Page 23 of One Weekend in Greece

JAKOB

Iwarn Nicole that today is going to be chaos. She said she’s going to focus on Dafni and follow our lead. The small church is filled with people. Of course my sister would baptize her baby in the tiniest church on the most popular tourist destination island with our giant Greek family. There’s no air-conditioning. Everyone is shoulder to shoulder, and I can barely breath.

Nicole hasn’t complained once. She’s simply soaking it all in. I’m also grateful she’s been able to keep Dafni entertained. They’ll point to something in the church. Talk about all the pretty dresses. The ceremony isn’t a short process, so I’m thoroughly impressed with how they’re both holding up.

Vivian’s daughter, on the other hand, is over it. She’s screaming her head off as the priest puts oil on her face and then dunks her three times in the big bin of water. My sister’s face is pained, as she wants to soothe her crying baby.

When the service is over, we all cheer. Nicole asks me about the candles in the front of the church.

“Well, Jesus was the light of the world, was He not? It’s a way of sending your faith and prayers to God and His Saints. Faith. Hope. Love for God. You light one and say a prayer. You can light one for a loved one as well. Maybe someone who has departed, or if someone is sick. If someone is traveling, you can light it for their safe travels. Light one for a baby, or to show your devotion or request help in being a more devout Christian. It’s really whatever—between you and God.”

She narrows her eyes. “Do you even know? What kind of Greek are you?”

“I’m Greek enough. Do you want to light a candle?”

“Can I?”

“Yeah, it’s church. Of course you can.”

We go over to the candles, and I place an offering into the box next to the long gold wax candles. I hand three to Dafni, three to Nicole, and keep three for myself. I show Nicole how we make the sign of the cross and then light from the center candle, then place it in the sand. I help Dafni light hers.

Once she’s finished, she looks up and tells me, “I lit one for the baby, one for you, and one for sweet Nicole.”

Nicole walks over and makes her cross, then she carefully lights one candle and sits in place. As she lights the second candle, Dafni begins telling her about how we’re going to get to dance at the reception.

“Wow. I’ve never Greek danced. Can you show me how?”

I look up, and to my horror, I see that Nicole’s lit candle has turned sideways as she’s speaking. A woman’s long hair is now on fire.

“Nicole!”

Nicole quickly places her candle in the sand and furiously pats the woman’s gray hair, which is now singed at the tips. The lady yells and rushes away from Nicole. Dafni has tears in her eyes as she laughs hysterically.

“What does that mean?” Nicole asks. “Jakob! I caught someone’s hair on fire with a prayer candle. In church. In church, Jakob. Has my prayer gone up in smoke? Is it a bad omen?”

I place my hands on her shoulders and try to soothe her. “It was an accident.” I look anywhere but at her face because I’m fighting back laughter. “But let’s get you out of here.”

“I have one more candle.” She pouts.

Instead of leaving her to do it on her own, I help her the same way I did Dafni. I keep my hand on the candle the entire time.

We take a few family photos, and my parents insist that Nicole be in all of them. To be fair, she’s already like family. It feels right. I also request that we have one of me, her, and Dafni. This whole weekend has opened my eyes to how naturally this all feels. It’s always been her. I’ve known that. I still need to talk to Noah about this. I don’t want him to think we snuck around or that I’ve always been lusting after his baby sister.

Nicole jumps right in on the Greek dancing. She’s a quick learner, and my whole family is eager to teach her. Dafni joins me back at the table.

“Are you tired of dancing?” I ask her.

“I wanted to ask you something.”

I pull her on top of my lap and stroke her hair. “You can ask me anything.”

“Can we keep sweet Nicole?”

“What if instead of being your nanny, she became Daddy’s girlfriend?”

Dafni’s brows furrow and her little nose wrinkles. Frustration is evident on her face, but I have to resist laughing. She looks so darn precious and cute.

“Are you trying to steal my nanny to keep for yourself?”

---