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She shrugged. “Okay but remember one thing.”
“What’s that?”
She pulled me down to her level, then grabbed my cheek between her thumb and index finger. “You made your mother very happy.Ti amo tanto.”
“I love you too, Ma,” I said, then kissed her cheek. “Now can I go cook?”
“What are you doing here? Your family is starving.”
As I walked into my open kitchen, in my restaurant, I gazed out at my big, unpredictable family and the woman who had my heart as she smiled back at me. In that moment, all I could think of was how thankful I was for a dating-app glitch. It was perhaps the best thing that ever happened to me… to us.
“Like Ma says,” Ted announced, as he stood next to me, and we plated our first appetizers.“é destino!”
“Why is she always right?” I asked, wanting to know how that was even possible.
“Just go with it,” Rocco said, patting my shoulder. “Now let’s do this.”
I gazed out at Dani again, and we exchanged nods and smiles, as she held up a classic champagne glass filled with pink Prosecco.
“Order up!” Frankie shouted, and with that, our new life began.
Epilogue – Dani/Gianni
“Daniella Faith Green,” the commencement speaker said, as I walked on stage, and the dean of students Ms. Mendoza handed me what I’d worked so hard to obtain. I took the diploma with my left hand, as I’d been instructed, and lightly fist bumped her right hand with mine. The diploma was hidden between dark-blue faux leather boards, with the words Hutton Hill University stamped across the front in gold letters.
I couldn’t help but clutch the cherished document to my chest for a moment as a feeling of total joy ran through me. I’d worked so hard for this, and it was finally mine. I’d done it… I’d accomplished my goal despite all the chaos and life-changing moments that had swirled around me.
“Thank you,” I told her and followed the other students off the stage, but I could see my parents, my soon-to-be family, and my fiancé cheering and whistling for me from the back rows of outdoor seating. Several of the group, including Gianni, had stood for a moment, making it easy to pick them out. It gave me butterflies, and I couldn’t help how proud I felt of my difficult accomplishment. The feeling so intense, my wide grin lit up my entire world.
Normally, as a graduating student, I could only invite four people, but this year, due to the smaller number of graduates, I could invite up to eight people. My parents were there, along with Gianni’s parents, Gianni, and his three brothers. I couldn’t help getting teary eyed when I saw them clapping and cheering as I walked back to my seat. Gianni and his family were as energetic and as happy for me as if they’d known me my entire life.
All my siblings and my two best friends would come out for our wedding, mine and Gianni’s, in a few months. If they had to choose, and most of them had to, I nudged them towards the wedding. It promised to be a beautiful and fun day that I couldn’t wait to share with the people I loved.
Although, I had to admit, now that my parents had decided to attend both my graduation and my wedding, I was a little apprehensive. I had no idea how my pragmatic parents would mesh with Gianni’s more earthy parents and family. Even though it had been a few months since Gianni and I had announced our engagement, I didn’t know if my parents had fully accepted it. Sometimes it was hard to tell with them. They weren’t always as open with their feelings as I would’ve liked them to be. Even now, they were subdued with their enthusiasm compared to the Capra clan.
When Sarah went up for her diploma, I could hear her family, along with Gary’s family cheering her on as well. She’d graduated with honors, once again. The woman was a powerhouse to the end. She’d gotten offers from several prominent companies to join them, but Sarah and I had made a pact. We’d already started our own company right here in Hutton Hill, and almost as soon as we did, we had to hire two more people to keep up with all the work, and we hadn’t even graduated yet. We were moving into a real office, the top floor of a historic building with a bookstore on the ground floor, a law firm on the second, and D&S PR on the top.
Life was good, and I felt blessed.
Still, here was one little niggling issue that I’d been avoiding for the last six or so days.
It was more than just a little niggle; it was a big, huge niggle, that I didn’t want to address.
However, I’d made a promise to myself that I would learn the truth one way or the other before Sarah and I arrived at our combined graduation party in about an hour from now at The Red Olive. We stopped at our apartment to catch our breaths before we went on to the festivities.
Right before the commencement had ended, I sent a text to my parents, informing them of our slight change in plans. I knew they wouldn’t be all that happy about the change; my dad was a true stickler about sticking to a predetermined agenda, but I’d already taken pictures with them before the ceremony, so taking an hour-long break didn’t seem like such a big deal. Besides, I had something more important to do.
“Just go in there and do it,” Sarah said as she handed me the pregnancy test. “No matter what happens, I’ll always be here for you.”
We stood in the living room, ready to go out the door, except for this one little issue.
My period was six days late… okay… more like a full ten days late if I wanted to get real, but that could be due to nerves. At least that was my reasoning. When I’d mentioned it to Sarah, she went out to pick up a pregnancy test, along with the biggest cheesesteak I’d ever seen. “Comfort food,” she’d said, but it hadn’t worked. That was three days ago, and still I waited for some comfort to set in.
Nothing.
“I think I should wait until after our party,” I told her.
“Sweets, we’ve been all through this, and you decided that you wanted to knowbeforethe party, which I think is the right decision. If you’re pregnant, Gianni needs to know.”
