Chapter 11

September 15, 2012

I was nervous as I watched the crowd in the chapel at Castello di Montalto. I'd been through a wedding once before, but it had been much different For one thing I had been much younger, fresh out of school and marrying the person I thought was the love of my life. That marriage had been mostly a good one, and then one day a couple of years ago it seemed to fall off a cliff. I still didn't know why. I had moments when I relived those horrible couple of years, and I asked myself if there was something I could have, or should have, done differently. I didn't know, and perhaps would never know, at least without talking to Kate. I had no intention of asking her now. The new life I'd put together as Robert Burns was the life I'd chosen, and there was no going back. My new extended family was made up of wonderful caring people who loved each other, and it had coalesced around me and Cecilia. Now Cecilia was going to become my wife in this wonderful chapel filled loving people and enough flowers to have denuded several large gardens. I fidgeted as I waited.

Pietro grinned at me and patted his jacket pocket for the hundredth time, making sure the ring was there. We stood before the small but ornate altar with Father Antony, the local priest. He seemed very young, having taken over just the year before from the dying Father Joseph who had known Cecilia since she came to the castle. I guess I was glad to have the younger priest, because I figured the older experienced one would have seen right through me as the bigamist I was about to become, and would send me straight to hell.

Pietro had been overwhelmed when I asked him to be best man. I joked with him that it was only logical since it was through him I had met his cousin and family. He had gripped my hand with fierce intensity and said, "I am honored, Robert. My family owes you a debt we can never repay." I had tried to deflect that kind of thinking, but to Cecilia's very large extended family, I was Superman and St. Michael all rolled into one. I thought that would be a heck of a challenge to live up to.

We were both dressed appropriately for a late summer afternoon wedding. Thank God Cecilia had not insisted on tuxedos! I had owned one in my previous life but hated it. So now I wore a light gray raw silk jacket over a white linen shirt, a muted blue silk tie, and dark gray wool slacks. Pietro was dressed very much the same, but his jacket was slightly darker, and he wore a light blue shirt with a soft yellow silk tie. We were polished, barbered, and pressed to the high standards required to pass inspection by the women of two households!

I looked at the people who filled the church. Roksana, Airlea and Sophie were missing because they were the flower girls, but their "mothers" were present. Grace sat in the front row. She wore a pale blue sleeveless silk dress that had only a modest décolletage but was fitted perfectly to show off her wonderful body and legs. As usual she was wearing impossibly high-heeled shoes. Today they were platform sandals. Her outfit was topped by a finely woven straw hat which had a small red flower pinned on one side of the crown. She was stunning as always, and I had an erotic flashback as she winked at me.

Next to Grace was Rachel. Over the months, as I had predicted, she had become even more beautiful. Being in love helped too. Anton adored her and Sophie, and the ice in his eyes seemed to melt every time they were around. He was still most conscientious about his duties and his dedication to the girls never wavered, but that grim look he had carried was now replaced with a smile. To the outside world he was still ferocious, but inside the family he was a husband and father and "Dad" to three girls.

Rachel's dress was a very pale yellow made from finely woven cotton. It was sleeveless with spaghetti straps holding up the fitted bodice. The skirt flared a bit as it came to her knees. She was really a knockout but gave no indication that she realized it. She was hatless, her dark hair pinned up and her diamond earrings matching the beautiful round diamond engagement ring she wore. It was joined by a woven platinum wedding band, a smaller version of the one worn by Anton, her husband of one month.

In August, I had paid for their wedding in Chicago. It was the logical place to have it since Anton's brother and some other friends were there, and it coincided with the final hearing on the adoption of Airlea. Rachel had no living relatives in the US, so she was happy to marry Anton anywhere they could find a church and minister. They were over the moon in love, and Sophie heartily approved. Using the Italian or Spanish, I became "Papa" to her when Anton was promoted to "Dad." Roksana and Airlea called Anton "Papa", since I was "Dad" to them. Sometimes it got damned confusing! Michael was just Michael since he didn't quite fit the "Dad" image. I think he was relieved by that, although I expected he was going to be "Dad" in his own household about nine months after his upcoming marriage to Robyn.

In Chicago, Judge Downey had welcomed us back, and Airlea's follow-up hearing was held, again, in her chambers. As before, we were represented by Carolyn Peters. Roksana attended, as did Cecilia, who seemed awed by the fact a judge would meet us in her chambers and then mildly amused by the seemingly informal atmosphere. Carolyn looked gorgeous in her summer lawyer suit, as did Cecilia who wore a sleeveless pale blue dress that came just to her knees.

Cecilia and Carolyn had greeted each other like old friends even though it was their first in-person meeting. They'd met via Skype and Face Time when I had referred Carolyn to Cecilia for renting a place at the Castle for Carolyn's upcoming honeymoon. They had conferred several times and had become friends. As we waited for the hearing to begin, they chatted away, laughingly discussing wedding plans. Cecilia had also brought additional photos on her iPad of the Castle grounds and the suite where Carolyn and her husband would be staying later in the month. Carolyn was very excited about her first trip to Italy and to Cecilia's amusement, tried out some rudimentary Italian phrases. Cecilia was kind, although the girls had a hard time stifling their amusement. As a bonus, Cecilia had made arrangements with her family to have Carolyn and her Michael met at the Rome airport and driven to the Castle.

The girls wore dresses this time – nothing fancy, but finely woven pastel cotton frocks and flat shoes – quite a contrast to the worn looking cold-weather outfits they had on in February. They'd been shopping with Cecilia. As usual, my credit card took a hit. Although with Rachel at the financial helm, my accounts were refilling quite nicely.

After Airlea got over her initial nervousness, she and the judge chatted like old friends as Airlea told the judge about her extended family and how much she loved our new home in Texas, and about the horses and riding, and that she loved her teacher who lived with us. The judge looked amused and commented on how much she'd grown in the months since they'd last met. It was true, tiny Airlea had experienced a growth spurt and was catching up to Roksana. The judge then asked her what she was learning, and Airlea launched into a dissertation about her favorite subjects, which appeared to be all of them. She listed reading, math, writing, geography and history and then, to the Judge's surprise, she demonstrated her proficiency in Italian by having a conversation with Cecilia and Roksana. The Judge had trouble keeping a straight face, certainly thinking about the contrast between this chatterbox and the mute girl she'd met six months ago. Roksana didn't try to hide her smile. She was very proud of her little sister, and she looked up at me and mouthed, "thank you."

I smiled in response. Roksana was a sweet, wonderful young woman, and I loved her. I wanted to hug her. This exchange was not lost on Cecilia who reached in her shoulder bag for a tissue.

The Judge, taking advantage of a pause in Airlea's report said, "Airlea, thank you so much for coming back to see me. It's wonderful seeing you again, and it's obvious that you're very happy with your family ... and so loved." She looked at me. "Mr. Burns, much of the credit for this transformation must go to you. In my job, sometimes I tend toward the cynical, but you've showed me that there are times when good things happen to good people who are in difficult circumstances. Thank you for what you've accomplished. There's only one thing I ask..." She paused, and my heart sank as I wondered what new restrictions might be placed on the adoption. The judge continued, "Please send me a photo of Airlea and Roksana occasionally, I'd love to keep up with how they're doing." Trying to keep the relief out of my voice, I replied, "My pleasure, your honor." Judge Downey signed the final adoption papers, hugged both Roksana and Airlea, and to my surprise, also hugged me, and then we were done. Well, except for a couple of photos that Carolyn took of the girls flanking Judge Downey at her desk. They were all smiling broadly.

There were more smiles and hugs as we stood in the hallway outside the courtroom. Airlea looked at me and said, "Did I do okay?" I bent over and hugged her, trying to find my voice, which had suddenly become very constricted.

"Airlea, you were wonderful ... I'm so proud of you." I watched both Carolyn and Cecilia dab their eyes.

She kissed me on the cheek and whispered, "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, Airlea," was all I could croak out.

Anton met us on the steps to drive us back to the hotel where we had lunch laid on. Carolyn had to beg off because she hardly had a spare minute between work and wedding plans. As we lingered on the sidewalk after getting the girls into the car, Cecilia put her arms around my neck and kissed me and then looked into my eyes with that "makes me weak in the knees look" and said, "I love you, Robert." Damn, I was lucky!

Anton and Rachel's wedding was an intimate family celebration in a small chapel north of Chicago. Instead of a maid of honor, Rachel had Cecilia, Gina, Grace, and Robyn stand with her. The girls were the flower girls, led by a beaming Sophie. Dmitri was his brother's best man. With the heat and the bright sunshine that August Saturday in Chicago, I couldn't help think how the weather had gone from one extreme to another. I also realized how lucky I was, and how far we had all come since I had made that first trip to Chicago as Robert Burns in February.

The small wedding reception was at our suite at the Trump Tower, and we were joined by Carolyn Peters and her intended, Michael Fletcher, and by David Ryan and his delightful fiancée, Teresa Flaherty from Ireland. Teri even put in an appearance, bringing along her friend, Marine Lieutenant Jeff Scott. Jeff was doing recruiting duty in Chicago between tours of various dangerous places. They were cute together, but that didn't stop Teri from grabbing my butt in the hall outside the bathroom. She laughed as she said, "I've been looking for a few good men, and I'm pretty sure I found one!" I congratulated her with a kiss, which because of Teri, lasted longer than I had intended. As she stepped back she grinned, and said, "Thought I'd remind you of what you're missing!" Then she caressed the front of my pants and said with a giggle, "Cecilia's a lucky woman." I couldn't help but laugh.

As I dragged my thoughts back to my current surroundings, I was reminded that the reason Rachel was solo in the church was that Anton was doing his job outside keeping watch over things. He had been joined by Grace's security team, led as always, by the beautiful Verena Anoup. Cecilia's dad, Arturo, an imposing man, had also laid on a few "friends" to watch over things before, during, and after the wedding. In my mostly passable Italian, I had made it clear to everyone on security that Anton was in charge.

Next to Rachel sat Robyn. She wore a sleeveless peach-colored Asian style silk blouse with a Mandarin collar. That blouse was perfectly fitted and probably left every man in the place panting. She also wore a soft cotton pale green flared skirt that came just below her knees. Very high strappy platform sandals completed her outfit. Robyn didn't care how many men were panting in her wake. She was totally devoted to Michael. She wore an emerald cut diamond engagement ring, and their wedding was set for the late spring after Michael's graduation from NYU. I had offered our new home outside San Antonio, but because of her friends and family, they had opted for her church in Iowa. Michael had quit his job with the Trump Parc because he was now employed by me. As what? He was the guy who got things done. No matter where we went, it seemed Michael could conjure up the solution to any problem, or meet any need. Winston Churchill would have called Michael his "fixer". Perhaps he could be best described as our personal concierge. Today, he was just inside the door to the chapel acting as usher along with Cecilia's younger brother, Tomas. Michael's Italian was remarkably fluent. Gina and Cecilia had taught everyone pretty well - except me. I was the only laggard, but I was getting better quickly. Cecilia had put us all on a crash diet of Italian by banning any other language from the household for the entire month preceding our wedding! She had tried to insist that we have some lessons before bed each night. I had to admit that I did have some success in distracting her!

Then there were the twins, Sofia and Simone. Why were they here? Sitting in the second row they smiled at me, sworn to keep my secret. Earlier in the summer as we were getting ready to move into our new home outside San Antonio, there were some upgrades needed so Grace invited all of us to spend a couple of weeks at her ranch.

One morning when Cecilia was off with the girls on an early morning shopping expedition, Grace and I went riding before the day got too hot. Riding wasn't my favorite thing, but I was learning in self-defense since the three girls were at an age when they were enamored of horses. We stopped at a group of jumbled rocks which some glacier had no doubt deposited tens of thousands of years before. They were in an area of gently rolling grasslands. This time of year all the grass was brown and waiting for the fall rains and cooler weather to revive them. We slipped off the horses and left them to graze near a tree-shaded pool fed by a spring than flowed from the base of the rocks, while we sat in the shade of the tall cottonwoods Grace in painted-on jeans and a fitted cotton blouse sat with her hip touching mine as we watched hawks out looking for breakfast. The pool fed a creek that ran through her property leaving a line of trees all along its length. There was plenty of water even in the hottest and driest time of the year.

Grace gazed into the distance, and I figured she had something on her mind. I waited.

After a couple of minutes she looked at me and said, "Things seem to be going pretty well, Robert. She emphasized the "Robert," but with a smile, and then went on, "We haven't had much time to talk ... so tell me how you're doing."

I let her question hang there for a couple of minutes as I ruminated on all that had happened over the months since the Concordia went aground.

"Grace, most days I'm so happy, I can't think beyond that. Other times I'll wake in the night, and I'm petrified it'll all come down like a house of cards in a gale. Then I'll look over, and there's Cecilia sleeping next to me, looking so angelic that I can't breathe for the love I feel for her."

"Sorry," I apologized seeing the fleeting hurt in her eyes. I knew it wasn't about me, but memories of her late husband, the love of her life.

"It's okay. Sometimes I just miss him so much..."

I took her hand. There wasn't anything I could say.

After a couple of minutes she said, "You were saying..."

"Oh, yeah, it's just that it's a schizophrenic life, but only at times. Sometimes, especially when I'm around my three girls, I'm only Robert, other times I have doubts about my sanity for even embarking on this craziness."

This time she took my hand and looked at me with those wonderful, loving eyes. I had no doubt she cared about me and was concerned for my welfare and that of my family.

"Robert, have you thought hard about what would have happened to all these people if you hadn't taken on the mantle of Robert Burns?"

"No, not really. I mean, after I became Burns and found out about Roksana ... and Airlea, it was just the right thing to do."

"Think about it. What would have happened if Robert had died that night?"

"But he did!" I laughed

Grace simply smiled at my lame attempt at levity. "Yes, but had he not been resurrected by James Anderson what would have happened?"

I could see where she was going.

"Anyway, like that film, 'It's a Wonderful Life', where Jimmy Stewart sees his world as if he had his wish and was never born. Think about it. If Robert Burns had died that night, where would Roksana be right now? How about Airlea, Sophia and Rachel?"

She paused as I considered the question, and then went on. "I think you're getting it. Most likely Burns would have been just a missing passenger with no next of kin that could be found. He had no living relatives other than Roksana, but he had given up custody. He was reclusive and pretty much handled everything electronically. It was only by chance that I ever met him. Perhaps months after his body was found and maybe months later identified by a process of elimination, some court might have become involved to process his estate. Whoever some court eventually appointed to handle the estate, most likely some law firm – would they have been as thorough as you and discovered her existence?"

I inwardly cringed.

"My guess is that they would publish some notice in the New York papers looking for heirs, and when none came forward they would have been happy to collect their fees, and his estate would have gone into the gaping maw of New York state!" she laughed.

"So where would that leave Roksana? The likely scenario is that she would have been adopted, but it's unlikely whoever took her would have taken Airlea. So the girls would have been split up, and Airlea would have been a foster child until she was kicked out of the system at eighteen. Or worse, she would be a ward of the state for years, thought of as some handicapped, perhaps mentally challenged child. You said the Staples were nice people, but were they equipped to deal with her, especially after Roksana was adopted? Come to think of it, Roksana might have made herself unadoptable just to stay with Airlea." She smiled and continued, "She's very loyal to her friends..."

I smiled at the thought. Indeed she was, and Sophie was now included in that group of friends.

"So when Roksana turned eighteen, she would be out on her own. I have no doubt she would have found some employment. But college? Not likely. Then she would have stayed close to keep an eye on Airlea, and when Airlea turned eighteen, she would have arranged for Airlea to join her, even if that meant she had to have Airlea disappear from the foster system, if she waited that long. So think about the fate that awaited these two beautiful and smart girls had you not become Robert?"

I thought about what she said and then asked, "But what about if the searchers had been diligent and some executor had found Roksana? Her father's money is rightfully hers. Sometimes I feel like a thief."

"Stop it! You are not a thief. That scenario might even be worse."

"Oh?"

"Twelve year old girl gets millions, but has no living relatives. Can you picture it?"

I nodded, frowning.

Grace went on, "The probate court appoints a trustee to manage the funds until she's eighteen, but now she's a trust child with millions, but still a foster kid. Somehow I picture armies of shirttail relatives coming out of the woodwork panting to adopt little orphan Roksana."

"Not a pretty picture." I replied.

"But it gets worse..."

"Yes, I see where this is going." I said.

Grace continued, "At eighteen she's emancipated and all of a sudden she get access to all the money. Even the brightest eighteen year old would have difficulty with that and, of course, if some relative or other person managed to convince a court that they should get custody before she turned eighteen, they might misappropriate the assets, or spend years in court suing Roksana and the trustee."

"What a nightmare."

"So ... think of yourself as her guardian and trustee."

"And her dad," I replied.

Grace hugged me and said, "Of course, you're her dad. There's no doubt. Just ask her. And the way she looks at you. You, Robert, are her hero and savior. And in truth you are. You did the right thing for the right reasons, and now her life has been transformed along with that of Airlea and Sophie too. We can't forget where Sophie and Rachel were when you found them."

"Thanks, Grace, for pointing out what should have been obvious to me."

"You're my hero too, you know."

"I'm not comfortable being anyone's hero."

"You won't convince Cecilia and her family..."

"Anyone would have done the same."

Grace just lifted one eyebrow.

"Okay, you got me, but a moment of insanity does not really make me a hero!"

"Regardless, a lesser man would never have gone back into that ship. A moment of insanity might explain going back once but you went back again to rescue a woman you had never met while the situation with the ship had gotten very much worse. Once might have been stupidity, twice was heroic." She stopped and looked at me, her wonderful smile washing over me.