****
Dinner was followed later that evening at my parent’s house.
“Ava! How are you feeling?” My mom talked quickly as soon as we entered her home through the back glass door.
“Hey, I’m fine, how are you?” Ava greeted my mom with a bright, happy smile.
“Did you get some rest this afternoon?”
She looked over to me and the tops of her cheeks turned a shade darker.
“Tsk! Oh, forget I asked. I’m a little rushed here, Ava—do you think you could help me out and make the galaktoboureko? Gianna got caught up in something with Rory and she was supposed to be here an hour ago to make it!”
“What’s galaktob…” Ava’s grin slid from her suntanned cheeks.
My mom gave a heavy, overly dramatic sigh.
“I’ll teach her,” I offered. “We can make it together.”
“Oh, thank heavens! Andy!!” She hollered through the house and my dad popped his head up from the couch.
“Watch Max? These two are making the pie!”
My dad smirked at my mother’s theatrical kitchen drama and Max scurried off with him in search of a flashlight for later in the evening.
I began to pull the semolina, phyllo sheets and all the other necessary ingredients from the cupboards. “Galaktoboureko is a custard pie. It’s a Greek dish,” I spoke to Ava over my shoulder from the refrigerator. “My mom has made it tons of times before. It has that honey lemon syrup stuff. Tons of sugar! You’ll love it, I promise.”
Thanks to her pregnancy, Ava had a sweet tooth and Max and I were the beneficiaries – we were getting away with eating more sugar and sweets than ever before. Grocery shopping with pregnant Ava is a blast. She can’t fight the sugar craving she has, and since she has never eaten sugary foods before, I have the enjoyment of feeding her all of my favorite cookies, ice-creams and cakes. And chocolate. Once, I gave her a peanut butter Pop Tart and it may as well have been crack cocaine. She put the whole box away in less than two days. Galaktoboureko was sure to become a fast favorite of hers.
“You can teach me how to make it?” She shot me a raised eyebrow of doubt.
“Of course. I know how to make every recipe that has ever come from this kitchen by heart. I can teach you how to make galaktoboureko with my eyes closed.”
“You’re pretty hot,” she said and poked my ribs.
“I thought I was only hot sometimes.”
“Now is definitely one of those times.”
I smiled crookedly at her and tied an apron around my waist.
“You’re more than hot. This is sexy,” she tugged at the apron. “Domestic suits you.”
“Yeah? What do you say I borrow the apron for later tonight? You can find out what’s underneath…”
“That apron was a Mother’s Day gift from you to me when you were eight years old, Ari!” My mom screeched from the hall closet. “If you tarnish that memory, I will never forgive you!”
I winked an eye at Ava and tried to whisper, “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
“I can still hear you! Could you just make the pie?!” My mother huffed. “I swear you two…” She continued mumbling to herself about how the two of us could never keep our hands off one another. Ava easily tuned out her chatter and helped me make the custard pie.
“What’s going on with Rory that Gianna bailed on you?” I asked my mom when Ava pulled the pie from the oven.
“She didn’t really say. Only that Rory showed up to their house early and wanted to talk with her and Thais before the end of the night. She made it sound like it was very important to him.”
“What do you think he’s up to?”
“I honestly never know with him, Ari.”
“Me either.”
She shrugged and walked off in the direction of the deck with a platter of fresh cheeses, fruit and vegetables, putting an end to the conversation.
With the pie crisis averted, Ava and I went out on the deck and grilled steaks and mahi mahi. I drank wine and we visited with friends as they came up the path to celebrate and watch fireworks from beach chairs. The galaktoboureko was a hit, which annoyed my mother because she likes to be the one who gets the kudos for making the best food. Ava was thrilled because my mom was annoyed. My sister missed dinner completely because she spent so much time getting ready and doing her hair and makeup in the bathroom. She and Luke had plans to go to a friend’s party after our family thing. Unable to resist, I told Luke I’d give him fifty dollars if he threw my sister into the pool as soon as she came out on to the deck with us.
“Oh, um, I dunno. Lauren wouldn’t like that.” He said, but smiled as he deliberated my proposal.
“That’s the point, Luke.”
“Shit, fifty bucks? I’ll do it.” Rory jumped up from his seat to be on the lookout for Lauren.
“Nah, I want Luke to toss her. Not you.”
“C’mon, man, I could use the cash.”
“Fine, I’ll give you fifty bucks to throw Jules in the pool.”
“Cha! Ari!” Julia yelled at me and tossed her hands up in the air.
Rory shrugged and headed towards Julia’s chair.
“Rory Cal Alexander! I’ll cut your balls clean off and feed them to the seagulls!” The look on her face was serious and he quickly stopped his pursuit.
“I was only joking. I would never do that,” he said, but he would so definitely do that.
Lauren walked out of the house with perfect hair and prefect makeup, cute heels and a brand new outfit given to her by Ava. I held up a crisp fifty-dollar bill. Luke pushed from his seat, pressed a kiss to my sister’s cheek, causing her to have a face-splitting grin, and then he tossed her in the water before she could say a single word to anyone. Pissed only begins to describe the look on her face as she came out of the water looking like a drowned rat.
For fifty bucks, Luke made my entire night and ruined Lauren’s. He may have also ruined his own evening because Lauren laid into him something fierce and gave him hell just as any other Greek woman would have done.
“Ari, so help me God, if you ever do something like that to me…”
“Baby,” I shook my head at Ava, “I would never in a million years dream of doing something like to you.”
She smiled.
“I can’t go without sex for long, are you kidding me? You’d hold out on me for ages.”
Her elbow flew into my gut.
Max slipped out of the house with my dad and he eased up on Ava’s lap. We shifted to a much more appropriate conversation.
“Rory’s middle name is Cal, too?” Ava asked and fiddled with Max’s hands, cupping his small palm and filling it with soft kisses. She kissed, he giggled, she kissed some more and he laughed louder.
“Family name,” I nodded. “You didn’t know that?”
Her forehead crinkled and a cute line that was intended to be a firm scowl set in between her eyes.
“No, I didn’t know that, Ari. Where does the name come from? What does it mean?”
“Uh, let’s see … Cal means ‘most beautiful. ’ The name is Greek, obviously. Cal was my grandfather’s name on my father’s side. Cal Alexander.”
“So who was he, then?” She asked with a timid voice, careful not to upset me and I felt a sting of guilt.
“A descendant from Adonis.”
“So you are named after both of your grandfathers, Aristotle and Cal?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm … I like Cal.” She mused and tasted the name on her tongue.
More kisses pressed into Max’s palm and then into his messy hair.
“I like Cal, too. Cal is nice. The name has worked fine for me all these years.”
Ava smiled as she looked down at her belly. My hand was resting there. Whenever she is near me, I can’t help but touch her, feel her. Feeling our baby move and kick is like experiencing a divine miracle. It brings me great joy and I relish
each and every moment that I am blessed with.
“Are we agreeing on a boy name?” Ava asked excitedly.
“We are!”
“Cal and Max,” she squeezed Max in a warm hug.
“They sound like a great, mischievous duo.”
Ava giggled merrily and happy tingles spread from my fingers down to my toes.
The sky grew darker and darker and eventually we moved out to the beach right in front of the water for an awesome view of the city’s yearly show. Waves rolled in and excitement hummed in the air. Max and a few other children his age ran along the beach, flashlights in hand, chasing the sand crabs.
When the first bang from the fireworks rang out, people quit talking and everyone looked out towards the sky above the sea at the magnificent bursts of color. Max hurried to our side and I threw him up on my shoulders. I wrapped my arms around Ava and held her tightly. She leaned back into my chest with a contented breath.
Everyone found peace and comfort in their loved one’s arms. People were sneaking kisses from one another under the beautifully lit sky. The night was perfect.
Near the edge of the grouping of our closest friends and family, Rory and Julia stood in profound closeness. His back to the show, he whispered in her ear in between the explosive bangs and whatever he said to her, brought on a rush of tears and powerful emotion.
A great big colorful finale lit up miles of skyline and shortly after, the vibrant bursts were replaced with milky white firework smoke and the smell of sulfur hung heavily in the air. Max let out a giant yawn and wiggled his way down into my arms. He rested his head on my shoulder and placed his small hand against my cheek. The crowd of people slowly dispersed towards their homes with lawn chairs, coolers and sleepy kids tucked under their arms.