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“Yeah, that crack about my name; I’ve been told my mother’s family acted the same way when my dad wanted Sofia and my mother’s mother wanted Emily.”
“He probably thought he was being funny,” Ryan replied, embarrassed.
“This steak is delicious,” Sofia said, trying to diffuse the interruption. Family could be so intrusive. “Your mother reminds me of mine. She says whatever comes into her head with no filter.”
Putting his fork down, Ryan grimaced. “She’ll hate me, then.”
“She will not. She doesn’t go online, so she won’t know your business. There will be nothing for her to attack you for.”
“Won’t your father tell her?”
“My father is as loyal as they come. He keeps nagging me about dragging you to my uncle Mike and aunt Roberta’s Sunday throw down.”
“We should go, Sofia. It sounds refreshing. Does your whole family show up?”
“The whole stinking bunch invades every Sunday. My aunt is a recovering alcoholic, so my father thought she might be helpful to you.” Sofia laughed out loud. “She’s a trip. She’s another one with no filter.
“One of my cousins married a doc. There might be another doctor in there somewhere. I haven’t been to a Sunday dinner in years, but my cousin Oliver and I get together occasionally, and he fills me in.”
Like a hand passed over his face, he looked at her wide-eyed. “TheeOliver Saint?”
“Yep, former Detroit Lion. Anyway, he just started going to Sunday dinner when he moved back to San Diego.”
“We should go.”
“Are you sure? My family can be overwhelming.”
“I’m a big boy, Sofia. You don’t need to baby me. After what I’ve been through, a few insults hurled my way won’t hurt.”
“Do I baby you?” she asked, embarrassed.
“I know you try to shelter me,” he said. “I appreciate it, I really do, because I know it means you care. But you have to be careful you don’t enable me. I need all truth now, all the time.”
“Okay. I promise not to enable you.” She lifted her glass of wine. “Is this a good enough example?”
“Ha! Not denying yourself is definitely a good thing. It’s not your fault I can’t handle my booze. I have a lot of addictions. Dessert is one of the few things that doesn’t bother me, however.”
So they ordered dessert next.
“If you’re serious about going to Sunday dinner, I’ll send my aunt a text message to expect us.”
“Let’s go. I think it’ll be nice. We are both sort of isolated.”
“Isolation is my middle name. But I think it’s weird my mother hasn’t reached out. That’s Karen for you. I’ll tell my father we’re going tomorrow, and maybe he’ll show up. We’ll have an ally.”
“Maybe she’s not happy I’m living at your townhouse.”
“I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know yet.”
After telling Aunt Roberta she was coming to Sunday dinner with a guest, Sofia called Oliver and told him the details.
“There are so many new faces, you probably won’t be cross-examined when you introduce Ryan,” Oliver said. And he was right.
Shockingly, not one relative asked the nature of their relationship. Introducing Ryan as a friend worked out just fine, and no one pried for more information, perhaps because it was chaos with all the grandkids and the comings and goings of the cousins and their wives. Sofia and Isabella Saint and their cousin Alison were the only girl cousins. Since it was late June and the temperature was hot, the pool was open, and the screams of the kids in the water echoed throughout the neighborhood.
Sofia’s father showed up without Karen, so it gave them a chance to really visit. And then while they sat on the deck talking, Sofia’s uncle John came out.
“I hear there are long-lost relatives out here,” John said.
