Scorpia walks into the kitchen en finds Lucas there, trying to eat all the lettuce he could find. Lexy is trying to convince him it's a bad idea and Bruno is watching it, fingers gripping his hair. He looks up at his sister, his eyes begging her to help them.

Scorpia makes her way over to Lucas and crouches down next to him. "Lucas? Honey? Look at me please."

The boy looks at her with his familiar grey eyes and she smiles at him. "Do you want to step outside with me? So we can talk? Without anyone else there?"

He nods and gets up right away. He grabs her hand and pulls her along towards the back door. Scorpia follows him and he drags her towards the bench at the back of the garden. He crawls onto it and pats the empty spot beside him as soon as he sits.

Scorpia sits down next to him and turns to face him. "Lucas, please tell me honestly how you're feeling." She strokes his cheek with the back of her hand and Lucas sighs.

"You were my teacher! I saw you first! And then... uncle Logan and Enzo and Matteo and Pia and Leo!" He's so frustrated that he can't find the words anymore.

Desperately trying not to cry, he continues: "And now you're not my teacher anymore! And I can't go to uncle Logan on Saturdays. And when we're here... mommy's busy with Enzo and Pia all the time. Daddy too! I have a dad now, but..."

He starts to cry and Scorpia pulls him onto her lap. She wraps her arms around him and rocks him gently.

She kisses his forehead, "Lucas, ti amo. You have a special place in my heart from the very first moment you walked into my classroom. That will never change, honey. And you can still go to uncle Logan on Saturdays. To uncle Logan, auntie Scorpia, and Leo. We are a family now Lucas. Like you, Enzo, Pia, and mommy and daddy."

She rubs his back and kisses him on top of his head.

"Sweet, sweet Lucas. You are the oldest kid in your family. And that means you have to take care of everyone and be the strongest. Just like your daddy had to. And that's okay because being a big brother is a very important job, only really strong men can do it. But this also means you will have to learn to say what you want out loud. Because you seem so strong that no one realizes you need one on one time with someone. With mommy or daddy. Or uncle Logan or me."

He wipes his tears and looks deep into her eyes while he thinks about it all. Scorpia keeps eye contact with him and smiles carefully. He rubs her cheek with his hand, "We can't get married, right? And you love uncle Logan a lot?"

Scorpia nods, giving Lucas the time to think about it all. She knows he understands way more than he can express.

"If I asked uncle Logan, I could still go to the market with him on Saturdays?"

Scorpia nods again.

He softly asks: "Are you coming with us too? And Leo?"

"If you want us to. But it's okay if you want to go with uncle Logan alone."

Lucas shakes his head, "No, you have to come. We can help you carry stuff. But... I want to look at the eels with uncle Logan alone."

Scorpia laughs, "Thank God. Those living eels scare me so much."

"Can I sit on uncle Logan's shoulders again too?"

"Yes, I'm sure that's fine. I think uncle Logan misses your time together too. And he was scared you would hate him because he's marrying me."

Lucas looks at her with a shocked expression on his face, "He thinks I'm mad at him? Because he loves you?"

He jumps off her lap, "I have to go to him. Because that's not true!"

Scorpia gets up slowly and runs her fingers through Lucas' beautiful ginger hair. She crouches down and spreads her arms out wide. Lucas grins and cuddles her with all the love he has.

"Still the best hugs in the world. Follow your heart Lucas and say out loud what you would like. Now go and find uncle Logan. Quickly."

Lucas lets her go and runs back to the house, while Scorpia follows him at a slow pace. She looks on ahead and finds Logan sitting on the terrace alone. She can feel the tension in his body from a distance and watches Lucas fly up to him. Lucas jumps into Logan's arms and she notices tears in Logan's eyes when she gets closer.

She steps onto the terrace, walking into the house through the back door. Lexy and Bruno are sitting at the kitchen table, both a ball of nerves, while the rest of the family watches TV in the living room. There's soccer on and mamma's yelling at the screen.

Scorpia takes a seat across from Lexy and Bruno and looks Lexy in the eye for a bit. She turns her gaze to Bruno and says: "You, as a big brother yourself, should understand him best. Spend some time with Lucas one on one. He's only four but at the same time, he is Enzo's and Pia's big brother. So much has changed in our lives, in a very short time. More kids, different jobs, illness, responsibilities, relationships. Things who are already hard to grasp for us, let alone when you're a little boy of almost five."

Lexy and Bruno take their time to let her words sink in and Logan and Lucas walk in holding hands. Logan walks up to the table and says: "From now on, Lucas will come over on Saturdays again. But just Lucas, okay? Like old times. We'll go to the market and drink chocolate milk. And eat shortbread."

Lucas beams as he looks at his uncle.

Lexy nods and Bruno says: "I have to admit I'm a little jealous but okay."

Lucas looks a little scared but Logan puts his hand on Lucas's shoulder. Lucas relaxes a bit and looks at Bruno.

"Pappa?"

"Yes?"

"Could you teach me how to box? Just the two of us?"

Bruno's eyes well up and he gets up. He picks Lucas up, hugging him tightly. "I would love to Lucas. Maybe we can do it on Wednesday afternoons?" Lucas nods and hugs Bruno while the tears run down his face.

Scorpia gets up, making her way over to Logan, who immediately wraps his arms around her. Lexy gets up and hugs Bruno.

She looks up at Lucas, "I'm sorry Lucas, for not understanding. Just tell us what you want. We will always listen to you and do our best to give you what you want. I love you, my beautiful boy. Forever."

Lucas cries harder and Bruno hands him to Lexy. Lexy holds her son close and Bruno encases both of them with his arms.

Logan takes Scorpia with him to the living room, checking out the cozy mess on the couch. Matteo is holding Pia on his lap. Next to them sits Flavio with Enzo in his lap, who is completely focused on the TV. Ciro is next to them with Leo against his shoulder, rubbing the boy's back gently and looking relaxed. Mamma is sitting next to Ciro, yelling at the TV while she makes wild hand gestures.

Scorpia makes eye contact with Ciro and whispers, "Dino?"

"Left to see Violetta and hasn't come back yet. I hope that's a good sign."

Scorpia nods, "Those eyes of ours. I wonder where it comes from. And why? We only have it with Leo."

Mamma looks at Ciro and mumbles something in Italian. They both look at her, hoping she will elaborate but she shakes her head. Logan sits down next to mamma and pulls Scorpia onto his lap.

Mamma grumbles at the TV, shaking her fists at the soccer players. Logan chuckles softly and Scorpia laughs along with him. Mamma can only watch TV one way; full of passion.

Logan cuddles Scorpia and speaks in a soft tone. "What the hell did you say to Lucas? I didn't expect it to be solved this soon. I felt so guilty towards him. I did use him to meet you."

Scorpia looks at him with a pretend shocked expression. Logan chuckles, "I apologize, it wasn't fate. I might have used my nephew's love to get you into the cafe for a dinner with him and my sister."

Scorpia pretends to get up, "I'm telling him right now! That poor boy! You're so mean!"

Lucas walks into the room and looks at them both as he comes closer. "Is uncle Logan being mean to you?" He shoots Logan a strict look, who looks down with guilt written all over his face. Lucas looks at Scorpia, "Well?"

Scorpia says: "Um, he's usually sweet. But sometimes... he wants to see me naked."

She bursts out in laughter and Lucas looks at Logan with his mouth open. Lucas walks over to his dad and whispers something in his ear. Bruno stifles his laugh and tells Lexy.

Lexy walks up to Logan and yells: "Up!"

Scorpia gets up from his lap and Lexy grabs his arm, pulling him towards the back door. She pushes him out onto the terrace and playfully yells: "That's not acceptable! You're so bad! You stay out here for a while and think about it!"

Scorpia falls back onto the couch, holding her stomach because it hurts from laughing so hard. Bruno laughs and picks Lucas up to sit him down on Scorpia's lap. The boy immediately hugs her and Bruno walks back to the kitchen, where Lexy is clinging onto the kitchen island to prevent herself from falling over from laughing her ass off.

Scorpia is still chuckling and Lucas studies her expression. "Scorpia? Is it really true that uncle Logan..." Scorpia nods and wipes the tears from her cheeks. "But that's not okay, right?"

Scorpia thinks about her answer for a second, "I want to see him naked sometimes too."

Lucas frowns and thinks long and hard about her words. He sighs, "It's the same as why I can't marry you, right? It's different for big people."

Scorpia hugs him tightly and presses a kiss in his hair. "Smart, smart Lucas. Ti amo. That's exactly what it is. It's different for adults. And uncle Logan is allowed to look at me when I'm naked if I want him to that is."

Lucas looks at the back door, "But uncle Logan is sitting outside. Alone. That's sad."

Scorpia strokes through his hair, "A little. But it was a lot of fun to tease him a little. Look at your mom and dad in the kitchen, they are still laughing."

Lucas looks at Bruno and Lexy and laughs softly. He slides from Scorpia's lap and walks into the kitchen. He whispers something in his other's ear. Lexy laughs and nods and Lucas makes his way over to the back door and opens it.

"Uncle Logan? Are you sorry?" Logan nods. "Then you should say sorry to Scorpia and you have to mean it or you're staying outside!" Lucas folds his arms and shoots his uncle an angry look.

Logan gets up, drops his shoulders, and drags his feet inside. He saunters over to Scorpia and hears Lucas giggle softly. He turns around to look at the boy who is trying to keep down his laughter with his hand covering his mouth.

He runs back to Lucas and picks him up. He tickles him, "Are you pulling a prank on your uncle? What is going on here boy?"

Lucas cracks up and screams for help. Bruno and Lexy try to save him and Lucas catches his breath as soon as they succeed.

He looks at Logan, "You still have to say sorry."

Logan rushes over to Scorpia and kneels down in front of the couch. He rests his head on her lap and looks up at her with sad puppy eyes. He pouts, "I'm sorry Scorpia. I will try to close my eyes when you're naked. And I will try not to ask for it anymore. And I'll keep my hands to myself. Sorry."

Scorpia bites her lip and tries not to laugh. Her fingers slide through his hair as she appreciates his acting skills. "Okay, Logan. I forgive you. But I have to say sorry too. Because I want to see you naked sometimes too and I have peeked sometimes as well."

Logan can't hold his laughter in anymore and hides his face in her lap. His shoulders shake and Scorpia chuckles softly.

Lucas watches them, "Uncle Logan? You're not crying, are you?"

Logan turns his head to Lucas, who stares at his uncle's laughing face. Logan's laugh is infectious and Lucas laughs again too. He falls against his uncle laughing and Logan wraps his arm around him. Scorpia laughs along with the men and Bruno and Lexy sit down with them.

They laugh until they are out of breath and Lexy hoarsely says: "I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Thank you, Lucas." Bruno agrees and ruffles Lucas' hair.

The sports program has ended and Enzo rushes over. He climbs onto his dad's lap for a hug and Bruno asks: "Did you have a good time with Flavio?"

Enzo nods, "Flavio sweet!"

Flavio puts his hand on his chest and meets Scorpia's gaze. He winks at her, mouthing: "Thank you."

She nods at him and then looks at Ciro, who is looking at Leo in love, who fell asleep on his arm.

Scorpia taps mamma's shoulder, "What were you about to say about our eyes mamma?"

Mamma turns her way and says: "Well, there's an old story that went through pappa's family. But... then I realized you're not pappa's child, so I got nervous about continuing."

Scorpia puts her hand on mamma's arm and nods. Mamma takes a deep breath before telling them the story. "Pappa's grandma used to tell us that an orange glow in someone's eyes means you're connected to the soul of the person you're touching. And gold specks in the eyes is a sign of true love."

Flavio and Logan gasp simultaneously and look at each other.

Ciro looks at Scorpia, "You have the gold specks too?"

Scorpia nods and Flavio says: "Come sit next to each other, so we can test it."

Scorpia sits down next to Ciro on the couch and Logan and Flavio take a seat across from them on the coffee table. Ciro's eyes are still glowing orange and Scorpia rests her hand on Leo's tummy.

Flavio stares at her eyes and whispers: "Wow."

Logan's gaze travels from Scorpia to Ciro and back. He softly says: "Scorpia's glow is brighter. Beautiful."

He looks at Flavio, who's nodding. Logan strokes the skin just below Scorpia's boobs and smiles as the gold specks appear. Flavio strokes the skin behind Ciro's ear and his eyes fill with the same gold flakes.

Logan and Flavio grin at each other and Flavio says: "It looks like we chose the right partner."

Ciro and Scorpia look at each other in surprise, studying each other's pupils. They look at mamma, who catches the last remnants of the gold flakes.

Mamma says: "Pappa's grandma said only one kid in the family would have this gift. And to be honest we didn't believe her story at all. But now that I've seen it with my own eyes... And even better I have two in my family!"

------------------

It's up! And before the end of the new year! I was having trouble writing. And reading, to be honest. My brain is tired at the end of the year. And if you know me a little, you know I write and read all in. So I'm glad it's up.

I hope you enjoyed this one.

XO Hankie