Mamma's Surprise Party

Mamma’s Surprise Birthday Party

Believe it or not, Dad was planning a surprise birthday party for Mamma, which we were all convinced was going to end up with “Damn it Luca.” This was not one of Dad’s strong suits, and we knew it would probably end in disaster, but we kept our fingers crossed and hoped for the best. Dad assigned each of us specific tasks to do for the party. For weeks Dad had been driving everyone crazy with his questions. Did we send out the invitations on time? Had we picked out the menu? Placed the order with the caterer? What decorations were we planning? He went on and on with the questions, and as the day of the party got closer the crazier, he got, and so did we. The brothers made the executive decision that Antonia and Evangeline were to oversee keeping Dad sane and out of trouble with Mamma. We didn’t want to hear “Damn it Luca” before the party even happened.

Mamma never had a birthday party let alone a surprise birthday party before, and Dad wanted everything to be perfect. The night before the party, we needed to get her out of the house, so Dad came up with the idea of taking her to a basketball game. With her gone, we could make the table centerpieces and work on all the other small last-minute tasks that needed to be completed before the next day. The party was going to be held in the parish hall, and as far as we knew Mamma had no clue as to what was happening. We could not wait to see the look on her face and with luck she was going to be pleasantly surprised. Dad had even volunteered to fly Auntie Nina in from California for the party. Tino and Mia were to pick her up at the airport, but at the last minute she fell and broke her leg. We were all upset that she couldn’t surprise Mamma because we knew that she would have been so excited to have Auntie Nina at the party. Dad said that this gave them an excellent excuse to take a trip to California and visit the west wing of the family. He would not admit it, but he had not bought Mamma a birthday gift yet, so this would make not only the perfect present but save his butt in the process. Come on Dad, wake up and smell the coffee!

Luca had kept Peggy out later than usual the night before. She was not accustomed to being wined and dined as she was last night, and Peggy had been lying in bed arguing with herself for the last half hour, not wanting to get out of her nice cozy bed.

She had a list a mile long of all the things that she had to do that day, and she was already going to be late for her hair appointment. Loads of laundry to get done, grocery shopping as well as getting new shoes for the T2, but she felt so lazy this morning as she snuggled deeper into the softness of the comforter and the nice warm spot left by Luca’s body. The bed, still warm and smelling of him, brought back memories of last night. She smiled and stared up at the ceiling, daydreaming about her Luca. Such a rare treat for them. She had really enjoyed the excitement of the basketball game, they had not been to one in years. Afterwards they sat close together in an out-of-the-way booth at Marty’s Pub, drinking beer, holding hands and laughing. They didn’t have a care in the world. Luca had playfully started to nibble on her ear. Oh, she wanted to kill him, doing something so intimate like that in public, but she had to admit that she enjoyed it and was totally surprised that he was so impulsive and romantic, and in public to boot. Very out of character for him. Even when they pulled into the driveway, he had started to fool around in the car, she wondered and hoped that this was a sign of many more romantic evenings to come. Getting better with age, she could only hope. At first, she misjudged him by thinking that he had done something goofy once again or wanted to go somewhere for a softball game, but he proved her totally wrong once in bed. This time not only a smile, but a blush slowly spread across her face. Minchia, I hope that none of the kids saw us in the driveway from their bedroom windows, and the warm pink blush deepened.

“Damn, what is he doing up so early”? Peggy wanted to snuggle with him for a little longer before he had to wake up Nico for work. We really should go out more often. I’ll mention it to him later, she thought, as she drifted off to sleep again just as she spotted a butterfly fluttering around the tree outside the bedroom window.

Wishing that he could have stayed longer in his soft, warm bed holding his beautiful Peggy, his one and only close, made Luca want Peggy even more. The scent of her still lingered with him as thoughts of last night played back in his mind. Great as it was, he had to force himself out of bed, he had a party to set in motion. Luca was getting very nervous, for he knew all too well that if Peggy did not get her hair done today, she would not go out with him to what she thought was a surprise retirement party that evening for their pastor and close friend, Father Sergio.

Whatever made me think that I could handle arranging a surprise birthday party for my wife? Even with all the kids helping me, I know that it will be a disaster and I will hear “Damn it Luca.” I should have my head examined. Well, Marine, it’s too late to pull out now. You’ll just have to suck it up and take your punishment like a man if it comes to that. Remember, once a Marine always a Marine.

Peggy lounged in the warm comfort of her bed and sleepily called to Luca in the kitchen, reminding him to call down to the basement and wake Nico up. She promised to get up in a few minutes to start the coffee and she teased him that she would make it worth his while later that evening. She smiled to herself as she heard Luca in the kitchen shouting to Nico to get up. It was only after his third time telling Nico that if he didn’t get up, he was going to be late for work that she heard Luca going down the basement stairs. Several moments passed, and all was quiet in the basement. Great she thought, Luca got Nico up. Smiling, she fell back into a comfortable position, maybe now, she hoped, Luca would come back to their warm cozy bed. Suddenly Luca frantically cried out, “Peggy, Oh God, Peggy, I need you. Help me! Hurry, please, hurry.”

Fear and panic turned Peggy’s heart to ice. She jumped out of bed and as she started to run down the basement stairs, she was screaming Luca’s name. Please God, let him be all right.

Dad was in Nico’s bedroom, cradling him in his arms, the blood drained from Mamma’s face as she saw her Nico as white as the sheet that covered him, and cold as ice. She frantically tried to shake him awake while screaming his name and begging him to please wake up, but there was no response. We had come running down the stairs into the basement as soon as we heard Mamma screaming. We will never forget the look of sheer horror and panic on her face – it was not the face we had hoped to see that night at Mamma’s birthday party. Ciao Nico.

Gone was our brother Nico, forgotten was the party and forever changed was our family as we knew it. All in the blink of an eye, forever changed. God help us!