Amelia's P.O.V.

"Do you have your passport?"

I nodded as I zipped up my suitcase.

"What about your toothbrush? People always forget their toothbrush..."

I turned to see my anxious mother standing in the doorway of my bedroom.

"I have my toothbrush," I assured her. "Why are you so nervous?"

She wrung her hands out by her side as she walked into my bedroom and took a seat on the edge of my bed.

"I don't know," she admitted. "You've never been so far from home before..."

"I'm twenty-two years old," I reminded her, laughing. "Besides, I'm visiting your family and seeing the place you grew up. You have no reason to be worried, I'll be fine."

I was going to stay with my mother's family, who lived in a small town just outside of Rome. She, like most of her siblings, ventured to America to get a college degree. Unlike them, however, she decided to stay when she met my father.

She nodded as she took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make the trip with you. I just can't take a month off of work."

I nodded as I sat down next to her.

"I completely understand, trust me."

"I know you do," she said. "I just wish I could go back and see all of them. It's been so long."

After her and my father separated, she decided to stay in the United States since she had already established herself there. A few years later, before she married my stepdad, she went back home to Italy so he could meet her family. I made the trip with them, but was too young to remember it.

"We'll have to plan another trip sometime soon," I said.

She looked at me and I could see the anxiety building up in her eyes as she did so. 

I laughed as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and stood up.

"I'll be fine!"

Before she could say another word, my stepdad shouted from the living room.

"The Uber is here!"

My mom looked at me with a worried expression.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?"

I nodded, pulling my suitcase off the bed.

She followed me as I walked out into the foyer and met my stepdad, Brian, there for a hug goodbye.

"See ya later," he told me. "And no matter what happens, if a gypsy throws her baby at you, don't catch it."

I laughed as I waved goodbye to the two of them, my passport in one hand and suitcase in the other.

Asking a million more questions, my mother followed me out to the Uber that sat at the edge of the driveway.

One would have thought I hadn't survived the four years of college I spent on the other side of the country with the way she acted so frantically.

"Mom," I said, holding my hand out. "I'll be fine. I love you, but I have to go. I'm going to miss my flight."

She nodded, backing away.

"I know, I know," she said. "But text me before you leave and make sure to let me know when you get there."

I assured her I would.

"Say hello to Nicko for me!" She shouted as I shut the car door.

I nodded and gave her a thumbs up as the Uber driver began to pull away.

My stepdad walked out on the lawn and wrapped his arm around my mom's shoulder, physically restraining her from running after the car as it drove off.

I waved to them from the rearview window.

Turning back around in my seat, I buckled up and took a deep breath before stuffing my passport into my bag.

I was ready for this trip. Knowing that I would be attending graduate school the next fall, traveling before I would be confined to three more years of lecture halls sounded like a fantastic idea.

Once we arrived at the airport, I tipped my Uber driver, gathered my things and went inside the busy terminal.

Weaving between lovers saying their goodbyes and families waving off loved ones, I finally found the baggage check.

"Going to Rome?" The woman at the desk asked as she checked my ticket.

I nodded and smiled.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your flight there," she said putting my bag on the rolling floor behind her, sending it off to the plane I would board soon.

"Thank you."

I left the desk and found the security checkpoint. Waiting in line for what seemed like hours, I finally made it through only to wait at the gate for an eternity longer.

As I finally boarded the plane, I sent a text to my mom and to Arabella, letting them know that I was leaving.

Arabella Cicero was my cousin, daughter of my mother's brother, who had followed in the footsteps of many in her family to come to the States for college. Her and I met at the university my mom graduated from.

While she had one year left to complete until she finished, I graduated that Spring.

Despite knowing her for three years, I had never made the trip back to Italy with her so she made a point to invite me for an extended, month-long visit during the summer after my graduation.

I couldn't have accepted the invitation quickly enough. 

Making my way down the aisle of the plane, I stuffed my bag in the storage compartment that was over my seat before sitting down. As I did so, I noticed my hands were shaking.

I was nervous, but I wasn't sure why.

Whatever it was, it kept me awake during the entire ten-hour flight from Miami to Rome. Well, that and the kid who kicked my seat the whole way there. 

When the pilot came over the loudspeakers and announced we were beginning our descent, I sighed in relief.

I practically ran off the plane into the airport terminal.

After retrieving my luggage from the baggage claim, I began to search for my family.

Twenty minutes of wandering around went by and I began to get frustrated. The cell phone service wasn't going through so I had no way of letting Arabella know I was looking for her.

How am I supposed to find someone in this bustling hoard of people?

"Amelia!"

I turned around quickly and saw Arabella approaching me.

"Oh, thank God!" I said, laughing.

She smiled as she ran up and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.

"How are you?" she asked, taking my suitcase.

"I'm doing well!"

I adjusted my bag over my shoulder and began to follow her out of the terminal.

"How's your summer been?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Same old stuff. You?"

"Good," I answered. "I've been working a lot."

"Same goes for me."

Arabella worked for my Uncle Nicko, who owned a winery that catered for most of the businesses and restaurants in Rome.

As lucrative as I was sure the business was, I knew they were hard-working people. My mother always told me that my uncle was the most driven, business-minded person she'd ever met so I could only assume that working for him wasn't easy.

In fact, Arabella was working on a degree in business so she would be able to take over the family trade when my Uncle Nicko decided to retire.

"Mamma and Papa are in the car waiting for us," she said, leading me outside.

Rain was pouring down as I followed her to the van that was parked on the curb. She slid open the back door to reveal a handful of people sitting inside.

"Sorpresa!"

I laughed as I recognized Torren and Tyler, Arabella's younger twin brothers, sitting in the backseat; as well as Arabella's older brother, Lorenzo, and his wife, Sofia.

I got inside and hugged them all.

"It's great to finally meet you all in person," I said, laughing.

"They wanted to come along to surprise you," Nicko said from the front seat.

I said hello to him as Arabella shut the car door and we began to drive away.

"How was your flight, Amelia?" my aunt asked, turning around in the passenger seat.

I laughed nervously, remembering the kicking child.

"I got here. That's all that matters, right?"

Lorenzo laughed at this.

"So it was a terrible flight, then?"

Although their English was somewhat broken, I was grateful for it. My mother had taught me very few words of her native tongue.

"I apologize for the weather," Arabella said. "I was hoping we would be able to walk around a bit today, but it doesn't look like the rain will let up anytime soon. We can come back tomorrow, okay?"

"It's fine," I assured her, nodding. "I'm a little jet-lagged anyways."

I turned to look out the window as the city of Rome whirled past us. Across the span of about thirty minutes, the city faded into farmland.

I knew we had arrived when we pulled into a long gravel driveway that was lined with towering Italian cypress bushes. These paved the way up the villa that sat atop a hill.

The large stone villa had vine growing up one side and rose bushes lining the front of the house. On the front porch sat a wire-haired terrier on its haunches, anxiously waiting for our arrival.

As we all unloaded from the car, I noticed the vineyards that expanded farther than my eyes could see. The fragrance of grape blossoms and rain-drenched earth filled my nose. 

The dog ran over to us and Aunt Sheliana shooed it away.

"Go away, Lasso," she said.

The terrier ignored her as it made its way over to inspect the new visitor.

I bent down and ran my hand through its coarse fur, the dog immediately warming up to me.

"What did you say his name was?" I asked.

"Lasso," Arabella answered, rolling her eyes. "Torren named him after Lassie, the dog from the movie."

My eyes furrowed in confusion and she nodded.

"I tried to tell him the dog's name was actually Lassie, but it didn't fly."

I laughed as I stood up.

"Welcome to Casa di Cicero," my uncle said, showing off the house proudly.

I smiled as I leaned over to Arabella.

"He named your house?"

She nodded, laughing at my uncle's theatrics.

We walked up to the villa and made our way inside the foyer, where my grandmother was waiting for us.

"Ciao, fiore!" she greeted, her arms open wide.

I smiled and gave her a hug.

I had seen her recently at my graduation, but I missed her warm embraces.

"Hello, Nonna."

We heard bickering and I turned to see Lorenzo carrying my suitcase upstairs, narrowly dodging my aunt and uncle, who were arguing amongst themselves.

"Momma," Arabella said, getting their attention. "What's wrong?"

My uncle sighed in exasperation.

"I missed a very important appointment today so that I could pick you up from the airport," Uncle Nicko said to me. "I wanted to invite my business partner to dinner to make up for it, but your aunt will not allow it."

Aunt Sheliana groaned.

"We do not do business in the house when we have guests," she explained to me.

"No, it's okay," I assured her. 

I felt bad for being the reason for his missed appointment. 

"Are you sure?" Uncle Nicko asked.

I nodded.

"Grazie!" he exclaimed. "I will call him now."

As he scurried off to make the call, Arabella and I ventured up the winding staircase.

"You room is here," she said, opening the bedroom door for me. "The bathroom is through that door there. It's attached to my room as well, so we'll be sharing it." 

The room was beautifully simple.

A white comforter was slung over a queen-sized mattress, standing out against the dark, navy-colored walls. Oak staffs on the bed frame held up a white canopy that grazed the polished hardwood floor. A large wardrobe sat against the wall with a matching vanity and chest of drawers. The large floor-to-ceiling window allowed ample amounts of natural light into the room.

It was as close to perfect as it could get for me.

Sitting on the bed was my suitcase, which Arabella and I spent the next half hour unpacking.

During this time, Arabella caught me up on all the Cicero family gossip.

Apparently, Lorenzo and Sofia were expecting their first child, but they hadn't told my aunt or uncle yet. She also told me that since my grandfather had passed away nearly two years prior, my grandmother had finally found a man that she went out to dinner with on Friday nights, although she refused to call him her boyfriend.

We heard the call for dinner just as the last shirt was hung in the wardrobe.

As we made our way downstairs, I heard the doorbell ring.

You would have thought Jesus Christ himself was standing outside by the way my uncle tripped over himself to answer the door.

Arabella and I laughed to ourselves as we headed into the kitchen.

We helped my aunt pass out the plates while everyone settled into their seats. As I grabbed the last bowl of carbonara, my eyebrows furrowed.

"Whose plate is this?" I asked Arabella. "I thought I counted everyone..."

She stared at the plate for a moment before realization hit her.

"Oh! It's Papa's dinner guest's plate. He's at the end of the table."

I walked out of the kitchen and my eyes widened when I saw who she pointed at.

I watched in astonishment as Uncle Nicko's guest took his seat.

Earlier that day, when my uncle had described the guest as a business partner, my mind immediately went to a squatty, middle-aged man with greasy hair and a rotund stomach.

This couldn't have been further from the truth.

This man was tall, his head towered over everyone else's. He had raven-colored hair that was styled to perfection and his olive skin was complemented by a dark, regal suit that probably cost as much as my plane ticket. Shaping his sharp jaw was a well-groomed beard that framed his pink lips.

When his blue eyes looked at me, I knocked myself out of my trance.

I walked over and placed his plate down carefully in front of him.

"Thank you," he said curtly, diverting his attention from me to my uncle.

I detected an Italian accent, but it wasn't thick. 

As I walked away I looked at Arabella, who simply nodded as if she understood what was going through my head.

After that, dinnertime was fairly normal.

I enjoyed my time with my family as my uncle conversed business at the other end of the table.

There was a point, however, that I found myself staring at the his guest. Although, I was knocked out of my trance by Arabella nearly having to perform the Heimlich maneuver on Torren who had begun choking after he and Tyler tried to see who could shovel in as much of their carbonara as possible.

Once dinner was over, Aunt Sheliana insisted that her and my grandmother could clean up by themselves and she forced me into the living room with the rest of my family.

"Amelia!"

I turned to see my uncle wave me over. He stood next to the raven-haired man, whom I was correct in assuming was tall. He looked to be well over six feet.

They were both staring at me as I walked over to them.

"Amelia, this is Mr. Alexander Vincenzo," my uncle said, introducing us. "He is the founder and chief executive of Vincenzo Enterprises."

The man turned to me.

"Please, call me Alex."

I smiled and extended my hand. 

"Amelia Scott, nice to meet you."

Alex nodded briefly and put his hand back into his pocket.

After he made no effort to converse, my uncle cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Well, it's late," he said, putting his hand on Alex's shoulder. "I'm sure you have people to see and places to be, Mr. Vincenzo."

"Yes," Alex said, buttoning his jacket.

He looked at me.

"It was nice to meet you, Miss Scott."

"Same to you," I said, nodding.

Uncle Nicko walked Alex to the front door and Arabella came to stand next to me as the two of us watched them.

"I hope you were okay with starting your sightseeing early," she said, "because Alex Vincenzo is about as beautiful as Rome gets."

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