Rodrigo Leopardi-Chapter 5 I do

Rodrigo (27), his finacee Cole Tan (27)
City: Downtown

We buried my brother and it was devastating for all of us. Cole held me up because I was weak from crying so much. It was sad when we saw our parents grave. We found some comfort knowing that my brother is with our parents.

Now there are portraits in all of the grave sights. We added portraits to our parents so all of the upcoming generations will be able to see what they looked like.

Cole has been my rock during this time of grief.

Most nights I spend it out looking at the stars and wondering if one of them is Ivan looking back at me. Cole gives me space but tells me that when I am ready he will be there waiting for me.

I finally got back to work and things were getting back to semi-normalcy. We have even decided to get married finally. We were going to but with Ethan getting married and Ivan getting sick we decided to postpone it.

The ceremony was held at home. Ethan really tried to push a church ceremony but we were not up to it. The cake was fantastic.

It was wonderful to know that Cole and I were married. I decided that I would take his last name so now im Rodrigo Leopardi-Tan.

Before we left on our honeymoon, I made a toast in which I mentioned a special thank you to all of my relatives present. It really meant a lot to me that everyone made the effort to come downtown to celebrate with us.

As a wedding present everyone pitched in to get us a limo ride to the airport. We had booked a flight to Tikki Island for our honeymoon.

We got some rays.

We also made lots of love. It felt good to feel alive.

But before we knew it, it was time to head back to the real world. Madeline surprised me by bringing her new boyfriend William to finally meet me. Another shocker was Cole calling to tell me that we were expecting.

"I think its awesome that both of you have decided to have a baby. Aww your going to be a daddy."said Madeline.
"Easier said than done. But im glad. I needed this after Ivan passing."

Cole rested and started painting portraits to pass the time.

Before we knew it Troy was born and completely changed our lives from quiet to noisy.

Troy has Cole's skin color but my light eyes. I am glad to have a son.

Ivan Lepardi Chapter 5-- dark and quiet.

Ivan Leopardi (27)
Narrated by Ivan.

I laid there getting probed and examined for the billionth time. This time it was definitely different. Everything in my body hurt. I could barely stand for the doctor to take my pulse because it hurt so bad.

I managed to get in a chair and to my dismay the doctor said, "Ivan I think its time for you to think about hospice care."
"So this is it? No more hope of anything else?"
"I'm afraid not. The cancer that started in your liver has progressed. The chemo only stopped it a little bit but now there is no stopping its natural course. Have you talked to your family?"
"Yes...but its not the same saying 'im sick' than ' guess what its time'"
"I understand but I need you to really get everything in order"
"The dreaded question doc... how much time?"
"Four maybe five months if were lucky"

I stared at the doctor. Five months if I am lucky huh? Well it was time for me to get everything together.

I had resigned from my job a few weeks ago. The agony of getting out of bed was too much. Now weeks after my terminal diagnosis, I decided to finally enter hospice care. I could no longer take care of myself and I did not want to be a burden to no one.

******

Narrated by Rodrigo

My brother called me and told me that he was in hospice care and that it was nearing his time. I was so upset because he did it without consulting me. Ivan and I are best friends. I am losing my best friend and I do not know how to handle it. I am grateful that I am finally at the point where I dont cry everytime I see him. Ivan tells me that its OK but when I look at him ...its not.

He lost his hair, he's getting so thin. He told me that it was time to call everyone in because he was near the end.

The last few days I visited him he was semi conscious. I told him that I loved him and I did not want to let him go. He told me that he loved me too but he was in too much pain to stay. The last day I saw him alive I hugged him and he was crying of agony and pain.

My family came...only the adults to say goodbye. Ivan did not want his nieces and nephews to see him this way. Ivan died in front of us. I could not handle it and had to leave the room. If it weren't for Cole I think I would have died right with Ivan that day. Beatrix and Madeline were in consolable. My other brothers and sister were distraught but its not the same for a quad sibling. We were in the same womb together and we were more intimate. I am happy to know that he is no longer suffering. I don't know how I will continue without my brother.

Beatrix Leopardi--Chapter 5- New place.

Beatrix (27) her boyfriend: Christopher Moore (30) their roommate Amin (28) ,
their daughter: Carmela (27)
Narrated by Beatrix


Life with a room mate and a boyfriend is much harder than expected. We have a toddler now and seriously we are running out of space. Amin offered to move out but still we needed more room.

In the end, Chris, Carmela and I decided to rent our own apartment. It was a fresh start for us as a family. Chris and I agreed that I would sign the lease. I was grateful for that because for me thats a sense of security. I know I know..I should be positive but I have seen too many relationships end bad. I do not want to give away all my security.

Chris is always worried that I might not be happy in our arrangement. Do I want to marry Chris? Sure I do but he has not even asked me. After Carmela he told my brother we would get married. That was two years ago and we are still just boyfriend/girlfriend.

I can't complain though. Carmela is a bundle of joy and energy. From sun up to sun down this little girl wants constant attention.

I am grateful that Chris comes home from work and plays with her all evening. Sometimes I feel bad breaking up their games to feed her. She is such a daddy's little girl.

My cat also moved in with us. I think it misses Amin but hopefully he will break out of his shyness.

At night when my little girl is in bed, I let out a sigh of relief. This is the most still I have ever seen her since she was born.

Madeline Leopardi- Ch. 6- On my own.

Madeline (27), her daughter Kayla (10),
ex-husband Aiden Royce (30), William Webster (30)
Narrated by Madeline.


Things have been getting a little better now that we are adjusting to living on our own. Kayla still misses her dad but she sees him on weekends and on summer break.

One thing about living alone is actually having to pay bills on your own. I owe some money due to my college degree but I do not regret getting it.

Once I did get the degree I placed it on the wall and felt so proud of myself. This is what I had struggled for and it will help me advance in my career.

Things with Aiden have been going so so. He tries to be cordial when comes to pick up Kayla. He hates having to drive so far to pick her up. I think he still thinks we are going to make it work. I asked him if he was dating and he said no.

I on the other hand have been dating William for the past year. When Kayla is away William sleeps over and we both get a chance to enjoy ourselves.

It is so different when I make love to William. I feel more experienced and free to say whats on my mind. At first I was so shy to be with William. Now I can not wait to get him to bed.

I am sure Kayla knows that he spends the night sometimes but she does not say anything. She likes William but after being with her dad she gets a little stand offish with him. William says its natural and knows that Kayla is a great kid. I am glad that they get along.

When its just us girls we talk about everything underneath the sun. Kayla asked me if I was going to marry William and I admit I blushed a bit. I quelled her fears by telling her that we had not discussed it yet.

The next night William popped the question. Turns out that Kayla knew all along and wanted to know if I would accept. I still can not believe that I am getting married again. Of course I accepted and we both hugged dearly.

I asked Aiden over to discuss my wedding with William. William and Aiden had met briefly but did not talk to him extensively. It was a little tense but we told Aiden about our plans to marry.

Aiden's reaction surprised all of us. "You are kidding me right? Madeline the ink is not even dry on our divorce and you want to marry him? What about us? WE have a daughter together."

I could not believe his reaction and I stood up because I was so upset that he would not understand. I would never stand in his way of happiness.
"Madeline I still love and we have a daughter that would benefit from us being together! Why would you do this to us?"
He grabbed me and William was about to kill him but I managed to convince William to give us some time to talk.

"Aiden I never have not ONCE ever given you any reason to think we would get back together. Where in the world would you get that idea from?"
"Maddy....I thought this was just to experience being alone. We got married young. Now were older and we can make this work."
"Aide...we can only make parenting work. I love William. I am sorry but I have stopped loving you a long time ago. It is just better this way. I want you to be happy and I know you can if you give yourself the chance. Its over. I am sorry you thought differently".

We kept going back and forth and finally Aiden stomped out of my house. I was just grateful that Kayla did not hear any of our arguing. I knew in my heart that Aiden would find someone. I just want to be happy with William. I just hope all of this works out for everyone involved.

Ethan Leopardi ch 6- Things tend to change rather quickly.

Ethan (31)
Nicole Hogan (28), Noelle Brown (30)
Narrated by Ethan.

Life has been good. I am doing great at my job and I have finally finished my master's degree. I put everything to the side to complete my master's. I am even thinking about getting a doctorate but for now I am OK just with the master's.

Ever since my brother Ivan announce he had Cancer, I have been hanging out with him more than ever. It sometimes seems weird to think that he is sick. He tells me that he is tired all the time but he makes the effort to spend time with us.

Nicole and I are still dating. It was going good for a while. We actually dated more than two years. I do not know when it happened, we can blame our jobs, family life or plain laziness. We ended up doubting the future of our relationship. I can tell she wanted marriage but I was just not feeling it.

I dreaded telling her it was over but it was. She finally came over my house and we both agreed it was best to call it quits. She was not happy. She wanted to know if we could try again but I told her no.

Ivan found it interesting that I would give up on my relationship with Nicole so eagerly. He is still bitter that his ex- left him when his cancer came back. I just wish my brother could get cured and we could all get back to normal.

******

I had not seen Noelle since we broke up. I could not believe when I saw her. I mean literally I did not believe this was the same girl I was going to marry. She told me that she took time off to find herself. I guess she found herself.

We decided to catch up on old times. We actually hit if off since we knew each other for a long time. It was like time had not stopped for us. She told me that she was sorry that our relationship had ended and wanted to try again. I have to admit that I never really got over her. She was always the one for me. I knew that I should not but I said OK.

Ivan came over and when he saw Noelle he thought there was some mistake. He knew that I was happy dating someone but I never intentionally told him her name. I wanted him to come over and give Noelle another chance.

Dating Noelle felt different. I did not have to change myself nor did she. We both acted normal and our relationship progressed rather rapidly. Noelle had decided to go out and work on a farm. She wanted to head back to basics. I always asked her if she would miss her farm life and she said no.

I knew for a long time that she was the one. I did not hesitate asking her to marry me. I was not nervous nor did I have any second thoughts about our marriage.

She said yes. I was the luckiest man alive.

We both agreed that our wedding would happen sooner rather than later. I did not want my brother Ivan to miss my wedding.


Ivan thought it was a great idea for us to get married sooner. He is hardly eating now and it hurts me when I see him. I wish I could find cure for his cancer but he tells me that I should take it easy.

************

On our wedding day it was like Noelle and I saw each other for the first time and She hugged me so hard. She told me that she loved me and was happy to become Mrs. Leopardi.

We took a lot of pictures.


We all decided to take one last picture as a family. Ivan barely could stand for his picture. He was so tired but we were happy to see that he was here to celebrate with us.


We had traditional vows. Noelle started tearing when she said hers. I did too. After all our family was going through, this wedding was much needed happiness.

Our honeymoon was scheduled for right after our wedding party. We had a blast but it was time to get some sun!
Extras:
I love the way Noelle is staring at Ethan opening the box ...hilarious.
I also did not remember who Noelle Brown was until I wrote this entry. She dated Francisco otani briefly. Noelle's chemistry with Ethan was rapid. I did not even try hard and they were wanting an engagement within a few minutes of their date starting.