“All right, all right,” I said as I opened the passenger door for her. “Get in, baby. The Lord waits for no one.”
We managed to slip into one of the family’s usual pews at Christ Our Redeemer just before the big wood doors were shut and the organs and choir really started in earnest. It was the typical array of locals who still attended the Italian Mass in Belmont—a smaller group now than when Nonna was a girl, but Father Deflorio had his faithful flock who had been showing up every Sunday at eleven for the last forty years.
“Nice of you to show up,” hissed Lea from the pew in front of us, where she was busy wrangling her youngest in her arms while her husband, Mike, was doing his level best to shut the older ones up as the procession of ministers and the priest passed waving incense.
“Please. They’re just starting,” I retorted as I removed my hat and laid my coat over the back of the bench.
Nina followed suit, nodding politely at the row of sharply curious Zola sisters who were craning their necks around in front of us to examine her like she was a cut of meat at the butcher.
“Eyes front, ladies,” I told them. “God hates a gossip, you know.”
“Hush!” Lea hissed as the procession passed our row.
Father Deflorio nodded amiably toward us as if Lea hadn’t just scolded me like I was one of her kids.
“Yeah, hush, Zio!” Tommy, my oldest nephew, said, prompting echoes of “Hush! Hush!” from Pete and Sofia.
“Psst!” Nonna leaned over from where she stood near the end, scowling furiously at all of us, veil and all.
“See what you did?” I said to Lea.
Beside me, Nina chuckled. I grinned. Lea just scowled and turned back to help her husband quiet their kids, but not before glancing sharply at Nina again, who was now looking around curiously at the church’s ornate Romanesque interior.
“You good, baby?” I murmured to her, touching the outside of her hand, but not daring to do more than that in the church. Not with my sisters apparently watching our every move. Not knowing how nervous Nina was today about our news.
“I’m fine. But it seems like you need to behave,” she said with a nod toward my family.
I frowned. It was a little strange, the way they were acting. It wasn’t as though they had never met Nina before, even if it had been more than a year since she had seen most of them. There was something about the way all of them kept turning back to check her out like they were preparing for a knife fight in the alley. Or the way my grandmother hadn’t even said hello. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I faced the front of the church, hoping the awkwardness would calm down over the next hour.
Things went relatively smoothly. Nina stood when we stood, sat when we sat, and kneeled when we kneeled, only really looking like an outsider when she remained in her seat while the rest of us shuffled forward to receive communion. She particularly seemed to enjoy the second reading from the book of Daniel, which was the basis for today’s sermon.
“‘Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.”’”
“Lionesses, I bet,” I whispered to her. “All of them.”
Nina elbowed me in the ribs, but her smile was genuine.
And so it wasn’t until the end, when the procession had completely gone and the doors were flung open again that Lea whirled around to me with a finger pointed straight at us.
“What is she doing here?” she demanded.
I recoiled, automatically putting my arm in front of Nina, as if I could shield her from my sister’s wrath. “What the hell, Lea?”
“Matthew!” hissed Nonna, gesturing toward the altar and the giant crucifix hanging in the apse. A sort of “Shut the fuck up, Jesus is watching, and we’re in a church, Matthew” reminder to clean up my mouth.
“Sorry,” I said quickly. “But seriously, Lea, what the hell?”
“Zio!” Not one to be outdone by her aunties, Sofia chastised me this time.
“Dad!” said Tommy. “Zio said ‘hell’ in church, so why can’t I?”
“Hell!” chirped Pete. “Hell, hell, hell.”
“Lea, come on,” Mike cajoled wearily as he grabbed Pete by the collar of his shirt and Tommy by the sleeve. “Let’s not do this here, huh?”
“Take the boys back to the house with Sofia,” Lea said as she handed the baby off to her husband. “And for God’s sake, don’t let Father Deflorio hear them talking like that on your way out.”
“I told you this wasn’t a good idea,” Frankie murmured as Mike followed his wife’s orders.
“Stop,” I said sharply.
Nina shrank into my side, clearly uncertain where all Lea’s vitriol had come from. “Hello, Signora Zola,” she said with a wave at Nonna. “It’s nice to see you again.”
My grandmother continued to act as though neither of us existed, gesturing to Joni and Marie to start moving so they could all exit.
What. The. Hell?
Kate leaned across Frankie and touched Nina’s hand to get her attention. “I love your fascinator, by the way. Very Jackie-O.”
I exhaled with a bit of relief. Okay, so not everyone was going to be a giant bitch today.
Nina smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”
“Doesn’t make it all right for you to be here, though. Not after everything you’ve done to my brother.”
“Yo!” I snapped as Nina’s face practically fell to the floor.
“Matthew, perhaps I should go,” she said.
Without even thinking this time, I grabbed her hand. “What? No. I asked you here. I didn’t know the vultures would descend the second we showed up. In a church for God’s sake.”
“Why? Wasn’t she married in one?”
It was Lea who said it, of course. Right now she was staring at Nina’s and my joined hands like we were about to torch
