Page 89 of My Big Fat Shifter Wedding

“Ah, grazie, you are too kind. I must give all credit to mi amore. She keeps me young!”

“And the juggling,” Olivia added, having recovered from her choking fit.

“Si, and the juggling.”

I probably could have stood there for another half hour, watching the man do his juggling tricks, but a tap on my shoulder pulled my attention away.

“Sorry to steal your man,” a fellow in his mid-twenties said. If I remembered correctly, he was a cousin twice removed, and potentially named Paulie? Not to be confused with another cousin three times removed who was named Polly. “But us guys are playing dodgeball and we need another teammate to even things up.”

I was stoked at being invited to join in such a thing, but the look on Olivia’s face worried me. Did she know something I didn’t?

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea...”

“Aww, come on cugina! He’s a giant! Think of all the balls that he will block!”

“So you want to use him as a shield, then?” Olivia’s expression was growing darker by the second.

I didn’t mind being a giant, semi-mobile wall for the much faster Rizolis. Being included was being included, even if it was as a sacrifice. Besides, it wasn’t like I wouldn’t have fun shouting things from the ‘out box’, or whatever they called the area where everyone who had been hit with a ball stood until they were tagged in.

“Si, it is a great plan, no?”

Normally, that would make me chuckle, but suddenly Olivia was talking rapidly in Italian and she did not sound happy.

“Posso contare su di voi affinché ricordiate che é un essere umano?”

“Ovviamente! Non fare il guastafes⁠—”

“Why do we need to remember my son is human? What else would he be?”

I swore every head in a fifteen foot radius snapped in our direction, and all the color drained from their faces.

“You speak Italian?” my fiancée asked, sounding like she wanted to puke. For all the time we’d spent together, I didn’t think I’d ever seen her wear an expression like that.

“Barely!” my mother said with a laugh. “Picked up some phrases from growing up close to Little Italy in St. Louis!”

“I see…” Olivia said shakily before chuckling. “Sorry, I just… guess I didn’t expect it. And umano is slang for guy. Not literally a human.”

“Oh, I see! Slang is always the hardest part of learning a language. The kind I picked up isn’t exactly appropriate for such illustrious company.”

“Illustrious now, am I?” Luigi said. He’d stopped juggling. “You are a very intriguing woman, Angela. Please, let me introduce you to my wife! I think she will adore you. You know, she went to college in St. Louis. Was the first woman in her family to get secondary education.”

“Wow, that’s impressive!”

He waggled his thick, bushy eyebrows. “I told you, my wife is una dea. I am just the one who gets to pray to her, si?”

“Si,” my mother agreed and the two walked off, leaving me a bit baffled at how the conversation had gone.

“So, about the dodgeball…” Paulie tried again and I could tell from the way Olivia’s lips tugged down that she was going to refuse, so I cut in.

“Babe, I actually would like to play.”

For the second time, her head snapped in my direction. She was going to give herself whiplash if she went on like that. She looked me up and down, then barely managed to train her expression into something more neutral before she spoke.

“Are you sure?” she asked cautiously. “Do you think you’ll have fun?”

“I do. It’ll be nice to get out of my comfort zone.” I took a step toward her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to me so I could kiss the top of her head. “I promise I’ll head right back if I’m not.”

She waffled another moment while her cousin made praying motions with his hands. Finally, she sighed. “Okay then.” But her gaze sharpened as she glared at Paulie once more. “You better be nice to him. Or else.”