I Love that You're in My Life

Chapter Thirteen: Girlfriend

Gino exhaled slowly in an attempt to calm his nerves.  He drained his water bottle as he kept his eyes on the road before throwing the empty bottle on the seat next to him.

He sighed as he ran a hand through his blond hair, the other firmly wrapped around the steering wheel.  He was on his way back home for Christmas, and dreading it.  It'd been a few months since he had last seen his father, and even though he had parted on a relatively good note with the man, Gino still felt vexed.  He always did whenever he came back home, and despite the fact that relations were better since college started, he knew that the feeling wouldn't disappear for a while.  Not while all those memories from high school were still fresh in his head.

After another couple hours of driving, he pulled up his Audi A6 in a familiar peaceful neighborhood with homes made of bricks and stone.  He parked the car in the driveway and pulled out his luggage before stopping to admire his car.  It may have been used, but Gino had worked hard throughout high school and his first years in university to pay for it.  Of course, his father had helped for a portion, which was convenient given the relatively stable business deals the man had been getting.

He unlocked the door to the house, pushing it open, and set down his suitcases inside before closing the door behind him.

"I'm home!" Gino called, his voice echoing slightly as he locked the door.

"Gino?" a voice asked, which was followed by the face of his mother.  A wide smile spread across her face before she made her way towards her son.

"Madre," he smiled, moving forward to embrace the woman in his arms.  He drew back to look at her.  Every time he came back to see his mother, she seemed to look older and more tired than ever.  The wrinkles around her eyes and mouth were more prominent than when he last saw her, and she walked with slower and more careful steps compared to a few months ago.  Nevertheless, her chestnut hair and tall slim figure remained the same.

"Figlio mio," Rosa gazed up at him, beaming as she cupped his face with her hands.  "You look more and more like your handsome father every day."

Gino clenched his jaw at the mention of his father, but managed to keep the smile on his face.  I am nothing like my father!

"Gino!  You greet your mother but not me?" a deep voice boomed behind him.

He turned to see his father, a tall and muscular man with golden blond hair and deep blue eyes.

"Père," Gino nodded stiffly.  He reluctantly moved away from Rosa's comforting arms and Charles came up to wrap an arm around his son's shoulders before slapping him on the back, laughing.

"I still can't believe you've grown taller than me," Charles chuckled.  "Why don't you go unpack and we'll get dinner ready?"

Then again, Gino thought as he hauled his luggage up the stairs to his room, things are a lot better now than they were before.  I'm not going to let anything else bad happen to my mom.  Not after that. 

"So, Gino, you still with Naiya?" Charles asked from across the table as they dug into a sumptuous chicken vol au vent. 

"No, we broke up over the summer," Gino said monotonously as he stirred the béchamel sauce around the plate.

"What?  Why?"  Rosa looked up at him over her glass of red wine.

He shrugged.  "It didn't work out."

"That's a pity," his father grumbled.  "I liked her.  Sweet girl.  Much better than the one before her, anyway.  What was her name, again?  Angel?"