The Cooking Lessons

"You know what? We need to learn to cook." Sofie declared one morning after breakfast.  She was technically speaking to Eva and Maria, her cousins, but her brothers, and friend Gio, who happened to be staying with them, decided to join in too.

"Yeah, sis, I agree!" Romeo agreed.

"Ok, good. Lets make a big dinner for tomorrow. We can start today." She said. "I'll tell mom."

"Tell me what?" Mrs Conti asked, coming into the living room. She looked around at her children, nieces and Gio.

"We're going to learn to cook." Eva offered. Mrs. Conti(or as Maria called her privately, Auntie Conti) looked somewhat alarmed.

"Oh." She said, her voice flat. "Wonderful. What are you going to cook?"

"We haven't decided yet. I was thinking-"

"Pizza!!!!!!!!" Gio cried. Maria nodded eagerly.

"Oh yes, I know how to make pizza!"

"We all can make that. We need to know how to cook other things." Sofie refused. Gio and Maria looked glum. Pizza was well known to be both of their favorite.
Sofie sat in deep thought for a moment.

"Ok, how about this. We'll spilt up and divide the meal into sections." She looked around. "Romeo, you and Eva are in charge of dessert, Maria and Gio need to do two side dishes, and Francis- you'll help me with the main course. Sound good?"

Eva raised her hand. "Um, what do you want us to make?"

"Well it's completely up to you. Actually, please make cassata"

"What is that?"

"Well its cake, Eva. It's really for Easter, usually. It has filling and it's traditionally soaked in wine. Like that's how its made."

"Ew." Eva wrinkled her nose. "Is there any other way?"

"Well, you can try juice if you want. It's in your hands now." She turned to Gio and Maria, leaving Romeo and Eva looking dubious.

'So you guys will have to wait until I decide what I'm making." She informed them. "Can you make bread?"

"Yes, I can!!" Maria smiled. "I actually know how to cook already." She added, leaning her head on her hand.

"Well, we'll expect your to be extra good then." Sofie commented. She was thinking about what she wanted to do for her main dish. Finally she decided on Lasagnetta Riccia con Ricotta e Ragu’ di Maiale- a lasagna dish with pork and ricotta. Gio and Maria decided to make Insalata d'Arance-Orange Salad and Pomodori Ripieni-Stuffed Tomatos. Romeo and Eva were nervous about their dish, simply because it looked hard. Eva did like the fact that it was prettily decorated at the end. Sofie decided they would also make Granita- Fruit Ices. Eva felt she could handle those, so she wasn't too worried on that account.

After these decisions were made, they all piled into Romeos car and headed to the store to get ingredients. They split off in their respective groups. Gio and Maria began slowly picking out some nice oranges and tomatoes. Maria was wearily making the selections, while Gio held the basket and watched as she put them in it one by one. Sofie was trying to figure out which meat was best. She didn't really have a clue, however she acted like she knew exactly what she was doing. Francis just stood in his wonted manner, hands behind his back, and watched her, bemused.

Romeo and Eva were in the liquor isle, standing in extreme discomfort and unsure of what to do.
"Are you sure we can't just use juice? I saw online that you could do that too." Eva begged. Romeo shook his head.

"I don't think it will taste the same." He said. He surveyed the various bottles in front of them. "What exactly do we need again?"

"Well, some of the recipes said wine, some said rum- honestly that is for pirates. Can't we pleasssseeeee use juice?"

"No we have follow the recipe." He gingerly picked up a bottle and looked at it. "I guess this works." He shrugged.

They quickly headed off to get the other ingredients. Romeo looked comical with the bottle of wine under his arm. When they met the others, Maria laughed.

"You look so classic, with Eva's basket and sundress, and you with that wine." She told them, as she stood next to dark, handsome, classically Italian Gio, with her own basket full of beautiful oranges and tomatoes. She pushed back a piece of her own dark hair. Eva scowled.

"I just don't see why we can't use juice." She grumbled.

They payed for the items and headed home. After they put them away they decided to go swimming. In the morning they would begin their cooking.

At the beach, Eva was still worrying about their dish, particularly the use of wine. She had a strange fear of it. Romeo had forgotten they were even doing it, too busy showing off. Maria sat on her beach towel, thinking happily about her and Gio cooking together. Of course she was just excited to get to cook... and with such a good friend. Francis was just hoping Sofie would do all the work, because he had a book he wanted to finish reading. He was mad he had forgotten to bring it to the beach. And Gio was showing off with Romeo.

Sofie was thinking about the meal too, but in a different way than Maria or Eva... She was imagining herself sitting at the head of the table as everyone oooed and ahhed about how good the meal was, and that she was well on her way to being a perfect Italian housewife. She sighed in satisfaction.

"What's the matter, Sofie?" Maria asked when she heard her cousins sigh.

"Nothing." She replied dreamily. Now she was busy dreaming about herself, in a few years, with a handsome husband, preferably blond. Preferably tall. Preferably American and nothing like the guys she knew, especially Gio and her brothers. She could just see herself spreading a delicious meal for him, that she would then know exactly how to expertly cook, probably without even needing a recipe. And it would all begin in the morning. She sighed again, even more happily. She couldn't wait.

Finally they headed home, Romeo and Gio dripping, and the others only damp enough to be cooled off. Maria wanted to take a walk, but Sofie insisted on going straight to bed so they would get up early enough to have the food ready on time for dinner.

Sofie lay in her room, wide awake even after the sisters had long since fallen asleep. She was thinking about... well lets be honest. She was thinking about a boy. 'Gasp'.

A boy named Nate.

Sofie and Romeo had visited the girls at their home in Maine in the spring, before they had all returned to Sicily for the summer. And while they were there, among many other American (and thus hugely interesting to Sofie) activities, they had of course gone to the girls church. And there she had met him.

Her dream, tall, blond, muscular, American guy.

Now it should be mentioned that Eva and Maria found him... less attractive than Sofie. But Sofie had fallen in love at first sight, although she certainly wouldn't admit it, and thought she didn't show it. For Nate's part, he had noticed Sofie the moment she walked in...

Nate was sitting where he always sat. He was thinking that Eva and Maria were rather late, but then he remembered that their cousins were supposed to be there... he was pretty sure it was two boys, with weird names. He heard the door open in the back of the auditorium, and turned his head slightly. Then he turned fully.

Standing between Eva and Maria was a beautiful girl. He also noticed an extremely short but enviably muscular young man who he judged as about his own age. He also noticed this young man wore glasses. But he was too busy staring at the new girl(and Maria). He wondered who she was!? He hoped she wasn't the short guy's girlfriend. But they looked alike, and also she looked like Maria... Nate put these things together, processed them, and realized that the cousins who were coming must not have been two boys, but a brother and sister, a boy and a girl!!!! He feigned nonchalance and came walking over.

Sofie noticed him at once. His American swagger as he headed their direction charmed her immediately. Maria glanced across and saw him coming. Lightbulb moment!!!

"Nate!!!" She said loudly, smiling. He grinned back. Another thing that should be noted- Nate can be a huge flirt from time to time. But today, after his brief moment of somewhat flirtatiously acknowledging Maria, he had eyes only for Sofie.

She was wearing a white cotton maxi dress with lace trim at the neck(which actually matched Maria's white eyelet midi dress. Eva was wearing black.). It flattered her full, womanly, figure perfectly. Her thick, straightened, nearly black hair hung like a dark silky curtain around her full tan face.

Nate honestly didn't think he had ever seen someone so beautiful in his entire life.

"These are my cousins!" Maria was saying. "Romeo, and this- is Sofie." Maria moved out of the way and slightly behind Romeo, so Sofie would be displayed to her best advantage.

"Mar what are you-" Romeo began in a stage whisper. Maria hastily brushed of the back of his shirt.

"Your shirt is messed up." She lied with a pointed smile. Romeo stared at her, horrified for a moment. Then he realized what she was actually doing, and began smirking himself. Eva sighed. She wholeheartedly agreed with the plan of course, but being the plain and somewhat less than Latina looking cousin could get old. She trudged off to her place at the organ without a word.

"So, you're from Italy, right?" Nate began.

"Well Sicily actually." Sofie said, trying to sound unimpressed. It was hard, because actually she had something that could at least be considered caterpillars, if not quite butterflies, in her stomach.

"Oh, ok." Nate wasn't really 100% sure what the difference was, but he nodded as though he was an expert on the subject. He did notice her amazing accent.

Just then the pastor got up. "Gooooooooodddd morrrning! If you could make you way to your seats..." He began, just as he had begun every service since time immemorial. The teens hurried to sit down as he continued, "...we'll get started on some of these announcements."

During the service, it has to be admitted that Sofie and Nate repeatedly cast what they thought were covert glances to each others sides of the church. Maria watched in delight. She was now determined for Sofie and Nate to be together forever. She didn't have a plan yet for how to accomplish this, but she knew something would come to her. These sorts of things can't be rushed, you have to wait for inspiration.

After the service, Nate headed downstairs as he saw the others head there too. He happened to meet them in the entry way just in time to get the door for them all. I'm not sure if he ran down the stairs in order to do this or not, but I certainly can't say he didn't. It's definitely a possibility.

At any rate, they all went out into the yard. The day was surprisingly warm for this early in the year, at least to the girls and Nate. Romeo and Sofie of course were slightly chilly. They talked for as long as they could. Nate and Sofie were already obviously rather interested than not in one another. Sofie of course never mentioned Nate during lunch, to Maria's consternation. Romeo however knew his sister better than Maria did, though, and was smiling to himself in extreme smugness.

At church that night Sofie and Nate had been quite friendly as well. The last time they saw each other was at the church workday, the next Saturday. They worked together outside all day, sat together at lunch, and before they left, they exchanged numbers.

 Sofie was rather sad that evening on the way to the airport. Romeo was knowing and sympathetic. The girls were so excited about being on their way back to Italy that they practically forgot Nate existed. Maria of course because she was going to possibly see her.... good friend, Gio. Eva was excited to go to Francis' graduation, and both were thrilled to be spending another summer with their cousins and best friends.

So the weeks had gone by. They had proudly attended Francis' college graduation, and also met a friend of his...( ***NOTE: I'm going to write a short story about this event as well in the near future if there is any interest.***), and visited Gio and Ernie in Abruzzo, which was why Gio was now in Sicily. He had ridden back with them.

Nate however had been on Sofie's mind ever since then. They had texted once or twice, but Sofie didn't want to seem obnoxious. Maria assured her that would not be the case(after all, how many friends did Nate have to text?), but Sofie wasn't convinced. But if by any chance Nate could sense thoughts,-not that he could, but for the sake of sounding cute- he would have had Sofie on his mind quite a bit as well. Who knows, maybe he did anyways.

And thus Sofie's sudden wish to learn to cook.

* * *
In the morning, Sofie was up before the sun, and woke everyone  up too. Romeo and Gio were very disgruntled. But Sofie was insistent. Maria irritated her by taking forever to get ready, brushing and straightening her thick hair. Sofie herself had been very simple- she hadn't even taken the time to do her eyeliner! At last they were all working on their dishes.

Sofie had it all planned- they were taking carefully timed turns with the work areas. Eva was not happy with this claustrophobic atmosphere. She and Romeo were not sure where to begin. At last Maria took pity on them and instructed them to begin with the sponge cake. Neither had any idea how to make sponge cake more than anything else, but they valiantly began.

Maria and Gio were washing and slicing tomatoes to be stuffed. Sofie was more of less just supervising the others at the moment, since her dish didn't need to be begun until a little later. Francis was sitting in the corner, reading his aforementioned book.

They worked away, surprisingly smoothly- for a little while. The sponge cake turned out miraculously well, and Gio had escaped cutting himself. However, trouble soon began.

 Auntie had found the wine, and not realizing its intended purpose, had stuck it up in the cupboard with her other cooking wine. Romeo grabbed the first bottle he saw where he remembered leaving the wine, and dumped it liberally on the cake, of which Eva had just cut and laid the first layer, with great care. A sharp, acidic smell overwhelmed the kitchen.

"Ew it smells awful!" Maria turned from where she was now working on the Insalata d'Arance.

"I guess we're just not used to wine." Romeo suggested with a shrug. Eva was staring down at the pan. Then she cautiously stuck her finger in and tasted the liquid. She made a disgusted face.

"Ugh this is horrible!!!!" She cried. Francis elbowed his way through, and tasted it himself with the air of an expert(which more or less he was, comparatively speaking- he was the only one present to have ever tasted wine). He gagged.

"This isn't wine, you silly goose!" He said to Eva. "It's some kind of vinegar!" Eva's face showed her dismay.

"Well, how would I know!?" She asked in her shrill voice. Francis smiled with great amusement.

"It's not funny!" Sofie said. She had just begun her main course, and was frustrated because she had started it in too small of a pan. "Romeo come help me."

"Wait, I'm your help-" 

"You aren't strong enough." She cut Francis off, to his chagrin. Romeo assisted her in transferring the meat sauce she was cooking into a different pan. Then she began boiling the water for the pasta.
"Well what are we going to do?" Eva demanded, holding out her spoiled cake.

"start again," Francis suggested before going back to his book. Eva looked at Romeo.

"I dunno... " He shrugged. "Maybe we could start over."

Eva looked in the flour container. "I don't think we have enough flour." Her voice was woeful.

"Wait, I need flour for my bread!" Maria said over her shoulder. Gio was watching her with dreamy eyes as she worked, which was irritating Francis. He knew only too well what was probably going through Gio's mind. Eva was thankfully too busy to notice. Gio also had a habit when he was nervous, bored, or experiencing similar emotions, which was very annoying- he would tap his feet, or drum his fingers on things, and similar actions that were both distracting and bothersome. At last Maria turned and took his hand, which he had been banging in a choppy rhythm on the counter.

"Gio. Please." She let go and resumed her task. He looked at her in surprise for a moment, then began tapping his hand on his leg instead.

Francis glared at him over his book.  Romeo had abandoned Eva, who was frantically trying to decide what she should do. He rummaged in the cupboards for a moment.

"Oh I found the wine-" He turned with it in his hand and collided with Sofie who was walking away from the oven. The bottle flew out of his hand, and shattered on the counter, right next to the open flame of the stove top. With a fiery blast, the wine ignited.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Sofie turned to see the entire stove and part of the counter in flames. Eva was staring at the flames in horror. Gio was standing in front of Mar to protect her from the blaze. Francis slowly looked up.

"MOMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAA" He wailed. Romeo stupidly was waving at the fire with his hands, then he grabbed a towel to try to smother the fire. He didn't wet the towel, so it went into flames too, leaving him waving a flaming towel around.

"Careful, Romeo stop, don't catch your hair-" And his hair, liberally doused with hairspray to create his signature spiky look, ignited as well. Romeo screamed like a girl.

sorry these are kind of cut off


"Drop! Drop and roll!" Maria was crying futilely. Romeo was just standing helplessly, looking slightly scary in his red shirt and flaming hair. Gio grabbed the bowl of just finished orange salad, and put it upside down on his friends head to suffocate the flame. Sofie, who had left the room momentarily and came back just in time to see her brother on fire, collected her thoughts and with a fire extinguisher blasted the flames. With a hiss, it went out.

Everyone stood silently for a moment. Eva began laughing and crying, her typical hysteric response to high stress events. (Not that she regularly had to deal with things like the kitchen on fire.) Romeo felt at his hair, which was filled with orange salad. It had been singed quite short to his added distress.

 Sofie looked around the kitchen. Maria was ruefully picking up the bowl that had once contained her salad.

"Look at this MESSS!" Sofie shouted at last.

"Well, we still have some of the food left." Maria said, showing her the stuffed tomatoes. Sofie just stared at her in defeated disbelief.

"We can't just give them stuffed tomatoes!!!" She cried. She went over to where her meat was spread in a blackened mess, blasted by both the small explosion from the wine, and the force of the fire extinguisher. Just then Auntie returned, she had gone to run some errands since she didn't have to get lunch.

"How are you kids- Oh my!" She broke off with a dramatic gasp as she saw the destruction in her kitchen.

"It's ruined!" Sofie cried, looking at her mother with tragic eyes. She looked ready to cry.

"I can see that." Auntie walked over to the burned counter.

"Oh dear."

"I'm sorry mom, it was my fault." Romeo apologized, picking bits of orange out of his hair. His mother looked up at him in shock.

"What happened to your hair?" She asked, looking at the singed close crop where once had been rampant spikes of thick black hair. He looked down.

"I caught it on fire too." He admitted. He glanced at himself for the first time in the mirror above the sink.

"Oh no!!" He exclaimed in sheer horror. His face, sooty and greasy from the salad stared back from the mirror, stark without his prized hair. His already huge eyes looked even larger. He turned back to the others, the cooking dilemma forgotten.

"What am I going to do??"

"You know what I don't really care." Sofie snapped. She turned back to what was left of her dinner.

"I'm a failure." She said, her voice catching. "No one will ever want to marry me..." She broke off and ran  out of the room.

'Awkward..." Gio thought.

"Oh poor Sofie!" Maria said, still holding the bowl of tomatoes. Eva had begun making the ices, to try to help somewhat and also because she was lost in these sorts of situations. Romeo was still looking at himself in the mirror. Francis, with a satisfied look, put down his finally finished book.

"That was a really good book, I'm glad Lanzo recommended it."

"Can I read it" Eva asked, a bit more quickly than she meant to. She turned red. "At some point, I mean I don't really care..." She looked back down at her work.

"If you want." Francis set it on the table next to her. She glanced at it out of the corner of her eye.

"Thanks" She said dismissally.

"I'm so awkwarded." Gio whispered to Maria.

"What?" she giggle.

"You know. Awkwarded."
        
Auntie was looking helplessly at her ruined kitchen, but when she heard Gio whispering, she whipped around.

"What's such a secret??" She demanded. Auntie had a deep hatred for whispering. Gio stared up at her with something like fear.

"I- I- nothing!!" He replied. She narrowed her eyes and adjusted her glasses, and turned back around. Then with a resigned sigh of acceptance that her kitchen was going to need significant renovation, she headed upstairs to Sofie's room.

* * *

"Sofie?" She knocked softly and went in. Sofie was lying on her stomach, her head buried in her arms. Her mother sat down next to her.

"Dear, you're not a failure." She said, putting a hand on Sofie's back.

"I am." Her voice was muffled and teary. "I can't even cook dinner. Maria can cook!!" She added pointlessly. Auntie frowned.

"So? What difference does that make? It certainly doesn't make her any better than you." She declared. Sofie sighed shakily.

"No one wants a wife that can't cook." She murmured. Her mother frowned suddenly.

"You're not going to be a wife anytime soon, you have plenty of time to learn." She said, feeling suspicious. Sofie began crying again. Her mother was taken aback. She decided it was time to learn once and for all what had come over Sofie ever since her visit to her husbands family.

"Sofie, ever since you went to Maine, you haven't been acting the same at all." She began. Sofie sniffed.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said.

"You do too." her mother retorted. "Why do you suddenly care so much about cooking, and cleaning? Not that it isn't nice around the house, goodness knows I tried till I was blue in the face to get you to learn a few years ago and you wouldn't hear of it, but all the same I'd like to know why such a sudden obsession?"

Sofie didn't reply. At that inauspicious moment, however, her phone dinged. Her mother looked over.

"Who is Nate? Do you know a Nate?" She demanded. Sofie shot up, hastily wiping her eyes and fixing her hair. She reached for her phone but her mother pulled it away.

"Who is Nate?" She asked again. She looked down and read the text.

"Hey it's been forever, I'd love to chat sometime if your not busy" She said aloud. She looked at her daughter for explanation.

"He hardly ever texts, he probably too busy with his American friends... probably lots of pretty, skinny, American girls who know how to cooookkkkk..." She broke down again.

Realization struck her mother. She rose without a word and majestically returned to the kitchen. She held up the phone. The kids, who were now either trying to clean up or finish what they could of the food, stared at it blankly.

"Yeah that's Sofie's." Romeo offered.

"I'm aware." It rang again for the second notification.

"Oh that's Nate, I think!" Maria said from where she was trying to salvage some salad.

"WHO IS NATE??????" Auntie exploded. They all looked surprised.

"Oh he's a friend of ours from Maine. Sofie met him when she visited." Maria explained. Auntie looked at Romeo. He shrugged guiltily.

"Ya, uhhhh... I met him too, he's nice. Except too tall." He added.This fact was a matter of secret jealously for the vertically challenged Romeo. Auntie finally looked beseechingly at Francis.

"I have no idea, I wasn't there, whoever he is I take no responsibility." Francis refused.

"Auntie, maybe I can explain." Maria cut in.

"I'm waiting." Her aunt said darkly.

'Nate is a friend of ours who has gone to church with us for as long as I can remember. He's nice enough, and him and Sofie, well..." She paused, but an insistent and prodding look from Auntie made her continue.

"Well, I think she likes him. And honestly I think he likes her." She admitted at last. Her aunt stared in shock. Horrified shock. Romeo was attempting to slip out behind poor Gio, who couldn't stand the awkwardness any longer. But his mother blocked his way.

"Romeo why didn't you tell me??" She asked him. He looked at her, his dark eyes wide.

"Ummmmm I dunno." He evaded her eyes.

"Look at me, Romeo." He looked up at her with a woebegone expression.

"I didn't think of it, mom." He said quietly. "I'm sorry."

She heaved an exaggerated sigh.

"Son." She had no more words. He looked at the floor. His mother turned and went back to Sofie's room, leaving the others watching in lame silence.

* * *
Sofie was sitting quietly on the edge of her  bed. She glanced up when her mother came in.

"I should have told you I guess." She said.

"Maria explained." She sat down next to Sofie. "Sofie, you will probably never see this boy again, why are you so upset over him?"

Sofie stared at her mother. She had never considered the fact that there was always the very real possibility she and Nate would never again cross paths. Her mother regretted her words when she saw the pain in Sofie's eyes.

"I'm sorry dear. But you have to think about it."

Sofie shook her head.

"I can't think that, mom, I..." She looked down at her hands. Her mother sighed and handed her the phone.

"I'm going to trust you with this. But Sofie I mean it. If you allow yourself to form an attachment here, it will only lead to heartache later on. For your own sake and whoever you do marry, don't you think it's best?"

Sofie turned her purity ring on her finger so the diamond showed better.

"Yes." She managed, feeling the beginnings of guilt.

Mrs. Conti sighed.

"Dear, I know this feels like a horrible thing, but remember that God has a perfect plan for you, and that includes a wonderful man."

Sofie bravely tried to smile.

"Yeah I know."

 "You may reply to him now, but I think it's better if you keep it to a minimum."

Sofie gazed down at the screen of her phone. A tear dropped and distorted its surface. She wiped it off and typed in her password.

"Hi, Nate. sorry I can't really text I'm super busy." another tear, messing up the screen so she couldn't type. She irritably wiped this one away too.

"And I'm not really supposed to text guys a ton, so probably I won't be able to chat." She paused again. Her jaw tightened slightly.

"But I hope we can see each other again sometime. Bye" 

With a silent prayer, she pressed send.

Nate stared at his phone. He couldn't believe what he was reading. He was mad for a moment. But then, as he slowly thought about it, he realized that she was worthy of respect for doing this.

"Ok, yeah I totally understand. That's smart, actually, I respect that. But Yeah I hope the same thing... maybe next summer:) Bye."

He sent the message.

* * *

The next day, Sofie was still a little sad, but satisfied with the way it had played out and thankful for the lesson she had learned.

 Auntie decided to give them all cooking lessons, since after all was said and done the only thing that had ended up edible was Eva's absently prepared ices, which were actually(shockingly)very good. Eva was quite proud, though she hardly had been paying attention when she made them. Maria's stuffed tomatoes had spoiled, and obviously everything else was ruined. Uncle Giorgio had had to eat a very unsatisfying lunch of cold leftover pasta and peppers.

The cooking lessons, though a tax on Auntie's patience, were successful, and all three boys kindly agreed that Sofie would no longer have to worry about her cooking skills( or lack thereof) depriving her of the opportunity for marital bliss. Which made her feel much better, although she tried to cover her gratification by being gruff.

At last, they did a do-over of their first meal attempt(minus the cake because Auntie insisted that was no good for eating in summer.)

It was delicious.

Finite.

Chapter 8- the end... and the begining.

Chapter 8

They all slept until noon the next day, except Sofie who go up at her usual hour, none the worse for wear, and Eva, who could have used the extra sleep but felt guilty and lazy sleeping any later than 10. Mrs. G had them help her make Francis and Maria breakfast in bed, since they were up. Francis was fully gratified, and decided maybe he would consider taking them all somewhere again sometime- but not too soon.

Over the next few days, Maria had to rest a lot, so she and Gio started with their language lessons, under the watchful eye of Mrs. G. The others went to the beach a few times, but otherwise just kind of bopped around the town. They had to go back to Sicily in just a few more days...

The day before they had to go, the cousins were packing, with relief on some sides and sadness on (one) other. Gio was sitting on the foot of his bed watching them just as he had when they arrived.

"We've gotta do something fun before you all leave." He suggested. Francis, bent over his suitcase, stood up, banging his head on the drawer again.

"Ouch! Ugh." He sighed, rubbing his head ruefully. "Like what?" He asked Gio.

Gio shrugged. "Hmmmm..."

"I know!!!!!" Romeo exclaimed, "we could....... we could..."

"We could....what?" Gio prodded.

"Oh I don't actually know. Never mind." He turned back to perfectly packing his clothes. Gio raised his eyebrows at him.

"Ok, well anyways. Francis?" Just then Ernie, who had quietly slipped in the room while they were talking, spoke up.

"I think we should go on a picnic. a real one with no spiders that will be murdered later on." He added in a low voice. Gio looked at him.

"Well... you know, that might be fun Ernie." He said. "What do you guys think?"

Romeo shrugged.

"Sure!" He acquiesced in a cheerful tone.

"I don't care either way." Francis said. I just want to go home, he added mentally.

"I'll go ask the girls, come on Ernie." Gio jumped down with a bang. Ernie was startled.

"Sorry!" Gio called over his shoulder as he headed across the hall. He knocked on the door. Sofie opened it.

"What?" She asked.

"uh, um-" Gio stammered. Sofie typically had this effect on him. He scowled.

"Do you all want to go on a picnic." He demanded after a moment. Sofie smiled, to his surprise.

"Sure when we're done packing." She slammed the door. Gio turned around.

"Ah." Ernie was right behind him.

"Did they say yes?" He asked. Gio nodded. Ernie smiled happily.

"Yay!" He trotted off to his room. Gio smiled after him. Romeo came out of the room with his suitcase.

"Well, what are we doing?" He inquired.

"Picnic." Gio headed down stairs to ask his mama for some food.

* * *
An hour later, they piled into Mrs. G's van, with Gio at the wheel. (Romeo wasn't really comfortable driving at the moment.)

"Where should we go?" Gio asked.

"I think we should go to the beach." Ernie said. Gio sighed.

"we don't have our swimming things, Ernie." He explained.

"I don't mean to swim," Ernie replied testily, "It's not even that warm out."

"I'd like to go sit at the beach, "Maria put in.

"Ok." said Gio, driving off. Sofie rolled her eyes.

When they arrived, Sofie and Eva, with some help from Maria who still couldn't use one arm, spread out the blanket and food.

"Watch out for sand spiders.." Eva said slyly, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Romeo and Maria.

Romeo looked up in alarm.

"What? Sand spiders?" He cried. Eva snickered.

"Yes, they dig into the sand to hide and then-" Eva flung herself towards Romeo  with her hands held in a spidery shape. He tipped backwards in surprise as Eva wriggled her fingers, giggling. He looked around himself at the sand, his eyes filled with apprehension.

"Just kidding, they don't have them here... I don't think." Eva finally admitted, in an ominous tone.

 Maria moaned.

"Thanks, Eva." She teased. Eva smiled back as they bowed for Francis to bless the food. They had brought some sliced meat, cheese, bread vegetables and fruit, for a traditional picnic.

"But where's the wine?" Francis joked. "I'm just kidding," He added seriously.

"I can't believe that we have to leave tomorrow." Maria mourned as she began on her food. Gio made a sad face.

"I know." He met her eyes. In that moment, something flashed between them- Maria would later try to convince herself otherwise. But somehow, deep inside she knew- this was not the end, but the beginning. She looked away, off over the blue sea.

"Well, we're coming back for the concert thing aren't we?" Romeo questioned between mouthfuls of bread and vegetables. Maria looked hopefully at Francis.

"You have to!" Gio begged, joining her. Francis narrowed his eyes at them.

"We'll see."

"Yay!!" Gio and Maria smiled in delight.

"I didn't say yes!" Francis protested, but they didn't listen.

They lingered for a few hours, slowly eating their lunch, talking and just enjoying each others company. Ernie found a live crab which made up for the loss of the spider. Maria rinsed out the jar from some pickled vegetables they had brought, and filled it with sand and shells.

"So I can always have a little piece of here with me." She explained to Ernie.

"That's a good idea." He said. " I like it." Maria smiled at him. He seemed so much younger than her somehow, she thought. So sweet and innocent and young. He was staring at her.

"What?" She asked. His eyes flickered and he glanced away. For a moment he looked startlingly like his brother.

"Nothing." He said.

Finally it was time to go home to get plenty of rest for the long ride home. Everyone was reluctant, but at last they packed everything up and slowly drove away. Maria stared out the window as the sea faded into the distance.

"I'm going to miss it here." She said, a catch in her voice.

* * *

The next morning they got up bright and early, and loaded their things into Romeos car. Francis had managed to convince him to drive some of the way, but he positively refused until they were out of Abruzzo. When everything was loaded, everyone stood awkwardly for a moment.

"You are all welcome any time." Mrs. G said finally, giving them each a hug. Gio watched them with a sad expression.

"Good bye." He said, his eyes on Maria. Romeo punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow," Gio laughed, punching him back.

"I'm getting in, "Sofie groaned, doing so. "Goodbye," She yelled from inside the car.

The others got in too, calling goodbyes as Francis started the car and pulled away and headed south.

 Gio and Ernie waved.

Gio stared after them long after he could no longer see them. He didn't understand why he felt so lonely. After all, he still had Alex and Tad, just like always. And yet... something was different now.

He just didn't know what.

But he knew deep inside that after this summer his life would never be the same. And that the friendships they had formed would never break.

He couldn't wait to see what the future would bring.

Finite

Ok, so this is the last chapter(obviously) of this first draft. I'd really love any advice, criticism, ideas, basically anything! Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading- I truly appreciate it!

I'm not sure what I'll be doing next- either another story with these characters, or something else completley. I'm open to suggestions!!!

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

photo not mine, found via Pinterest

"NOOOO MY CARRRRR!!!" Romeo howled, wide-eyed. They watched in horror as the ambulance screeched to a halt inches from the shining red side of the car.

"Push it out of the way, quick!" Gio commanded, attempting to do so himself. Romeo shoved him aside and heaved it forwards himself. The ambulance driver stared out at the group with an incredulous look. when the car was out of the way, it raced away again.

"Well that was close," Gio observed. Romeo was panting, but nodded agreement.

 Francis, in lieu of a hat, grabbed his glasses and pitched them on the ground with out thinking. They shattered of course. Eva and Ernie gaped at them in horrified disbelief
.
"Oh good grief why...." Francis moaned.

"That was stupid, that was like something I'd do." Romeo said.

"Yeah, I know." Francis sputtered. Gio pursed his lips.

"Well, you're doing better than me. I think I probably would have said a bad word by now in your place."

Francis just gave him a withering look. "I'm NEVER taking responsibility for you- you- stupid kids again!" He shouted.

"HEY!" Sofie, Eva, and Ernie protested in unison. Romeo appeared to accept the appellation. (That is admittedly an admirable alliteration;) sorry, anyways).

Gio looked injured.

"Well, sorry, I was complimenting you." He huffed, turning on his heel and headed into the hospital.  
Maria had just been brought a delicious meal of soup, a roll and some applesauce. She was dutifully eating it, when Gio walked in. His eyes went wide on beholding the steaming food. He gulped and sat down. Maria smiled at him.

"how are you guys doing?" She asked. Gio forced a grin.

"Great!!" He lied. Maria raised an eyebrow.

"Don't lie," She reproved him, taking another bite, which Gio watched hungrily from her bowl to her mouth. Maria, noticing him out of the corner of her eye, asked,

"Are you hungry?" She held out the applesauce and roll. "Here, I can't eat in a hospital really. I am going to try to eat some of this soup." She added. he snatched the offered food. Ernie entered.

"hey, food!" He reached for it, but Gio hugged it to himself.

"Mine." he said. Ernie glared at him. Maria took pity on poor little Ernie.

"Here, you can have the soup." Ernie began gulping it as Gio watched indignantly. His roll and fruit seemed less satisfactory now. The others entered to see Ernie just finishing the soup while Gio chomped irritably on the roll.

"Maria, you were supposed to eat that!" Eva looked at Gio with great annoyance.

"oh well I ate some of it... I'm not really hungry." Maria assured her. Eva shook her head. Francis slammed down into the other chair. He crossed his arms and put one ankle on the other knee. He squinted angrily at the others.

"Francis where are your glasses?" Maria asked him. He grunted. Maria was taken aback.

"He threw them on the ground because he was mad." Romeo offered.

"Oh France." Maria sighed. He sniffed.

"Now I can't see." He snapped.

"Poor Francis." Eva said. He appeared somewhat mollified to have at least a little sympathy.

"Did... you guys find my phone?" Maria asked hesitantly.

"Oh, yeah," Eva remembered, yanking it out of her pocket.

"Actually I found it," Gio smiled.

"Thanks you guys," Maria said sincerely. "You're really the best, all of you." They all just shrugged and shook their heads at her.

"Only you, Mar, only you." Eva laughed slightly. "Like I said, you're stressful!!" Maria giggled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Eve. It's a good thing I've got you guys all here to take care of me, especially you." She said, nodding at Eva. Eva just raised her eyebrows and shrugged self-consciously.

"But all of you, really," Maria continued. "Thanks."

It was then that she had an idea. She grabbed her phone, went to her notes and began to write.

As she finished, the doctor came in.

"We're going to be discharging you soon, so you all need to get ready." She began.

"I am so ready to go home." Gio was emphatic. The doctor appeared to agree with him.

"All right, well, just be ready within the hour." She left again. They looked at each other.

"Well, we don't have any money for gas." Francis sounded world weary at this point.

"Oh, wait- I have 50 dollars in my phone case!" Maria popped the back of her case and pulled out some bills. Gio's mouth fell open.

"That is smart!" He exclaimed. Francis shot him a look but remained silent. Maria handed the money to Francis.

"Here, get some gas. bring the rest back and we will be able to buy food later." She instructed.

"Can't we get some now?" Ernie pleaded. Maria shook her head.

"I'm sorry Ernie, but we have to wait a little longer." She said. Ernie sighed and slumped his shoulders.

Francis and Romeo headed out on foot to find a gas station. Thankfully the town was tiny so they found one without too much trouble. They bought enough gas to get them home, then headed back with the remainder of their meager funds. When they returned, they found the others waiting outside.'

"They kicked us out!" Gio shouted across the parking lot.

"What did you do?" Francis demanded, as they walked up. Gio grinned.

"Nothing. But Maria got discharged so they said we had to leave." He explained with a laugh. Francis sighed.

"Here." He handed Maria the money.

"Thank you Francis." She smiled. They all trooped over to the red car. Romeo put the gas in, and they got into the car. Everyone carefully arranged Maria, despite her halfhearted protestations.

"Who's driving?" Gio asked.

"Not me." Romeo said.

"Well, I'll-" Gio started, but Romeo with an imperial shake of his spiky head, cut him off.

"Nope, you are NOT driving my car."

 Gio looked disgruntled.

"Fine then." He grouched. Francis rubbed his eyes.

"I can hardly see, I-" He trailed off.

"Do you want to try mine?" Eva offered.

"I am not driving down the road wearing Women's glasses!" Francis burst out. Eva flinched and Ernie, who was extremely sensitive to loud noises, covered his ears in agitation.

"Sorry..." Francis rubbed his eyes again then sighed and held out his hand. Eva hesitated, then took off her glasses and handed them to him, now squinting herself. Francis put them on. He brightened.

"Actually these are perfect!" He exclaimed. Eva smiled.

"Well naturally, they are mine." She said.

 "And they look almost just like yours anyways, just smaller. I don't think anyone will really know the difference." She added in a consoling voice, although this opinion was hardly comforting.

Francis made a wry face, then got into the drivers seat. Eva got in the passenger side. Romeo stalled for a moment, then got in the back beside Gio.

They drove to a little store and got out to get some food.

"How about granola bars." Eva decided.

"I don't like those... " Maria sighed. "And I'm allergic to chocolate." She added as she looked over the selection.

"I'm allergic to soy." Romeo declared. Sofie rolled her eyes. Eva began scanning each boxes ingredient list until she found some without soy.

"Those are really expensive." Maria pointed out. Eva grabbed another one.

"Here these are good too and less expensive."

"Ok. We need something else too... also water." Maria went over to the fruit cup section and grabbed a package. Ernie was still surveying the granola bars.

"Come on Ernie." Gio called from the counter. Ernie grabbed another box and came over.

"Oh Ernie come on, we don't have enough money!" Gio began, but Maria raised her hand to stop him.

"Its fine, Gio- let me have them, Ernie." Ernie smiled at her and wrinkled his nose at Gio. Gio just shrugged. They went back to the car.

Francis started driving while the others began opening the food and water. Maria nibbled on a granola bar, but gave it to Ernie before it was half gone. She had eaten again at the hospital so she wasn't too hungry. They drove on in relative peace for a while. Then Gio glanced over at Romeo.

"Uh, Romeo are you all right? you look... kind of sick." Romeo only groaned in reply, his normally tan skin turning a ghastly shade of green.

"Oh, no don't tell me you're car sick." Francis was really getting fed up. He turned his head for a moment.

"Well he is used to driving not sitting in the back." Sofie pointed out. She leaned forward to look at her brother. "Are you going to get sick?"

Romeo shook his head, his lips pressed firmly together. Maria decided to eat a fruit cup at this rather inopportune moment. She opened it and was about to take a bite. Romeo moaned slightly.

"Mar..." Gio murmured.

"Hm?' She said, savoring the taste of her fruit. Gio nodded his head towards Romeo. Maria stared back blankly.

"Oh," She gasped, "I'm sorry Romeo, I- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" She broke off with a sobbing scream, convulsively tossing her fruit cup across Gio and all over Romeo.

"Maria, what-" Francis cried, trying not to swerve. Maria was sobbing too hard to reply.

 Out from under the front seat crawled the tarantula.

 Somehow it had gotten into the car, and had been there ever since. Gio couldn't see it because Maria was practically on top of him and Romeo thankfully couldn't see past him.

"What is the matter, ouch-" Gio struggled to look over Maria's head.

 Romeo was saying something frantically, but not exactly coherently. Sofie grabbed Ernie's backpack and dug out a massive rock he had picked up. She smashed it onto the spider, despite Ernie's protesting cry. She had to hit it a few times but soon it was a slimy smashed mess. Romeo finally managed to look over, and immediately threw up.

"Ahhhh..." Gio yowled and ducked away, shoving Maria onto Sofie, who looked a little sickened herself.

"Mamma Mia!" He cried when he saw the dead cause of all this uproar. Romeo was moaning that he was going to get sick again.

Francis pulled over, got out of the car, slammed the door and stood for a moment staring down the road, trying to tune out the cacophony from inside the car. He may or may not have said a bad word.

 He turned, opened the back door on Ernie's side. He was met by Ernie's hazel eyes staring up at him in mute tragedy.

"I've always wanted a pet tarantula." He said sadly, holding up the remains of the spider.

 Francis looked at him in silence, then motioned him out of the car. Sofie followed as fast as possible. Francis pulled the still hysterical Maria out, and Gio followed. Romeo had already gotten out the other side and disappeared into the ditch. Eva sat still in her seat, overwhelmed by the entire event and not entirely sure what was going on.

"Francis!" She cried. Francis didn't look at her. He stood with his back to the entire woebegone group, including Romeo who had returned looking miserable but no longer complaining that he was going to get sick. Eva got out and walked over next to Maria who was trying to stop crying.

"What." Eva begged. Maria couldn't speak but pointed to Ernie without looking. Eva went over to Ernie, who held out the dead spider.

"Ah!" Eve stepped back with a look of fright which changed to disgust. "Ew. Oh." She concluded, comprehending at last. Ernie looked down at the corpse.

"Why did she kill it?" He asked Eva after a moment. "I could have captured it without hurting it."

"Oh, Ernie." Eva felt bad. She smiled at him with sympathy.

"It had to happen, it couldn't stay there. I'm sorry. I'm sure it had a good life, you don't need to be sad for it." She patted his shoulder gracelessly. He sighed.

"You can't keep this though." Eva motioned to the spider while avoiding actually viewing it.

"Maybe you could bury it while we..." She glanced over at Francis' back. "Wait." She finished with some uncertainty. She opened the back door.

"Ew!" She snatched the empty granola bar box and yanked back out, looking queasy.

"I hope someone else is planning on cleaning out the back." She said, holding the box out to Ernie.

He slid the dead body inside, using as much gentleness as he could, while Eva held it gingerly. He then took it from her and slipped around the car, into the brush on the side of the highway.

 Eva watched him with an oddly maternal gaze, then looked back to Francis, who still hadn't turned around. She bit her lip with nervousness as she joined the others.

 Maria still looked shaken but had control of herself. Romeo still appeared sick, and now somewhat humiliated. Sofie was disgusted. Gio was fighting an unreasonable desire to laugh. Finally Francis turned around.

To their surprise, his face, while stern, was no longer angry. The girls realized why he had stood for so long- he had been praying and pulling himself together. Gio no longer wanted to laugh.

 Francis contemplated them all for a moment.

"I'm really sorry, Francis." Romeo managed, his voice weak.

"Me too." Maria said. She took a deep breath then winced.

"My arm... I think it got re-hurt." She concluded, her face pained.

"It's fine though, I can make it back to Gio's house." She added. Francis' stared at her, completely spent.

"I really can." She repeated. Francis didn't reply, but with a weary motion to the others, got back in the car. Before they got in, Sofie spread blankets across the messy seats. Romeo watched, shame-faced. Then they got in.

"Wait, wait for Ernie." Gio said. Ernie hurried out of the bushes. His eyes looked a bit red and watery as he got in the car without a word.

"Ok, go." Gio directed Francis. Francis turned his head and was about to say something, thought better of it and drove away.

The remaining miles passed uneventfully, although they all couldn't help but be apprehensive that something else was going to go wrong. but it didn't, and at last- at LAST- they pulled up to the Guttuso's house. Exhausted, carsick, and almost out of gas again, but home. Mrs. Guttuso came hurrying out to meet them.

"oh my goodness I've been so worried, are you all right, oh no, Maria, Gio baby... Oh Ernie what's wrong, Romeo what is all over your shirt, Sofie, Eva where are your- oh Francis has them, ok... oh my goodness I've been so worried!" She fussed.

"Maria needs to go get her arm re-set." Gio mentioned when she paused for a moment.

"Oh, oh, all right, Maria just get in my car. The rest of you get some rest- Oh Romeo, you really should shower, I don't know what that is but you are filthy."

They began to troop inside. Even Sofie was tired, although she looked more or less as she always did.

"Francis," Mrs. G called. He turned.

"Oh my you look awful." She noted, looking at the dark bags under his eyes and his rumpled shirt. He gave her a weak smile.

"well, I'm so glad that you were along... thank you so much for being so responsible." She hugged him, to his surprise. He tried to look modest, but instead succeeded at looking somewhat proud.

"It was... nothing." He said, which was not at all true. Mrs. G shook her head.

"It wasn't nothing... you managed the whole thing like a mature adult. I'm so glad I know I can trust you next time."

Next time??? Francis eyes went wide with sheer horror as she continued.

"I can't thank you enough-why are you wearing Women's glasses?- goodbye."

She left him (speechless), and got in the car, where Gio, Maria and Ernie were waiting.

"Ernie, dear,you need to go get some rest." She said. Ernie was about to protest, but she wouldn't listen.

"Gio can come in case I need him, but you need sleep. Go on, we'll be back soon."

Reluctantly he got out and went in the house, looking back once or twice. Mrs. Guttuso waited until he was safely in the house then backed out and started driving to the hospital. Gio sat in the back with Maria. They answered Mrs. G's questions, and listened to her incessant flurry of words, but otherwise were quiet.

 Gio was patiently answering his mom, when he felt a weight on his shoulder. He glanced down in surprise to see Maria, worn out, fast asleep. He smiled fondly, his cheeks somewhat red.

"What'd you say mom?" he said, still looking down at Maria. His voice was distant.

"I said- oh." Mrs. G looked in her rear-view mirror. She stopped talking for a second.

"She must be so tired, we'll just let her sleep." She said.

"Well... yes." Gio wasn't planning on waking her up.

When they pulled into the hospital, Maria woke up and sat up, inhaling and blinking sleepily. She realized she must have fallen asleep, but was totally oblivious to the fact that she had done so on Gio.

"Hey, we're here." Gio told her in a quiet voice.

"Mm, ok." She yawned. "Sorry I totally fell asleep." She said as he gently helped her out of the car.

Mrs. G was already headed inside.

It took a while, and some confusion on all sides, but at last Maria went to get her arm fixed. Mrs. G and Gio waited in the waiting room, a good place to wait;)



"Mama, "Gio began, a cocky half smile playing about his mouth, "I rescued her." He looked down with a modest shrug.

"Oh, baby, that's wonderful." She was delighted. Gio smiled again.

"Yes, well... I carried her up a very steep ditch. By my self." He added. Then his face grew sober.

"She was so limp, Mama... and her head was bleeding." His mother looked alarmed. He glanced up at her face.

 "I was... scared, mama." He sounded somehow confused. Mrs. G.put an arm around his shoulder and patted his back comfortingly.

"Of course you were, Gio, that would be a frightening situation for anyone." She said. "Especially when it's someone you care about." She added innocently.

Gios face turned scarlet, to the tips of his ears.

"Well, yes..." He mumbled, involuntarily banging his knees together and tapping his legs with his hands. Mrs. Guttuso looked down at him, and gentle realization dawned on her tan face. She smiled.

"Yes.." She echoed, resting her chin on his curly head. He sighed, and slowly dozed off, his head nodding forward to rest on her shoulder.

With a contented but slightly sad and wistfull sigh, Mrs. G kissed her son's sleeping head. Then she waited quietly. The room was filled with golden light as she gazed out the window to watch the setting sun.

* * *

"Maria is all set," The doctor said, her arm around tired Maria's slumped shoulders. "She's quite the fighter, she was in a lot of pain," The doctor laughed. Gio was groggily lifting his head off his mother shoulder.  Maria smiled at him. He stared at the doctor in astonishment.

 Then the doctor continued, "Just watch that arm and if anything turns up let us know as soon as possible. She's such a sweetheart, Eleonora, you must love having her here visiting," The doctor said, embarrassing Maria, who just looked away and giggled.

"Oh, yes," Mrs. G began. "We all have loved having her here. Oh and her sister and cousins as well," Maria giggled again and said a weak thank you.

"Well, you better get home. Make sure she sleeps well tonight, and make sure she eats something before she goes to bed," The doctor concluded, about to leave the room. Gio stopped her.

"Wait wait- why are you here?" His mother and the doctor stared at him. Maria opened her mouth to speak, but the doctor, slightly insulted cut her off.

"Where else would I be?" She demanded. "This is where I work."

"No, you work in that crummy... hospital, up in that little, tiny, uhhh... town." He jumbled, still half asleep.

"Gio!" His mother murmured.

"If you're talking about the hospital in Sulmona, I'll have you know that's where my twin sister works, young man!! It is a exemplary facility!" The doctor exclaimed. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to get back to work, have a good night!!!" She stormed out of the room.

"Oops." Gio yawned. "I'm still confused." He shook his head as they headed out to the car.

"How do you feel, honey," Mrs. G asked Maria as they walked slowly across the dark parking lot.

"Tired, but good," Maria replied. Gio gently helped her again, into the car, then slid into the back himself.

"One of you could sit up here if you wanted," Mrs. G said.

"Oh, that's ok, I can sit back here. But Gio if you want to, I'm ok...." Maria said kindly. Gio just shrugged.

"That's ok, I'll sit back here."

  What a sweet guy he is, Maria thought. The very sweetest guy I've ever met, she decided.

When they reached home, Gio helped Maria inside. She went into her room and stiffly climbed into her bed. Eva and Sofie were sprawled on the other bed. When Maria entered, Eva's eyes flew open.

"How did it go?" She sat up. Maria was a bit startled.

"Fine," She whispered.

Eva lay back down, rolled over and went back to sleep. Maria looked at her for a moment, then went to sleep herself.

by Nina with contributions by Ryn

only one chapter left! I actually have completed this first draft, so I'm going to want feedback:) Anything, criticism esp.

Thanks for reading:)

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