Santino DiCaprio leaned against his car watching as tourists came down the gangplank of the SS Principessa Mafalda a massive luxury steamer which the rich and famous alike were known to take cruises on.  The ship would leave port in three days.  It was his sincere hope to have at least two of her passengers back on board and leaving with it.  Not because he didn't want them on the Isle of Sicily, but because of the danger that neither was yet aware of.

Aurora Byrne was a vision.  The girl in the newest photo he had was just that, a girl, but this vision was all woman.  There she stood, at the top of the plank, holding a wide-brimmed hat onto her own head, breathing deeply the air of her homeland.  Her raven hair flew out behind her like a flag and skin seemed to glow in the noon-day sun.  Gone were the pudgy edges of her childhood, the diminutive woman was all lines and sensual curves that Santino found himself imaging in a way that was altogether inappropriate for a man who barely knew her.  

As he came up off the side of his car, Marco made a soft approving whistle.  Santino gave him a glance out of the corner of his eye, waiting, knowing that his girl wasn't going to be arriving alone.  When her mother called two days ago, she'd been clear about the nature of the trip... Aurora was here with her lover.  The name Mastrosimone wasn't known to him, not in his time on American shores nor here among the great families.  He'd asked around, as had Rita, but the only people they could find with that surname were poor farm folk out in the countryside.  Surely this was not the family that thought to claim a gem like Aurora Byrne? 

And that's when he saw him.

"Damn."  Marco exclaimed.  Whether it was because Aurora kissed the man or just out of shock at the fellow's sheer size, Santino couldn't be sure.  Both things deserved such an expression.  Billy_Mastrosimone was a massive wall that made his lioness look like a small flower beside him.  One's excessive height only overemphasized the other's extreme lack of it - they were a queer-looking couple.  What could this goon of a farmer's son have in common with this tiny princess of the Cosa Nostra?  He looked better suited to be her enforcer... not her lover.

As they descended, Santino watched the outline of Aurora's body through the nearly translucent fabric of her white dress.  Santino dropped his cigarette and crushed it under his boot.  "Well, no time like the present.  All eyes open.  Trouble could be anywhere ..."

"Yes, Don DiCaprio."  Marco said, turning to give signals to the men who were all around the area watching for trouble.

As Aurora and Billy came out of the main gate and into the street they found waiting for them a man who was just shy of Billy's height, well-groomed, and with dark hair and eyes and the skin of a native.  For half a heart-beat Santino thought Aurora would not remember him but then she squinted.  Her hand falling off the arm of her companion.

"Sonny?"

"Hello, Rory."  He said with a smile and genuine pleasure in his tone - a tone that still held a hint of the many long years he spent growing up in Downtown Detroit.  "I thought maybe you forgot me."

Aurora laughed and rushed forward to throw her arms around the Italian fellow.  "NEVER!" 

She laughed as he picked her up and spun her around.  When he put her down she kissed both of his cheeks as if greeting family.  Still not sure of her shore legs, Santino found himself balancing the beautiful young woman in front of him.

"What are you doing here?"  She asked, then remembering her companion she turned back to him.  "Billy... Billy... this is Sonny DiCaprio he's a very, very dear friend of my family!"

"Your mother called ahead asking me to look in on you ... and it's a very good thing she did."  Santino offered his hand to Billy.  "Good to meet you, Billy."

The sun was beating down and it was warmly glinting off of the sea, just as it had been on the boat ride over. It was a beautiful island, though it was so big that Billy wasn't sure where the other side was.

As they got down off the ship and Aurora met with some guy, Billy ground his teeth. He watched as the other man picked up Aurora and spin her through the air. It was plainly evident that the five days they'd had on the ship together might very well be the only five days in his life that he would have her to himself entirely. It was not a pleasant surprise.

"You too."

Billy shook the man's hand. The guy had a good grip that was for sure. The fact that there were more than a few folks standing around doing nothing made Billy believe Aurora meant to use a capital F when she said he was a friend of the Family. Great. So much for a fucking vacation.

Why had she not mentioned this earlier? How goddamned far did Bella's influence reach anyway? he shook his head. No time for that shit now. Now it was time to put his suit back on and be a Don again, not just Billy. He begrudgingly did just that.

"To what do we owe the pleasure Sonny?"

Billy had been cordial to Sonny but that had been the extent of it.  In fact, gone was the silly boyish rogue she'd spent the last five days with and here again was the man who kissed her mother's ring on more than one occasion.  Did he know Sonny was a Don?  

She looked around, taking in the sight of one, two, three... she looked back to Sonny as Billy finished asking what this was about.  Her brow furrowed with concern.  He'd said it was good her mother had reached out, and suddenly this felt less like a social call of an old friend and more like ... well, business. 

She glanced at Billy. 

Yes.  He's gone to a business-like demeanor.  How did he notice there was an issue first?  I'm slipping up... just playing kissy-face for five days on a boat and already I'm a damsel to be rescued!

"Not out in the open." Santino said to Billy, she realized, not her.  "Rory's not safe here."

"What?!?"  Aurora blinked, suddenly very confused. 

Why in the hell am I not safe here?

"Let's get you both some lunch.  I know a guy.  We'll be safe to talk in his place.  It's just this way.  Not far, I promise."  Santino picked up the bag at Aurora's feet where she'd dropped it to hug him - and he began walking down the road.

Aurora lowered her voice to Billy as she looped her arm around his.  "We can trust him... my mother basically raised him.  It's a bit of a long story but he's the youngest Don in the history of his family.  They own a lot of land around here.  Wine and olives mostly... but he's very close with my mom.  If he says that something's wrong we should hear him out."

She squeezed Billy's arm.  

"I'm sure it's nothing.  I'm related to half the damn providence.  I can't imagine there would be any REAL danger to me here."  

She rubbed his arm.

"We'll hear him out and then we'll be on our way to your Nona's.  By nightfall, you'll be figuring out ways to sneak me off for stolen kisses without the old woman noticing we're missing."  She chuckled, imaging how Billy might find ways to steal a moment here and there with her.

"He's the youngest, and I'm the only. Two Dons with something in common, that should make for good conversation if nothing else."

He looked down to Aurora then.

"They own the land, but do they farm it themselves? My family does exactly that, but they don't own their farm. It's one of the reasons I brought that extra bag of mine."

He looked back toward Santino. They might just have more to talk about than Aurora. Though her safety was first and foremost.

"Roar, I have no idea what's going on, and I brought nobody with me. It's just you and me here, so if you tell me we can trust him, I will. Of course I'll fucking murder an entire island of people if someone even tries to ruin this vacation."

He smiled at her. It was a playful smile behind a threat he very much meant to keep.

Aurora looked up at Billy, "No one, can ruin this vacation."  She squeezed his arm, looking at him with a deep-rooted intensity.  "I promise you this will be something we will remember for the rest of our lives.  No one and nothing can even touch us on this trip.  I swear it to you."

The three went into the restaurant and Santino pulled out a chair for Aurora.  She smiled at the Don and sat down.  Santino sat across from Aurora and under the table, Aurora put her foot alongside Billy's though atop the table she did not touch him.  

"I can't believe how you've changed since we last saw one another... how many years has it been now?"

Don DiCaprio's men came into the room and suddenly Aurora became very aware of how dangerous Santino must have thought things were... there were too many men.  He thought her life was in danger or he was going way over the top to sell the lie and that didn't seem to make any real sense.

"Eight."  Aurora said, a smile playing on her lips.  "What's this all about, Sonny?"

Sonny looked around and lowered his voice.  "Conti and Luciano... they are engaged in a blood feud.  Been going on for weeks now."

Aurora's amber eyes seemed to pull in the light of the room, "Why?"

"Why do you suppose."  He said leaning back.  "Chicago."

"But it's been years... eighteen years..."

"A small amount of time for a country whose wars last generations.  Believe me, my mother and father ended a war that lasted four generations... and that war was considered short compared to some."

Aurora shook her head.  "Even so, no one would dare to touch me.  I'm blood kin to both."

Santino leaned forward.  "Which makes you a valuable asset, Rory.  And both sides want to protect you from what they see as a barbaric mindless hoard of heathens in the other family.  There's no end to stories of wrongs done to people in your position before... so, I think it's best you and Billy simply get back on the ship when it sets sail in three days and take an early trip home.  I'll supply you with protection here in the port city of Catania or you can come back to my vineyard - though the trip through the countryside has its risks I've brought all my captains here today... every one of them stands ready to die for you if necessary.  As I've given my word to your mother."

"My mother knows about the feud?"  She arched an eyebrow.

Santino nodded.  "When she called I couldn't think of a good reason not to tell her.  I hope you're not angry."

Aurora smirked, "And... she had no message for me?"

Santino sighed.  She knew she had him.  "I advised her to tell you to return home... but she insisted that Don Mastrosimone would keep you safe.  She shares your thoughts that Conti and Luciano would never hurt you."

Aurora nodded and put a hand on Billy's arm.  "And he will.  I see no reason to rush back, Sonny.  If anything, you've just made us aware we need to tred carefully while visiting family... but little else.  We'll take your words under advisement, and accept any protection you feel you can afford to spare - but really, I do think it's unnecessary.  Though, it is good of you to worry about me."

Don DiCaprio shook his head and looked to Billy.  "There are other people here... other families.  Dangerous men who will seek advantages in the conflict, trying to curry favor or win dominance."

Aurora became annoyed as he turned to Billy, seeming to give up discussing her safety with her in lew of talking to the 'other man.'  She smacked the table.  "I'm right here."  She asserted.  

Santino's eyebrows waggled just a little and he quickly pulled his smirk under control again to hide it.  "So you are.  One could hardly forget you."

Her hand came off Billy's arm and all softness melted away from the lioness' face and she began ranting in Italian.  "If you have concerns, do not think you can run them up the other Don's flagpole to find support.  I'm as capable of understanding the politics as well as you, and maybe more so."

Santino leaned back and nodded, clearly impressed and maybe... intrigued by her fiery outburst.

"Maybe."  He admitted.  "Far be it from me to deny the lioness her due.  Alright.  Messina."

Aurora froze.

"Ah... good you know the name."

"I do."  Aurora admitted.

"And he's not the only one.  Aurora, I think you know how much you mean to me..."  There was a weight to those words and she KNEW what was implied and unsaid.  She worried Billy did too.  "I would not exaggerate or waste your time if it were not serious.  Luciano and Conti might not hurt you... but both would bend Heaven and Hell to keep you safe and I can't say that others won't try to hurt you - WHEN they learn you're here.  Please, consider going back.  Or taking your holiday to another port of call."

He tilted his head to the side and looked into her eyes, holding her gaze as if she were the only one at the table with him.  "Let me protect you."

Aurora sat up a bit taller in her seat, her foot under the table rubbed Billy's for the first time EVER.  She feared Billy might not keep his temper much longer, she could feel him tensing beside her and wanting to speak.

"First of all... that was a very long time ago and we were children, playing childish games.  Regardless of the promises you made my mother, it is not your duty to protect me.  Don Mastrosimone holds that honor now.  And that is all I have to say on that matter... have I made myself clear?"

Santino nodded.  "Abundantly."  He said to her.  Then looked to Billy and added,  "My apologies if I have offended.  I swear, my words and actions come from a place of genuine concern and I hope that isn't lost in my foolishness."

Billy watched the two exchange their words, some to the both of them and some directed straight at Billy. What Billy had noticed was that Aurora put her foot down. What else Billy had noticed was that the Don across the table from him certainly still held a torch, no a candle for Aurora. Billy's feelings for Aurora were a blazing inferno, whatever this man felt was a candle in comparison.

Billy felt Aurora's hand leave his arm. He heard her go into a string of the other Don's native language. She was off on a tear now which meant Billy didn't have to be. Though his eyes did not leave the Don's person.

The last thing Billy took into account was that there were at least six men in the room besides the Don. Six? That was it? That was all of his muscle? All of this man's power? Most of them were smaller than Billy too, except that one guy in the corner. But if this was it, what the hell kind of protection could this guy really give?

For the first time it occurred to Billy that Families on this island were going to run small, which was funny since the island was kinda small itself.

"No apologizes needed Don Sonny. And I apologize for that, but that's the only name I know you by."

Billy shrugged.

"I would like to ask you something though if you've got the extra time. And I have a feeling it's going to be business related."

Santino waved over a waitress who brought baskets of bread, wet mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and herbs - a bottle of wine and then scurried away.  

Aurora sat back in her seat and folded her hands across her midsection, lacing them so they could not come free thoughtlessly regardless of what either man might say.

"Sonny is fine.  If you must call me Don, my family name is DiCaprio.  Santino is my proper name... I'm named for my father's father."  He said with a little smile clearly trying to be social with Billy as he'd been with Aurora.

Aurora noted that he did not say who his father, or his noteworthy mother, had been.  She suspected the topic of Sonny would be revisited in private - though she wondered what business Billy might have on his mind right now.

"As for the question," Santino said, "Unless it's something you'd like to discuss in private, I'm happy to chat now.  This place is as safe was we can hope to be in the city.  I think we can enjoy a good meal and get to know each other here without any worries."

Billy nodded and smiled passing the plate to Aurora first and looking the other man in the eye.

"I understand that you and your family own a lot of land, some of which is olive farms. I was hoping we might discuss where those farms were located. You see my family for generations has been olive growers. That being said, they do not own the land, they have always farmed the land for others. They never knew who those owners were, only that when it came harvest time help was always there, and most of the harvest went away as tribute."

Billy took a couple of pieces of cheese and tomatoes for himself.

"I don't mean to offend, and if you're not interested in any sort of sale or partnership I won't mention it again, but one of the reasons I am here is to find out if I can set my Nona and my cousins up for themselves, and from what I gather, I very well may be talking to the man who can make that happen."

He popped a piece of bread into his mouth to indicate he was finished and waited to see the other man's response.

"There's a lot of folks who grow for us."  he glanced at Aurora.  He stared at her a moment longer than was polite but it wasn't a look of lust - Aurora noted.  He was narrowing his eyes at her in a very particular way.  She dared not move.  Santino looked back to Billy, having gotten nothing from Aurora's body language and lack of words.

"It's possible your family are among them."  Sonny continued to explain the boundaries of his territory.  Aurora couldn't know if Billy's family were under him or not but she liked that Sonny wasn't hiding any details.

"If they are not on my lands, we can find out who they working for and see what sort of arrangements can be made.  I'm, personally, not opposed to selling the land into the hands of the family who lives there... but I would like an ongoing tribute or... perhaps a business arrangement but I need those olives to fill orders I have all over the world.  I can't be shorted at this point."

Billy shook his head.

"I think you misunderstand Don DiCaprio. I would like to become a silent partner in your enterprise. I will happily pay you ten times what the land is worth. You can use the capital to help expand your empire so that you won't be shorted in the future, and in exchange we put a small plot of land, whatever it is that my family currently grows on, to the side. That will become theirs once your expansion is complete."

Billy looked to Aurora then.

"Are you not hungry Roar? I haven't seen you eat a bite. I know I'm always starving, but hey, if we are going to stay here for a while you might want to eat something huh?"

Back to DiCaprio his attention went.

"So, provided that my family does grow for you, and we come to an agreement, I could even spare some of my container ships to help alleviate your shipping costs if that would make your life easier. Not to mention how much more demand that would open your operations up to in the New World."

He would whet the man's whistle with making life easy and reel him in with the prospect of more money and a bigger operation. Billy didn't know anyone who didn't love money, or at least needed it enough to want more of it.

"My stomach is a bit sour."  She admitted quietly, not wanting to pull his attention away from the deal in front of him.  "I think after a week of up and down constantly on the sea, the land has me queasy."  Aurora picked up her glass of water and took a sip, careful not to push her luck.

"I like the sound of us coming to an agreement that includes some alleviation of shipping expenses.  We lost quite a lot in the way of our shipping contracts about a decade ago.  I've been scrambling to re-establish much of what was lost to us in that conflict.  I figure another ten years... we'll be better off than we were in my father's day and that's saying something... but it means I need to remain here rather than returning state-side to run my family's businesses there."

He shrugged.  

"Having another friendly Don in the States, however, wouldn't hurt my feelings either.  Tell me, what city do you hail from.  I can't recall if Isabella mentioned it or not."

Billy nodded when Aurora spoke and took her water. He knew sometimes it took people a little bit to recover, or maybe she was just real mad. Billy didn't think he could ever be so mad that he wouldn't be hungry, but he knew people got like that. Why she was mad at this other Don though Billy couldn't figure out. The guy was rolling over for him. He shrugged.

"Alright then Don DiCaprio. We planned on staying with my Nona while we were here, visiting with some of Roar's family too probably, where can I find you when it's time to go over details?"

Over the lunch, Santino gave Billy instructions on how to find the DiCaprio Estate near Presa.  He asked Aurora about her mother and father, and the events of the last eight years back in the United States.  Much of Aurora's story was, as Billy could easily note, the view of a child watching events that she really didn't have a lot to do with.  She knew the major beats of Cosa Nosa history, but she'd been kept shielded from much and so her stories were only the most sweeping and general details of who conflicted with whom and the cost of those conflicts so much as she was impacted.

Aurora, in turn, asked about Santino's rise to Don.  The young man returned the favor of talking in the most general of terms.  He told about how her mother had sent him back, of how he had to reunite with family members ... some who knew he existed, and others who did not want to recognize him as his father and mother's only living child.

"Did you ever find your sister?"  Aurora asked.

"Her grave."  He admitted.  "Fittingly... she was right-hand to your mother, Marie Lucania.  She took a bullet for the woman and was buried alongside our parents in Chicago."

"I'm sorry."

Santino shook his head, "I'm not.  Katie got to home and that was all she ever wanted as I understand it.  She died as she would have wanted and her life honored our family name."

"Still..."  Aurora said with a bit of sympathy in her tone.  "I know you were hoping she was alive out there still.  I'm sorry she wasn't."

"Well, my quest to find her lead me to your mother and now you and Don Mastrosimone here... perhaps in that way Katie will have brought much more prosperity to the family even after her death than many ever did in life."

Santino talked briefly about having to work to rebuild the family and of how the older Dons still don't quite respect him as he wished they did... in part due to his age and in part due to his ties to the New World.

"So much of my money is rooted in America.  Even now I have businesses there earning me a great deal of capital that I use to help the family here... but returning to run those is just not possible yet.  Perhaps I'll go back again, sometime in the future.  A decade or two from now... after I've married and ensured there is someone to inherit all I've rebuilt."

Aurora knew, after he offered a small window into his plans, that she'd done the right thing putting her foot down.  Likely Santino would have continued to push to see if there had been something between them... a marriage between them could have, after all, been very advantageous.  

"How's Will?"  Santino asked.

"Getting into too much trouble for his own good."

Santino laughed.  "It's the age,"  He said then glancing to Billy.  "Am I right?  The boy can't help but find trouble at ... what... he's 16 now, yes?"

Aurora nodded.  "Just had his birthday."

Santino shook his head.  "I hope your mother is ready for all the girls to start coming around."

"Start?!?"  Aurora laughed.  "We've been dealing with them for two years now.  No... Will's never met a woman he didn't like."

"His tastes will refine in time,"  Santino said.  "Once his fires cool a little he'll come to see women of value are rare and worth fighting for."

Aurora was sure he was flirting but then Santino surprised her as he raised his glass to toast Billy and Aurora's future happiness.  She almost felt ashamed that she'd assumed he hadn't let it go.  Instead, he seemed to be respecting her desires completely.  Whatever woman ended up married to Santino DiCaprio would be a lucky girl... 

As they finished the meal and their wine, Santino looked to Billy, "Would you accept my men driving you out to your family's farm at least?  I won't leave with you since you seem to feel you have matters in hand... but I assure you my car is far more comfortable than most modes of transport out to the countryside.  Will you at least accept this small bit of hospitality from me?  My men will even take the time to show you the road out to our estate so you know the way when you finally come to visit and finalize the details of our arrangement."

Billy looked to Aurora and then, receiving a signal telling him it was entirely up to him, he nodded.

"Thank you Don DiCaprio, and may I say. I am sorry for your losses in your life. Your sister especially hits close to home for me. I lost my own hand I considered a sister once to a car accident. Not to mention the fact that I lost my father to Marie Lucania's untimely demise as well. He was her right hand at the end of things. Clearly he did not do a good enough job. I suppose my honor will be bound on rectifying that."

He gathered up their things and then held a hand out for Aurora to take.

"Oh, and if you don't mind my saying Sonny, some of us never grow out of our boyish ability to find trouble. Roar never seems to be too far from it."

He winked at Aurora then and took her arm. He kissed her gently then and reached behind her for her purse, pulling out a peppermint.

"My condolences on your losses as well."  He stood up and waved over Marco.  "This is Marco, my cousin... my Aunt Rita's only son.  I trust no man more in all this word than Marco."

He looked to Marco.  "They're not going back.  You will take them safely to Don Mastrosimone's family home in my car and then bring it back to pick me up this afternoon."

Marco nodded his head, "Of course."

"Hello Marco."  Aurora said with a smile.

"The dawn speaks and I listen... welcome back to Sicily, Aurora."  He kissed her hand.  Marco looked to Billy, "Don Mastrosimone, my life before yours... I shall see you safely to your family."

Santino cut in, "I'll tell my Aunt Rita to make sure we have some of those little cakes you like so much."

Aurora laughed.  "Oh God... please let's not revisit that embarrassing moment."

Santino shrugged, "You still have a taste for them?"

"Now that you bring it up, yes.  I'm craving them terribly.  As soon as Billy and I are done visiting his family, we'll be glad to raid your Aunt Rita's cupboards like we used to as children."

Santino nodded, "It's a date, though I'll tell Rita to make sure she puts a lot more there for us to find... I strongly suspect your Billy here can put away more than you and I ever could."  

The Don looked Billy up and down, clearly making a small joke out of noting that Billy was larger than he was.  He then offered his hand to Bily, shook it again, "Until next we meet."  

Then he kissed Aurora's cheeks, "Cugina. Stay safe, yes?"

With that Aurora and Billy followed Marco out to a stately looking, if practical for driving in the country, car.  They got into the backseat and Marco asked Billy where he was headed.

Billy gave the man directions to his Nona's house in the countryside, or at least, the best directions he had access to.

"I haven't actually been here since I was a child, so this is the best I could come up with but I am sure when we find the place my memories will come rushing back."

He smiled and turned to Aurora.

"I hope you are half as excited as I am. This is the only family I have left in this world. I know they will love you because I love you, but I hope that you want to really give them a chance. They aren't your sort of people. No money, no fancy anything, they are farmers. My granddad also fixed clocks as a hobby, it's how my dad picked it up and made a living out of it in the States."

He stopped then and felt the gold pocket watch in his jacket. He nodded to himself. He was lucky to have had Gavin in his life.

"I will warn you though, Nona is going to drag you into the kitchen and probably give you the third degree."

"I'm nervous."  She admitted, looking down at her hand in his.  "I want them to like me.  Like you said, they're the only family you have.  I don't want to mess this up like I normally do.  I'd rather face down half-a-dozen guys with guns than one old woman with a rolling pin."

She laughed.

"I promise, I'll hold my tongue."  She said nodding.  "No matter what she says or does... I'll do everything I can to show her my best side possible and make her like me.  All of them..."

"Roar, we both know that's not your best side. Your best side is the lioness. Just be yourself. Don't hold back, argue if it comes to you, don't roll over for an old woman. You really think that she will respect you if you're meek and can't take care of me? Not the way I think she will see things."

Billy smiled.

"Trust me, you will be fine if you just be yourself. And I will be there every step of the way."

He heard a cough from the front seat and turned to look out the window. There in front of them was a grove of olive trees along the hillside. It was a beautiful sight as it caught the late afternoon sun. So many folks were out there doing the work or picking the olives and taking the baskets to the central farmhouse to be sorted and shipped on for packing or squeezing.

As the car drove by everyone stopped, men, women, children, all but the dog who chased the car a few feet and then stopped itself going back to play with the boy it had abandoned for a second. It was very clear that someone important was here for something. I was also evident that this was not often the case. Billy, for having only been here when very young, could recall it as if it were yesterday, just over the next ridge there would be the squat one story house. And sure enough, there it was, smoke coming from the chimney, the supper already cooking.

"This is my Nona's house. It's only three rooms and an outhouse."

Billy's smile went from ear to ear. He could remember the place like out of a dream.

When they stepped out of the car and Billy grabbed their bags he chuckled. Aurora and he would sleep somwhere in this little shack, and it was likely going to be on a floor for a couple of days but that's all he wanted. A couple of days and then back to hotels and beds and fluff and a vacation proper.

"Nona! Sono io Billy! Nona? Where are you?"

A squat, portly woman with a stained apron stepped out from the house. She was wiping her hands on the once-white apron. Her hair made it's best attempts to escape the bun she had put it in. As she stepped into the light she called out.

"Billy? Cosa stai facendo qui? Eh? Why you come? You come to see you Nona eh? Nah! You come to eat! Look at you! Look a' how skinny you getting, come!"

The woman was making her way toward him, and then she stopped when she noticed the one thing that she hadn't seen before. Billy, had brought a girl.

"Chi è questo? Huh? You no tell me you are coming and then you bring a girl? Is this your wife Billy? Come, come, Lascia che ti veda."

Billy stepped forward first and had to bend in half to reach his grandmother's embrace, he then turned.

"Nona, this is my girlfriend Aurora."

Billy's grandmother made a disapproving sound.

"Che cosa girlfriend eh? Billy, she is your love! Look at how she look at you eh? And you look at her? Ma! Girlfriend."

She waved her hand at her grandson and turned to the woman who was not much taller than she. She reached out and took Aurora's hands.

"Men, they no nothing eh? Aurora yes? You come inside, you hungry? We make something for Billy. You two can stay with us, you are not married though, you no have the bed. I am Marina, you call me Nona. Everyone call me Nona."

The old woman made her way toward the house, still holding onto Aurora's hands and not waiting for Billy to follow.

Aurora shuffled into the kitchen, she looked around at the humble home and smiled.  In Italian she spoke, "You have a very nice home and it seems very full of love - it is all the things Billy said."  

She hoped she didn't come off as disingenuous.  She had considered saying it was a lovely home but someone might say she was lying cause she came up well and that obviously this was far from the nicest place she'd ever been in.  She didn't want to be seen as a liar in her first moments of just having met the old woman.  What manner of impression would that make!?!

"I'm afraid to tell you, Nona, that I'm not very skilled in the kitchen.  I've been spending a lot of time focusing on my education in school, I attend college actually, so most of my meals are either still made by my mother or by chefs in restaurants."  

Marina smiled at the young girl and responded in her own language in kind.

"It's ok, you are a pretty young woman, and education is important, so you cannot be good at everything. Nobody can be good at everything. Only God."

She gently patted the girl's cheek to reassure her.

"Come. I will teach you to make Billy's favorite."

She pointed at Billy then.

"Put your things in the other room, you sleep there tonight, and then wash your hands before you eat."

Billy nodded, and put the things down, but then headed for the back door.

"I'm going to go help out in the field for a little bit, see if I can't find Giorgio or Adalgisa."

He grabbed a newsboy's cap off of the wall and made his way outside with a final kiss blown to Aurora and a whispered 'You'll be fine.'

Marina turned to the young woman as soon as her grandson was gone.

"He always loves his pasta. That is easy, go get the pot from in the cabinet over there and you boil the water. I will show you how to make the sauce, the real secret when you are done."

She waited for the girl to do as she was told, and she did, quickly too. She might not know her way around a kitchen, but she knew her way with using her hands. She was lying about something. Or not telling the truth.

"Aurora. I ask you a question now, because we keep no secrets in my house. You love my Billy?"

She handed the girl a tomato and then began to peel her own tomato showing Aurora how it was done.