Page 7 of Love or Leave

It didn't take long to hear Sophie’s little feet pattering on the hardwood floor, getting louder and louder as she got closer to the door. When she opened the door, her sparkly brown eyes lit up.

"Zio!"

Antonio’s heart melted and he bent and picked her up, balancing her in one arm and her giant present in the other.

"Happy Birthday, Soph," he said. "Sorry I'm late."

She wiggled in his arms, reaching for the present, completely ignoring his apology. It seemed that showing up with a present was enough of an apology.

"What's in it?"

"A dinosaur robot with guns instead of feet." Antonio squatted down and placed her on the floor before passing the giant pink box over to her.

She turned her nose up.

He laughed and shook his head. "Go open it and see."

She took off running with the gift. Antonio closed the door and took off his shoes and coat. Before he could take a step, his sister appeared from the kitchen, holding two gigantic glasses of red wine.

"You're going to need this," she said, passing him one of the glasses and then giving him a hug.

"Why?"

She glanced at him like he was a fool. "Mom, obviously."

Antonio took a drink of the wine. "That bad?"

"Tonio! Is that finally you?"

Maria cringed at their mother's voice reverberating down the hall, then lunged toward the door. Antonio grabbed her by the elbow.

"You can't bail on your own party," he said with a snort.

"Watch me," she said.

He laughed and forced her down the hallway toward the kitchen, where he knew his mother was presiding over the party from the dining table.

"Is it because of the anniversary party?" he asked in a whisper.

Maria nodded, then plastered on a fake smile and turned into the kitchen. Antonio suppressed a laugh and followed.

"Sorry I'm late," he said as he entered. He moved toward his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then sat beside her.

"You missed all the planning," she said in her disapproving tone.

"Sorry. Where's Dad?"

His mom impatiently waved at the door. "He got tired again and had to leave."

Antonio glanced at Maria, who smirked behind her glass of wine before taking another drink. Their dad was always “tired” these days. When his mother had insisted his father get checked out for being so tired all the time, he had asked Antonio if doctor–patient confidentiality worked between family members. When Antonio assured him it did, he confessed the only thing he was tired of was his wife.

Antonio told his dad to come up with better excuses other than being tired, if he wanted to duck out for some peace every once in a while, but he apparently didn't follow doctor's orders.

"Actually, I'd love to help plan the party," Antonio said.

Maria set down a platter of antipasti on the table before sinking into the seat opposite him. "It's all done. Right down to the same colour-candied almonds they had at their wedding that took me a million phone calls to find…" she trailed off, annoyed, earning herself a scowl from their mom.

Maria had told Antonio how much she hated the fuss their mother was making over being married so long, especially since their parents had been down-right miserable most of that time.

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