Noah and I make our way down the stairs as I hear the faint sound of people chattering in the distance. As we approach the kitchen, the voices become louder, and can make out that the deeper and raspier one belongs to a guy, and that the softer one belongs to an older woman.
When we walk in, the guy's gaze fixates on me after glancing over Noah quickly. He's got big and bright hazel eyes, a very angular face with sharply defined features, and a neatly trimmed beard shadowing his jaw. His hair is raven black and buzzed almost completely, barely a few inches longer at the top. He sits on the counter, with his feet dangling off the ground and my attention is called to the intricate designs covering the exposed skin on both his arms.
"Nonna, we have company," he says, making the old woman turn around to face us. Her wrinkled face twists into a sweet and surprised expression as her eyes center on Noah.
"Noah, my darling!" she exclaims excitedly, "Come give grandma a hug," she opens her arms and he steps into them. Having shrunk with age, Noah towers over her by a foot, and her small and delicate build is swallowed by his broad and muscular one. He kisses her on the head and lets her go, heading to greet the guy who's sitting on the counter.
"What's up bro?" They dap-up and hug each other "Long time no see."
Noah turns to me, "Maddison, this is Aiden, my brother," he points and Aiden raises a hand to say hi, "And my grandmother, Constance."
"Hello dear," she smiles at me sweetly, "Lovely to meet you," she shakes my hand and I smile back at her kindness.
"Hi, I'm Maddison," I introduce myself.
"What a beautiful name," she compliments me "Fitting for a beautiful young woman," her sweet tone makes me blush.
"I didn't know you had a girlfriend," Aiden says to Noah.
"Oh, I'm not-" I start.
"Will you be joining us for dinner, dear?" Constance asks.
"I'd love to, but I should probably get going," I decline, wanting to avoid a second encounter with Noah's mother.
"Actually Mads, could I talk to you for a second?" Noah asks, pulling me aside and out of earshot to have a private conversation. "Look, I know this probably isn't an ideal 'meet-the family' situation. I didn't know they'd be here, but it's very rare for all of us to be in the same place at the same time, so I was actually hoping you'd stay for dinner." he lowers his tone and puts his hands together as he makes his offer.
I'm not prepared for this, I wasn't expecting to meet his family for at least a couple more months, and I already fucked up my first impression on his mother. But then again, if I stay, maybe I'll get the chance to make a good second one.
"Come on," he insists, grabbing my hands in his "I can bet you my nonna makes the best homemade pizza you'll ever taste."
I smile shaking my head, "You had me at pizza," his face lights up at my acceptance of his proposal and he guides me back into the kitchen.
Aiden jumps off the counter and now that I see them side-by-side, I notice that if I didn't know better I'd never guess he and Noah are siblings. Aiden is noticeably taller, my estimate is he has about four inches on him. While Noah is buff and muscular, Aiden is very lean, his dark clothing hanging loosely off his thin frame.
They work together, taking various items out of the brown paper bags that sit atop the counter. Meanwhile, Constance bends down to get a large metal bowl from the cabinet under the kitchen sink, and she puts it on the counter right beside me.
She lightly taps my wrist with her long and bony fingers, calling my attention "Those two," she whispers, pointing to the brothers, "They are the sauce experts, so while they do their thing, you and I will work on the dough." She instructs and I nod in understanding. I notice a hint of an accent in her tone, and judging by the fact that Aiden and Noah call her 'Nonna', I'm guessing Italian.
"Now watch and learn," I raise my arms as she ties an apron around my waist and rolls up her sleeves. I smile at the way she makes me feel welcome and the tension on my shoulders eases up.
Each duo works on the task on opposite sides of the kitchen, while Aiden and Noah add spices to a big saucepan on the stove, Constance instructs me on how to knead the pizza dough correctly. "You have to put your wrist into it, don't be shy to show it who's in charge!" she indicates with passion and I laugh, turning to look at Noah who smiles sweetly when his eyes meet mine.
"So Maddison," Aiden speaks up, "How do you know this guy?" he points at Noah with a wooden spoon covered in sauce. "Are you from around here?"
"We go to school together, and yeah I've lived a few blocks away from here my entire life."
"You go to Westpoint?" he sounds surprised and I nod.
"Why? Are you a graduate?" I ask.
"Yeah, class of 2016." he replies, "It's weird, I don't think I've seen you before."
I shrug, "I've been told I have one of those faces that blend into the crowd. That must be it."
"Whoever told you that is a damn liar," Constance says, putting one of the pizzas in the oven and wiping her hands on her jeans.
"Bro," Aiden gives Noah a little nudge, "I think grandma is trying to steal your girl." he jokes and I laugh.
"Well, if you want her you're going to have to go through me," Noah stands between Constance and I, getting into a fighting stance with his fists raised. "Come on, bring it" he teases her as he ducks and dodges as if she was actually throwing punches at him, making us all break out laughing.
I turn to the counter that's attached to the breakfast bar and pour some tomato sauce on the already stretched out dough. As I'm getting it ready to go in the oven, I'm startled by a girl appearing in front of me on the other side of the bar.
She has olive skin, high cheekbones, dark eyes and fawn hair tied up into a tight ponytail. She's wearing a dark grey sports bra and matching leggings, a little white towel draped over her shoulders which she uses to wipe at the sweat on her forehead.
"Hi," I squeak, intimidated by her stern expression.
"Who the hell is this?" she asks without addressing me, as if I wasn't standing right in front of her, scanning me up and down with her brows knitted together and a disapproving look on her face.
"Maddison," I manage not to stutter as I introduce myself to her, stretching out my hand, which she stares at while remaining unmoving. "You must be Ophelia," I deduct, "Noah told me a lot about you."
"Funny," she says "he hasn't mentioned you to me once."
"Play nice, Lia" Aiden warns.
"Whatever," she scoffs, "I'm going to take a shower, let me know when dinner is ready," she says, disappearing through the hall and up the stairs.
"I don't think she likes me very much," I turn to Noah, thinking out loud.
"Don't take it personally, she doesn't like anyone," Aiden says, "I would tell you she'll warm up to you, but I don't want to lie." he laughs. Great, I'm already two points down on the scoreboard of family members who are disgusted by my presence. At least Aiden seems to be nice enough.
The weather tonight is perfect for having dinner outside, so we decide to set up the table in the backyard, under the wooden gazebo.
"Nice pool," I point out as Noah and I stretch out the tablecloth.
"It's heated," he says leaning in closer to me, " Perfect for late-night skinny dipping." he winks mischievously.
"Do you have an off switch?" I ask, trying to supress my abashed smile.
"Luckily for you, I don't. I can go all night." he whispers in my ear and I swat at his arm with a pile of napkins. He tickles my sides making me squeal as I scurry back inside with him chasing behind me.
Dinner is ready to be served, so while Constance and I bring the pizzas out to the table, Aiden and Noah go looking for the women of the house. They all come out and I take a seat next to Noah and across from Constance. Aiden sits between her and Ophelia, while Claudia takes the seat at the head of the table. We dig into our food and I instantly know Noah was right and this is the best pizza I've ever tasted.
"Constance, this is amazing," I say pointing at the slice on my plate. "You'll have to give me the recipe."
"There isn't one to give. It's all up here," she taps at her temple "The best recipes are the ones that don't have exact measurements. You take a little bit of this and a little bit of that, you toss it all together and wait for the magic to happen."
As she speaks, Aiden calls my attention when he spins his finger in a circle next to his head, insinuating his grandma is crazy, and I have to try really hard to hold in my chuckle.
"You'll have to excuse her," he says smoothing his grandmother's hair, "Dear ol' gramma seems to have forgotten to take her pills again." he lowers his tone as if she couldn't hear him.
"Pills my ass boy," she swats at his arm and I can't resist laughing anymore. "I'm of sounder mind than all of you combined."
As the laughter dies down, I glance over at Claudia, who hasn't said a word since she sat down and seems to have barely touched her food. Instead, she ditches her slice of pizza, opting to light a cigarette in replacement.
"So, Lia. How was Rome?" Noah asks, breaking the silence.
"Same as always I guess," she seems disinterested in making conversation, but she elaborates nevertheless. "I stayed in my hotel room most of the trip anyway. I've already been to the Colosseum a thousand times, and if I have to squeeze through the crowd of sweaty tourists taking pictures and tossing coins into the Fontana di Trevi one more time, I swear I'm going to lose it." she says before taking a long swig of wine.
"What about the flight?" Noah insists on engaging her, "Everything all right?"
"Ugh, there was a small turbulence while we were having lunch in the galley, and one of the other crew members spilled her drink all over the front of my shirt. I had to change out of my uniform and the whole thing got me in a horrible mood." she rolls her eyes remembering the incident.
"You're a flight attendant, right?" I ask, trying to join the conversation.
"Did I not just make that clear with what I said? Or do you have trouble keeping up with a conversation?"
My nails dig into my palms under the table and I take a breath, "I guess you did," I force a smile, "I just wanted to make sure I got it right before saying something stupid."
The look on her face tells me «You already did», and I clear my throat "It was my dream to become a flight attendant as a kid" I say, trying my best to find some common ground with her, "I'm still considering getting my cabin crew licence once I'm done with college actually."
"I wouldn't recommend it, kid," she says looking down and picking at her food, "It's not as fun as it seems."
Claudia scoffs, making all our heads snap in her direction "Do you have something to say?" Ophelia challenges her mother.
"I just find it funny you complain about your job when you get paid thousands of dollars just for asking if people would rather have the chicken or pasta." She lets out a cloud of smoke through her mouth.
"You don't know the first thing about my job." Ophelia replies with her jaw clenched tightly.
"Sure I do. You travel the world, you're free most of the week, and to top it all off you live here rent free. What more could you want?"
"Like you're one to talk," Ophelia shots back, "You act as if we don't know dad pays for everything around this house. You only live here because he allows you to." her words are dripping with venom and I feel like I shouldn't be listening to this conversation.
"And you only live here because I allow you to." Claudia retorts.
"Can you two not do this right now?" Noah interrupts with a soft tone, trying to dissipate the tension but instead getting caught in the crossfire.
"Why? Are we embarrassing you in front of your flavor of the week?" his sister spits looking at me.
"Ophelia, that's enough," Aiden barks, cutting her off.
"You know what? You're right Aiden, I've had enough. Have a nice fucking dinner." she says, abruptly getting up, her chair scraping loudly against the floor as she storms off.
There's a pause before Claudia speaks up again "I need a drink," she says, calmly putting out her cigarette as she gets up, heading back inside the house, the door shutting behind her.
Noah runs his hands over his face in frustration, letting out a long sigh and silence falls over the people still sitting at the table. A moment passes before Constance speaks up with her ever-cheerful tone.
"Who wants some dessert?"