La Rosa Gialla

Chapter 59

December 2024

Since we were sorry for Joris to return home right away, we put him in one of the rooms, where he immediately went to bed and fell asleep. On the other hand, Dad was impatiently waiting for our return in the living room on the couch, dozing off to a random movie playing on the TV. He immediately jumped to his feet when he heard the door slam shut. "So?" he asked Charles impatiently. "So you talking about this in the car?" it suddenly dawned on me. "Do you really think I would propose without your dad's permission first? Who do you think I am," Charles snorted, and I shook my head with a smile and showed my dad the ring with the stone that glittered on my hand. "Mia cara," Dad exhaled, hugging me tightly and kissing my cheek.

On Monday, not only all the Leclercs, but also Luca and his family arrived at the guest house. It was a pretty chaotic day. So chaotic that no one even noticed the new piece of jewelry I was waving in front of everyone's faces. It wasn't until I propped my chin with my hand during dinner that Charlotte stopped mid-bite and squealed. "Mon dieu," Pascale said and immediately got up to kiss me and Charles and congratulate us. A round followed, during which everyone else congratulated us, except dad and Joris, who did not forget to proudly mention that he was there. "You owe me 20 euros," Luca elbowed my father and my chin dropped. "You can't be serious," I grumbled. "You bet again?" Luca and dad nodded in sync, admitting that dad had bet that Charles wouldn't make it this year, but Luca claimed he would.

Pascale, Charlotte and Carla generously offered to help us prepare the food for the evening, so we could send Charles, Joris and Luca to play with the children at a safe distance from the kitchen. We prepared everything we could and in the early afternoon guests from near and far began to gather. Soon the guest house restaurant was completely full, the whole room was shaking with laughter and a great mood flowed through it.

"I still can't believe my little sister is getting married," Luca blurted out later that evening as we gathered in the kitchen trying to get rid of the pile of dirty dishes. "You can't believe that someone would marry me?" I nudged him with a smile.

"On the contrary. I can't believe you're marrying Charles. The Charles who hid your favorite book and gave it back to you only when you cried about it. That Charles who almost broke your nose when he accidentally kicked the ball in your face."

We both laughed out loud at those memories. "He's changed a lot since then," I remarked and Luca nodded. "You too," he smiled and hugged me. "Can I ask you something?" I asked my brother who immediately nodded without hesitation. "When that day comes, will you be my witness?"

"That's clear, isn't it?" he grinned and hugged me. "Am I disturbing something?" came from behind us and I turned to my fiancé. Charles is my fiance. Crazy! "You never," I smiled at him and walked over to him so I could take the other dishes he brought with him. "We're going to have to talk," Luca said in his direction and Charles looked confused. "Seriously?" I scowled at my brother and protectively stepped in front of Charles. "If you ever hurt her, I will find you and kill you in an extremely painful way," he informed him, and Charles swallowed loudly. "Just kidding," Luca chuckled. Charlie finally released his grip on my hand. "I swear I'll do everything in my power to make Adri always happy," Charles whispered, and Luca nodded in satisfaction. I looked at Charles and tenderly kissed him on the cheek. That boy is really just a dream come true.

As midnight approached, we poured chilled champagne into glasses for a toast and gave out one glass and one sparkler to each guest. Just before the last minute countdown began, I found Charles and dragged him away from the crowd of excited neighbors to a quiet corner of the garden. He looked at me with his big green eyes that reflected the light from the surrounding bulbs and smiled kindly. "You look beautiful," he said and kissed me briefly. Too briefly, so I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him back to me to enjoy him a little longer. "You do too," I smiled and heard the guests around us start counting down the last 10 seconds. "Cheers to another great year?" I suggested but Charlie shook his head. "To another 70 great years," he smirked, and as the cheers of New Year's celebrations broke out around us, he clinked a glass with me and connected our lips again.