A Life Sublime Read Online Free Page A

lap, their chairs pushed firmly together, his arm around the back. As olives, prosciutto, tomatoes and mozzarella were placed on the huge oak table, Paul voiced his fascination with Belinda’s relationship to Gina.
    “Wait, you’re not related?”
    “Not by blood, no,” Belinda replied, helping herself to the mozzarella which was drizzled with pesto.
    “We tend to call everyone older than us aunt or uncle out of respect,” Gina answered, putting down her Amalfi lemonade. “I grew up thinking I was related to everyone in London and my grandparents had been seriously busy.”
    “Everyone is family,” Belinda added over the laughter. “It’s that saying, ‘ It takes a village to raise children.’ Make sure they behave.”
    “Didn’t work with Gina,” Nick murmured, only to have his thigh resoundingly slapped.
    “Cheek!”
    “See what I mean?”
    “Behave,” Paul frowned at them both. “So you were…?”
    “Gina’s mother’s friend. We were friends for a very long time.”
    His frown deepened. “Don’t your kids mind?”
    “I don’t have any and if I did they’d treat her as a sister.”
    Paul’s face twisted in empathy. “Well, biology doesn’t make you a mother.”
    “Lesson learned,” Nick said dryly.
    “Amen,” Sofia scoffed, draining her champagne glass. “Auntie, can I ask you something in that vein? If you were Paulie’s mother—”
    “Sofia…”
    “No, let me finish. Wouldn’t you agree being within a five minute walk of your son’s home is a little too close?”
    “I’m not moving,” Paul said wearily, indicating a conversation that had obviously been on repeat play.
    “I want to live in Sheen,” Sofia whined.
    “Sheen is gorgeous,” Gina said, taking a sip from her glass.
    “See, Gina agrees with me, and it is the perfect place for Junior Da Canaveze to run about.”
    Gina choked on her drink and Nick released a sigh, shaking his head. Massimo’s fork dived back to his plate and Belinda scrambled to catch her almost overturned glass.
    “You’re pregnant again?” Paul blurted.
    “You are having a baby?” Massimo asked in an awed whisper.
    Nick pointed at Sofia, “You couldn’t wait just one day?”
    “We’re twelve weeks tomorrow,” Gina said with a grin. “We just wanted to be sure everything would okay and we’ve still got another…”
    She was cut off by the scrap of chairs being pulled back, and drowned out by cheers and hugs of congratulations. Belinda was caught between shock and sheer joy at the news. She was devastated when Gina and Nick lost their first baby. Having never felt life growing within her, but to know that life had been extinguished so soon, had broken Belinda’s heart. But this was nothing less than God’s blessing, if not before God’s intended religious blessing.
    “Sofia,” Massimo chided as he put Gina back down.
    “I forgot!” she squeaked. “You all told me I’m not supposed to keep secrets anymore!”
    “This,” Belinda announced, “is why you stay close to home. So in case your father-in-law becomes a grandfather by you two, you can leave the baby with him and go shopping.”
    “ Zia ,” Paul groaned, “don’t encourage her.”
    “Shopping is my business,” Sofia crowed. “And I’ll have to do my auntly duty by buying everything Junior will ever possibly need.”
    “Never mind Paulie,” Gina winced. “I’m sure she’ll buy you something along the way.”
    “There we are. No need for me to do anything. Gina’s doing the baby show for all of us.”
    Belinda looked directly at Sofia. “Being able to have children or not, does not define you or your worth in this world.”
    Sofia blinked. “What?”
    “You heard me.”
    Belinda sent her an assured smile, and turned back to Gina who was saying, “I had to have the dress taken out and the lingerie designer wasn’t happy about doing things from scratch to fit around Bullet 2.”
    “Are you going to be passing out mid conversation?” Paul