Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Christmas Day

B y the time they got home from mass, it was way beyond two in the morning, and everyone voted to save dessert for breakfast. Eating something sweet was the usual breakfast fare anyway. The only thing left was to put the children's gifts under the tree.

Sophia had asked Santa Claus for a bicycle, but there was no place for her to ride it in the city, which brought up an important conversation between Marco and Anita. It was time to move to a neighborhood with trees, a yard, and a place to ride a bike. They decided to break the news to everyone on Christmas Day by giving Sophia a photo of her new bicycle and Lorenzo a photo of his bouncy house. Naturally everyone would ask where she would ride it and where would they put the bouncy house? That's when Marco and Anita were going to announce they put a deposit on a house in Ridgewood, just a few blocks from Frankie's family. It was time to move on, but not far away. They were nervous about telling everyone, especially Giovanni, but his life was evolving, as well.

By seven a.m., the kids were awake and eager to see if Babbo Natale—Santa Claus—had visited. Groggy-eyed grown-ups in loungewear gathered in the living room, happy to dive into the pastries and cappuccino. The kids were served hot chocolate. Marco and Anita decided to go first. Marco handed a very large box to Sophia. She thought it would be heavier, and she shook it to hear what might be inside. Nothing but paper rattling. She tore off the decorations and lifted the lid. Inside was a photo of a turquoise and white bicycle. She looked confused and held it up for everyone to see.

Anita laughed. "You wanted a bicycle, yes?"

"Yes, but a real one. Not a picture." Sophia was about to burst into tears when her father interrupted and explained.

"Sweetheart, it is a photo of your new bicycle that is waiting for you at home. Santa left it there so we wouldn't have to take it on the plane back to America."

Sophia started jumping up and down. "I got a bike! I got a bike!"

Lorenzo was already ripping his packaging apart. He, too, had a perplexed expression. "This?"

This time, Anita explained. "You will have your bouncy house when we go back to New York."

"But where?" Lorenzo may have been four years old, but he knew there was no place for it in the apartment.

Marco got up from his chair and stood behind Anita. He put his hands on her shoulders. "We have an announcement." Before anyone would guess that it was another baby, he quickly described their plans.

"It's time we lived in a place where the children could go out in their own backyard and not wait for someone to take them to the park."

Everyone nodded in agreement. When he explained the location, cheers and applause followed.

"That's wonderful!" Rosevita stood and hugged her son and then her daughter-in-law. "I was wondering if you would move. You spent a lot of time in that apartment."

"True. But we were teenagers. We didn't need constant supervision when we went outside." He eyed his brother.

Giovanni smiled. "Not always."

Frankie was especially pleased. She would be able to visit Marco, Anita, and the kids every time she visited her parents. She looked at Giovanni to see his reaction.

"I'm happy for you, Marco . . . as long as you show up for work on time," he jested.

"Oh, I will make sure of that!" Anita chuckled. "I'll want him out of the house, pronto! And I also got a job in Ridgewood." She was a special education teacher, and they were in high demand. "It's at the elementary school where Sophia will attend, and then Lorenzo." She hesitated. "That is, if everything goes as planned."

"Did you already buy the house?" Lucia asked.

"We put a deposit on it. We got approved for the mortgage. We're just waiting to have the closing," Marco replied.

"And you were doing this behind my back?" Giovanni grinned again, teasing his brother one more time.

"We didn't want to say anything until everything was final. No jinx," Anita said. Superstitions ran deep in the Italian culture.

"This calls for a toast!" Rosevita announced. She got up and headed toward the kitchen. Frankie followed.

"So, what do you think?" Frankie was anxious to hear Rosevita's opinion.

"It's wonderful. Marco is right. He and Giovanni were teenagers. They had their playtime when we lived here. Now it's time for Marco's children to have the same advantage." She handed a bottle of prosecco to Frankie to open.

Once the cork popped, Frankie said, "And there will be lots of room for you to visit."

Rosevita smiled. "I must confess. I miss the children, so yes, I will visit more often."

She gathered several champagne glasses and two small glasses that she filled with ginger ale and a dash of cherry juice. "For the children!"

Frankie carried the tray back to the living room, where the kids were unwrapping gifts from their nonna and zia, Aunt Lucia. It was a combination of pajamas, mittens, Legos, and several learning toys.

Frankie decided it was time to hand over her gifts. First to Lucia, who proceeded to carefully remove the tape and made every effort not to tear the beautiful wrapping paper. Then she removed the lid, separated the tissue, and lifted the shimmery shawl from the box. From the expression on her face, Lucia was pleased and surprised. "Bellissimo!"

Frankie thought she glimpsed a tear in Lucia's eye.

"Mille grazie." She stood and kissed Frankie on the cheek.

"Prego!" Frankie used one of the five words she knew. Then she handed Rosevita her gift. This was the one that was creating a great deal of angst.

Like Lucia, Rosevita carefully opened the present so as not to disturb the paper. "We'll use for next year's panettone."

Giovanni and Marco gave each other a conspiratorial glance. One of them was going to have to rescue the mangled bread before anyone noticed.

Rosevita removed the wrap from the box and rubbed it against her face. "So soft! Beautiful!" Then she held up the gloves. "Perfetto!"

Frankie breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you like it."

She took no time to place the wrap around her shoulders. "Yes. I love!"

Giovanni took that moment to excuse himself and hurried into the pantry. He grabbed the panettone in the back. He realized he hadn't done such a terrific job rewrapping it and was glad he got his hands on it before someone else discovered it. He quickly removed the wrapping, brought the bread to the kitchen, and surgically removed the evidence of the assaulted bread. He sliced the bread and placed it on a platter. His thought was to make French toast when the gift-giving came to a halt. "Perfetto!" he assured himself.

When he returned to the living room, he nodded at his brother. All was well.

Giovanni reached under the tree and pulled out a small box. Frankie held her breath. She really didn't know what to expect. Surprise was the theme of the morning. Was there one in the box? Her hands were shaking. She ripped off the paper, revealing a blue Tiffany box. She opened it slowly, and inside was a gorgeous pair of princess-cut diamond stud earrings. At least a karat each.

"Oh, Gio. These are exquisite." Her hands continued to tremble. She wasn't disappointed that it wasn't a ring. In one way, she was relieved. Not that she didn't hope they would get married one day, but the subject hadn't come up, and it would have been way too much to deliver that kind of intimate message in front of everyone. She held the box so everyone could see the dazzling gems.

"Let me help you." Giovanni took the box from Frankie and attempted to remove the earrings, but his hands were too big.

Rosevita decided this was a job for a woman. "Dammelo, per favore." She gestured for him to hand it over. Rosevita gingerly removed Frankie's amethyst earrings and helped her put the new dazzlers in her ears.

Frankie's hair was pulled back with a wide, white faux-fur band. The square cut of the diamonds accentuated her high cheekbones.

"Bellissimo!" Rosevita exclaimed. "Gio. You do good work!"

He blushed. "Anita helped me."

"Anita, you do good work!" Frankie announced and threw her arms around Giovanni. "Thank you so much." She went over to the large ornate framed mirror. "Oh, my. They're stunning."

Then it was time to give Giovanni his gift. He had worn the same watch since she knew him. It was a nice, simple, functional Movado, but she thought he could use something dressier and bought him a Baume & Mercier tank watch with a black leather strap. She almost felt guilty that she spent much less on his watch than he had on the earrings. Plus, all the money he shelled out for this trip? For everyone? She could have kicked herself, but a thousand dollars for a watch wasn't chump change, either. Besides, she couldn't afford the ten-thousand-dollar Cartier. But she could tell by the expression on his face, she could have given him a ten-dollar wind-up, and it would have made him happy.

"Frankie. You know I always wanted a watch like this, no?"

"No, I did not. Lucky guess." She grinned.

The exchange of gifts was winding down, and it was time to get the food ready for the comings and goings of friends and family.

Giovanni was taking no chances with the panettone and announced he was going to make French toast for anyone who was interested. Marco followed him into the kitchen and examined his brother's handiwork.

"You could be a criminal."

Giovanni looked around to see if anyone was in earshot. "We have to find the recipe. Go look in the box."

"You think she's going to keep it with everything else?"

"Why not?"

"Because it's a secret!" Marco hissed.

"What's a secret?" Rosevita appeared out of nowhere.

Now it was Marco's turn to cover their tracks. "Mama, we wanted to surprise you."

"Oh? With what?" she asked innocently.

"With tickets."

"For what?"

"Andrea Boccelli."

"Oh my! When?" she asked with excitement.

"When he comes to New York."

"But when?" she pressed.

"I'm not sure. April. May. I have to look." Marco could feel his nose growing like Pinocchio's.

Giovanni bit the inside of his lip to keep from laughing. This was going to be interesting. For one thing, no one knew if Boccelli was even going on tour.

"This is wonderful!" Rosevita exclaimed, and returned to the living room.

Marco knew he was going to have to find Boccelli, wherever he might be performing in the coming year. He went into the pantry and pulled out his phone, searching for concert dates. Lucky for him, one was scheduled at Madison Square Garden the following fall. He silently thanked Santa for watching over him and delivering his wild promise, even though tickets were three hundred dollars each. And he had to buy at least two! Maybe it was a lesson in fibbing, he thought, smiling to himself.

Bianca and Guillermo arrived in time for Giovanni's French toast. They also had a few gifts that were appreciated and unexpected. Rosevita and Lucia were given silver photo frames, and Sophia and Lorenzo each got a twenty-dollar bill. Everyone agreed ahead of time that they would not buy gifts for the rest of the adults with the exception of their hostesses and the children.

Back in the kitchen, Giovanni whipped up the French toast, plated it, and covered it in powdered sugar—hiding all evidence of their late-night nibbling.

The two brothers set up a long table on the lower patio for the buffet. A second table was set to accommodate the pastries and the reconstructed panettone.

The sun was bright, and the temperature was around sixty degrees. The outdoor heater was at the ready, as was the downstairs kitchen to heat up the stromboli and the stuffed mushrooms when guests arrived. Several bottles of Mr. Parisi's wine sat on another table that served as a bar. The food was sumptuous and plenty, as friends, neighbors, and cousins arrived and left at their leisure.

As promised, Marco brought out the bocce balls and taught the children how to play. It was as simple as lawn bowling, and the kids took to it easily.

When all that remained was the immediate family, they gathered around the warmth of the heater and decided it was truly a lovely way to spend the afternoon.