Ari and I began spending every weekend at his family’s house on the beach. There was never a dull moment. People argued, yelled, and placed ridiculous bets with one another over the most inane issues. They teamed up against each other and pulled pranks and jokes. I laughed constantly at their antics. Nothing was private and there wasn’t one subject for conversation that was taboo. They discussed politics, sex, money and religion at the dinner table. It wasn’t rare for someone to get angry and leave before the main course … and it wasn’t rare for that same person to get over the difference of opinion that had driven him or her away and be back in time for dessert. The Alexanders were the closest group of people I had ever been around and they all had the unusual ability to make me feel as though I belonged.
I sat in the kitchen early one morning after a bout of nightmares. The sun had just peeked over the east side of the lawn and I had already read all three of the papers delivered each morning and had finished off more coffee than I really should drink.
“Morning, Ava Baby.”
“Hi, Aggie.”
“Couldn’t sleep?”
I shook my head no and paused for a moment, hesitating.
“Aggie, who are you?” My voice was a mere whisper. I hadn’t had the nerve to ask that question of anyone yet. I am a very private person and have always hated to infringe on someone else’s privacy. But Aggie smiled. She took a seat next to me at the kitchen island.
“Ava, I am Agatha Eleni Paris Alexander, descended from Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty and sexuality.” Aggie winked at me and I blushed.
“My mother’s parents moved to America right after they married,” Aggie continued. They had my mom, Eleni, shortly after. Eleni met her husband, Aristotle, in school and they married young. She had complications at birth and died. My father raised me,” Aggie smiled again as she mentioned her father.
“When I met Andy, I was crazy in love with him. He owned me body and soul. My father forbade that I see him. He said I was too young and that Andy was a fool. He was worried about me. He was scared he would lose me the way he lost my mother. I disobeyed my father and ran off. Andy’s family took me in, just as they have taken in any of us who has been in need. Theirs was a very full home. They barely had enough room for me or the money to feed an extra mouth. They had Andy, Adrian, Thais, Troy, who was Julia’s father, and now me. I made some money with my photos and put myself through school and helped pay bills. I also helped put Andy though school and we were able to get a house of our own once we married. My father refused to come to my wedding. He said I was dishonorable and I had given him shame.
“Your father came to me one night. Adrian pounded on our door so hard he nearly knocked it down. My dad had been in his dreams; it was his time to die. Adrian urged me to go to him in his final hours to make amends. I was eight months pregnant with Ari at the time and Andy was away on business. I somehow managed to drive seven hours straight to be at my father’s side. I was so scared. I thought he was going to turn me away and I loved him so much.”
Tears formed in Aggie’s eyes and she looked off to a faraway place as she described how her father had put his hands on her swollen belly.
He had asked her if she was healthy. He was still worried about her and she was still his little girl. She told him she was healthy, that she had had a perfect pregnancy and that she and Andy were expecting a strong, Greek, baby boy very shortly.
“He asked me, and Ava, his voice was strong with emotion, what we planned to name our ‘strong Greek’ child.
“My hands were shaking. Andy and I had not yet chosen a name, though we had argued about a couple for some time. But I couldn’t bear the thought of my father dying and not knowing his grandson’s name so, with barely any thought given to my action I told him we would name our son Ari.
Aggie giggled. “It just popped right out of my mouth. ‘Ari,’ I said, ‘after his grandfather.’
My dad looked me in the eyes for the first time in ten years. ‘That is a good name Agatha; you are a beautiful and smart woman. I am the one who has shamed you. I am sorry.’ I held him to me and cried. He died in my arms.”
I sat speechless for a few moments. Aggie’s story was not at all what I had expected it to be. “So was Andy okay with the name Ari?”
“Yes, he thought it was perfect and it was. Ari came in to our lives and made everything perfect.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling.” My words slipped out and I flushed a little bit. It was true though; Ari had come into my life and made everything perfect.