Page 19 of Married with Mayhem

“Wait,” says Sabrina. “I forgot to add Chapstick to my order. Can you grab some at the store?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“Preferably cherry scented. Thank you so much, Monte. I really do appreciate you.”

“No problem. Anything else?”

“Well, since you asked, can you also check whether they carry cinnamon flavored gum? Any brand is fine.”

“Uh, sure. Is that it?”

“Um,” she says, thinking.

I might as well take my hand off the door handle.

“What is it?” I ask with as much patience as I can muster.

Sabrina flashes a pretty smile. “Can you see if they have those six packs of tiny cereal boxes? I could never find them in Sicily.”

I swear, at this point she’s just trying to bust my balls. It’s working.

“You know what, Sabrina? You’re kind of like that girl from the chocolate movie.”

Her face scrunches up into a cute grimace. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“Sure you do. The girl who says shit like, ‘I want a golden goose NOOOOW!’”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re implying that I’m spoiled and my feelings would be kind of hurt. But now that we’re talking about chocolate, I’d really love some Toblerone bars. I always crave them when I’m on my period. Can you look for some?”

“Toblerone bars,” I grumble and shake my head with a hiss.

“Here.” My dad walks over with a fistful of bills that he grabbed from the tip jar. “Quit being a jerk and get the girl her chocolate.”

I’m the jerk?

I’M THE JERK???

My dad throws me a look. I may be bigger and stronger than Sal Castelli but there will never come a day when my dad can’t silence me with one disapproving glare.

I’m careful to carve all the sarcasm out of my voice before asking Sabrina, “Is there anything else at all I can get for you while I’m out?”

She considers the question for a lengthy period of time. “I can text you if I think of something.”

“You do that,” I mutter and escape while I can.

The walk to the nearest CVS where Sabrina’s order awaits will take less than two minutes. But the second I step out of Gino’s my phone rings. Luca’s calling so I slow my pace and answer.

“How’s fatherhood treating you?” I ask him. “Getting any sleep?”

“Not much,” he admits but there’s a smile in his voice. “Annalisa has a tougher time because she’s breastfeeding so I try to take the baby whenever I can.”

Babies and breastfeeding are foreign concepts to me and I have no follow up questions.

I’m truly happy for Luca. He’s living his small town dream with his beautiful wife and newborn daughter. I just miss having him around. Friends you’d trust with your life are hard to come by.

Luca clears his throat. “I hear you’ve got a surprise visitor.”

“Yeah, she’s happily installed at a table at Gino’s. My dad is busy cooking the entire menu for her while I’m out shopping for her favorite chocolate bars.”

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