Nine Years Later....
"Merry Christmas!"
The front door of Mama Rosa's burst open and in marched a whole slew of Incitti family members, all carrying wrapped presents and plates upon plates of delictable dishes that I can smell all the way by the fire place.
Things hadn't changed much since my junior year, when I first started hanging out with Archer.
Everyone still gathered together for the holidays, everybody still pigged out on food, everybody still shouted and laughed loudly at each other - your typical Italian family, I guessed.
Ever since Archer and I had gotten married, we were both bound by familial obligations more than ever. And surprisingly, I was okay with this. I liked the feeling of being apart of something much bigger.
"Hi, Hadley!" Karin exclaimed, throwing her arms around me in a tight hug. "Don't you look great?"
"Thanks," I said with a laugh, leaning away. "Good to see you, too, Karin."
I was greeted and hugged tightly and had my cheeks kissed by about every family member imaginable. Other people might have found this extremely annoying, but I didn't mind.
"How have you and Archer been doing lately?" Sophia asked me as I helped her carry pies into the kitchen, to the fridge.
"Just fine," I said honestly.
And in reality, that was true. Sure, we fought a lot about very stupid things, but that was only to be expected after everything we'd been through together. We'd just celebrated our first anniversary on December 11th.
"Any bambinos going to be joining us soon?" she asked hopefully with raised eyebrows, shoving pies into the fridge.
My face flamed bright red and I suddenly had the urge to throw up but before I could even answer, the triplets came bursting in the kitchen, squabbling and fighting with each other like they normally did, even if they were fourteen now.
"Girls!" both Sophia and I shouted in unison. "What's going on?"
"May did - "
"April took my - "
"June stepped on my - "
Yes, everything was going just as it normally did.
"Enough, enough," Regina said, bustling into the kitchen, flapping her hands. "Stop fighting and go greet your cousins."
April, May, and June - even more alike than they had been when they were younger - slouched and pouted their way out of the kitchen, still very put out.
I made idle chit-chat with Sophia and Regina while we readied dishes of spaghetti and linguini and salad and any other plate imaginable. Karin joined us a few minutes later and we carried the dishes out behind the counter.
John, Marc, and Vittorio had already pushed several tables together to seat everybody and we quickly set about getting the food ready.
A bright light flashed in front of my eyes as I was setting a basket of breadsticks on the table and I sceamed out of old habit.
"Jesus, Archer! How many times have I told you not to take pictures of me when I'm holding something?" I said angrily, shooting my husband a murderous glare.
Archer gave me a grin, lowering his prized camera, looking like a kid that just got caught with his hand in a cookie jar. "Sorry. I know you hate it. It's just, you were smiling, and well, you know how rare that is."
"Idiot," I muttered, rolling my eyes.
Ever since Archer had discovered his passion for photography a few years back, he spent a lot of his time behind the lense of the camera I bought him for his twenty first birthday. He'd even gone as far as to start his own business, too - AM Photography. After I'd graduated from NYU with a degree in urban design, I'd started my own business with one of my classmates, Danielle Hawkins, specializing in organizing parks and playgrounds.
Things had been going pretty well for the both of us. Business was good and Archer was pretty popular with local newspapers. He'd even shot for the New York Times a few times. Danielle and I had been featured in the papers and news more than once.
I was happy for Archer. Very happy, of course. I just got downright annoyed when he took random pictures of me when I was least expecting them. Those were his favorites, he said. I thought they looked horrible.
"Come on, everyone!" Vittorio shouted, waving his hands. "Sit down!"
The whole of us - Mia, Lauren, Karin, Sophia, Carlo, Georgiana, Michael, Isaac - took our seats around the several tables that had been pushed together, ready to eat the marvelous Christmas spread.
Saying prayers at family dinners was a little less awkward for me now, now that I had a basic understanding of Italian and could keep up a decent conversation now with my in-laws.
As soon as grace was finished, everybody dug in.
I sat back and listened to the flow of conversation all around the table, hearing how everybody had been doing since the last time we'd gotten together for Thanksgiving.
Mia and Lauren were in college now. Isaac was starting fourth grade next year. Portia was doing gymnastics now. It might have seemed mundane to other people, but spending time with my family was the perfect remedy for anything. And you could say I had a lot on my mind recently, too.
Looking over at Archer as he talked with Lauren and Carlo, it was still amazing to see how much he had changed since we first me. He still scowled and frowned and had a foul mouth, but time had only been good to him. He was more handsome than he had ever been before. He'd gotten taller, his hair was a little longer.
Things were much different now. And quite honestly? I couldn't be happier.
Dinner seemed to pass in more of a rush than usual. By the time we had all finished eating, nearly all of the plates were licked clean of their contents.
Knowing what was coming next, Lauren, Karin, and I all got to our feet to head to the kitchen for dessert, but Regina held up a hand and stopped us before we could.
"Hang on a minute," she said. "Before dessert, I just thought I'd say a few words."
This was code for "shut up." The tables fell silent in a matter of moments.
"This is the first Christmas we've had since mom passed," Regina began, looking confident. "And I just wanted to say that we wouldn't have gotten anywhere, things wouldn't be as great as they are now without her, or without any of us."
It was heartbreaking to be reminded that Victoria had passed away last year, at the ripe age of 88. But Regina was right. She was still the mold that kept us all together, even if she wasn't here anymore.
I was listening intently while Regina spoke, but when my napkin on my lap started giving off this weird glow, I was a little distracted.
What the hell?
I glanced inconspiciously down at my lap, scooting forward a little, trying to see what on Earth was going on with my napkin. My heart just about jumped out of my throat when I saw very eerily familiar handwriting scrawled out across the napkin.
How's that new life working out for you?
When I managed to wipe the shocked look off my face, I got the message immediately. I didn't often get messages from Death, but when I did, they came with a solid point.
"Actually, Regina," I said quickly, looking up at my mother-in-law. "I figure now would be the time to add something."
All eyes were on me in an instant, and I had their full and undivided attention.
"I'm pregnant."
All the girls started screaming, Regina and her sisters burst into tears, and Carlo reached out to slap Archer on the back, congratulating him.
So I felt a little bad that I'd just sprung that news up on everyone, including Archer - I'd only found out a few days ago - but Christmas was the time for presents and surprises, wasn't it?
I grabbed Archer's camera off the back of his chair and snapped a picture of him, unable to keep back my smile, seeing how absolutely shocked he looked, like he was seconds away from choking.
"What the hell?" Archer spluttered out, looking at me with wide eyes.
I shrugged a shoulder, my smile widening. "Surprise."
My life was hectic and a little unpredictable, but I still couldn't help but think that this was where I belonged after all.
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I know I said I wasn't going to write an epilgoue, but I came up with this idea randomly the other day, so I thought I'd give it a try. So what do you guys think? I hope I didn't dissapoint! :D
I liked writing it, so I hope you all like it, too. Keep an eye out for those edits, too!