“Good morning,” I said as I walked over and kissed her cheek.
“That’s more like it,” she said.
When my father died, Antony and I moved in with my mother to look after her, make sure she was okay. My mother was full-blooded Italian. Most of her extended family was still back in Sicily. My father flew her out two times a year to see them, but I was hoping to up that to four. She was getting older, and her family was dying off faster than we all anticipated. She was one of nine children, but only four remained.
And with my father gone, I could see the toll all this death was taking on her.
“I have your ticket purchased for Sicily,” I said.
“I’m not supposed to go for another few months,” my mother said.
“Romeo and I talked,” Antony said. “We think you should go see them in a couple of weeks.”
“And when were the two of you going to tell me this?” she asked.
“When we were shoving you through customs with your suitcase thrown across the line,” I said with a grin.
“I swear I’ve raised a pack of animals. You want to know why I want grandchildren before I die?”
“So you can take a second stab at raising children who aren’t animals?” Antony asked.
“I’ve got more spatulas,” my mother said.
I sipped on my coffee and watched as my brother blew my mother a kiss.
I wanted more than anything to tell her about Matteo. I’d been very discreet with the resources I’d used to track Julia down. To keep tabs on my son. I knew it would make my mother’s world to have a grandson. I knew she wanted her and my father’s house filled with the comforting sounds of children’s laughter. It was on the tip of my tongue. Swirling around in the darkness of my coffee. I helped my mother carry everything to the table so we could sit down to eat, and as I swallowed the last of my coffee, I swallowed the urge to tell her.
It wasn’t enough to tell her about him.
I wanted to be able to introduce her to him.
“It was time for you to get out of bed. You sleep too late. Both of you,” my mother admonished, while she spooned eggs onto her plate.
“I lead a hard life,” Antony said with a mocking sigh.
“Your brother’s life is harder,” my mother said.
She wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t fair of her to hold my brother to that standard.
“Mom, Antony works hard. And mostly during the evenings. Give him a break.”
“And if he wasn’t working during the evenings, Romeo, he could be dating.”
“You mean giving you grandchildren?” I asked.
“That, too. But when he’s married. That’s how this family operates.”
“That’s why I wrap it,” Antony said.
A spoon went flying at my brother’s head.
“Watch that mouth of yours,” my mother said. “No wonder women don’t stick around with you.”
“Not my fault they can’t handle the animal inside,” Antony said as he laughed.
“You two are hopeless,” she said.
“Hopelessly in love with you, Mom,” I said with a smile.