Page 24 of Falling for the Knockout

Tony walked over to the counter where Nonna would make everyone pasta for dinner and found a piece of notebook paper and another envelope with Elio’s writing on it. This one was smaller, and he had to admit, his curiosity was peeked.

He pulled the paper up first, waiting to see what sage advice his grandfather had left for him this time. He unfolded it and read Elio’s words to himself, “What the hell are you waiting for?” His grandfather was nothing if not subtle. He never minced words and now was no different. Nonno knew that Tony would struggle with the fact that he was gone, and he was leaving him one last bit of advice—to marry the woman that he had fallen in love with.

How Nonno knew that he loved Aurora was a mystery, but then again, the old man seemed to know a lot of things that Tony didn’t. It was true though—he had fallen in love with Aurora and pushing her out of his life was the biggest mistake that he had ever made. Elio was right he needed to quit stalling and ask her to marry him.

He picked up the small envelope and opened it to find his Nonna’s wedding ring. Elio wasn’t giving him any way out of following his advice—not that he wanted a way out. He had given Tony so much in life, and now, he was leaving him one more precious thing in death—a future with the woman that he loved.

Tony knew that there was only one thing to do—go over to Rocco’s and beg Aurora to give him another chance. Because living without her wasn’t an option for him anymore.

He put the ring into his pocket and started for the front door, turning back to smile at the empty kitchen. “Thanks, guys,” he whispered into the air. Somehow, Tony knew that both his grandparents could hear him, and that made him happier than he had been in a damn long time.

Tony didn’t bother to tell Rocco that he was stopping by. If he knew his friend, he would warn Aurora, and she’d probably take off. He pulled up to Rocco’s place and cut the engine to his truck. He sat there for a few minutes trying to work up the nerve to actually walk up to the front door and knock on it. But when he saw Aurora peek out of the second-floor bedroom window, he knew that his time was up if he wanted his chance to talk to her.

He got out of his truck and walked up to the front door, ringing the doorbell. He wasn’t surprised that Rocco was the one who answered the door and from the look on his friend’s face Aurora already gave him orders to send Tony packing.

“You showing up here unannounced isn’t your brightest idea, man,” Rocco said.

“I had no choice. If I had told you that I was stopping by, you would have warned Aurora, and I wouldn’t have had the chance to talk to her. At least this way, I know that she’s home. Just let me see her, Rocco,” Tony begged.

“She said to send you away, and that she doesn’t want to see you, Tony,” Rocco said, as though reading from a script.

He couldn’t help his smile. Aurora was stubborn as hell, but so was he. “Well, I don’t plan on going anywhere without her, Rocco,” he said.

“Then we’re going to have a problem,” Rocco said, “because she’s pretty adamant that you need to go.” Tony could hear Aurora whispering to Rocco from behind the door and he knew that she was standing right there, giving him orders. That meant that she could hear everything that Tony said, and if that was the only way that he’d be able to reach her, then he’d talk to the fucking door all day long.

“Okay, well, can you tell her that I know that I fucked up?” Tony asked.

Rocco hesitated, “Um, I’m pretty sure that she’s aware of that fact,” he said.

Tony chuckled, “Then can you tell her that I love her and that living without her isn’t an option.”

Rocco rolled his eyes at Tony and sighed. “You know what, I’m not going to be the go-between for all this sappy shit. You want to tell her you love her, do it yourself.” Rocco reached behind the door and struggled to pull Aurora out from behind it. She was giving him a fight and for once, Tony was rooting against her. “Just stop, Aurora,” Rocco insisted, “if you don’t want to talk to him, tell him yourself. But with the way that you’ve been moping around here, maybe you should hear him out.” He pulled Aurora out to face Tony, and he could tell that she had been crying. He wanted to go to her and pull her into his arms, but he also knew that she would need to hear what he had to say first before allowing him to do that.

“I stopped by my grandparent’s house—well, I guess it’s my house now,” he almost whispered. “I’m not sure that I’ll ever get used to saying that though. It will always be their house, but that isn’t why I’m here.”

“Why are you here, Tony?” Aurora spat. Her anger was palpable, but at least she was talking to him.

“I’m here to tell you that my grandfather was right,” Tony said.

“Elio was right about what?” Aurora asked. He was fucking this all up, and he just needed to get out what he needed to say.

“The envelope that the lawyer gave me was from Elio,” he said.

“I figured,” she breathed.

“The piece of paper inside had two words on it—‘Marry her.’ He was sending me a message from the grave, telling me to marry you, and instead of following his advice, I fucked everything up with you. It scared the hell out of me, Aurora, knowing that he could see that we were right for each other and I was still so clueless. I felt hopeless knowing that he wasn’t going to be hereto tell me what I should do anymore, and that my decisions were just that now—mine. He was always my sounding board, you know?” Aurora nodded and opened the door, stepping out onto the porch with him. Tony took that as a good sign and decided to get to the next part of the story.

“So, I went over to the house. I almost felt as though Nonno was calling me to the place, as crazy as that sounds,” he said.

“It doesn’t sound crazy at all. You two had a strong bond and maybe he’s still trying to help you,” she said.

“That’s what I thought too, so I went over there and when I walked into the kitchen, I could almost hear them both saying that they had been waiting for me. My grandmother was always in the kitchen cooking, which meant that Nonno was always in the kitchen eating,” he said, barking out his laugh. “They were quite a team.” Aurora giggled and he reached for her hand, needing contact with her. Tony was surprised that she allowed it. This next part scared the hell, but he also knew that it was what he wanted. The part that scared him was the part where she’d have to give him an answer.

“On the kitchen counter, just where my Nonna used to stand making pasta, was her wedding ring, with a note from Nonno that said, ‘What the hell are you waiting for?’ He knew that I’d stall after reading his first letter to me that was left with the lawyer. He knew me so well,” Tony whispered; tears now freely falling down his face. He didn’t care about that though. He wanted Aurora to see all of him—to know every part of him, even his grief.

“Tony,” she whispered, pulling him into her body. She wrapped her arms around him and for the first time since Elio’s funeral, he felt whole again. That was what Aurora did for him—madehim feel as though he was home.

“Marry me, Aurora,” he breathed while still holding her. “I don’t want to live another day without you.” He released her and got down on one knee, holding out the ring that Elio had left for him at the house. “My grandfather gave this ring to my Nonna when he asked her to marry him back in Italy. They married and came to America together to build a life here. They are the reason that I am who I am, and I’d love you to wear her ring. But if you’d rather have something of your own, I’d be okay with that too.”

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