"Nikki, I'm really not sure about this." I admit as we walk up to the address my mother gave me.
"Well I am, you've gotta trust me." Nikki says and kisses my hand.
"What if they don't want to see me? I mean it's been a really long time." I ask and Nikki stops me.
"Baby, they're you're family." He smiles. "If they don't want to see you, we're in Rome. I'm sure we'll be able to find something to get your mind off it."
Nikki kisses my lips and I smile. He moves my hair away from my eyes and leaves his hand on my cheek.
"I love you." Nikki says and I smile.
"I love you more." I smirk and he kisses my nose.
"Not possible, my love." He says and holds my hand. "Let's go see your grandparents."
We walk up to the front door of the house and I hesitate on ringing the doorbell. I do remember this place, I was only here a couple of times but I remember this place perfectly.
My idiot boyfriend sees me hesitate and I see his stupid rock god smirk cross his face. Nikki quickly rings the doorbell and my heart nearly stops. I smack his arm and Nikki starts to laugh his ass off.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" I ask and he laughs harder. "Why did you fucking do that?"
"Because I knew you wouldn't. We'd stand here all freaking day." He says.
"I was going to ring the doorbell." I mutter and cross my arms.
"I know you, Skylar. You weren't going to ring the doorbell." Nikki says and I sigh.
"What makes you think that?" I demand and he sighs.
"Babe, I know you're scared." He sighs.
"I'm not scared!" I state.
"They why didn't you ring the damn bell?" Nikki asks and I sigh.
"You're impossible!" I huff.
"You're talking?" He demands.
Within our arguing neither of us saw or heard the door open. Neither of us noticed that someone was watching our argument with interest. Some one clears their throat and both Nikki and I look up.
A small plump woman stands in the doorway. She wears an apron over her clothes that has splashes of food stains all over it. Her hair is almost completely grey and is pulled tightly into a bun that's on top of her head. This is my Nona and I know it is.
"Can I help you?" She asks in her thick Italian accent.
Everything I was going to say slips my mind and my gaze drops to my Chuck Taylor's. I go to turn around and Nikki grabs my hand again.
"Yeah, I'm sorry but we're looking for Lucien and Maria Maietta." My boyfriend says. "I present their granddaughter."
"Skylar?" My Nona says and I looks up.
I awkwardly smile and she lights up. She hugs me tightly and Nona looks back into the house.
" Lucien! Vieni qui! Velocemente!" She yells for my Nono to come here quickly.
"Maria, che cosa c'è che non va?" My Nono asks what's wrong as he walks down the stairs.
"Perché non vieni qui e vedere, è culo pigro?" She calls back. If I recall correctly she yelled 'why don't you come here and see, you lazy ass'. Nikki laughs.
"They fight like us." He says quietly
My Nono walks up to the doorway and as soon as he sees me his eyes grow. Before he even says anything my Italian grandfather hugs me tightly.
"Mia cara ragazza, è passato tanto tempo. Eri così piccolo l'ultima che ti abbiamo visto." My Nono says: 'My darling girl, it's been so long. You were so small the last we saw you'.
"Sì Nono, troppo a lungo." I say: 'Yes Nono, too long'. I turn to Nikki and he smiles at me, I hug his arm. "Questo è Nikki, il mio ragazzo. Lui è molto entusiasta di incontrare a due di voi." I introduce Nikki as my boyfriend and tell my grandparents how excited he is to meet them.
"Nikki?" My Nona asks and he nods. "It's nice to meet you as well. I am Maria, Skylar's Nona."
"I am Lucien, Skylar's Nono." My grandfather says and holds out his hand to Nikki.
"It's very nice to meet you, sir." Nikki says respectively and I smile.
We're ushered inside and Nona makes us all sit down for lunch. We do something that I haven't done since I was in Alabama with my other grandparents and that's pray before we eat. Nono prays in his native language and then we dig in to the very filling meal.
After we eat I'm in the kitchen helping my Nona with the dishes while Nikki makes friends with my Nono. Kinda like when Nikki went out to the garage with my grandpa.
"Come è tua madre, Skylar?" Nona asks me how my mother is doing.
"Che sta facendo bene." I say that's she's doing good.
"Lei è andata ai medici come lei suppone che sia?" She asks me if mom's been going to the doctors like she's supposed to be.
" I dottori?" I ask confused.
"Sì, lei non l'ha detto? Monique ha fase quattro cancro al seno. Lei non ha molto tempo a sinistra." Nona says: Yes, she didn't tell you? Monique has stage four breast cancer. She don't have much time left.
"Quarta tappa cancro al seno?" I ask confused.
"Sí." Nona says simply.
My mom is dying? No way, I just got her back. I'm not ready to lose her again this soon.
Nikki
Skylar and I walk back towards the hotel after spending most of the morning and afternoon with her grandparents. They were insanely happy to see her after all these years. Sky looked really happy for most of the time at her grandparents but after lunch more and more of her smiles seemed completely forced.
I squeeze her hand once we get into the elevator and she smiles. It's forced and it bothers me that I don't know what's bugging her.
"You have a concert tonight, babe. You need to sleep when we get to the room." Skylar says and I hug her tightly.
"And if I don't wanna?" I say like a little kid and she smiles again but is more genuine. "What if I wanna do something else? I mean it still involves the bed but--"
"Nik, you need to sleep or you won't be able to play the whole concert." My girlfriend says softly. "Last thing I need is you passing out on me again."
"That was from dehydration not exhaustion." I remind her with a laugh. "I'll only sleep if you sleep with me." I bargain and she kisses my cheek.
"Deal." Skylar whispers.
We get back to the room and changed into pyjamas. We crawl into bed and I wrap my arms around my beautiful girlfriend. Her eyes are closed because she's trying to sleep but I don't think she's sleeping yet.
"Babe?" I ask and one of her sky blue eyes open. "What's wrong?"
"Why would anything be wrong, Nikki?" She asks quietly.
"You haven't been the same since we ate at your Nona's." I say.
"Maybe I ate too much." She shrugs and closes her eyes again.
"Skylar." I sigh and out my head down on top of hers. "We both know that you're lying, babe."
It goes quiet for a few minutes and I almost think that Skylar fell asleep. Her arms get a bit tighter around my chest and I hear her sniff.
"My mom is dying and she didn't tell me." She whispers. "Nona told me when we were washing dishes."
I hold onto my girlfriend as she cries. I can't Imagine what this feels like. Skylar when from not having a mom for years on end, now she has a mom that is terminally ill. It's like a roller coaster from hell that my Skylar is trapped on. At least I'm not letting her ride it alone.