BLAME IT ON THE SUNSHINE

CHAPTER 7 (ELIANA)

DECEMBER 18

The silence is slightly suffocating. Okay, I should clarify. It's not silent, per se. The restaurant is comfortably loud with the sounds of pleasant chatter and the clanking of dishes against one another. It's the silence at our table, specifically, that is uncomfortable. My dad hasn't touched his phone at all since we sat down (it's been like, five minutes, but still) and my siblings, most definitely tired from all the travelling, have been quiet. For once, they're on the same wavelength.

"So." My mom clears her throat.

Yes, so. Why is it suddenly so painfully awkward? I mean, yeah, we don't do family outings that often, and we only have family dinners, like, once a week, but we're not strangers. This weird energy at our table should be strictly reserved for doomed first dates. My lack of dating experience means I've never had to endure an awkward first date, but it feels like I'm living through one right now. I suppress a full body shiver.

"Yes," my dad says, glancing from my mom to me to my siblings. I wait for him to continue, but that's all he says. He and my mom share some sort of look, so I guess there is conversation at our table. Sucks that it's not, you know, verbal.

"We have a surprise for you!" my mom blurts. Beside me, Nina and Nico share a shocked look and, having no engaging-in-a-silent-conversation-at-dinner partner, I look between my parents with raised eyebrows. My mom seems shocked at herself for just blurting it out like that, and my dad seems pleased.

"A surprise?" I try to keep the suspicion out of my voice. This vacation is, in and of itself, my parents' biggest surprise of the decade. What more could there be?

"Yes, so as you know, we're going on the cruise tomorrow. And-" My mom cuts herself off just as someone hugs me from behind.

"Surprise!" Nan calls.

Wait.

Nan?

I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. I glance beside me to see Pops standing behind Nina and Nico, ruffling their hair.

"You're coming with us?!" Nina squeals.

"Nah, you're coming with us!" Pop cracks himself up. My dad gives him an amused look.

"Oh, Dad, you think you're so funny!" someone chuckles from behind me. At first I think it's just someone talking really loudly at a table nearby, but it's too perfect a response to Pops to be coming from a stranger. My parents share another look, and I crane my neck to see Pops slapping some guy on the back. It's not just "some guy", though, because it's obvious they know one another. And, wait a minute, was that who was talking? And did he just call Pops dad?

"Good to see you, son," Pops says to the man. My dad raises from his seat and he and the man exchange a hearty handshake.

"Marco," the man says.

"Polo," my dad responds with a broad grin.

Sorry, what's happening? I'm struggling to keep up, here. This random guy is Pops' son? My dad's brother? My uncle?

What is he doing here? Why haven't I met him? Why do he and my dad seem to have some sort of inside joke????

Before I can mull over any of these questions, more people join our table, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Daniela, my brother, Marco," the man/my uncle?? says to a beautiful woman who has to be at least a foot shorter than he is.

"So good to finally meet you," my dad says, pulling her into a hug. The woman lets out a surprised chuckle. "Likewise," she says, engulfed by my dad.