Old Me

11 - Party Preparations

"Oh my gosh, Michael, seriously, you don't need to give me anything. My birthday was two weeks ago."

"Well, too bad, I already bought it and I can't return it, so you'd be doing me a favor by accepting it."

I huffed and pulled the tissue paper from the bag revealing something tall and wrapped in more tissue paper.

"What is it?" my mom asked walking towards me.

I pulled it out, realizing it's quite heavy and tore the tissue off.

"Oh my gosh! I love candles!" I read the label and remove the lid to smell it.

"Wow, this is really cool Michael, I didn't know they made scented candles of countries."

"Oh, let me smell it," my mom asked smiling.

"Well, I wanted to get you one of Italy, but they didn't have it, so I got you one from where I'm from, Australia."

"Aw, Mikey, this is really great, thank you," I reached over and pulled him in for a hug.

"Does this really smell like home?" My mom asked setting it on the counter.

"Um, yeah. I think it does. It's got eucalyptus in it, which is a tree that's native to Australia, plus the sea salt for the beaches."

I smiled at how he talked about Australia and wondered if he missed it.

"Let's light it then, yeah?" My mom asked opening the drawer next to her and pulling out a box of matches.

"Yeah," I said smiling.

She returned to cooking me breakfast and I folded the bag and tissue paper so it was out of the way.

"Do you miss it?"

"Australia? Um, yeah. I do. But I really like where I'm at now," he said with a smile while he ran his finger up and down my arm.

"So, did you grow up here? Or I mean, you speak Italian, so um—" he fumbled for the right words so I cut him off to answer what I think he was getting at.

"My dad was born in Italy and moved here when he was 10 with his siblings. My mom and her siblings moved here when they were in like middle school or something. My great-aunt and her husband were already living here, and they didn't have any kids so they agreed to take them in so they could become US citizens. Both my mom and dad grew up speaking Italian at home, and my mom did the same for me and my sister. They wanted me to be able to communicate with my family back in Italy."

"Got it," he said nodding his head, "So, you've been there? To Italy?"

"Yeah, we usually go every summer actually. But this year we are going for Christmas since it's my grandparents' 40th anniversary in December."

"Wow, that must've been really fun going there as a kid every year."

"Yeah, I guess I never really thought of it as that special since it's just normal. But I guess most people don't have family in other countries that they visit so frequently," I laughed.

"Here you go baby, eat up," my mom said placing a plate of eggs, toast, and fruit in front of me.

"Thanks, ma."

"Anything for the birthday girl."

"Would you like some orange juice, Michael?"

She grabbed the pitcher from the fridge and set it on the counter.

"Yes, please. Thank you, ma'am."

I chuckled at his formality but appreciated that he was so well mannered.

"What?" He asked embarrassed.

"Nothing, it's just you're so polite," I said after swallowing the food in my mouth.

"Oh."

"Michael, I appreciate it, but you're making me feel old. Please just call me Val," my mom said pouring the juice into two glasses.

"Okay, Val," he said giving me a look.

I nodded in approval and continued to eat my food.

"Hello!" My dad called from the front of the house. The door slammed and I could hear his footsteps as he approached the kitchen. I heard someone else running up the stairs and assumed it was Cat racing up to her room.

"In here, amore!" My mom called out.

I squeezed Michael's hand and gave him an apologetic look, knowing my dad was going to really push him today.

"Good morning, amore," he said pecking her on the cheek as she washed the frying pan in the sink.

"And how is the birthday girl, this beautiful morning?" My dad asked in Italian, setting some bags of food on the counter.

"I'm fine," I shrugged, "Can you guys like maybe not speak in Italian all the time. It's probably weird for him," I said nodding my head in Michael's direction.

"Just fine, it's your party you should be excited!" my dad said, getting the message by responding in English.

"I am, I am. Give me a minute to wake up."

"Ok, ok," he chuckled, "and good morning to you Michael. Are you ready to get your hands dirty?"

"Yes, sir," Mikey said scooting his chair back and standing up.

"Beniss--I mean wonderful. Follow me," my dad said correcting himself as he began in Italian.

I gave Mikey a thumbs up as he exited and he sent me a wink that made my cheeks hot.

"Do you know what he's gonna make him do?" I asked my mom who was now busy putting the groceries away.

"He's just gonna help him set up the tables in the back."

"Yeah right, you know he's gonna interrogate him, and completely embarrass me. I heard you guys talking last night about his appearance and that he didn't look like a good guy. Why does he insist on embarrassing me? I'm never going to have a boyfriend if he keeps scaring them all away. Why do you think I never brought any dates home? You know what he did in high school."

"Amore, he just wants to keep you safe. He doesn't want you to get hurt. He's not trying to embarrass you. He loves you. A lot."

"Well, he has a funny way of showing it," I pouted stabbing the last strawberry on my plate with my fork, "And you guys can't judge him for having piercings and tattoos when you literally own a tattoo shop. Besides dad has tattoos, too."

My mom rolled her eyes as she grabbed my empty plate and told me to go call my cousins over so that we could do the decorations.

I moved over to the sofa and plopped down with a groan. I dialed Siena and grunted into the phone for her to get her ass over here.

"Okay, geez, moody much. I'll see you soon."

When she hung up I dialed Alessandro and told him the same thing, to which he replied, "Fuck off, you better be in a better mood when I see you."

"Fava," I mumbled before hanging up and closing my eyes.

I don't know why I was in such a mood, but I brushed it off as maybe my period starting soon.