It was Christmas at last! I had plans for the day, breakfast at Teo's, Christmas lunch with my family and probably dinner too. The funny thing was, after becoming a "thing" I had barely gotten to see Charles.
I didn't blame him, of course he was working hard for next season and I definitely didn't want to get in the way.
I put on one of my new dresses I'd been saving for the holidays, did my hair and headed off to Matteo's place. I'd be eating his mother's cooking after such a long time, it made me so nostalgic for the time when we were little.
Every time she made brioche, I would just run to his house for breakfast. Mamma Tanzi didn't mind at all, with a big smile on her face she'd fill my plate with even more food and make sure I'd eaten everything she'd cooked for the spread.
I entered the building and could already hear the commotion coming from the house on the second floor- a good sign! All the Tanzis had gathered and the feast was in full swing.
A girl with curly hair noticed me, she waved frantically before walking towards me and giving me a big hug, the rest of the family too exclaimed and passed me around for big hugs, I finally reached Mamma and gave her the flowers I had brought for today.
"You've grown so much! You look lovely!" She smiled giving me a big hug.
"You too Mamma!" I beamed, "merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas!" All of them smiled.
Matteo's siblings came around introducing themselves, and I introduced myself. I couldn't believe how quick the years had flown by, the curly haired girl- the youngest of them all was sixteen now! The last time I saw her- Marta, she was a child! Probably eight or nine years old.
All of sat down for breakfast in whatever spot we could find, ate good stuff Mamma had made for today and talked about how everyone had been. Matteo came sat down next to me, he said that it was unfair how his family had whisked me- his friend away from him.
We laughed at his little tantrum and suddenly everyone was bringing up embarrassing memories of him. He was getting even more annoyed, which made pulling his leg all the more fun.
"Mamma, I'm going to my house and I'm taking Emi with me. I'll come back when you teach the rest of your hooligans how to behave."
"Teo. Sit down, no one's going anywhere." His dad said.
"Then tell them to stop making fun of me." He huffed.
"Marco, Marta, don't tease him like that. He's your older brother." Mamma rebuked them.
"Michele, Maura, you're the older kids! Don't trouble him like that." Mister Tanzi sighed.
"Both of you have kids! You're both pushing thirty and behave like-"
"That's enough." Mamma silenced him.
I did not want to be in the middle of a full fledged fight, the five siblings and their parents arguing never really ended well, there was always screaming and crying. I knew that because I had been caught up in them accidentally, when I would just be over to do homework with Matteo.
Thank God my phone rang, I literally bolted out of the vicinity to answer it. I don't if it was the panic or what but it made me talk on the phone quite mean.
"Who is it?"
"Can't you read the caller ID?" A playful voice laughed. I didn't need to read the caller ID I knew exactly who I was talking to.
"Merry Christmas to you too Charles."
"Merry Christmas Emiko, when can I see you?" He jumped straight to the point.
"You're getting a little desperate." I teased him.
"I don't think asking to see my girl- you know what I mean!" He cut himself off.
"I'm on my way home from breakfast with Teo's family, I have to get home and help with lunch- Kenji's colleague is coming over and hopefully I'll have no dinner plans."
"So you can see me at dinner!"
"No I won't." I answered honestly, "I've had one too many conversations today and I'll need to recharge my social batteries."
"Fine." He ended the call.
If I wasn't in such a hurry to get home, I would have maybe called him up to console him. But the minute I got home, I was put on kitchen duty. Kenji and Baba fussed over setting the table while I was instructed to watch the pot over the stove.
"Slight change in plans." Kenji announced.
"What's the matter?" Baba asked.
"Laura's babysitter cancelled on her, last minute so she's asking if she can bring her baby too?"
"Of course she can! She shouldn't have called the baby sitter at all, she should come with her baby." Baba smiled, "it's been so long since I've seen a little one."
"Are you okay with that Emi?" He asked.
I'm not the biggest fan of babies, they seem to love crying, pulling on people's hair and screaming. But who was I to bar entry to a baby from Christmas lunch? I said it was fine, as long as I won't be pressured into interacting with the child.
Lunch was ready, the table was set. I decided to change into better clothes before Laura arrived, I kept telling Kenji to change too but he continued wearing one of Baba's floral aprons over his ridiculous Christmas sweater.
The doorbell, that's when he sprung into his room to change into a better shirt. I opened the door and welcomed Laura, she smiled and introduced us to her baby- Siya. Baba's heart was puddle, the little girl had a round face and big dove eyes, she was about eight months old and quite tranquil.
When I thought about babies, I thought noise machines. But little Siya liked to sit quietly in her mother's arms and observe everything carefully, study people's faces with a tiny frown on her face. She carefully looked at Baba before letting out a cheerful babble to be carried by her.
We sat down for lunch and made small talk, it's a necessary evil. Without warning, Baba was jumped into asking Laura questions about her. Within minutes Baba had already learned that Laura's family was back in Sri Lanka, she was raising Siya on her own and that Kenji was not lazy at his workplace.
"If you ever need someone to look after Siya while you're away, don't hesitate calling me!" Baba smiled cradling the baby in her arms. "Such a darling!"
"For sure! She seems to like you a lot." Laura smiled.
We were winding up with lunch, Kenji and I were cleaning up while Baba and Laura talked in the living room, Kenji told me about how she was the first person he got to work with- also the only one who was willing to show him around the office.
The doorbell rang again, I continued washing the plates so Kenji reluctantly answered the door. He announced that Baba's favourite student ever was here. I left the dishes aside to see who it was, the sight in the living room was worth seeing.
Siya sat on the rug, playing on her own. Laura looked starstruck and Baba had literal heart eyes. Everyone's favourite boy alive was standing in my living room with a casserole dish in his hands and was smiling at me.
"You know him?" Laura asked, very stunned.
Both Charles and I started speaking at the same time "He used to learn piano-"
"I'm Emiko's boyfriend-"
Clearly, both of us were giving to very different reasons, both of which were true. Both of us looked at each other in even more confusion and just ended up laughing, he took me by the hand and got me to stand next to him, his hand placed ever so gently on the small of my back.
"Well, both of the reasons are true." He looked at me.
I glanced at Baba, whose eyes hadn't moved or blinked. "I've been meaning to tell you-"
"How long has it been?" She asked.
"A week." I squeaked.
She clapped her hands and sighed with relief. "Finally! It's taken you years to realise!"
There was still a lot to talk about but Charles was already on the floor, completely immersed in playing with Siya. Clearly, she found him very interesting because all she wanted to do was do silly things and make him laugh, which made her laugh.
"Hold it together I'm not giving you any babies yet." He smirked. He had caught me staring at him, my cheeks were hot-oh gosh I was definitely red.
"Stop!" I playfully shoved him.
"I haven't even taken you on a proper date yet, let's start there." He smiled. "I've made dinner reservations. so, will you join me?"