by Tiana Laveen
“No, I’m serious, I never come here.” Jordan held Egypt’s hand as they strolled, enjoying all the twinkling Christmas lights in Little Italy. They made their way down Hanover Street. “It’s so pretty around the holidays. Just look at this place? They really do it up, huh?”
“Yeah, they go all out for the holidays. It being Christmas Eve and all, there’s a bigger crowd here than usual. Anyway, I practically grew up here. Was with my grandparents all the time. Right here in the North End.” The North End, also known as Little Italy, a one-square-mile waterfront municipal in close proximity to Faneuil Hall.
“It’s so nostalgic and pretty over here, Jordan. I just can’t get over it. Look at the architecture. The roads. Thanks for bringing me. This is really romantic.” She rested her head against his shoulder. People moved about, shopping bags in hand, and the air smelled sweet. Inviting. The snow had stopped, but there was a dusty white blanket covering the sidewalks, reminding him of powdered sugar.
“I love you, Egypt.” His heart beat faster as the words left his mouth. Never in his life had he felt so deeply for a woman.
“I love you too, baby. I’m so glad you got to come back and stay a while.”
“Hey, there’s Mike’s Pastries! Their gelato is the best, Egypt. It’s never too cold for gelato. Wanna get some?”
“Hell, yes!” They both burst out laughing at her response, then made their way across the street. When they entered the establishment hand-in-hand, he had to pause and take it all in. The place smelled incredible. Just as he’d remembered.
“Oh, my goodness, Jordan.” Her eyes rolled just like when she’d cum. His dick stiffened at her expression. “It smells divine in here. Wow.”
“I know, right? This place has been open since like the 1940s, I believe my grandfather said. You want a kickass cannoli? This is where ya come. Other places are copycats. You can only get food like this directly from Southern Italy, some spots in New York and Jersey, and right here, at this spot in Boston. This place serves authentic Sicilian desserts. They don’t mess around.” They stood in the long line and waited their turn.
“You know your Italian desserts well, huh?” She chuckled.
“Of course I do.” He stood behind her, holding her close. Damn, she smells good. “I know a delicious ebony dessert I plan to nosh on later tonight, too!” He then nibbled on her neck, making her squeal. “I’ve got a special cannoli for ya later. I’ll give ya some of my creamy filling once we get back to your place. It’s one of a kind.”
“You’re nasty.” She giggled. “Order for me, Jordan. I have no idea what to get.”
“All right, you got it.” A few minutes later, they were at the counter.
“Hi, good evenin’. I wanna give my girl a taste test so we’re gonna take some cannolis to go. So, let me get two dark chocolate gelatos first, one strawberry cannoli, one Limoncello cannoli, amaretto… I bet she’d like that… and for the last one, my favorite, a Florentine cannoli.”
“Okay, will that be all?” the employee asked.
“Si, basta così. Grazie mille.”
“Prego.”
“Did I do all right?” he asked the employee. “My Italian is super rusty. I messed it up, didn’t I?”
“No way. You did great! I understood every word and wouldn’t have known you were rusty at all!” She laughed before turning away to help another customer.
“Ohhhh, you sly motherfucker.” Egypt yanked him close. “You better talk that sexy shit in my ear later tonight. I didn’t know you knew Italian, Jordan!” She hit him on the chest, as if he’d been hiding a deep, dark secret and keeping it from her. He burst out laughing and gave her a peck on the lips.
“If ya don’t use it, ya lose it.” He shrugged. “I have to get back in the habit of speaking it again. Plus, that’ll impress my grandfather.”
Before long, the cannolis were bagged up and they exited, eating their gelato on the red brick road that paved the way. Snow began to fall lightly, coating their jackets and hair. They just kept right on eating, talking, smiling at one another.
“I’ve got some great news to tell you.”
“What?” She licked her spoon, looking as happy as could be.
He dug in his pocket, struggling a bit with the bag and his cold dessert.
“Here, let hold that for you,” she offered.
“Nah, I’ve got it.” Just then, a man approached them, a violin in hand. Egypt’s expression turned to one of confusion. The guy began to play “My Girl,” by the Temptations, on his instrument, and people began to gather around when Jordan dropped down on one knee.
“Oh no… oh my God, Jay…”
He set the bag and gelato down on the ground, reached again into his pocket, and pulled out a diamond ring.
“This was my grandmother’s.” Egypt immediately burst out in tears. “Now I’ve got a special wedding band for ya, with all the bells and whistles, but this ring means a lot to me. My mother gave it to me to give to ya. I told her I was going to do this and she was ecstatic. She likes you, E… and I couldn’t think of anything better as a token of my love for you. My grandparents on both sides were old school. They took marriage seriously. Ya don’t play games with your wife’s heart. Ya don’t run off and ask for a divorce because of one little argument. Ya work things out. You care about what your wife does and doesn’t like, and you try to keep her happy. I even asked Andre what song he thought you’d like played when I popped the question, and this is the one he mentioned. He said it has sentimental value.”
Now, the woman was nearly falling apart. “When we were teenagers, I loved you with all of my heart. But, I knew I wasn’t ready for someone like you. I knew it couldn’t work. Now, things have fallen into place. The stars aligned just right, and we’re back together. We’ve gotten ourselves together. We both had stuff to work on; we just weren’t ready. Things are different now. You’re confident. Accomplished. I no longer see the world how I used to and understand that the only person I need to be worried about, when it comes to my love life, is me.
“You’re a good influence on me, and that’s what I need: balance. I’ve got a great family. They’re not perfect, but they love me. I was never short on love. Because of them, I know how to love someone else. I know how to treat a lady. I want to marry you, baby. And don’t worry about how we’ll handle me being in California, and you here in Boston, because I’ve already been approved for a transfer.”
“WHAT?!”
“Yeah. My house is for sale, and I’m stayin’ right here. Where I belong.”
The woman fell apart for real then and he had to jump up and grab her to keep her from stumbling. He hugged her tight. The crowd began to ooh and ahhh, yelling sweet words at them, and funny ones, too. He tried to fight the emotion, but it was a losing battle. His eyes brimmed with tears, and so did hers. He quickly blinked that shit away.
“Egypt Lynn Callahan, will you marry a crazy, New England Italian from Dorchester who loves the hell out of ya?”
“YES!!!” He took her hand, slid the ring on, then embraced her tighter than ever before. Then, he sealed it with a kiss and gently wiped her tears away with his thumb.
“Merry Christmas, baby… This second chance we’ve got? I’m playin’ for keeps…”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
A Snowball’s Chance…
The Boston Winery boasted an amazing waterfront view – the perfect venue for an imperfect couple, growing together in love. The 1820’s construction sat along the magnificent Neponset River. He and Egypt had chosen the Barrel Room, an area that housed barrels of wine lined against the walls, tall barn doors giving rustic ambiance, and wine stored upwards to the ceiling. It was exquisite, no doubt about it, and catered to both of their senses.
This day had been exactly one year and five months in the making – from dress fittings to cake tastings, invitation designs, bachelor and bachelorette parties and the issue regarding Mike, one of Jordan’s best friends whom he’d rekindled his friendship
with immediately upon his return, wanting to take him and the entire crew to Vegas for a weekend of debauchery. Verbally, Egypt had said she was fine with it, but her facial expression had showed a far different reaction. Needless to say, he’d nixed it and settled on one evening at an undisclosed location, but he’d made certain to not take things too far and disrespect his bride-to-be.
“Jordan!” Jenn called out, his niece, Riley, in tow. Boy did the two of them look stunning. Jenn was dressed in an olive green gown that stopped right below the knee, while Riley had on a shade of emerald. The entire wedding party was dressed in shades of green, touches of gold, and accents of black and ivory. “You should see Egypt! Oh my God!” His sister dramatically rolled her eyes. “She’s friggin’ beautiful! Way out of your league,” she teased, making him smile.
“I can’t wait to see her.” He grinned. He’d been standing outside the venue, smoking the hell out of a cigarette that burned his lungs. He hadn’t smoked in a long time, but when his nerves got the better of him, he’d bummed one off his college buddy, Trevor, who’d flown into town from California to be one of his groomsmen for his special day. “I bet she looks like a walkin’ dream.”
“Gimme that.” Jenn snatched the cigarette away from him, chimney-puffed the hell out of it, then crushed it under her clear high heel. “You’re gonna smell like smoke. Ruin that nice tux. She doesn’t wanna kiss an ashtray in front of the minister.”
“What about you? Does, uh, what’s his name… Roy, feel like he’s kissin’ an ashtray when he gets close to the likes of you?”
“No, because my ass doesn’t smoke.”
“He can kiss ya ass… nice. He’s in the dog house, huh?” Jordan chuckled and shook his head. “I coulda sworn I saw him sitting next to Grandpa.” Roy was Jenn’s new boyfriend. He seemed like a stand-up guy, but Jenn didn’t like square dudes, run-of-the-mill Joes. She always craved men who were no good for her. It was just the way it was.
“He is. He’s also a bastard. We kinda got into it this morning. Anyway, where’s Ma?”
He pointed towards the entrance.
“Hey, Riley, do your mommy a favor. Go find ya grandma, okay? Sit with her. Tell ’er I’ll be right over.”
“Okay,” the girl said before prancing off.
“You sweaty pig!” she said between gritted teeth as she rummaged through her purse, pulled out a napkin, and dabbed his face. Hard. “I cannot believe, my big brother, Jordan ‘The Ram’ DeMarco is nervous!” She winked at him, smiled, then laid a kiss along his cheek.
“I’m fallin’ apart here.” He laughed again, his stomach in knots.
“What? Did Dennis the Penis screw Egypt as payback?” she joked. “You two just gonna keep messin’ around with each other’s women until everyone is fucked? Tit for tat, tit for pussycat?”
He hated that he found her words funny but he did, even if it was fleeting amusement.
“Nah, I haven’t heard from Dennis since I let him know that if anything else popped off because of him and I was on the short end of the fuckin’ stick, that well, ya know… I’d be payin’ him a visit. It would be a grand finale. He took the shit too fuckin’ far.”
“I couldn’t believe it. I hope things are crystal clear.”
“I think he understands now. He restored everything back to normal but I’m not above a little homegrown law and order. Not to mention, our mutual friends turned on him too when they found out all the details. His actions didn’t just affect me, it affected my future and the guys on my team, too. Our company’s reputation was at stake. That wasn’t the end of the drama, though. When I got back to Boston, Egypt was drillin’ me, thinking something was wrong because I had taken too long to call her back when I was handlin’ him. She was right, of course. She always has this sixth sense about me, always knows when something is wrong or I’m up to something. She was even like that when we were teenagers. She could just tap into me. Strange. It’s one of the reasons why I fell in love with her. But ya know, regardless, that whole business with Dennis is one secret from her I’ll just have to keep.”
“Yeah, I know. What a tool he was. Too bad Uncle Nico is gone. He woulda taken the heat for ya. Taken the rap. I miss the hell outta him, Jordan.” Both cracked a smile at that.
“Me too… He would’ve been at this wedding as the life of the party.” She nodded in agreement.
“All right, all jokes aside, Jordan, what’s really going on? Cold feet?”
“Nah, not at all. It’s not that I’m afraid of committing myself, the wedding, nothin’ like that. I just wanna make her happy, Jenn. The new house we just bought over there in West Roxbury cost a lick, but we knew it was the perfect place for us. A place we can start our life together… raise a family. I need to know that I can make her happy. Always. Her smile makes me go crazy. Every time I see her, I feel silly, but in a good way… and I can’t wait to get home to her. She completes me. I can’t even tell ya how much Egypt means to me, Jenn. I know I’m not the most eloquent guy, but I can’t think of a way to even describe it. She’s good people. Beautiful, inside and out. Amazing heart. Courageous. You’ve been married so many times, I know you know what doesn’t work by now. Got any advice for your big brother?”
His sister leveled her piercing blue eyes at him and placed her slender arm on his shoulder.
“Jordan, ya can’t make a woman, or anyone for that matter, happy twenty-four-seven. It’s our own job to make ourselves happy. All you need to do is be consistent. Pull your own weight. Treat ’er like you’d want a man to treat your Riley. Tell Egypt ya love her often, and mean it. Treat her like Dad treated Ma, but only better.” He nodded in agreement. “Now, here’s the thing: you can aid in her happiness, or you can lessen it. Like, ya know, think of Egypt as a bank. She’s ya wife now. Well, she will be in the next hour or so. She’s an investment.
“You can make deposits or withdrawals. If you make a withdrawal, you better put that shit back pronto, with interest. When you make a deposit, don’t brag about it. You’re supposed to. When you invest in your lady, she’ll make your shit grow. If you put in the bare minimum, your return on your investment will be the bare minimum, too. If you take away from her but never replenish, you’ll feel it. When you get that monthly statement, it won’t look so good. Women really aren’t as complicated as you guys make us out to be. You get from us what ya put in, and then some. We’re like pots of soil. We only grow when nourished. Treat us like shit, neglect us, ignore us, you’ll get nothin’ but resentment, nagging and arguments. And a deficit. Maybe even a spot on one of those cop shows where the lady blows her top and her old man ends up pushin’ up daises. Well, Egypt likes roses, so, ya know… whatever flower ya wish.” He burst out laughing.
“I get it, I get it. Thanks. Ya actually made sense for a change.”
She leaned in close and whispered in his ear, “That’s ’cause I haven’t been drinking. Wait until the reception. Then I’ll be back to the same ol’ shit.” She winked at him, blew a kiss, and sauntered off.
Less than thirty minutes later, he was standing in the Barrel Room next to a Baptist minister donning a nice suit and tie. The place was packed, wall to wall. He and Egypt knew far too many people, and neither Egypt’s mother nor Ma had helped the invitation count go down. In fact, they’d increased it by over thirty percent. Both matriarchs had insisted on inviting people that neither he nor Egypt even knew. A fourth cousin, second removed, from Michigan, their first pediatric dentist… complete nonsense. Nothing about this shindig was cheap, but it was worth it for Egypt and to keep peace in both families. The ceremony began with Bruno Mars’, ‘Just the Way You Are.’ Everyone was in their places, and silence fell like soft snowflakes against a concrete canvas.
The groomsmen marched in with their white tuxedos, emerald silk vests and ties, and black and white Spectator shoes. All five of them had a beautiful bridesmaid in a green gown on their arm. Ma wasted no time falling apart and crying her eyes out. Thankfully Jen was nearby, as well as seve
ral of his aunts and uncles from his father’s side. His upper lip tickled from the sweat and Mike, his best man, leaned against him, giving him a pat of encouragement as the song changed to ‘From This Moment On,’ by Shania Twain.
Egypt’s father, a notable man with a dense mustache and pride in his dark, twinkling eyes, stood in the back of the area, holding tight to the woman who’d made Jordan die a million times and revived him time and time again. Andre stepped out from behind her, sprinkled white petals at her feet, kissed her cheek, then made his way to his seat, next to his fiancée.
Egypt wore a long ivory satin gown. The bodice was adorned with emerald embellishments and gems with sparkling crystals. Her hair was pulled back, the top pinned to a long veil, and the rest of her tresses draped over her exposed shoulders. A delicate emerald necklace pendant hung from her neck. Their guests stood to their feet. The oohs and ahhs filled the room, as well as a bit of weeping and whispering, too.
Egypt made her way slowly down the aisle, holding a bouquet of white roses wrapped in forest green satin. As she neared, he noticed the slit up the side of her dress – just the right amount of sensuality and modesty. A touch of sexiness. A whole lot of class. He straightened his back, disregarding the summersaults in the pit of his gut. When his bride and her father reached him and the officiant, the Baptist minister asked,
“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?”
Her father glanced at Egypt’s mother then back at the minister, and stated, “Our daughter gives herself, but with our blessing.” The minister nodded with a smile as he kissed his daughter on the cheek before sitting down next to Egypt’s mother.
The ceremony commenced, and things went well. Jordan was able to keep himself together, despite falling in love all over again every time he looked in her eyes. He never knew he could love someone this deeply, so completely, with all of his heart and soul.
They shared their vows.
“I take you, Jordan, as you are, loving who you are now and who you are yet to become. I promise to listen to you and learn from you, to encourage you and accept your encouragement and provision. I will celebrate your accomplishments and mourn your losses as though they were my own. I will love you and have confidence in your love, through all our years and all that life may bring.”