Chapter 6- a Walk in the Park

Ok, before the chapter, a few notes.

First of, I'm sure the Parco Nationale d'Abruzzo is a lovely place. No more explanation, just read the chapter;)

Second, we had a former Italian missionary over to eat lunch yesterday, and we asked him a bunch about Italy. We actually are doing pretty well with accuracy so far, but a few things need to be mentioned(I will probably change them in the next draft of the story)

1. The church services, at least the ones he was involved in, are all much more informal, so Morning Worship services are more like Evening services. They have testimony time and often one of the young men from the church will give a brief thought(like as a training sort of thing.

2. They take FOREVER to eat meals. As in up to several hours at special events. They take 3 hour lunch breaks from jobs. So the way weve had them eat quick lunches isn't exactly accurate I guess!

3.. The Nutella is better there. Ryn is flipping out;) He said it's much less sweet and more rich and dark!

He told us a lot of other things, we had a wonderful time and were very encouraged, but for now those are all that apply to the story:)
So without further ado-


Chapter 6

Photo by Romano Visci from the Parco website

The next few days passed, pleasant and enjoyable. They all went to the beach and shopping, and mostly hung around the house. Finally Mrs. G suggested in a weary voice, that they all go do something for the day. They banged ideas back and forth until they decided to visit the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo.

 It was a nature and wildlife preserve near the mountains. It was about a two hour drive, so they would head out early in the morning, spend the day, then come home in the afternoon, taking their time on the drive. Mrs. G approved of the plan, so they decided to go on Friday.

Wednesday and Thursday they spent preparing and planning, and bright and early Friday morning they were off! They packed plenty of snacks and a picnic lunch of meaty sandwiches.
The freshness of the morning and the early light added to the excited feeling they all shared. They turned up the music and talked and laughed.

 Gio was telling the others about a Jazz festival his town held, in which everyone dressed old Hollywood style and had a great time eating, watching performances by local singers, and listening to old records. Even Francis admitted this sounded fun, and Maria was delighted. Gio suggested the cousins sing in the program. He himself was already planning on it of course. Francis didn't sing, but the others all agreed to participate.

Before they knew it, they were pulling into the park entrance, in a little stone town.  They all piled out of the car, stretching and laughing and looking around. The old looking buildings were creamy colored, long and rectangular, typical of Abruzzese architecture. Maria loved the church clock tower.

 They went in the visitor center and got some informational material, then headed off. They drove through the park, stopping and looking around here and there. They were having a wonderful time, but finally the boys were getting anxious for lunch. Maria, Eva and Sofie spread out the picnic in a nice peaceful little glade. Maria wearily sat down. Even she was ready for food. They blessed the meal, and Maria reached out for a sandwich-

When a huge hairy spider ran across the blanket right in front of her hand. She screamed and grabbed Gio around the neck, practically strangling him.

 Sofie was about to try to kill it, while Romeo, who was also scared of spiders, was hysterically reminding her that she shouldn't because this was a nature preserve. Francis, Eva and Ernie were wildly gathering up their things.

"Mar- ee- aah- PLE-eeas-se-" Gio squeaked as he tried to unlatch her arms. Maria buried her head in his shoulder crying.

 He half carried, half dragged her to the car, as the others also hurried for this safe haven. Romeo banged the lock about six times before he was satisfied they were safe. He leaned back in exhaustion and glared over at Gio, who was still awkwardly holding Maria.

"Um." He said. Maria, who was managing with effort to overcome her hysteria, realized the situation and flung herself off of him.

"I- I-m sorry- Oh dear." She buried her head in her hands still shuddering. The others remained silent as they gathered their thoughts.

"Well, lets just eat in here." Eva said finally, looking over at Maria with a reproachful expression.

 Maria looked back at her with a tragic face of embarrassment and horror. Gio was fixing his shirt with an exasperated air of offended dignity.

"If we'd read the material," Sofie commented, looking up from a brochure, "we would have known there are TARANTULAS HERE!" She gave Gio a pointed stare, as Maria moaned.

"Sorry." Gio shrugged. Romeo had grabbed the messy picnic basket and was devouring several sandwiches in rapid succession.

"Hey, leave some for us!" Francis grabbed the basket and began neatly dividing the food into equal piles. They all ate in the safety of the car. Maria was completely tired out.

As they drove to the 'realm of the deer' (the words of the park website, not me) she rested quietly. She didn't speak to Gio, for she was too embarrassed. Sofie and Eva were poring over the brochures to make sure there were no more scary surprises lurking in the innocent looking park.

"We should watch out for the bears." Eva noted. Sofie nodded agreement. They pulled up at the deer area. They watched the deer or a while, delighted with the sweet graceful creatures. They even were able to pet them. Ernie and Eva were the most thrilled. Gio immediately went for some hand sanitizer,

"Ouch." He said. "Hand sanitizer- the stuff used to find cuts." Maria giggled.

"We probably should think about getting going." Francis reminded them, checking his watch.

 Ernie patted the deer one last time and came, with reluctance. They drove along, the scare of the spider(and the embarrassment), forgotten. Eva and Francis commanded the others to buckle several times but no one listened. Romeo was driving, with Eva in the passenger seat. Gio, Ernie, Francis, Sofie, and Maria all piled into the back seat. This was not exactly safe as the back seats were really made for a maximum of three, but no one listened to Eva's protestations to this fact.

Suddenly Francis demanded, "Romeo where are we headed?"

"Uh, I dunno."

Eva bent over the map, a concentrated frown on her face. The red car careened along.

"We're lost, aren't we?" Sofie snapped.

"No, no, I'm looking at the map-" Eva said.

"Where do I go from here?" Romeo cried as they reached a turn. He was beginning to panic slightly.

"I don't know, I don't know, I'm no good at reading maps-" Eva wailed, also panicking. Romeo snatched the map and put it on the steering wheel, his brown eyes darting over it to the road as he read it.

"Romeo what are you, you're going to kill us!!" Francis tried to take the map.

"Err!" Romeo snatched it away, swerving the car. maria and Gio were so busy talking to each other that they hardly noticed the peril they were in. Sofie, Ernie and Eva were not so oblivious, and were vocalizing this fact loudly.

"Shut up, shut up!" Romeo was getting frantic. Just then a car appeared right in front of them!

"ROMEO LOOK OUT" Eva screamed. Romeos eyes went wide. He violently swerved, tipping partially over a ditch. Maria, who was not buckled, grabbed for something to catch her balance- and flung open the door. SHe was flung out by the momentum of the car, just as it re-balanced onto the road.

Romeo brought it to a screeching halt. Gio shoved Sofie out of the way and leapt out of the car. He scrambled into the ditch and knelt next to Maria.

 She was dusty and bruised, and blood trickled from a wound in her head. He gathered her limp, unconscious form into his arms as the others, just realizing all that had happened, appeared at the top of the embankment. To Gio's surprise, Eva was now completely collected.

"Gio, bring her up here quickly." She commanded.

Gio, with some difficulty, managed to get up the bank. Romeo was still sitting in the car, staring straight ahead with a look of blank horror. Francis and Eva took command
.
"Lie her down in the back seat. Is she unconscious?" Eva's voice broke for a moment. Francis patted her shoulder. Gio gently put Maria in the car with her head on Sofie's lap.

"Ok.. ok. We need to bring her to the hospital I think." Eva was beginning to waver. "Or should we call an ambulance?"

"Let's just go." Francis removed his brother from the drivers seat. he briefly considered sticking him in the trunk but decided against this, and shoved him in beside Gio instead. Eva was still in the passenger seat but was now turned facing the back. Maria was still not conscious.

Francis sped along, watching the road like a good driver should. Silence filled the car, but each was praying ceaselessly in their minds. They exited the park and reached the hospital. Gio carried Maria into the emergency room with Eva at his side. Romeo was no use as he was crushed with the responsibility of what had happened. Sofie and Ernie followed them in, while Francis decided to stay with Romeo for the moment, until he could convince him to come inside.

Maria was rushed off to a room, leaving the others standing helplessly in the waiting room. Eva stood irreseloutly for a moment, then looked up at Gio and dropped into a chair. Sofie patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.

 "I'm sure she'll be totally fine." She assured Eva.

 Gio was still staring at the door way through which Maria had disappeared. Ernie was curled on one of the magazine tables, which had knocked the magazines on the floor. Gio finally turned and stiffly sat down. He banged his knees together and tapped his hands on his legs, a nervous habit he had. Francis entered with Romeo. Romeo collapsed into a seat and buried his head in his hands.

"What have I done??" His voice was muffled. Eva looked brave.

"She'll be fine, Rome, I- I-" Her voice trailed off and she stared ahead, her shoulders quivering slightly. Gio wondered heatedly why she was being so unfeeling about her own sister?! She wasn't even crying or anything!! Then he looked at her again, and noticed her clenched jaw and wide eyes, and realized he was wrong. She just dealt with her stress differently than he.

Francis was pacing, with slow, methodical steps, back and forth in front of the row of seats. this was partially due to his own nerves and partially to the fact that there was no more empty seats. He prayed silently, as were they all. Suddenly he smacked his hand on his forehead.

"Your mom!" He exclaimed, yanking his phone from his pocket. Gio looked at him with surprise.

"Oh no, that's right!!" He cried.

Francis motioned him to silence.

"Hello, Mrs. Guttuso? This is Francis. Yes, well, we're at the hospital."

 He paused, wincing as he pulled the phone away from his ear slightly. He was silent for a moment, then informed Mrs. G, as gently as possible, of the accident. This took him longer than it should have as Mrs. G kept interrupting. At last he finished and hung up.

"Ok, she insists she needs to come here, but I told her to just stay put until we know whats going on." He informed them. Gio nodded.

"Good," He exhaled and ran a hand through his dark curls. Ernie looked up from his reverie and stared with round eyes at Francis.

"She's not going to die, is she?" He asked. Francis started.

"No!!" He half-shouted. Ernie flinched. Francis' face softened.

"I'm sorry, Ernie,  I didn't mean to shout. Maria is going to be fine. Just keep praying for her, ok?" He glanced at Eva.

Her golden brown eyes met his, their expression strained and frightened. He tried to look reassuring. He didn't know if he was succeeding, but Eva's tension seemed to ease, if ever so slightly. She took a deep breath

Romeo suddenly stood up.

"I'm going out to the car." He stated, heading out the door.

"Wait, why?" Sofie asked in alarm, worried about what her big brother might do under the circumstances. Romeo didn't turn around. Sofie was about to go after him, but Francis stopped him.
"I think he's fine, Sof. I'll go in a couple minutes. I think he just needs a little time by himself."

Reluctantly Sofie sat back down. Just then a doctor entered the room. They all looked at her in breathless anticipation.

"Well, she has some bumps and bruises, and a fracture in one arm, but other than that she seems to be in stable condition. She is still unconscious, but she should be just fine."

Eva began to half laugh, half cry, her voice shaky. The doctor smiled her sympathy.

"Do you all have somewhere to stay the night?" She asked.

"No..." Francis looked at the others. "We could just stay in the car i guess." He suggested with some reluctance. Sofie sighed.

"I think there are some extra blankets and the picnic ones too." She told him.

"Alright, I just wanted to make sure" the doctor looked at Eva.

"You're her sister, right? You can come see her for a moment if you'd like." Eva quickly stood up and followed as the others headed outside.

Eva slipped into Marias room. She looked down at her still face. She still felt sick inside with the horror of what could have happened. A tear trickled down her cheek. She brushed it away with a quick sigh of impatient embarrassment.

"We'll let you know just as soon as she regains consciousness." The doctor whispered. Eva looked at her and nodded.

"Thanks," She said, her voice squeaking. The doctor smiled again.

"Would you like to stay herefor a while?" She asked. Eva nodded again.

"Ok. You can sit here." She pulled a chair over next to the bed. Eva sat down. The doctor left the room. Eva took a deep breath and settled herself into a comfortable position.

Outside, Francis, Sofie, Ernie and Gio headed across the parking lot, silent and relieved.

"Guys, we have a lot to be thankful for." Sofie stated.

when they began to get closer to where they were parked, they noticed strange clanging sounds form the direction of Romeos car.

"Oh, no..." Francis broke into a jog. He turned a corner to a bizarre sight.

Romeo had gotten his emergency tool kit from the trunk and was proceeding to take pieces off of his car. Francis paused.

"What are you doing?" He asked as the others came up behind him. Romeo didn't reply but continued with his demolition..

"Romeo stop it!" Francis grabbed the tool from his brother. Romeo looked at him with desperate eyes.

"It's all my fault!" he cried. He took a deep, shaking breath and leaned against his car with both hands, still breathing heavily.

"Romeo, Maria is going to be fine!" Francis said softly, putting his arm on Romeos shoulder. Romeo paused and looked at him.

"She is?" He said, hope dawning in his voice. Francis smiled.

"yes, she is."

 Romeo stared at him a minute longer, and then without further comment leaned over and began reassembling removed pieces of his car. The four others watched him for a moment, then, glancing at each other with uncertain looks, began to get blankets out of the trunk.

"I'm hungry." Ernie said in a somewhat whiny voice. Gio looked over at him.

"Well we haven't eaten in hours." Sofie interjected, "and we've been slightly busy since then."

 Francis heaved a weary sigh. Such responsibility.

"Well I suppose we have to find some food." He acknowledged, trudging back towards the building.

"Let's try the cafeteria."

"Do you have money?" Sofie asked, following him.

"Yes." Francis said. Gio turned to Romeo,

"Do you want us to get you something?"

"No, I don't deserve it."

"We'll bring you something." Gio headed after the others, with Ernie bringing up the rear.

Thankfully they had some baked goods and milk cartons in the cafeteria. Francis bought enough for everyone, including Eva, who's whereabouts he was beginning to worry about. He sent her a quick text.

-Where are you??
-Maria's room, the doctor said I could stay up here.
-Ok, well we have some food if you want it.
-Thank you
- No problem.

Francis stared down at his phone screen for a moment. His face relaxed into a slight, fond smile, and he put his phone away. He looked up to see Gio staring at him with a bemused expression.

"What?" He asked in a defensive tone. Gio shrugged.

"Nothing," He said in a tone that suggested the opposite, walking away. Francis scowled.

They ate in the car, then curled up as comfortably as possible in the various blankets and tried to sleep. In the back, Sofie, placed between her brothers, managed to nod off, her head on Romeos shoulder and her legs across Francis' knees. Ernie curled up with his head on the steering wheel and fell asleep. Gio sat still in the passengers seat until his eyes slowly closed. At last they all managed to rest.


When the first blush of dawn lit the sky, they began to wake up.

"Sof, my legs are falling asleep," Francis groaned. Sofie sat up and put her feet on the floor. She yawned.

"I wonder how Maria is doing?" She wondered. At the sound of Maria's name, Ernie rose.

"We need to go see." He begged, wide awake. Sofie raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"I'm sure if anything was important, Eva would have texted."

"Unless her phone died!" Ernie insisted.

"True." Sofie sighed, and poked Romeo to wake him up more fully.

"I'm awake." He said. Then he remembered why they were in his car, not home in bed.

"Oh no!" He gasped. Francis was already out of the car.

"Come on," He led them inside.

 When they got to Maria's room, they quietly went inside. Maria was still sleeping, and Eva was sideways in her chair, her brown curls over her face. Gio went to Maria's side and gazed down at her. Francis watched him with suspicious thoughtfulness as he himself gently tapped Eva.

 Eva jerked up with a startled noise. Francis grinned at her. She stared at him with a blank, disoriented look for a moment, then glanced around herself.

"Oh," She inhaled and flexed her back, wincing. She stood up.

"maria's still not awake?" She asked.

Gio shook his head. Just then, Maria stirred slightly. Her eyes flickered open, up to the anxious faces. She smiled groggily, tried to strech and took a sharp breath of pain.

"You really are accident prone, aren't you?" Gio half laughed, his voice husky with relieved emotion. Maria gave him a weak smile.

"Sorry..." She said.

"Are you all right?" Eva asked her. Maria nodded.

"I'm... fine." She winced again. "Fine-ish." She amended, looking at their critical faces. Sofie heaved a dramatic sigh. Romeo looked ready to cry with relief.

"I'm really sorry, Maria!" He told her, his eyes imploring her for forgiveness. She waved a weak hand.

"Oh, Romeo it's not your fault, I should have been buckled." She said. Romeo's face broke into a huge smile, his feelings finally soothed. He sat down in Eva's chair and leaned back with a happy expression.

The doctor came in.

"Oh, good, she's awake." She did a quick vitals check.

"Well, young lady, you should be very thankful you didn't get any worse injuries than you did." She admonished Maria.

"I am." Maria said.

"And so are we." Eva added.

"I know I owe it to a lot of prayer." Maria continued, but the doctor, looking uncomfortable, cut her off.

"Ok, well we'll have to keep you a while longer just to make sure everything's fine, but you should be able to go home tonight or tomorrow morning." The doctor said. She looked at the others, standing about the room.

"What are you all going to do? I'm afraid you can't really stay here all day."

Francis dropped his head back and groaned.

"I'm sorry I'm such a problem." Maria sighed. Suddenly she frowned. "Oh no- OH no. Where. Is. My phone?" She demanded. They looked around for a minute, to no avail.

"You probably lost it in the park." Was the unanimous conclusion. Maria looked at them beseechingly.

"Fine, we'll go see if we can find it. We've got nothing else to do."

Francis, after the overwrought stress of the previous night, and also having to sleep in the car, was a bit grumpy. His face relented when he looked at Maria, staring up at him with her big green eyes.

"Get some rest, Mar." He said brusquely, heading out the door. Gio lingered behind the others.

"I'm glad you're ok, Maria." He said awkwardly. Then he gave her one of his famous half smiles.
"I actually rescued you, you know," Gio began in his nasal, smooth Italian accent.

"I was already carrying you up the bank before the others had even realized what happened." Gio played started fiddling with the side of the hospital bed, then glanced up at her again, his droopy hazel-green eyes quiet. Then his gaze broke and he flashed another half-smile.

"Oh Gio!" Maria felt butterflies in her stomach. "Thank you so much." She smiled up at him, her eyes soft and sweet. Eva poked her head in the door.

" 'Let another man praise thee', Gio." She quoted drily. He jumped in surprise, turned red and hurried out of the room. Eva smiled at Maria.

"You are a stressful person." She said caringly. Maria smiled back. Eva disappeared again.

Maria lay back with a sigh, silently thanking God for protecting her. She shut her eyes. Then she remembered what Gio had said. Had he really carried her up the embankment?  She thought back to the moment she had been flung out of the vehicle. The terrifying moment she had hung weightless before crashing into blackness. Blackness... exhausted, she drifted back to sleep.

The others drove back to the park. When they reached the sharp curve and steep bank, they pulled over and piled out of the car and began searching in the brush.

"Don't forget to look out for Tarantulas." Eva reminded them, as she gingerly dug about in the grass. Romeo looked up in alarm.

"Oh no."
 
"Zebra spiders, too" Sofie added, "I read about those in the brochure."

Romeo stared at them with dismay, then with great care began to search again. After a moment, Francis noticed that as he was 'searching' he was edging back towards the car.

"Hey, were are you going?" He demanded of his younger brother. Romeo glanced up.

"Uh...."

"Keep looking, don't be such a scaredy cat." Francis was disgusted.
        
"Ah I found it!" Gio called. He held up Maria's phone. It was dusty, but otherwise seemed fine. Eva grabbed it from him and tried a few pass-codes until she got in.

"Looks fine." She said. She dialed Mrs. G. They hadn't been able o contact her because all their phones were dead at this point.

"Mrs. G? Maria is just fine." The  others could hear Mrs. Guttusos relieved cry.

"Well we have to stay here until they release her, tonight or tomorrow morning. Oh, in the car. Yes Ernie is fine. Well, we're almost out of money, but we won't starve to death. Yes. Yes. Ok. Ok. Thanks. NO. Bye."

Eva stuck Marias phone into her pocket.

"Ok lets go." She scrambled up the bank. At the top she looked down at Gio with unusual respect.

"Huh. I'm surprised you could make it up this." She admitted, disappearing over the side of the ditch.

 Gio smiled with great self-satisfaction as he began to climb. Romeo slyly tripped him.

"Ouch!!!"

"Whoa, careful." Romeo teased, as he climbed past Gio.

"Humph."

"Well it's a good thing it was Maria not me you had to carry. You probably couldn't have made it with me." Sofie panted.

How do i respond to that? Gio thought, but without considering it further, replied

"Oh, I probably could have, I'm really strong." he paused as realization of what he had just implied struck him.. "NO, no I didn't mean that the way it sounded, oh no..."

Sofie just rolled her eyes and kept climbing, amused that she had gotten Gio to embarrass himself. Gio grimaced at himself, looking like a little monkey as he climbed. Eva sadly didn't see it to be amused by this simile.

"I'm hungry." Ernie said.

"Again?" Francis asked him. Ernie nodded. Francis sighed.

"I'm sorry Ernie but we have to skip lunch. I haven't much money left."

 Ernie looked tragicized for a moment, then turned away with his shoulders slumped in resignation.

Gio moaned.

"I need lunch."

"Do you have money?" Francis asked him testily. Gio scowled.

"no." He trudged over to the car and banged into his seat. Eva and Sofie watched him with disgust.

"It will do him good." Sofie commented. Eva nodded agreement.

"I'm hungry too though." She admitted. Sofie frowned, then shrugged.

"Well, yes. Oh well."

They drove away. A few miles before the park exit, Francis noticed something not good.

"We're almost out of gas!!!!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Eva craned over to see. "Oh NOOOOO"

"Do we have enough?" Gio demanded.

"Hopefully." Francis kept going.

They made it to the hospital, but just as they were pulling in, the engine began to sputter. As they crossed the ambulance entrance, it coughed miserably and died. And there they were, stuck right in the way. Francis banged his head back against the headrest.

"Come ON." He said. "I assume you don't have any extra gas, Romeo?"

"Nope."

"Naturally." Francis got out and slammed his door. Just then a siren blared, startling Francis violently.

"Get out, get out!" He cried. The others jumped out. An ambulance screamed around the corner, straight towards Romeo's beloved car!!!

By Nina with a few contributions by Ryn.

Thanks for reading! Tell us what you think!

http://www.parcoabruzzo.it/Eindex.php

If you go to the multimedia section there are tons of pictures!! You can see the animals, etc. and of course a tarantula;) I haven't watched the videos yet:)

Chapter 5 by Nina D.

Chapter 5

The next day went uneventfully, with everyone just chilling around the house. Before they went to bed, Gio told them what time church was in the morning. The girls got clothes ready that night. The next morning, of course, they did not want to wear what they had picked, so no time was saved after all. They all managed to be ready in time, miraculously(even Romeo), and headed off to the service.

They arrived at the little church, down in the city. As they walked in, the girls noticed that the congregation was mostly old people. The prelude was playing, and most of the people were sitting quietly, or whispering to each other. Over all the scene was meditative as the people seriously prepared their hearts for the service.

"This looks familiar" Eva whispered. Maria nodded.

Alex and his family sat nearby. Alex, his hair slicked and his collar looking a little too tight, glanced their way briefly. Gio led the way to a row of seats, and they all filed in and sat down. Romeo crashed into his seat, due to the fact he was staring at the piano and not watching where he was going. Francis glared at him. Romeo looked back, his big brown eyes innocent.

"Do you see the piano? It's really nice!" He whispered loudly. Francis nodded irritably and motioned for him to be quiet as the pastor stood up.

"Benevenuto! Welcome!" He began. The service was pretty normal. They sang some hymns. More than a few heads turned when Romeo began to sing, his powerful tenor voice echoing through the small room. Eva and Maria's soprano also stood out, though they made more of an effort to sing quietly. After the offering, the message began. The pastor spoke on  Romans 8:28 .

'and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose'

"This dosen't mean everythings going to be good all the time. It doesn't mean we'll never hurt. It means that through these things God is going to be orchestrating something so beautiful it will be worth it all in the end. Metal has to go through fire, pottery starts out as mud, paintings start out as blank canvas... and our sincursed lifes are the same. Stark, ugly things made glorious in God's Grace. Let us pray."

After the closing hymn, the congregation mingled, chatting. Eva and Maria, and the cousins as well, stood, somewhat awkward in the buzz of unknown people. Alex came over.

"What did you think?" He asked them.

"It was a wonderful message!" Maria exclaimed.

"I loved his illustration of our life's as God's artwork." Eva added softly. She was always quiet and reserved in crowds, and crazy bizarre at home where she was comfortable. But the majority of people probably would never guess that.

 Romeo gazed around unabashedly, despite Sofie's repeated injunctions to 'stop staring!!'. Francis stood in his typical fashion, his slightly bowed legs relaxed, his hands clasped behind his back, and his head cocked slightly as he observed his surroundings. Gio had been snagged by an old lady who was talking to him with great enthusiasm. Mrs. Guttuso was talking with a curious friend who wanted to know all about the guests- especially the strange Americanos. Ernie had disappeared. At last everyone was ready to go, and Ernie resurfaced suddenly.

"Sunday dinner!!!" Gio exulted as he got into his moms car, and the cousins into Romeo's.

"See you at the house!" He added in a cheerful voice as they pulled away.

"That was a great service! I love the piano- do you think they'd let me play it?" Romeo said as he drove along.

"Romeo, here's the thing. You have got to WATCH THE ROAD." Francis commanded his brother.

"I am!!" Romeo said as he stared over his shoulder at Francis, who just shook his head at him in disbelief.

"You're going to get us all killed one of these days" He prophesied dourly. Romeo just laughed at his tone.

"I know how to drive!" He informed Francis. Francis did not reply, but adjusted his seatbelt.

They made it back to the Guttuso's home safely though, and headed inside to the delicious smell of Mrs. Guttusos Sunday cena- a wonderful meat sauce that had been simmering while they were at church, some fresh spaghetti, bread, and nutella pastries. They sat and ate until they were stuffed- for the girls, this wasn't long, but the boys all ate an unbelievable amount. At last, everyone was satisfied.

"That. Was delicious." Francis thanked Mrs. Guttuso, respectful and polite as always- to adults.

"Oh, thank you, it was nothing," She replied in a weary tone that seemed to imply the opposite of her words. He smiled at her as he walked away. Gio threw himself on the couch with an unnecessary amount of drama.

"I am soooooo full." He moaned.

"Well, you ate enough." Eva remarked, somewhat under her breath. Gio looked injured.

"I'm a growing boy!" He defended himself.

"Growing is right!" Francis needled him, and Romeo jabbed him in the stomach.

"Oww!" Gio rolled into a ball and moved away. He glowered at Francis with reproachful eyes. Maria giggled.

"Everyone is soo mean to me." He joked, sitting back up, a safe distance from Francis,  Romeo, and Eva. To Maria's happiness, this placed him next to her. Sofie caught Maria's glance and rolled her eyes when Gio wasn't looking. Maria smiled back, her expression innocently asking 'What?' Sofie shook her head.

They turned the TV onto a soccer game, and watched that all afternoon, with great interest on all sides. Gio was the most vocal, however, his commentary even more thorough than the announcers and his cheering loud enough to be comparable to a whole stand of fans. Maria's ears were regretting her pleasure at sitting next to him. Ernie alone was silent, intently taking in the entire game with calm.

In the evening they went to church again. The evening service was, of course, more informal than the morning, and slightly more brief. Afterwards there was a fellowship time, which mainly centered around food- light(to Italian standards) dessert type refreshments and fruit. Eva and Maria were still stuffed, but the others, Gio particularly, ate another enormous helping.

"What?" He asked through a mouthful of food when he noticed Eva's gaze. She simply shook her head despairingly, to his surprise and slight concern. He shrugged.

"Again- he should be fat." Sofie murmured to Eva, when Maria wasn't listening. Eva nodded emphatically.

"He will be." She predicted in a foreboding tone. "he will be..." Sofie snickered.

 Maria turned"What?" She said brightly. The others grinned but didn't reply.

"What's so funny?" She demanded in a good natured tone. Eva laughed, and Sofie said,

"Oh nothing, trust me. it wouldn't be funny to you."

"Try me!" She protested. Sofie shrugged acquiescence.

"FIne- we were just imagining how fat Gio's going to be in 10 years." She stated. Maria's jaw dropped.

"Sofie!"

Eva cracked up. Sofie stared at her with disbelief and some amusement.

"Eva?" Eva simply buried her head in her lap, completely helpless and shaking with laughter. A few people glanced her way with skeptical looks. Francis and Maria simply looked affectionate, though and Romeo didn't seem to think anything of it. Ernie had gone off with his friend(another bespectacled kid whom he had introduced as Zac), so he missed the entire episode. Gio looked a bit annoyed.

"What is the matter?" he questioned, suspiscious that this may come back to his eating habits again.

 Eva just laughed even harder. Francis began to chuckle too, and Maria joined him wearily.

"It's nothing, Gio.. I think we're all just overtired." She assured him. He was not convinced. Eva was at last beginning to subside, slowly, as she repeatedly would start laughing again just as she was managing to desist. Finally, she sat back up.

"Ugh, my mascara." She said despondently, wiping her eyes and looking embarrassed.

"You should wear waterproof." Sofie told her. Maria nodded agreement.

"That washes off too hard." Eva negated this suggestion. She glanced over at Gio, who was still stuffing his face while watching her with a bemused expression. She choked.

"Don't," Maria put a warning hand on her shoulder. With a valiant effort, Eva contained herself, and sat primly the rest of the evening. Gio was officially weirded out, while Romeo and Francis didn't seem overly concerned, nor did Maria and Sofie. Mrs. Guttuso finally came over.

"Ok, kids, it's time to head home," She said in her typical depressed tone. Mr. Guttuso came behind her with a visibly reluctant Ernie in tow.

"We weren't done!" he was protesting.

"You're just fine." His dad said as they all headed outside. It was a beautiful summer evening, and a slight breeze was blowing in from the direction of the sea.

"Ahh." Maria breathed. "I want to take a walk!"

"We can at home if you want." Gio offered. Maria brightened.

"Oh, yes please!" She eagerly said. Gio smiled.

"Sure. See you there!" he grinned out the window. the breeze rumpled his curls as they moved off.

Maria sighed. Too much. She absently got into the car, not hearing Sofie's repeated voice. She was startled out of her revery by a jab in the ribs.

"Ow!"

"Did you not hear me???" Sofie asked her testily.

"Sorry, no!" Maria apologized. "What did you say?"

"Never mind..." Sofie turned to Romeo.

"Why aren't you driving?" Maria asked in surprise. Romeo looked dejected.

"Francis wouldn't let me. Even though it's my car!" He leaned forwards suddenly and bopped poor unsuspecting Francis on the head.

"Oww!!" he shrieked, swerving abruptly. Romeo laughed triumphantly.

"Who's the bad driver?" He crowed. Francis glared ahead over the steering wheel.

"Who's the dummy who distracts the driver??" Sofie interjected.

"Please?" Maria sighed imploringly. Romeo looked guilty.

"Sorry."

They pulled into the Guttuso's driveway. Gio was waiting outside, and after a moment they noticed Ernie too. He was on his hands and knees under the shrubs. The looked at Gio questioningly. He just grinned embarrassment and shrugged. Ernie stood up.

"Caterpillar." He announced, then disappeared into the house to jar it.

"Oh, I want to see," Eva followed him, and quickly reappeared.

"It's really gross looking." She informed them. Ernie was close behind her.

"Ok, let's go." They walked along down the street.

The ancient houses glowed orange in the golden light of the sun, and the tree tops looked tie dyed with the sunset colors. Here and there you could catch sight of the sea, and the tops of the city buildings, contrasting with the old architecture of Montecivillo. Maria was blissful. Gio strolled beside her, perfecting the whole scene.

The cousins were a little behind them, chattering(mainly Romeo), and Ernie was just ahead, moving back and forth rather erratically. It took Maria a moment to realize he was collecting bits of trash and cool rocks.

"It's pretty nice here, huh?" Gio asked her in a tone of quiet musing.

'His voice is so amazing' Maria thought.

"It's perfect." She said aloud, although her meaning went a bit deeper than the words. Gio didn't know this of course.

"Yeah." He lapsed back into silence. Maria allowed herself the brief thought of how lovely it would be to walk here hand in hand with... someone. She shook her head at herself chidingly and dismissed the thought quickly.

"You speak English really well." She said after a moment. Gio smiled.

"Thank you... I enjoy learning languages. I'm fairly fluent in Spanish as well. I want to learn French too."

"Oui!" Maria laughed. "I love languages too!" She continues with excitement. "Obviously I'm learning Italian-"

"You're doing great by the way!" Gio praised. Maria blushed.

"Aw, thanks... I just really enjoy it. And it's not hard, for me. I want to learn Spanish too, and french. I'm fluent in American Sign Language and Ancient Greek..." She said.

"What? Cool! I could help you with Spanish while you're here. Italian too." Gio offered.

"Really?" Maria delightedly. "I'd love that!"

"Sure! We can start tomorrow if you want!" Gio was pleased.

Maria smiled at him, then looked off into the distance, where the sun had set into a dull red. The colors of the buildings has changed from brilliant orange to a dull purple, heralding the coming of twilight. Above in the winey sky, a few stars were just starting to twinkle. Maria walked along, lost in thought, until Gio broke into her meditation.

"We'd better head back, it's getting kind of dark, and....uh I think we lost the others."

Maria turned, startled. "Wait, what? Where are they?" She looked around. Her sister, cousins and Ernie were no where in sight. "Uhhhh..."

"Yeah." Gio said awkwardly. "I didn't notice they were gone until they were gone." He added a bit lamely.

"Oh, well we should probably find them." Maria headed back in the direction of the house. Gio followed. They saw no signs of the missing persons, until suddenly they heard voices down a little side street leading out into a field. Gio and Maria went towards the sound.

 At the end of the cobblestones, it opened suddenly into a dirt road that disappeared into a waving field. The little group was sitting on the grass, more blue than green in the half light. Ernie was chasing fireflies. The others were looking at the stars. Maria shook her head at her family, but looked with pleasure at the scene. Gio walked over to them.

"There you are!" He exclaimed, flinging himself on the ground beside Romeo, who smiled at him pleasantly.

"Why, did you think we were lost?" He questioned.

"You were lost." Gio said.

"That depends on your point of view," Francis cut in."From our perspective, you were technically the lost ones. We knew exactly where WE were."

 Gio frowned. "Well we didn't know where you were." He protested. "And we didn't know if you knew where you were... either." He looked slightly confused. Francis shrugged.

"Well either way. Here we are." He looked up at the dark sky. His dark eyes glistened as they reflected the twinkling stars, and looked like a new galaxy of their own.

"Well, you know, we should probably head home." Gio suggested. Eva, lying on her back staring absently upward, craned her head backward to look at him. He glanced down at her upside down face.

"What?" He asked, at her odd look. Eva blinked. Her eyes drifted back towards where the moon was rising, and she sighed, then sat up.

"Let's go," She commanded, suddenly on her feet. Romeo groaned beseechingly, but it was no use. It was time to go back to the house, despite the golden moon and gentle breeze, the sounds of the crickets and frogs, and the flickering of the fireflies. Ernie had managed to catch one and was cupping it with utmost gentleness in his slender hands.

"I will put it in a jar," he told them, wide eyed, "and keep it in my room."

"It will die, Ernie."

"I'll let it go free after I watch it blink." He said, trailing off towards the Guttuso's stone house. They all walked along, their voices somewhat hushed in the dimness. The warm light of the windows shone like the beckon of a loving voice. Gio held open the door and they all reluctantly went in.

That night, Maria wrote in her book,

"Summer nights are almost as beautifully sad as anything I can think of. They seem so long, but when they are over, it seems too soon. And you can never get it back, no matter how many more you live, that one is gone forever. Sunk with the moon over the horizon."

She stood for a moment by the open window, holding the fluttering curtains away with one hand and gazing over the moonlit village.  She took a deep breath of the warm air, then exhaled wistfully and climbed into bed. She listened to the deep steady breathing of the completley still Sofie and the fitful, sharp breaths of Eva, who tossed about constantly.

At last Maria, lulled by the breeze and the  crickets, slipped into her own peaceful, sighing sleep.





by Nina D.

Next week a missionary who used to work in Italy is coming to our church. I want to pick his brain for every thing about Italy I can think of-but I probably will not dare. I plan to try though. However, if he says anything about the Church services being different I will update!!:)
As always tell us what you think:) I really love hearing from you- it's so encouraging!! <3

Chapter 4- Pizza!! by Nina and Ryn

(photo not mine)



CHAPTER 4
The next morning,  when everyone had arrived at breakfast, Gio asked what everyone wanted to do.

"I need to prove to Ernie that I can beat him on Mario Kart." Romeo said seriously, but with a kindly sparkle in his brown eyes. Thankfully Ernie didn't notice this, he would have felt patronized.

"Oh, you two don't need to play video games all day, the weather is lovely." Mrs. Guttuso protested.

Ernie scowled and seemed about to speak, but a glance from his father changed his mind. Romeo shrugged amicably.

"Ok!" He said, taking a bite of his breakfast.

"Why don't you all just take time and get to know each other?" Mrs. Guttuso asked. The young people looked at each other.

'way to make things awkward, mama!' Gio groaned mentally.

"On our first day in Chiaro, we just drove around and chatted." Maria suggested. "You could show us around your town!"

Gio smiled."That's a good idea!" He said.

 Maria didn't appreciate the way her treated her as so much younger than him. However, she only smiled in return and took a bite of nutella toast.

"Well it's decided." Mrs. Guttuso said. "Good"

Mr. Guttuso said nothing, but smiled with amusement as he put his dishes on the counter.

"I'll see you all later." He picked up his briefcase and coat. "Have fun." He added as he went through the door. Francis watched it shut with an unusually apprehensive expression. Eva watched him,with a slight smirk hovering on her lips. Gio finished his breakfast.

"So, are you all ready to go?" He asked

"I'm still in my pajamas." Ernie said flatly. Gio leaned over to look at his clothes, then laughed.

"Oops, sorry I didn't notice. Ok how about we try to leave by 10, sound good?"

"Sure." Romeo answered for everyone. The girls headed upstairs to get ready, and the boys followed shortly after.

At 5 after 10(due to Romeo not being able to find one sneaker, which turned out to be in the closet where he left it), they headed out. Gio's tiny town was close to a little city beside the sea, so there was a bit more to see than in Chiaro.

"Ok, I'll save the best for last... we'll go down to the beach to start and work our way back up." Gio said, as the drove down towards the city. They passed a few interesting stores, of which Maria and Sofie made mental notes.

The beach was much more inspiring than the beach in Chiaro. A nice bath house stretched along the edge of the sand, and umbrellas and towels looked even brighter against the blue water. There was enough people to make it exciting without being a crowd.

"Well, this is nice." Sofie commented as they got out. Romeo looked around.

"It's bigger than our beach," He pointed out unnecessarily. Maria smiled at him, while Eva struggled to hide a smirk, and Sofie rolled her eyes.

They walked to the edge of the water. Maria and Sofie dipped their toes in the water, wading for a bit. The others waited on the edge. After a few moments, they were all ready to go- it really wasn't warm enough for the beach anyways. Gio drove them past his church, the library and the grocery store-

"Exciting" Francis said gravely as they paused in the parking lot.

Without responding, Gio turned dramatically in his seat.

"And now, as I said, I've saved the best for last. We now go to the most important place in town- you guys are hungry, right?"

"Sure!" Romeo replied.

"Not just you, Romeo- anyone else? I promise its something good"

"I'm hungry, too." Said Maria, looking with hungry eyes at the Nutella ad in the store window.

"Well, ok then, lets go." Gio drove off again, back up the hill towards the little stone town. About halfway there, he turned down a side street. After another minute of driving, he stopped in front of a quaint, well kept building. He stared at it in almost reverent silence. The others, unsure of how to respond, did the same. Finally, he got out of the car, and everyone else did too.

"Behold," He broke the (now awkward) silence- " Gian Franco's pizzeria."

Marias face lit up.

"Pizza?!!"

Gio smiled. "Yes. Really,really good pizza."

Maria laughed, "Oh my goodness, Pizza is practically my boyfriend, I love it so much!"

"Same here- its my girlfriend, I mean." Gio paused and shook his head, "anyways, come on. I'll introduce you to Alex. He's one of my best friends- and his dad's the owner."

"Ahha..." Francis said, in a tone of comprehension.

 Gio glance at him with narrowed eyes, but continued walking. He held the door with a flourish and usher them through.

Inside, the smell was heavenly. Cheesy, doughy, saucey... Maria closed her eyes for one moment and breathed in in- then crashed into a chalkboard sign, which fell to the floor and shattered. Her eyes flew open.

"Oh no!!" Her face turned scarlet, "I am so sorry,  I-"

"It's ok," Gio said, his tone roughly equivalent to patting a crying tot on the head. A curly haired youth appeared around a corner. He took in the situation.

"I figured it was you, Gio." He said after a moment's silence.

"What, you hear a crash and assume its me? Ouch, Alex!" Gio kidded. Maria stepped forward.

"It was me, actually. I'm sorry, I can pay for the sign." She said, slightly reluctant. Alex glanced at her. Their eyes met for a second before Alex blushed.

"It's ok, you don't have to do that," He said awkwardly. Maria thought she heard a snicker behind her, but Francis did have a cough, so maybe that was all it was. After a brief pause, Alex offered to seat them. He led them to a nice big booth in the corner.

"Ok, I'll be back in a few minutes..." He headed off to fetch a broom to clean up the shattered sign. Maria winced.

"Don't feel bad," Gio comforted her. She smiled(slightly forcedly), and picked up her menu. His attitude was bugging her slightly, but she couldn't quite be annoyed with someone that handsome.
After a quick perusal, she decided to just try their original pizza to start with, then glanced around to observe the pizzeria.

It wasn't very large, it was cozy. Painted in warm shades, with painting on the wall, and rough, homey beams. Old music was playing at just the right volume, and the animated buzz of talking Italians completed the picture.

"I love this place." Maria murmured, half to herself. Sofie banged her menu down.

"Me too." She stated. "pick what you're getting yet?" She added amicably.

"their original one," Maria said. "You?"

"Same." She replied. Romeo looked up at them over his menu.

"I think I'm probably allergic to all this." He said, his brown eyes rather tragic.

"Aw," Maria laughed sympathetically. "There must be something?"

"Maybe these cheesy garlic breadsticks, just minus the cheese and the garlic." He said, after glancing back at the menu for a minute.

"Oh, well... there you go." Maria said. He smiled, equanimity apparently restored to his soul.
Just then, Alex came back over.

"Ok, are you all ready to place your order?" He asked, pulling a notebook from his apron.

"I think we are," Gio said, looking around questioningly. At their agreement, he ordered his own, "the way I always have it." Romeo ordered his non garlic and cheese cheesy garlic breadsticks. Francis ordered salad. Eva was still having a very difficult time deciding, so he moved to Ernie.

"Do you have worm pizza?" He asked suddenly. Alex looked startled.

"Uh, no." He said. Ernie looked mildly disappointed.

"Well, I'll have chicken pizza then." He conceded. Looking slightly disturbed, Alex wrote this down. Maria and Sophie had decided to share their pepperoni pizza.

"Eva?" Maria questioned. Francis glanced down at his struggling cousin.

"I can't make up my mind..." She said, looking frantically up and down the columns of food.

"Get a salad," He suggested mildly.

"I hate eating those in public," She admitted without looking up.

"How about vegetable pizza?" Maria prodded.

"Yes, that sounds good- but..."

"She'll take a small vegetable pizza." Francis and Maria said at the same time. Maria scowled at Francis, who shrugged apologetically. Alex went off to start their orders, and the group sat and began to chat. Eva leaned back, relieved to have her selection crisis solved.

"SO," Gio began, "What do you guys have for hobbies?" He smiled at the girls.

"I already told you!" Romeo said in surprise. Gio turned to him and smiled pointedly. Romeo, still perplexed, went back to doing complex math problems on his place mat. Ernie watched him with interest.

"Anyways." Gio resumed, expectantly. The girls looked back at him for a moment.

"Um." Maria tried to remember.

"Knocking things over, just kidding," Gio laughed. Maria blushed.

"Well, yes," She smiled, "But, um I love to sing, and write! And listen to music."

Of course Gio already knew all this, however he masterfully acted as though it was completely new information.

"Neat!" He said. "What about you..." He trailed off, staring at Eva.

"Eva," Francis snapped at him.

"Thank you, yes, I KNOW." Gio lied defensively. Eva eyed him for a moment.

"I like singing, drawing and painting." She said at last. Gio nodded, unsure of how to continue the conversation. Francis came to the rescue.

"So I noticed that you had some Shakespeare movie adaptations in your living room." He said

"Oh, those are my mom's," Gio dismissed them. Francis frowned.

"Oh. So you haven't watched them?"

"Ew no way, boriinggg. i like Action. You've seen Spiderman of course?"

"Actually no, I haven't," Francis said, disgusted at Gio's treatment of the Bard.

"WHat?????? You have to watch it. We can watch it tonight." Gio decided.

"Uh, no thanks." Francis declined, to Marias dismay.

"I love Spiderman!" She protested. Gio smiled.

"Good!" He said, "I'm glad one of you has some sense."

"Hm." Francis was extremely unimpressed by Gio's existence thus far. And he didn't have a lot of hope for this improving in the future. he sighed and sat back more comfortably.

"So how long does the pizza take?" He changed the subject.'

"Oh around 25 minutes. It's not too busy right now." He added, looking around. Just then Alex brought over some waters.

"Here you go," He said, shyly glancing at Maria and then spilling one water all over the relaxed Francis.

"Yow!!" He cried, leaping up. Ice clattered to the floor. Francis looked at Alex in indignation. Alex was appalled with himself.

"I am so sorry!!!" He exclaimed. Gio was amused.

"Al, what is up? In all the years you've worked here I've never seen you make a mistake!"

"There's always a first time," Francis grumbled, brushing himself off, grimacing at his wet clothes, then sitting back down.  Alex, his ears scarlet, hurried off to get the broom-again.

"Well, that makes me feel a little less embarrassed about breaking the sign!" Maria laughed.

"Well, good, you shouldn't be embarrassed anyway."Gio assured her.

Alex hurried back over to clean up the mess he'd made. He narrowly missed smacking Francis in the head with the broom, with flustered him even further. He hurried away again. Gio watched calmly the entire time, then chuckled after he was gone.

"Wow," He commented," I have no idea whats come over him!" Eva and Sofie glanced significantly at each other, then at the oblivious Maria, but Gio missed their meaning completely.

"Huh," He finished the subject. then his eyes lit up, his face completely transfigured with joy. The others follOwed his gaze to the beautiful sight that had so affected him- Alex was coming with the pizza.

"Finally." Francis said ungraciously. Alex set down the food, with no mishaps.

"Enjoy!" he said wistfully, wishing he could join them.

"Why don't you join us?" Said Gio, reading his thoughts. Alex brightened.

"Are you sure? I'll go tell dad!" He said, rushing off once more.

"Interesting." Francis thoughtfully watched him go, then turned to Gio.

"Shall I bless the food?" He asked Gio.

"Sure." Gio replied.

Francis did so. When he had finished, Gio, before devouring his pizza, quipped,

"Bless the bunch that munch the lunch." He took a huge bite. "That's what my dad always says," He explained between chews. Alex breathlessly returned and sat down with a sandwich.

"So whats new for you?" Gio asked him. Alex shrugged.

"Not really. We've been playing around with the sauce recipe-"

"Don't change it. I mean it." Gio said seriously.

"We're not." Alex said resignedly. "I wish we were though. I'm so sick of it." He bit into his sandwich.

"How?" Gio was incredulous.

"If you had to make it, smell it, use it, eat it, breathe it and live it all day every day, you might be too." Alex said with unexpected vehemence.

"Wow. I never thought of that." Gio mused for a moment.

"So are you enjoying it here so far?" Alex asked the cousins bashfully.

"Oh, yes." Maria said. Alex smiled. Sofie snorted and choked on her water.

"You ok?"

"Yes."

"I love the houses here," Maria continued. "And the pizza is divine." She added. Alex blushed again.

"Thanks.." He murmured.

-commences to be written by Ryn 

"So do you live near here?" Maria continued, taking a bite of pizza.

"Right across the road actually," Alex answered bashfully.

"Oh that's nice," Maria replied lamely. Small talk could be so hard sometimes.

Gio glanced at Maria, realizing she was out of things to say.

"So..." He began. "What do you all say to coming over to my house and watching a movie tonight? Al, you could come and I could call Tad." Tad was the other of Gio's two best friends.

"That sounds perfect to me," Maria said. She hoped she didn't come across as flirty agreeing with everything Gio said. He was just always right, that was all.

"Well, shouldn't we make sure that's ok with your parents?" Eva questioned.

"Oh mom doesn't care. Just as long as we don't make a mess or too much noise. And as long as we're not up more than an hour past Ernie's bedtime." Gio dismissed. Eva didn't look convinced. Ernie frowned at his brother as he absentmindedly picked at his pizza. Then Gio continued.

"How about Spiderman." He stated, shoving a peice of pizza in his mouth.

Maria opened her mouth and started to agree again, but than changed her mind and said, "Anything is fine with me." She smiled fakely.

"Aww Gio, please not Spiderman. Not again." Alex groaned.

"Spiderman 2? Spiderman 3?" Gio suggested, smiling convincingly.

Eva and Francis stared at him from across the table, chewing pointedly on their pizza.

"Well, I mean... like maybe Star Wars then?" Gio said.

Romeo face lit up.

"Oh I like that." He nodded. "So does Francis. He likes Princess Lei-" Francis's dramatic coughing fit cut him off. Romeo smiled at his older brother cheerfully. "You do," He said, under his breath.

"Well, I like Star Wars too," Maria began. "Actually my favorite movie is Revenge of the Sith," she said.

"Ok let's just watch that," Gio finalized. "Cool with everyone?" They all nodded, except Francis, but Gio ignored this fact. "Ok," He said. "Al, come over at 5," He said.

"Ok," Al said, happy to have the chance to get to know... all the guests better. "I better get back to work," He said, glancing at the clock. "See you all tonight!" He awkwardly got up and smiled at Maria. She smiled nicely back.

 Gio watched him leave thoughtfully. Then he turned back to the others. Everyone was done except for Maria and Ernie.

"Ernie, aren't you going to eat yours?" Gio asked his brother, sounding a bit concerned at Ernie's still full plate.

"Not hungry," Ernie replied. Gio looked back and forth to the plate and Ernie. He looked questioningly at his bro.

"If you want it you can have it," Ernie stated, shoving the plate towards Gio, who had already eaten a whole pizza by himself. This didn't stop Gio, though. He quickly and easily ate Ernie's and turned to Maria.

"Almost done?" He said, beginning to feel impatient.

"I'm full," She said. "We can go now."

"Ok, we don't waste pizza," Gio informed her seriously. Maria was confused.

"Why can't I bring it-"

He sighed as if it was a burden. "Ok hand it over," She was confused for a moment untill she realized what he meant.

"Well... I mean I'm not sick or anything.. but are you sure?" Maria began.

"No really," He said, smiling sweetly. He looked at her questiongly and held out his hand. Ok, Maria thought. She handed her plate to Gio and watched him eat yet another half peice of pizza. How is he so thin?

commences to be written by Nina

"Ok, now we can go." As they headed out he stuck his head in the kitchen and shouted, "BYE ALEXXX" at the top of his lungs. Eva winced.

"Don't shout like that Gio, it's not good for your voice." Romeo admonished as they got in the car.

"I'm fine," Gio laughed, starting the car.

When they got home, Gio told his mother about their plans. She tiredly nodded. The three girls disappeared to their room for some much needed rest. The guys crashed onto the big living room couch, and fell asleep much faster than the girls did upstairs in their beds.

When it was almost time for Alex and the unknown Tad to arrive, the girls straggled downstairs, sleepily fixing their hair and clothes. The boys woke up disheveled messes and made no effort to remedy that.

Soon a knock came on the front door. Mrs. G let them in, and they entered the living room. Alex smiled shyly at the group, while the presumed Tad- with dark blonde, curly hair and deep brow that made him look perpetually grumpy- inspected the guests with frank un-impression.

"These are my friends, and their cousins from America!" Gio announced, looking at him expectantly. It made no effect on Tad, who was no respecter of persons.

"Nice to meet you." He commented. He frowned at Francis(who was in Tads accustomed place), and rather put-outedly sat somewhere else.

"Hey, it's good to see you Tad!" Romeo exclaimed brightly

"You too. What's new?" Tad replied, congenially enough, despite his natural expression.

"I got a car. Did you see it outside?" Romeo said, pride filling his voice.

"Yeah I saw it." Tad grinned. "Pretty hard to miss. Nice one." He added. Romeo smiled with satisfaction.

"I know." He gloated. Gio was frowning. He didn't have a car, or prospects of getting one. He had to drive his mom's. So he was jealous. (As a side note, I once saw someone spell jealous as gelouse. Gelouse. Anyways.)

They watched their movie, to the dissatisfaction of Francis and Eva(and for that matter Gio who wanted to watch Spiderman). Afterwards they ate, then chatted for a while before Tad and Alex left.

"Your friends are really nice, Gio!" Maria said as they all began to disperse for the night.

"Yeah" He smiled. Maria couldn't get past how adorable that half smile was. She smiled back and dreamily went into her room.

Sofie and Eva were already there, debating cheerfully about which of Gio's friends was more annoying. They both concluded that neither were as bad as Gio. Maria sincerely hoped that they were kidding. However she doubted it. She sighed and pulled on her pajamas. She crawled under her covers and stared at the ceiling. Then she grabbed her notebook and began to write.

'Eyes as green as a forest,
and a smile bright as the sun through the trees.
I'd love to spend a life time in those woods.'

She gazed at the words for another moment, then put away her notebook, read her Bible, and peacefully went to sleep.

by Nina and Ryn D.

Tell us what you think!!! Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated!!!

http://donfranchino.com/

This is where we got our inspiration for Gian Francos- a real Italian pizzeria!! Ours in the story isn't exactly authentic, but you should take a look at the amazingness they actually have there. I REALLLLLYYY WANNTTT TO GOOOOOOOOO!!

As is usual with links, I take no responsibility for other websites etc.

excitement... and a random thing I wrote.

I just sent in my entry to the Oakton Foundation Visual Art Contest!! Wish me luck:) If I believed in luck ,which I don't. SO I guess pray for my success, that's better:) After the results are out, I'm going to do a post on the process I went through with my painting:)

That's it I guess... Here's a random thing I wrote to add a bit of interest to this otherwise rather boring post. I was just thinking 'It would be neat to be a statue',(which is an odd thing to begin with I suppose) but then I thought a little more, and this popped into my head... so if you're wondering, that's where this came from.

She stood on her pedestal, in all the cold white grace of her marble curves, and watched the throngs come and go, admiring yes, but transient. And none of them knowing that for ages all she longed for was the warmth of love's embrace. ~ H.D.

Chapter 3- Arrival in Abruzzo

Chapter 3
"HI!" Maria and Sofie stared. Out the door came a short, slender young man, with thick, wavy dark brown hair. His green eyes were kind, and excited as he greeted his guests.

"I'm Gio!" He introduced himself, grabbing some bags and leading the cousins in. "Sofie and Francis, you I've met, but, who are these lovely ladies?" He asked, with a smile. Eva was disgusted, and Maria was absolutely enchanted.

"I'm Maria," She said awkwardly, and then tripped. Sofie looked down at her with no intention to help.

"Oh no, you ok?" Gio quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. Maria's face was scarlet.

"Yeah, sorry," She said quickly, brushing herself off. Gio didn't seem phased by her fall. She would soon find out he too could be a klutz. He continued inside.

"I'm Eva..." Eva trailed off as Gio was already through the door and apparently not really interested.

"Mean..." She muttered grumpily as she heaved a bag onto her shoulder, not noticing Francis right behind her.

"Right?" He startled her, smirking. Eva stared at him, disconcerted he had witnessed her grumpily honest self.

"Do you think I don't know your true feelings half the time? It doesn't bother me." He shrugged as they headed inside. "You don't have to hide it from me. I'll like you just as well with out the sweetsy act." His face softened. "No one's perfect."

"I'm not really evil!!" Eva pleaded. Francis smiled noncommittally. He held the door and ushered her in.

"Welcome..." a small, caramel haired woman was saying in a weary but kind tone. She smiled, with some effort. "I'm Elenora Guttuso."

"She's named the same as mom!" Romeo pointed out.

"Mhm." Maria murmured, still embarrassed, and thinking about how much cuter Gio was in person, even than in his picture.  Sofie was secretly thinking the same but would never let on to this fact. Maria knew, of course.

"So you're Maria, ok. And Sofie. Oh wait, whats your name?" Mrs. G directed this question to Eva. Gio looked surprised.

"Oh that's right, what is your name?"

"Eva." She said, with a fake smile. Maria shook her head slightly with a little frown. She knew that that smile was more evil than the most nasty sarcasm Eva could come up with. Francis was smiling to himself.


Suddenly over Gios shoulder, a pair of glasses appeared. A moment later, a face peered up to join
them.

Gio sighed, slightly apologetic  "This is Ernie."

He stepped from behind Gio, blinking at the visitors. His huge green eyes scanned their faces, ending with Maria. His eyes went a little wider as they encountered her. She smiled.

In that moment, it happened.

Ernie fell hopelessly in love.

"Hi." He said at last.

"Hey Ernie." Romeo said. "I've been practicing MarioKart. I'll beat you this time."

"No, you won't." Ernie defied him flatly.

"Will." Romeo said. "Where should I take these?" He motioned to the bags.

"Oh, Gio will show you..." Mrs. Guttuso waved her hand vaguely towards the stairs. Gio led the way for the cousins, as Ernie trailed behind silently, his eyes still on Marias face.

"Ok, so Ernie has taken over one guest room since you were here last. So I thought the girls could share the other one, and you two can stay in my room." Gio directed.

Francis looked over at him with a look of panic at the thought of having to share living quarters with...Gio.

"Ok!" Romeo said, dragging his bags through Gios door. With resignation, Francis followed, but not without darting a slightly dark look at the back of Gios head.

"Your room is on the other side, next door down," Gio called to the girls. The headed that way, Ernie still following.

"Do you need something?" Sofie finally asked him. He stared at her for a moment.

"No." He said.

"Ok, just, you know, checking," She said pointedly, bringing her things through. Ernie however didn't take notice of things like hints.He was about to follow them in but Sofie shut the door in his face.

"Sofie!" Maria said, about to open the dor.

"Don't! He's being really creepy." Sofie said without bothering to lower her voice.

"Sofie!" Maria hissed again, looking at the door.

"What?" Sofie began unloading her belongings. Maria inwardly groaned at her cousin, but said nothing more.


Outside the door, Ernie frowned. "Well I don't like her." He said to himself, referencing Sofie. He walked over to Gio's door. Romeo and Francis were unloading their belongings. Gio was perched on the end of his bed, talking cheerfully to Romeo. Francis knelt on the floor, unpacking. He looked unhappy already. Ernie felt sorry for him. He walked quietly up behind him.

"Do you want help?" He asked him. Francis jumped, banging his head on a drawer.

"Ow!"He scowled at Ernie.

 Ernie shrank back guiltily.

"Sorry-"

"No, thank you." Francis turned back around. Ernie sniffed self pityingly. He walked over and sat silently next to Gio.

"So how are your cousins?" Gio asked Romeo. He paused completely and turned to Gio.

"They are adorable." He said earnestly. Gio smiled, amused.

"Well, good, I'm glad you like them" He said. Romeo nodded seriously and resumed his task.

"What did you think of them?" He asked after a moment. Gio was a bit taken aback.

"Um, I don't know" He stammered. Francis turned to him with narrowed eyes, which disconcerted him even more.

"What??" He asked. Francis frowned, then turned back to his clothes.

 Gio blew out his breath exasperatedly. Francis both baffled and bothered him. He didn't understand his odd mix of intelligence, sarcasm, kindness and laziness. It was an odd combination, admittedly.

"That was funny when Maria fell," Romeo laughed. Gio chuckled. "

"Yeah, that's like something I'd do," He said dismissively. Francis glared at him again.

"Now what?????" Gio exclaimed at his look, startling Ernie who fell backwards onto the bed.

"Oops sorry Ernie."

Ernie slowly sat up. He stared owlishly at Romeo.

"I thought Maria was beautiful." He said reverently.

"Yeah, she is." Romeo said, looking at Ernie. Gio looked down at his brother with some concern. He had never seen Ernie act this way before.

Ernie said nothing more, so Gio said, "what are they like? And how old are they again?"

"15 and 17. Um, they're... awesome?"

"Right, but I need more than that."

"Ummm.... SHE LIKEs OPERA!!!" Romeo suddenly exclaimed, sending Ernie down again.

"Who?!" Gio asked, surprised.

"Eva." Romeo said.

"Eva... Oh yeah, her I remember. Glasses, messy hair?"

"It's CURLY." Francis interrupted.

"Sorry. So that's it?"

"Maria likes Jazz." Romeo continued.

"I need more than their music taste, Romeo!"

"What else is there?" Francis asked sarcastically.

"Like what do they like to do, what do they have for hobbies, stuff like that." Gio was getting frustrated.

"Eva likes to sing and paint and read and play the piano(she's not very good at that but don't tell her I said that), and other things too probably, Maria likes listening to jazz and singing and writing, and taking pictures of herself."

"That's called a selfie." Gio said as Romeo paused for breath. He considered for a moment.

"Well, we'll see. They look older than I expected." He said at last. In fact they were both rather different than he had expected... especially... Maria.

"They are very mature." Romeo said, sticking his last pair of socks into a drawer. He shoved his suitcase off to the side of the room.

 Francis stood up. Ernie was still lying on his back staring at the ceiling. Francis observed him for a moment, then shaking his head, walked out of the room. He knocked on the girls door. Their laughter abruptly stopped.

"It's me." he said. The door opened immediately.

"You're not coming in either." Sofie informed him flatly. Francis was taken aback.

"Ok..." He said. Eva came over behind Sofie.

"Francis, what is wrong with Ernie?" She asked him quietly.

"I don't really know... I think he's just a little off... No, he's just different." Francis glanced over his shoulder. His tone was kind. "He's better once he gets used to you."

 Eva met his gaze. His words didn't appear to reassure her completely, but he realized she was actually beginning to trust him, like she did Maria. This took him aback slightly, but also made him happy and proud. He smiled down at Eva, then turned to walk away. He paused.

"By the way you might want to comb your hair." He added. Eva looked startled, and felt at her hair.

"Oh," She grinned and turned red. "Thanks."

"No problemo." He said as he headed downstairs.

Eva shut the door. Sofie was laying on one bed and Maria on the other. Eva frowned as she went to find her hairbrush. She was unsuccessful, but found Sofies comb, so she just used that.

"Where am I sleeping?" She asked as she combed.

"Oh, hm I don't know. you can sleep in my bed if you want." Maria offered.

"I guess I'll have to." Eva said, tossing the comb onto the vanity. "AH!" She suddenly gasped when she looked in the mirror. Ernie was standing in the open doorway
.
"Supper." he said, then vanished again.

"He's creepy." Sofie reiterated her former opinion.

"Hey," Maria warned as she stood up and stretched. "Be nice."

"I'll try," Sofie agreed as they headed down to supper. Mr. Guttuso had just arrived home from work. After the girls had been introduced, they went into the dining room.

 Mrs. Guttuso had prepared a yummy dinner of ravioli and nutella cookies. Maria was thrilled. The cousins didn't like nutella and she had been feeling a bit deprived.

"Nutellas my favorite." Gio noted as he ate a 5th cookie. Maria smiled at him as she slowly continued to nibble her 1st.

"Me too." She said. Romeo looked up.

"It is?" He was crestfallen, "I'm sorry! I didn't know."

"Oh its fine," Maria assured him.

"Well we would have gotten you some!" He insisted, stressed at the thought of being a less than perfect host.

Gio grabbed another cookie.

"Gio, baby how many have you had?" Mrs. Guttuso questioned wearily.

(I should note, this is actually Gianluca Ginoble)

"Ummmmmm..." He stared at his mom, his cheeks bulging. Then he just smiled. She shook her head.

The girls excused themselves after dinner. They were all exhausted. The prepared for bed, climbed under the covers, and despite the noise coming from the boys room, promptly fell asleep.

Ernie had a hard time falling asleep, both from the noise from Gios room and his perturbed feelings. However, he eventually drifted off.

by Nina

What dost thou think???? Like the gifs? I want to hear from you!! :D Ryn wants to know what y'all think of Gio (he's her favorite character)

Anndddd....

Just like they eat in the story!!! We tried the recipe, and can endorse it;) We halved it though(and yes that included the egg. I don't know how. Ask Ryn.)