“My trip was good, but there’s nothing like being home.” Alex took a seat at the table next to Cecily. “Sorry, we didn’t get to talk for very long last night. I was pretty exhausted by the time you and Fabi got in from the movies.” He gave a knowing wink to Braylee. She almost choked on her orange juice. Luckily, Cecily was looking down into her cereal bowl and missed it. Braylee breathed a sigh of relief while shaking her head in mock irritation for him shamelessly alluding to their incredible night together. Braylee was so used to being on her own that it took some getting used to living with Alex and his impressionable teenage niece.
Alex took a quick look around the kitchen. He couldn’t have asked for anything more than being surrounded by the people he loved. The only part that kept life from being absolutely perfect was not having Luciano and his mother around…and Gina. She was going to give him hell. He could see it in her eyes last night. It was those same eyes reflected back at him when he looked at Cecily.
“Uncle Alex don’t forget you’re on schedule at my school for career day speaker this Thursday.”
His face fell. “This Thursday? I thought it was Friday?”
Her spoon stopped mid-way to her mouth. Disappointment was evident in her voice. “It’s Thursday. Please don’t tell me you’re going to have to cancel again.”
“No. No. I’m not canceling…” He was quickly trying to work it all out in his mind especially since he’d canceled twice already. “I’ll just have to shift some things around.”
Fabi frowned. “Isn’t the US Patent and Trademark agents coming Wednesday and Thursday to make us jump through the final hoops of getting the TNG2 approved? Our lab has been getting ready for the last two weeks for this visit.”
Alex rubbed his chin. “Yeah. They’ll be here tomorrow night. I sent you an e-mail about that. Manchetti Enterprises will be taking them to dinner.”
Braylee cleared her throat to get their attention. “Well, if you can’t get away, I can probably move some things around.” She looked from Alex to Cecily. “I’m no Alexandro Manchetti, but I think I might have something valuable to say.”
Cecily’s eyes grew large. “Really? Would you speak to the kids at my school? That would be so cool! No offense Uncle Alex but Braylee has handled some cool cases, and I’m sure the girls would love to hear about them.”
Alex feigned hurt. “And, here I thought I was kind of interesting.”
Cecily giggled. “You are, but my school is an all-girls school. It’ll be nice to have a woman represent.”
“Fine, but can I steal a bit of your time tonight? I was hoping you, and I could go to dinner and catch up with what’s been happening over the past week?”
“Just me and you? What about Braylee and Uncle Fabi? Claudia is on vacation this week so there won’t be anyone to cook for them.”
Fabi finished his juice. “I’ve got a date tonight, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
Cecily rolled her eyes. “Uncle Fabi you need to find a nice girl and settle down.”
“When did you turn into mom?” He looked at Alex. “She sounds just like a miniature version of her.” He pointed to Cecily. “No more summers in Sicily for you young lady.” He put his glass in the sink. “I better get going.” As he walked out of the kitchen, Fabi called out over his shoulder. “Don’t wait up.”
Braylee strolled over to Alex and pressed her lips to his. “I’ve got to get going too. And, don’t forget I’m meeting Lisa for dinner tonight so I’ll be late.” She turned to Cecily. “We’ll chat later okay? You two have fun.”
Excitedly, Cecily responded. “Okay and thanks again Braylee.”
After Braylee and Fabi had gone, Alex hoped to get a bit more quality time with Cecily. It had to be tough dealing with the loss of her father. It was hard for him. “Hey kiddo, I’d love to take you to school?”
Cecily smiled. “You don’t have to. The bus will be here in about ten more minutes.”
He reached over and intertwined his fingers with hers. “I know, but I missed you while I was away. I feel like we don’t spend enough time together.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I missed you too. You don’t have to worry about me; I promise I’m getting along better than I thought I would be. And, it’s nice having Braylee here.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. It’s good being able to talk to someone about girl stuff.”
He pretended to be hurt as he crossed his hands over his heart. “You can speak to Fabi and me about anything.”
She giggled just a little as the corners of her mouth fought off full on laughter. “Not about boys.”
Alex squinted. “What boys? Somebody from your school?”
She couldn’t hold her laughter at the intense expression on his face. “Uncle Alex, I go to an all-girls school remember?”
“One of the best if I recall. That was one of the greatest decisions Luciano could have ever made.”
Sarcastically, Cecily smirked, “Yeah right. Do you know I had almost convinced daddy to let me go to public school.” Remembering her father squeezed her heart. She was getting better at dealing with it. “I was this close.” She put her index and thumb fingers together.
“Well, I’m not even remotely close to it. If I could send you to an all girl's school until you were thirty, I’d be happy with that.”
It was Cecily’s turn to roll her eyes. “Oh Uncle Alex, if you’re taking me to school, come
