Destined (45 page)

Tony’s parents had never been to New
England before. They were flying into Boston and staying there for a few days
first, then driving their rental car out to see us. We hadn’t said anything to
our relatives yet about the idea of getting married. We barely had talked about
it ourselves. For now, I was concentrating on getting relocated and readjusted.

It was very different, living with
another person all of the time. As I put my things away in the spacious master
bathroom, where two sinks and two medicine cabinets gave each of us our own
space, I looked at our two toothbrushes sitting together in a single cup in the
middle of the counter, where they had been since that first weekend we spent together.
They leaned together intimately. That cup was a tiny realm where his territory
and my territory overlapped.

This was how I wanted to feel about
the whole house, but it still didn’t really seem like mine. Integrating my
furniture with Tony’s helped, but I didn’t have much to bring to the situation.
I wanted to buy some things and furnish the rest of the upstairs, which had not
yet been set up. I could make my mark on the house there. But I wasn’t really
sure how the money was going to work, either. This was all new to me, and I
felt funny about asking Tony about it. He automatically paid for everything
whenever we were together, and never appeared to consider this an issue. But I
wanted to pay rent, or buy the groceries, or something. I was used to supporting
myself, and I had taken some pride in being able to do so. There were a few
unresolved issues, like this, hanging between us at that point, but we were
gradually sorting things out.

Henry was enjoying his new domestic
arrangement, too. He started working on a stamp collection with Siri’s son,
Thomas. They steamed the stamps off Henry’s global correspondence by using the
electric teakettle in the study. Henry could keep “the lad,” as he called
Thomas, busy for hours while they looked at the stamps and talked about the
faraway lands from which they came. They had formed a strong friendship. And I
saw the way Siri’s attitude toward Henry subtly changed, as she took over more
and more responsibility for his care and feeding. He gazed at her appreciatively,
like the goddess she was, and she treated him with gentle, supportive
attention. Henry and Tom worked on the building together most weekends, fixing
up the kitchen upstairs and putting in a new stall shower in the Rodgers
family’s bathroom. Tom did most of the actual work, but Henry printed out
instructions off the Internet and supervised.

Things rolled along smoothly that
fall, for all of us except Mei. The trouble with her parents had escalated, and
when she moved out of their building she ended up getting her own place, rather
than moving in with Rocco.

“We decided to get officially engaged
first, “ she told me. “Living separately is more proper, and we’re hoping our
families will have a chance to get used to the whole idea of us as a couple.”

“That makes sense,” I said, “I’m sure
they’ll come around.”

 
It was still early days, but the plan seemed like it might be
working. Rocco hired the private dining room at the Green Thumb for a family
dinner on neutral ground, inviting both sets of parents and all available
siblings. Everyone except Mr. Sun showed up. But his wife did appear and was
quite friendly to the Sorrentinos. Mei thought that all in all, things had gone
well.

She laughed and said, “Buddha says,
what is real is what you think. I think there is nothing to worry about, if we
let everyone else get used to this for a little while longer. My father loves
me! He’ll change his mind.”

Gupta and Amy studied hard nearly
every day, and she planned to take the GED test in the spring. She was already
looking at art schools for next fall, proceeding confidently with her plan to
graduate early. She designed some new Winter Wonderland window displays for the
store, and all of our customers commented on them. Her mother, Wanda, was
working at Mr. Sun’s restaurant and she and Amy had moved into the apartment
upstairs in that building. Things had stabilized in Amy’s life, and she seemed
happier. Her clothing and hair color blossomed with creativity, as she sported
lots of tie-die instead of black, and her hair was streaked with hot pink.

One day Amy showed up at the back door
with a teenaged boy. She introduced him as Ralph. He was dressed all in black,
with chopped hair and multiple piercings similar to hers. She told us Ralph was
interested in old books and wanted to meet Henry. She took Ralph upstairs and
the two were gone for an hour or so. When they finally departed, I went up to
find out what had happened. I thought perhaps the boy had wanted to see the
occult books, possibly something on Satanism, or exorcism instructions.

“Not at all,” said Henry. “He was
looking for old poetry books, Coleridge, Wordsworth, etcetera. He actually
bought an edition of
Romeo and Juliet
!”

I remarked that appearances could be
deceiving, and Henry gave me a pitying look. Sometimes I got the feeling he
still regarded me as a neophyte, though I felt I was coming along nicely. I
guessed there were still a few things I had left to learn.

We had Thanksgiving at Henry’s house,
lining up three long tables to seat everyone. When we all joined hands to bless
the food, a thrilling tingle went through me and I felt a strong connection
with them all, my community, my every-day family. I looked around me and saw
white, golden, tan, brown and black skin. I saw blonde, red, brown, white, gray
and black hair, curly and straight, long and short, coarse and wiry, and
feathered in fine little wisps. I saw blue, green, hazel and brown eyes looking
back at me. We were like a beautiful rainbow, and when we joined hands and sent
our energy around the circle, we merged and became all colors, all races, all
humanity. We prayed together for the planet Earth, thankful for our home and
for each other’s love.

By the time Mom and Tony’s family came
for Christmas, I had settled in and started to think of his house as our house.
Mom and I stuffed and roasted a goose, and Tony’s mother made the
buche noel
, a gorgeous chocolate cake that
resembles a Yule log. Mom and Tony’s mother, Karina, got along famously. Tony’s
parents were living at the house on Lake Como full time now, and they had seen
various American movie stars visiting there, such as George Clooney. Mom, who
never missed
Inside Edition
on TV and was an avid reader of
People Magazine
, was completely thrilled. Karina
invited her to visit them in the summertime, when the spot was most popular.
Mom was so excited she nearly dropped her eggnog!

Tony’s father was dark and handsome, a
very well preserved older version of his son. Marika looked like him too, while
their mother was petite, blue-eyed and fair, now with silver hair. She and
Marika both shared an elegant style, very European and sophisticated. Mom and I
talked about it in the kitchen late one night. Even when they were just wearing
jeans and pullovers, they looked like they had just stepped out of an
avant
garde
fashion
magazine. We felt a little dowdy around them. Mom and I looked more like that
country cousin in the Tarot deck, and when my jeans got holes in the knees it
was just shabby, not shabby-chic. But they were both lovely women, and we liked
them very much. Tony’s dad spent most of his time with his son and Henry, so we
didn’t have much chance to get to know him better. His name was Adrian, and he
seemed kind of restrained, more formal than the women of the family.

On Christmas Day, Tony gave me an
engagement ring. I didn’t know about it ahead of time, but I wasn’t really
surprised either. He’d been humming around the house lately with a mischievous
look in his eye, so I knew something was up. He had it in his bathrobe pocket
when he brought me coffee in bed that morning.

“Good morning, Emily, Happy Holidays!”
He kissed me, put the hot coffee mug into my hand and immediately let it go,
which very effectively awakened me.

“Happy Holidays?” I said groggily,
grabbing the mug to stop it from spilling, and sitting up in bed.

“Well, I don’t want to offend you in
case you are not a Christian, do I?” He got into bed next to me and leaned
against the pillows, enigmatically watching me sip my coffee, which was
excellent and brisk. I started to rise into full consciousness. It was a
bright, sunny morning and the bedroom was filled with light. My beloved was
smiling at me, waiting to be teased.

“And what religion do you think I am?
Do you think I’m Jewish? Do you think I’m a Zen Buddhist? How about a Wiccan?”
I challenged him, as the caffeine started to kick in. He grinned and rolled his
eyes, enjoying getting a rise out of me.

“I think you might be a Druid at
heart, darling, or some variety of nature worshipper,” he said, reaching over
to very gently and carefully pull the strap of my nightgown back up onto my
shoulder. I hadn’t realized it had fallen off. No wonder he had been staring at
me, with that Cheshire-cat smile.

“Well, that’s different,” I said,
smiling back at him. “You’re usually taking my clothes off! Are you feeling OK
today, baby?”

“I just want you to be properly
dressed for the occasion,” he said.

“Ho ho ho, for the occasion of…what,
my love? Do I get my Happy Holidays present now?” I said, putting my empty mug
down on the bedside table so that I could pounce on him. I laid him flat in
seconds, easily overpowering him by lying on top of him, and kissing him
repeatedly. “So, what is it, let’s see?” I demanded, and he raised his hand and
put the little red velvet box on his chest right in front of my face. That’s
when I knew for sure what it was.

This was originally his grandmother’s
diamond, he told me, and he had it put into a setting designed by our favorite
local jeweler. The sparkling stone was at the center of a golden spiral, set
into a wide platinum band. Inside the ring was engraving that said:
“AB ~ ER
Carpe Diem.”
I cried
a little when I read it. The ring fit me perfectly, and I was absolutely crazy
about it.

“So, I suppose this means if I want to
keep the jewelry,” I said, admiring my left hand, “I have to keep you too?”

“You could look at it that way,” he
said thoughtfully, then he flashed me a smile. “But you’re stuck with me even
if you’d rather have something else. Do you really like it?”

“It’s perfect, “ I said, “It’s us! I
love it.” Then I kissed him most earnestly, and made an inspired effort to
impress him with my sincere enthusiasm for the next half an hour, or so.

At breakfast in the kitchen with the
family, we popped open some
Veuve Cliquot
and celebrated with everyone, toasting the future. Mom
and I got a little maudlin about Daddy’s not being there, but we swore he was
looking down on us with approval from the astral plane, or Heaven, or wherever
he was. Then Mom called my sister on the phone and we all three squealed and
screamed at each other in excitement. Tony and his father chose that moment to
escape to the backyard for a quick stroll, looking at us with a slightly
bewildered air.

“Antonin, are they upset?” Tony’s dad
asked him on their way outside.

“No, I think they’re happy,” Tony
replied uncertainly.

“Oh!” Adrian said, obviously
mystified.

“You know women, Father, they always
cry when they’re happy!”

“Yes, I suppose so. Thank god I’m not
a woman.”

“I thank god for that too, sweetheart,
every day of my life!” called his wife from across the room, and everyone
laughed.

For the next few days, the two men
snuck off while the women got together and started to plan the wedding, which
was tentatively scheduled for next fall. Mom and Karina went to work making
lists of things to do. Both mothers-in-law-to-be obviously felt it was high
time that Tony and I had decided to settle down. They conspired happily, while
Marika and I enjoyed long walks through town, checking out all the shops, and
she took lots of pictures, including one of Tony and me on the front steps of
our house that still hangs on the wall at the head of the stairs today.

In the picture, he is sitting behind
me one step up, with me sitting between his knees and his arms sheltering me,
protecting me. I am looking at the camera with a smile that looks happy, but
very slightly annoyed, and he is peering around me looking wary. It’s a classic
shot of us.

*
    
*
    
*

In the dark mid-winter, when New
England normally freezes solid under several feet of snow, we had a freak warm
spell and I personally saw the mercury hit seventy degrees one sunny afternoon
in January. People went to the grocery store in shorts. Lots of shoppers who
came into the store loved it, and said, “Isn’t this weather great? We don’t
even have to go to Florida this year!” But other citizens were concerned. The
polar ice caps were melting even faster than scientists had anticipated, it
said on Al Gore’s web site. I filled out an email letter to Congress, asking
them to take action on the climate crisis immediately, and sent it in at Al’s
site. He said he was planning to bring all the letters to Congress when he
testified, to show how many voters considered this a top priority. I definitely
did, and I nagged all my friends and family to make them step up to the
keyboard and send a letter, too. I got an email back that started, “Dear Emily,”
and was signed, “Al Gore.” I knew it was a form letter, but it looked so
personal, and I was completely thrilled, in a funny way. It made me feel
powerful! I knew somebody now, my buddy Al.