Rubbed Raw - Omitted Scene 9 – Christmas Eve

Giovanni and I were invited to Christmas Eve at his Uncle Antonio’s house. We picked up his mom and drove to the next town where his mom’s brother lived. His dad was an only child, so that was the only blood uncle he had. His mom also had a sister who lived in New York City. She was supposed to be there as well.

I sat in the middle seat, nervous about meeting the rest of Giovanni’s family. In our seven months as a couple, we had not gone to any family functions other than dinner at his mother’s. It seemed that every night we were invited somewhere, we had a gig. That time of year we were able to take a break from playing, so finally we could say yes.

Dressed as conservatively as I could, I hoped it was good enough. I wanted to make a good impression on his family. I prayed none of them saw the pictures of me practically naked on our CD. That could be quite embarrassing. From what I knew, his family was religious and very old school.

Maria sat next to me quietly. She rarely traveled in Giovanni’s van. I wondered if she thought about her husband, since it had been his van before his death. Giovanni admitted that was why he would not replace it, although it was terrible on gas. It made him feel close to him somehow.

It would be a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner. I had no idea what that meant, but we were to only bring deserts. In my hands was a coconut pie I had baked. Maria had made dozens of mini cannolis. They looked so good. Everything she made was amazing.

Once we were near the house, Giovanni parked at a bakery. I turned to him. “We need something else?”

“I always bring bread.” He kissed my lips and jumped out of the van.

His mother and I rarely talked about anything but him, so I wasn’t sure what to say to break the silence. I mulled over asking about his father. However, I didn’t want to upset her.

“Have you set a date yet?” Maria suddenly asked.

I lifted my hand and admired my engagement ring. “He didn’t tell you?”

“He mentioned something about Las Vegas, but not when exactly.”

Checking for Giovanni, I looked out the windshield. He was nowhere in sight. “February, maybe Valentine’s Day. I was worried the chapels would be booked up that day, so didn’t want to set my heart on the date.

“So romantic.” Maria patted my hand. “He’s more like his father than I realized.” She sighed and looked out her window. “Wish he could have seen the man our boy became.”

I wish I knew what to say to that, but there was nothing other than, “Me too.”

“That place was a madhouse,” Giovanni said when he returned. He smiled at us both as he stowed the bags in the back. “You guys OK?”

“Yeah, we’re good.” I met his eyes and he leaned in for a kiss. “I love you.”

He cupped my chin. “Love you too.”

The size of Uncle Antonio’s house shocked me. It compared to Jon Harris’ place. I had heard he was a plumber and expected something simple. Boy, was I wrong. Whose plumbing did he do? Then I realized it was best not to ask questions and just enjoy the holiday.

When Giovanni opened the front door, the amount of people in the front room alone overwhelmed me. I had not expected a crowd. He had a huge family. His mother took the food we carried and walked toward what I expected to be the kitchen.

Without prompting, people hugged and kissed me as I was introduced. I lost track of names quickly. Aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends, there had to be dozens of them. Several of them lifted my hand and admired my engagement ring.

Giovanni had the biggest smile on as his arm hugged my shoulders. “February,” he told his uncle Antonio, who we had finally found in the crowd. “In Las Vegas. I’m flying mom over. If you guys wanna come, that would be cool.”

His uncle smiled and kissed both my cheeks. “Welcome to the family.”

“Thanks.” I buried my reddening face in Giovanni’s chest and whispered, “Why didn’t you tell me there would be a hundred people here?”

He laughed and hugged me. “Relax. They’re my family. They all love you too.” He nuzzled my neck. “I think you met everyone. Do you play pinochle?”

I looked up at him and shook my head. “I know poker and rummy, but that’s about it.”

“I’ll teach you.” Giovanni tugged me to a family room off to the side. There was a table set up for eight, a leather couch and a large flat screen television. “When I was a kid, me and my cousins used to sleep in here.”

Several men around our age sat around the table. “I’ll deal you in,” one of them called to Giovanni.

I stood back as he sat in an empty chair and just watched. They laughed and talked like they saw each other daily. My family was much smaller and we didn’t have huge celebrations except for weddings. It was interesting to see that he was close with even his extended family.

Maria soon found her way into the room and smiled at her son. She stood next to me. “I could use some help if you’re bored.”

“Sure.” I wanted to be as close to her as I was to Chad’s family. “What do you need?”

She took my hand and tugged me to the biggest kitchen I had ever seen. My awe overrode the overwhelming smell of fish. When I came to my senses, it hit me all at once. I wrinkled my nose, wondering if someone worked at a fish market.

Then I looked at the dishes being prepared, almost everything was some type of fish. I didn’t think to ask Giovanni what we were having for dinner. I liked fish, but there were some things I could not identify.

“Um, I’m confused,” I leaned close to Maria. “Why are there so many different types of fish? I though we’d be having pasta.”

Her eyebrows rose. “You don’t like fish?”

“I do, but… what is that?” I pointed to what looked like chicken cutlets in oil.

Softly laughing, she replied, “Cod. You’ll like it.” She flipped the breaded fish then came back to me. “It’s family tradition to serve seven different seafood dishes on Christmas Eve. We’ll have pasta too, but no meat.”

I nodded. In my family we had ham and roast beef, a very different tradition. “I’ll try anything.”

“Good. Good.” She patted my back. “Can you peel those potatoes?”

Standing over the trash can, I started peeling. Around me, most spoke in Italian, which I didn’t understand. Maria spoke in English though.

An elderly woman pinched my cheek. “Sei così bella!” She smiled and looked up at Maria. “Dov’e Giovanni?”

I looked to Maria, having no clue what she said, except for my man’s name.

“Nonna says you’re beautiful,” Maria explained. She looked at the elderly woman and said, “He’s playing cards.”

I was glad she explained who she was. There were too many people to keep the names and relations straight. She was Giovanni’s great grandmother. Nonna threw up her hands and walked away. I didn’t ask why, just continued with the potatoes.

Giovanni came into the room just as I finished with the last one. He planted a kiss on my cheek then lifted lids on the stove.

Quickly, Nonna waved her hands at him, “Aspetta, Aspetta.”

He rolled his eyes. “OK, but I’m hungry.” She glared at him and handed him a slice of bread. “Fine, I’m going.” He ripped a chunk of bread off with his teeth and came back to me. “She hates men in the kitchen. Good thing you’re not like that.”

I put my arms around him. “Nope. The kitchen is fun sometimes.” I winked.

He grabbed my ass and kissed me. Then he yelped. “Hey.” He looked behind him. “Nonna, she’s my girlfriend.”

Maria was several feet away. “You should know better, Giovanni. No touching before the wedding.”

“Nonna, times have changed.” Giovanni sounded serious. Then Nonna swatted his ass again with a towel as she muttered something in Italian. She glared at him until he let me go. “OK. OK.” He stepped back, but met my eyes. “When we get home…” He winked.

I got the message loud and clear. “Be good.”

“Never,” he whispered in my ear. “You like me bad.”

That was true. “Naughty is more like it,” I softly told him.

He cringed when Nonna whacked him again. “I’m going. I’m going.” He gave me one last kiss then disappeared again.

Once the tables in the dinning room were set, Maria shouted, “Time to eat!”

The food was laid out buffet style in the kitchen. Everyone filled a plate and moved on to the dinning room or living room. There were too many people to sit together. I just watched until Giovanni found me.

“You do eat fish, right?” He put a hand on the small of my back. “I didn’t think to ask.”

I smiled. “Yes. Just not really sure what some of that stuff is.”

“Not worry. Just try it.” He grabbed a plate and loaded it to the brim. “Everything’s good.”

Hesitantly, I picked up a plate and checked all the platters. Then I took a deep breath and scooped a little of almost everything on my plate. I followed Giovanni to the living room and sat with him and his cousin Annette.

“So you’re the woman who stole my nephew’s heart?”

I looked up to see a woman a few years younger than Maria. “I guess so.”

“Crystal, this is Aunt Pauline, my mom’s sister.” Giovanni used his fork to gesture her way. “Aunt Pauline, this is my fiancée.”

I held out my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Glad someone finally snatched him up.” She smiled at us, approvingly. “When’s the wedding?”

“February,” Giovanni replied, excitedly.

In my eyes, twenty-three was young to be serious about someone, but his family seemed to think otherwise. I wondered what age most of them married at. When Giovanni squeezed my hand, I turned to him. He looked happier than ever.

After eating a few things on my plate, I lifted a breaded round piece up. “What’s this?”

Giovanni bit his lip. “Calamari. Just try it.” He had some on his plate as well.

I bit into it and still had no clue what it was. It was a bit chewy, but good. “I like that.”

“Good. It’s squid.” He laughed.

I smacked his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“So you’d try it.” He shied away from my next blow. “Hey, you like it. Chill.”

Pretending to pout, I waited for him to apologize like I knew he would.

“Crystal, sorry I didn’t think you’d get upset.” He put an arm around my shoulders. “I thought you’d laugh too.”

I reached up and whispered, “Make it up to me when we get home.”

“Oh, hell yeah.” He looked around. “Good. Was worried Nonna was gonna smack me again.” He pointed to my plate. “Eat.”

Conversations sprouted around us. It was nice to see Giovanni interact with his family. Unlike in public, he was relaxed and comfortable. He could be himself. I was very happy we went. He needed to spend time with his family.

About two hours after dinner was cleaned up, dessert was put out. I helped set that up as well. There had to be almost as many choices as at dinner. I didn’t think I could eat another bite.

When Nonna wasn’t looking, Giovanni put his arms around me from behind. “My family really likes to eat, huh?”

“Yeah, I see that,” I replied.

He kissed my cheek. “Maybe next year we can have this at our place. I was thinking maybe we could turn the extra bedroom into a dining room. It might be a bit crowded though.”

“But what about the baby?” I asked.

Maria was suddenly at our side. “Baby? You’re pregnant?” She sounded excited rather than upset.

“No, mom,” Giovanni answered. “But, we plan on trying after we get back. You’ll get your granddaughter soon enough.” He slid his hands over my abdomen. “So, next Christmas, there should be a baby in here.”

I leaned back on him. He sounded thrilled about the idea. “If it happens right away.” Although terrified of being a mother, I couldn’t burst his bubble completely.

“Have faith.” His lips brushed my ear then he whispered, “We’ll make love day and night until it does. You’ll see.”