Page 33 of XOXO

Matteo laughed. “You’re just jealous your mom loves me more.”

A woman’s voice calling out for Levi caught my attention.

“Who is that?” I asked, as we arrived at the winery.

“Oh that’s…È lei la ragazza di cui ti parlavo,” he said, switching to Italian

That’s the girl I was talking about.

“Wow, he invited her to the festival?” I ran my hand through my hair, getting invested in where this was going.

“No, l’abbiamo incontrata per caso.”

No, we ran into her.

“Damn and are you ok?” My mother raised her brows at me.

“No…I don’t know. I’m confused,” he sighed, going back to English.

“Well, if you need me, I’m here,” I said, as we parked in front of the winery.

“Yeah, I know, I just⁠—”

“Hey, Ru, we gotta head out,” Levi interrupted him. “GIVEON is playing tonight so I’ll send you a lot of videos.”

“Yeah, please do,” I chuckled.

“Love you, byeee!”

“Have fun,” I said, right before he disconnected the call.

The driver opened my mother’s door and I opened my own, seeing two people who I love almost as much as my mother, come up to me.

“Piccolino!”

Little one.

“Mijo!”

My son.

Matteo's mother Maya and Levi’s dad Jaques walked to me, enveloping me in a big hug. They might not be my blood relatives, but they were more family than a lot of my flesh and blood.

“I’ve missed you,” I said in English, squeezing them.

“We’ve missed you too, mijo,” Jaques said, holding me just as tight.

“Let me look at you.” Maya leaned back, holding my face as I leaned down so she didn’t have to reach up.

She was petite like my mother. Matteo looked so much like her that a pang of longing hit me for my best friends.

“You need to eat,” she said, after she studied me. “You look thin.”

I laughed.

“Maya he’s gotten bigger, look at his arms,” Jaques said pointing at my arms.

“Too much muscle, we need to give you some cushion,” she said, holding my hand and dragging me into the winery. “I made that ravioli you like and those matcha cannoli’s.”