad.”
*
“Hey Mama…”
Opening her eyes Evelina smiled warmly, “Hello you.”
“You’ll never guess what my tosser husband has done now?” Clambering onto her mother’s bed, like a random adult sized, and heavily pregnant, toddler, Dahlia sighed, “Both of his collarbones… I mean, what the fuck is that all about?”
Chuckling, Dahlia’s marriage at just 19 controversial, but somehow not unexpected, Evelina rested her head on her daughter’s shoulder, her hand instinctively going to her bump, the feel of her second grandchild kicking making her smile, “That’s what happens when you get involved with a rider…”
“Pfft what choice did I have? Papa, Dad, Marc, Alex, Jack; I was surrounded by them!!” Dahlia shook her head, “Why didn’t you surround yourself with millionaire bankers or accountants Mama?”
Rolling her eyes, Evelina chuckled, “Because we’d have all been bored shitless… Besides, your grandfather would have approved of that.”
*
“I think this is the one…” Biting her lip, trying hard to suppress the giggles, Evelina stepped out of the fitting room, the scarlet, waist length wig heavy on her head, but worth it, “What do you think?”
“Well…” Taken aback, having braced himself to see Evelina in a wig, her headscarves having become a daily part of life, Dani tilted his head, “It’s… Erm…”
Breaking, buckling with laugher, her hands crossed over her stomach, Evelina shook her head, “Your face….”
“Fuck’s sake woman,” Dani shook his head, joining in the laugher, the hysteria taking over until they were both on the floor, clinging to each other as the laughter turned into tears, the situation finally hitting them hard, the wig sliding off her head onto the floor, the bright red strands pooling around her feet like a creepy metaphor.
*
“Don’t freak out…”
Standing in his motorhome, his leathers hanging limply round his waist, his weekend so far a disaster thanks to two blown engines and a stupid error, Maverick eyed Evelina nervously, “What?”
“Just remember that she is your daughter and you love her…”
Closing his eyes, Dahlia’s rebellious streak having already seen her arrested twice, papped topless once, and thrown out of numerous nightclubs in full view of the gossip magazines, Maverick sighed out a deep breath, “What has she done?”
“She’s young, impulsive… She gets that from us…”
“Lina, what the fuck has she done this time?” Maverick put his hands on his hips, bracing himself, “If you are here to tell me and are sticking up for her before you’ve even told me then it must be bad…”
*
“Are you asleep Mama?”
Smiling, delighted to see her youngest, his uniform pristine as always, Evelina held out her hand, “Hello you…”
“How are you?” Climbing onto the bed next to her, Toni pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, “I can’t stay long, I’m on duty at the fireworks. How are you?”
Picking a tiny bit of fluff from his uniform, her pride on the day he became a fully-fledged policeman in no way surpassed by the racing achievements of his brothers, Evelina kissed his cheek, “Better now I’ve seen my baby boy.”
“I’m hardly a baby anymore Mama,” Toni chuckled as Evelina rolled her eyes, nodding his head, “Yes, yes Mama, I’ll always be the baby.”
“Not the baby,” Evelina shook her head, coughing for a moment, she pretending it didn’t hurt and he pretending he didn’t notice, “My baby, you’ll always be my baby.”
“I have to go back to work now. I’ll come by tomorrow.”
“You’ll be sleepy tomorrow after working all night…”
“I’ll be fine,” Toni kissed her again, squeezing her hand as he climbed back off her bed, “I’ll see you tomorrow Mama.”
“Happy new year when it comes baby boy.”
“Happy new year when it comes Mama.”
*
“Sooooo…” Flopping down on the sofa next to Evelina, Ale chewed on his lip, “I need some advice.”
Smirking at Alex, the hint of a blush giving away the fact he was about to mention Nora, his liking for her friend obvious since the first day they met, Evelina chuckled evilly, “Make sure she always cums first…”
“Fuck you…”
“No, her…”
“Evil,” Nudging her shoulder, chuckling along with her, his cheeks only slightly blushing, Alex looked at her, “I asked her out.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?” Alex frowned, before rolling his eyes when she waved her phone in his face, “I can’t believe she text you that!”
“I can’t believe you asked her on text!”
“At least I don’t stutter by text,” Snuggling down into his hoodie, Alex rested his head on her shoulder, “I really like her…”
“I know.”
“Where should I take her? I thought the W, but it’s a hotel so she might think I was thinking…” Alex blushed, harder still when Evelina chuckled filthily, “I don’t want to be flash, but also I don’t want to be cheap.”
“Remember the night of my birthday…”
*
“How long?” Sitting in the sterile office, Evelina closed her eyes as the words filtered through her ears, dreams and plan shattering, nodding at the finality of the doctor’s statement, “Thank you.”
“Evelina…”
“I’ll come back if I have any questions,” Walking out of the room, having known the outcome before she arrived, but the confirmation of it earth shattering, Evelina held herself together until she was in the beautiful silent garden behind the hospital before her emotions overflowed. Hanging onto the bench, she managed to sit herself down as sobs spilled out, her heart breaking as the tears flowed.
*
“Who was it?” Hands on hips, looking at the mud-spattered bike, Evelina turned to her two eldest boys, both of them feigning innocence and nonchalance, “Who took the bike out?”
“Dunno,” Arlo shrugged, “Maybe Dahlia.”
“Really?” Fixing him with ‘the stare’ Evelina raised her eyebrows, her tone icy, “You think your sister flew back from holiday with her father, used the bike, then flew back to her holiday in one afternoon?”
“Maybe…”
“Evan?”
Barely in his teens, but the tallest in the house, Evan shrugged, “I dunno, I’ll see if any of my mates maybe borrowed it.”
“Oh,” Evelina shook her head, sarcasm flowing, “Another suggestion that someone sneaked into the house, took out the bike, covered it in mud, sneaked it back into the house and then left?”
“Maybe.”
“Come with me,” Opening the garage door, Evelina almost marched out into the garden, going around twenty feet before stopping and turning to face the house, “What do you see?”
“The house?” Arlo frowned, looking at his mother.
“More detailed…”
“The garage…” Evan looked confused.
“Above the garage…” Evelina waved her hand toward the house, gesturing to the first floor, which was the main access floor from the front due to the house being on an Andorran hill, “Remember the day we moved here and you two ran into the house…. What was it you said?”
“That was years ago…”
“You said,” Evelina smiled, still dripping with sarcasm, “’Oh Mama look, you can see for miles’ – and why is it that you can see for miles, boys?”
Both teens shrugged, the penny dropping as to where their mother was going
“You can see for miles,” Evelina ranted, furious with the safety disregard at least one of the boys had made, “Because most of the fucking house is made of glass! So, the chances of someone sneaking into the house, sneaking back out with a noisy dirty back, then SNEAKING said bike back into the house are, I would suggest, extremely bloody slim!”
*
“I’m going to stay here,” Evelina smiled gently at Dani, gesturing to the open door, the balcony of their bedroom packed with their nearest and dearest, waiting on the annual New Year fireworks, “Go.”
“I’ll stay with you…”
“Go watch, tell me about the fireworks when you come back,” Evelina gestured to Dani to lean in and kiss her, the kiss soft and gentle, “Every year since we moved here we’ve watched the fireworks. Go…”
“Ok,” Kissing her again, stroking her thin hair, the years of cancer treatments having taken it’s toll even when it grew back, Dani felt slightly unsettled, “Lina…”
“I love you Dani Pedrosa…”
“I love you too.”
“Go watch the fireworks”
“I’ll be back right away.”
“Ok…” Waving through the glass to her granddaughter, the tot in Livio’s arms, him only just strong enough now to lift the youngest members of her family, Evelina leant over to her bedside cabinet to lift the wooden box over to it. Running her fingers over the ornate carvings on it, remembering when her grandparents had brought it back from Goa on one of their trips, Evelina smiled sadly, them long since gone. Opening the lid, the soft ivory envelopes almost popped out, a letter for each of the people who meant the most to her; Dani, her four children, her two grandchildren even though they were too young to read, her son-in-law, her parents, Maverick, Alex, Marc, Nora, and even Eric. Checking for the umpteenth time they were all there, she placed the box, lid open, on the cabinet as the first firework exploded in the night sky outside.
Resting back on her pillow, Evelina smiled as she started to remember some of her favourite memories over the years, sleep closing in on her as the bright colours exploded outside, some of the brightest visible to her.
“Lina?” Walking back into the room, catching sight of Evelina’s peaceful face in the dim light, Dani’s heart began to race, “Lina?”
“Dad?” Poking his head around the door, Evan frowned, Dani frantically shaking Evelina as if trying to wake her from a deep sleep, “Dad?”
“She’s gone…” Pulling his beloved wife into his arms, tears rolling down his face, Dani shook his head, “You should have waited for me, you should have waited.”
“Evelina?” Putting down his great-granddaughter, his voice the softest anyone had ever heard it, Livio walked to the side of the bed, sitting down carefully on the opposite side to Dani, her hand still warm as he lifted it, “Oh no, oh no no, not my girl. Not yet.”
Her husband gathering together their children, Dahlia moved between her two brothers present, their hands clasping as they did as young child as the three of them moved silently toward the bed, looking on as Dani and Livio cradled their mother, their lives all changed, irrevocably and forever, a light in their life, that had fought for so many years, finally extinguished as the final firework crescendo exploded outside.