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“You gonna screw this up, rock star?” Arturo asked.
“No,” I said simply. “I won’t. I can’t.”
He nodded. “If you do, we’ll be around next time.”
Teresa clapped her hands. “All right, all right. There’s enough testosterone in the room to create a whole army of chauvinists. I need Jude and Natalia to come help me in the kitchen. There rest of you, make yourselves useful.”
Tali scooped up a baby from her sister-in-law, Elise, and carried him into the kitchen. Something inside me flipped and twisted seeing her hold a baby in her arms. It almost felt like I was getting a snapshot into our future.
“Who’s this?” I asked, coming to stand right behind her.
She held the baby’s chubby little fist in her hand, waving it at me. “This is Enzo DiPietro, baby number five for Arturo and Elise. Don’t tell the others, but he’s got the best cheeks out of them all.”
They were pretty fucking spectacular cheeks, especially when he pressed one to Tali’s chest and sighed contentedly.
Teresa laid her hand on Enzo’s head, smiling. “Life goes on, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” I said.
“Jude, won’t you help me make a salad? I’ve already got my ziti in the oven, I just have a few odds and ends left to do.”
Put to work, I washed and chopped a massive salad while Teresa and Tali cooed over the baby. This house, crowded with people, was drastically different from our night at Tali’s apartment in the city. Both felt like home. Like a place I could take a breath and be safe. The irony that I felt safe in a place where at least three people were set to murder me wasn’t lost on me. But I felt their homicidal thoughts were mostly in theory. I had no intention of crossing anyone in this family ever again. Hell, I was hoping I could be apartof this family again.
I told Teresa I was done chopping, and she came over to inspect my work.
“Nice job, honey. You can be our official salad maker until one of the big kids can be trusted with a sharp knife,” Teresa said.
“Is that a promotion or a demotion from my old position as water glass filler?” I asked.
“It’s a lateral move.” She bumped me with her shoulder. “I sure am glad you’re here, Jude.”
From the firmness of her words, I got the sense she meant here on this earth rather than standing next to her in her kitchen.
“Me too, Teresa.” I meant both.
We spent a while longer prepping lunch, then the massive family crowded around the dining room table plus a couple card tables for the kids. It was ridiculous and loud and right where I wanted to be. After everyone helped clean up, Teresa shooed them back to their own homes so we could get ready for Nina and Lydia’s rehearsal dinner.
Before I could go up to my room to get changed, Roberto motioned for me to follow him. Tali came too, holding my hand as we stepped into the garage.
“I got a new album,” he said, excitement in his voice.
Tali pulled out the extra chair, positioning it right next to hers.
She smiled at me and threaded our hands together. I looked around the garage. Not a thing had changed. I liked that. Time hadn’t touched this garage, even if it hadn’t been as hands-off with us.
Roberto turned around with an album in his hands, looking proud of himself.
“What do you think?”
Tali wrinkled her nose. “Blink-182? Really?”
“That’s right. I like them. We don’t have to agree on everything.”
“I like them too, Roberto. Tali’s kind of a snob,” I said.
He chuckled. “She is, and most of the time, that has served her well. But sometimes, I want to listen to a commercially successful album and not get any guff about it.”
“Dad, obviously I’m all about commercial success. And I like some of their music. I’m just surprised how excited you are about that record. I expected something more obscure.”
