The Twelve Vitali Ch. 35

"Yeah, tomorrow," Matteo said, rolling to his side to spoon with Cat. He held her close, nuzzling her neck, knowing he was the luckiest man alive.

*****

Epilogue:

Cat smiled as she passed her six-month-old daughter, Tessa, to the nanny and left the makeshift nursery. Every fear she had ever had about being a mother had disappeared the moment she looked down into her daughter's face after giving birth to her. She was totally and utterly devoted to her daughter and the men she loved. She wanted more than anything to have more children, a huge family, if she could, and grinned as she saw Mateo and Ricco waiting for her in the living room of the townhouse they had been given for the weekend celebrations.

It was time to honour those that had done extraordinary things the year before when all twelve of the families had been attacked simultaneously, and there were many stories of bravery in the face of danger. The afternoon ceremony would be followed by dinner and a ball to celebrate a new era of cooperation and understanding between the families.

"Nervous?" Matteo asked.

"Extremely," Cat grimaced. "But I have a plan," she smiled.

"Do we know about this plan?" Matteo grumbled.

"Now where would the fun be in that?" Cat laughed and sashayed ahead of him in a deep red silk dress that had been tailored to her figure. She had learned over the last year just what brought out the true alpha male in her husband, and that thought alone steadied her nerves as she walked into the ballroom to greet their friends.

Six members from each of the twelve families clustered around generous tables that allowed them all to move and face the small stage once proceedings were underway.

"Thank you all for coming all the way to the prettiest part of Australia," Lydia Papillo spoke into the micro as the murmur that had filled the hall died down to silence. "It seems an aeon ago that the events that saw every mother of every table endangered occurred, and we gather here today to recognise the bravery of those who saved us all. We all know that without the early warning of Ricco Vitali the outcomes of that day could have been far different, so I hope you have all taken the time today to meet with him and thank him. His isn't the only story of heroism, of course, there were many on the day. I saw first hand Matteo Vitali charge on to that plane and heard the witness who told of how he disarmed the men who killed his sister and the two Martino men. I witnessed the bravery of Catriona and saw Theresa fall..." her voice broke off, and she took a minute to gather herself. "Lastly, I would like the thank Leyton, and Rick, who never once considered giving in to the Suebi demands to hand me over to them. I love you both more than I can ever express."

Lydia was replaced by Audrey Martino, who apologised for her family's part in the ordeal and the injuries to Marina, who saved not only her, but her baby too. She added her thanks to the Vitali family, who had been the focus of the Suebi attack and had risked the most to save them all.

The mother of each family spoke to the gathered audience, some having both generations attend the ceremony, most with only the younger member to speak for them. Marina came onto the stage using a walking stick, and Peri waddled onto stage heavily pregnant again and looking as if she might be having triplets again, though she claimed to just be having one this time. Ally had tears in her eyes as she spoke of Nathanael's bravery and the way he had saved her, and the stories went on until, finally, Cat took the stage.

Cat pushed her nerves down and tried to channel the in control, bossy Princess she knew she had within her, who knew that in this room she was safe and loved. She held her head up high, and rather than standing behind the lectern, she took the microphone and stood in front of it to make her carefully rehearsed speech.

"Gosh, you have all been so kind acknowledging the importance of that early warning that Ricco sent out, but..." and she looked at each of Matteo's friends in turn. "It was worth nothing if those of you who received it didn't believe it or thought it was a hoax. The real heroes of that warning are you for putting your faith, not in the friend you had known for years, but in his brother," she paused and took a breath as they seemed stunned by what she had said. "You all deserve the same recognition for acting as soon as that warning came through, without hesitation, and none of you should ever underplay that moment in time. There was perhaps a time where suspicion would have outweighed the threat. I know Ricco was humbled by the fact that you all believed him and acted without hesitation, and we thank you for that."

"As for what happened on the plane, there is only one hero to speak of there, and although most of you have read of the events that happened, I would like you to indulge me as I tell you about the woman I am proud to call mother," She paused and smiled at Theresa softly. Then once again she told her story, letting the emotion of that time shine through in her voice and expression. When she was done, there was spontaneous applause for Theresa and Cat both.

"Fuck!" Matteo groaned to Ricco, "If she keeps walking up and down the stage like that I am going to blow a gasket here!"

"She certainly is in Princess mode, isn't she?" Ricco chuckled. "She has everyone eating out of the palm of her hand, hanging on her every word. Who would have thought she had it in her to be a diva on stage as well?"

"That's all I need, a Princess Diva to totally mess with my head," Matteo groaned, trying and failing to control his body from reacting to his wife's stage presence.

"I didn't think it was your head she was messing with," Ricco sniggered, making his parents turn and frown at him because Cat had started speaking again.

"I have so many people to thank, so please bear with me. To the Sartori family, we can never thank you enough for your swift action to save Theresa's life and the support you showed Roberto and Stefano in their time with you," she paused and smiled at the table. "To the Papillo family, who went to extraordinary life-saving measures to stabilise Theresa for her flight to the Sartori. For your care and treatment of my own injuries and for everything you did. The outcome hinged on you being as truly courageous and as giving as you were on that day, and there is no way we can ever repay you for all of your support and help," she said, placing a hand on her chest and smiling at them all.

"There are so many others I should mention, but I'd also like to highlight one other incredibly brave person, who not only showed his courage on the day, but in the weeks following. It would have been all too easy for us to point the finger of blame at the Martino family and demand justice. It is a rare individual who can stand in the face of that sort of accusation and tell the truth and accept responsibility for the failure of a few. I can only imagine how hard it was for Theo to face his childhood friend, Matteo, knowing his family caused the grief our family suffered. Yet he did. Time and time again he faced you all and accepted the responsibility and the humiliation that caused him. You are courageous and true and deserve your seat here, Theo. We thank you for your honesty and courage in doing what needed to be done."

There was a low murmur as she finished speaking, but she could see the Martino family smiling at her words. She had worried she would further their suffering by mentioning his family, but she needed to put out the flames that still burnt by the betrayal of Trevino and Giovanni.

"Did I forget anyone?" she asked, looking at Matteo and Ricco, who shrugged and held up their hands outspread. "Great, then I'm done, sorry that took so long," she grinned at her audience and replaced the microphone back on the stand as Lydia returned to the stage.

"Please, everyone enjoy dinner," Lydia said, not wasting anymore time with speeches and hurrying after Cat. "You were perfect, thank you so much. You do that so well. I am terrified on the stage."

"You mean, you didn't see me shaking like a leaf up there?" Cat laughed. "That was terrifying."

"You looked amazing up there, everyone was hanging on your every word," Lydia had linked arms with her to walk her back to her table.

"You did that on purpose," Matteo grumbled as she sat down between him and Ricco.

"I think he just had his first wet dream while wide awake," Ricco chuckled. "You might have to go and ease some of that tension for him soon, or he might just combust."

"Well, I do have to change for the ball soon," Cat smiled slyly, "And I put just as much care into choosing that dress with you in mind," she grinned.

"Oh, Princess, it's a dangerous game you're playing tonight," Ricco said with a low chuckle, "and I am looking forward to every moment of it."

*****

Authors note: I sincerely hope that if you have come to this note that you have enjoyed This series. As always it is difficult to wrap up every thread in a story and sometimes its fun to leave a few dangling in case I want to revisit the series in the future. For now though, this is the end. Thank you all for reading this series of The Twelve. ~ellie.