“Well, first, you need to come to dinner with me and my nonna,” I replied. “She’s cooking for me tonight, and I figure she’s the best tidemark of whether you’re going to fit in or not.”
“And if I don’t?” She cocked her head at me, a little flurry of worry passing over her face.
“If you don’t, then they’re just going to have to get used to it.” I shrugged, finishing up my coffee with one last sip. “We’re married now. They’ll come around. But it would make life easier if they liked you.”
“Well, I didn’t seem to have trouble getting you to like me,” she pointed out playfully. “You married me a couple of hours after meeting me.”
“You can’t just marry everyone to get them on your good side, you know,” I teased, putting the cup in the sink and glancing out the window. I had the whole day to get her ready for this meeting, yet I still didn’t feel like that was close to enough. I could have spent ten years trying to cover everything I thought someone needed to know before they met my family for the first time, and I likely wouldn’t have come close to filling them in on it all.
I watched her as she finished up her coffee, impressed she’d managed it without complaint. Most Americans I gave this stuff to at least flinched when they tasted the dark, slightly gritty flavor of this stuff, but she seemed to enjoy it. I took the cup from her, filled it again, and handed it back. As she woke up, her eyes were brightening, and I could see something in her that I had the very first night. In the thin, watery light of the morning sun pouring through the window, there was something nearly angelic about her. Well, as far as I was concerned, she was a gift from God, saving me from the dozens of arguments I’d had with my family about settling down already.
“So, what do I need to know about your nonna?” She cocked her head at me. “Is there time to catch me up before dinner?”
“I’ll give you the abridged edition,” I replied, yawning as I headed through to the bathroom. “But I need a shower first. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Sure thing,” she replied, and she turned her attention back to her coffee as I walked out of the room, not before glancing around and stealing one last look at her long legs, at the shape of her through her shirt. I couldn’t wait to convince her that sharing that bed with me would be a hell of a lot less lonely for the both of us. But I had plenty of time for that in the future, a whole year together if things went to plan. For now, I had to focus on the task at hand, and that was getting my grandmother to approve of the woman I’d married.