[DISCONTINUED] Don't Forget

An Overdue Visit (Rewritten)

A/N: So, I'm having a hard time updating my other books (I WANNA UPDATE PLAYING THE BOSSES SO BAD), but I can at least do a double update of this one!

A couple facts about Italy so that things are clearer below.

- In Italy, a bar can be a coffee bar or a traditional bar (sometimes, they are one in the same). The reference in this chapter is to a coffee bar.

- Lira were the currency in Italy until 1999, so euros won't come up in flashbacks that occurred before that change. It'll be lira instead.

- References to football in this book will mean soccer!

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Six-year-old Luca and his mother, Isabella, were out and about in the main square of their small town. It was a typical spring Saturday with vendors lining the streets and families out shopping and having picnics. Luca was particularly excited because it was his first day out with his very own football. Isabella had given it to him the night before as a belated birthday gift over six months after it'd passed.

While there was a brief time in her life when Isabella was consistently making money from one of her regulars - a powerful man by the name of Antonio Rossi - all of that changed when she became pregnant with Luca. After accepting that Antonio wanted nothing to do with his child, Isabella moved back to the small town where she grew up to raise her son. She had hoped that her mother could help her with Luca, but she'd fallen ill and died just before he was born, leaving Isabella to raise him alone.

She was just 21-years-old when she had Luca and she was considering giving him up for adoption since her mother wouldn't be around to help. However, as soon as she saw her baby boy with those green eyes that matched her own, Isabella couldn't bare the thought of giving him up. And for her, it all seemed to work out.

From a young age, Luca quickly became independent as Isabella would at times leave him alone for a few hours while she went out to work. During the day, she worked at a bar making very little money - just enough to pay rent in the tiny suburban apartment where they lived and to buy absolute necessities. When she could, Isabella would take on clients, but that aspect of her work became much more difficult when she had a child.

There were also days when she had difficulties functioning and it was something young Luca didn't quite understand. His mother would stay in bed all day sometimes, even missing out on work. Whenever he would try to check on her or play with her when she was in such a state, she'd lock him out of the room or ignore his efforts. But those episodes would pass and she'd be his characteristically cheerful mother again.

"Mamma," Luca called, tugging at his mother's dress and pointing toward the one park in their town. He was obviously excited, holding his ball in his hand with a big grin on his face, showing off his missing teeth. "May I go play?"

"Cuore mio (my heart)," Isabella replied with an amused smile. "You don't want to go to the fountain to make a wish this time? You always like doing that."

"No," Luca shook his head. "My wish already came true!" He held up the football that his mother bought him.

"Well," Isabella giggled. "I guess I can't argue with that."

Luca ran ahead of his mother toward the park where the other children were playing and immediately started showing off his new football to his friends - his eyes bright with excitement. Isabella experienced a rare feeling content as she watched her son. She was happy that she could make him happy.

The mothers and other women who frequented the park would often give Isabella dirty looks and whispers would ensue whenever she came around. While their reactions to her did bother Isabella, she refused to allow them to see they were having an effect on her and would instead greet them warmly before going off to sit in the grass alone to watch Luca play football. However, this day was different and Isabella was joined by a father who'd brought his son on an outing to the park.