Well, there isn't much to talk about except the wedding. But when we talk about the wedding of Sal and chris, well.... Both the Rosso and Messina houses were in total chaos. Singori Rosso and Messina had seen their wives in full "cyclone mode" before the holidays, but they had never encountered something like this. Signore Rosso blamed his son: he had made so many gowns and dresses for his mother and his sisters, that finding "the right one" was threatening to bring the house down.
"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T HE MAKE US DRESSES THAT MATCH THEIR SUITS?" Pindy yelled to no one in particular. She had knocked the curse jar off the counter earlier that day so no one could find it to put it in front of her - not that anyone would have dared to. "Ma," Lucy suggested. "Why don't we each wear a color for the Italian flag. You pick first, then Gloria and I will decide. "MADON. Out of the mouth of babes.." Pindy was "placated" . Neither Lucy nor Gloria had any doubt: she was going for red. Sal had made her a totally inappropriate gown with flourishes and ruffles that would've been too much on an 8 year old. That was what Pindy was wearing. With matching shoes and a hat. "We gotta tone this down , sis" Gloria said to her sister and Lucy agreed. They knew that it was time to move on from picking their mom's dress, so they silently went off to their bedroom. They tossed a coin (from the curse jar. Gloria had found it and hid it in their bedroom. Lucy won the toss and picked white. Gloria got green. ). . "We're the Nina the Pinta and the Santa Maria," Pindy joked. Over at the Messinas, where the female energy was just slightly reduced, Maria was calling Lucy. "PLEASE. PLEASE TELL ME YOUR MOM ISN'T WEARING RED." With the silence, Maria knew. "Oh shit. Ok. I gotta talk my ma out of her dress. " She thought for a minute. She thought of how Sal had delicately talked women out of inappropriate choices. "You know, red in the sun is gonna make you sweat mom" "Yeah? So? " "Well, do you wanna look like a slob next to Pindy." There was a pause. "I KNEW I raised a smart daughter. How about...." she pulled out an inappropriate one that Sal had made for HER. This one had a lot of gold in it, and bangles - Evie loved bangles. "Ma, it's you," was what Maria said. Then she went off to dress herself. Since she was the flower girl, her dress DID mirror what Sal and chris were wearing: pink and white, and a sash of little flowers. She picked it up and looked at it, and began to cry. "My two brothers. I can't believe I'm here for this. " She slipped on her nylons, and her dress. Then she called Sargent Flynn. He had gone over to help the guys get dressed. "How is it over there, Sarge?" She asked. He laughed. "Remarkably quiet. I think they're both kinda stunned it's finally happening. How about there?" "OH GEEZ. Never marry an Italian Sarge. " "Isn't that what you plan to do Maria?" "SHHHHH. Frankie's around. I don't want him to think about it. It'll scare him." "Gotcha. And don't worry. I spoke to Coleen . She has the stuff she needs." "THANKS. You know, we owe her. First, for agreeing to take on babysitting duty, and then for this." Sarge laughed again. "You know, if you had asked her to make the wedding cake, she would have. It's a good thing you didn't."
Things WERE very calm at Sal and chris' place. There were lots of tears, lots of hugging, and lots of kissing. "Any second thoughts, chrissie?" Sal asked. "Yeah, just one. Why didn't I try on this shirt before the wedding? It's tight." "I know. Makes your boobs stick out" Sal smiled. "I shoulda known you had an ulterior motive. Just like.. welll... you know." Sal laughed at that too. He had unlocked chris the night before but then had edged him for three hours. He had whispered "I can't wait to deflower you. I wonder if we need the sheet with the hole cut in it." chris laughed. "Yeah, for you to stick your head through so I can strangle you." Sal laughed hugged him and said "I'm gonna eat your man pussy after the wedding until you're begging me to fuck you. And I won't. Not for another three hours." "Just three? I'll hold out longer than that." "Ha ha. We'll see." "GUYS. " Sarge came in, looking dapper in his blue suit, his Italian flag tie and his white shirt. "Let's get moving. OH. One thing. Coleen said "they've got boutonnieres, don't they?" "What the fuck is a boutonniere? chris asked. "These doll." Sarge pulled the two mini bouquets. "Stand still . My best man pricked my skin when he attached mine." He sighed as he thought back to that one. When the guys had asked he and Coleen to be godfather and godmother, how could he say no? He had already bought the kid his first police car toy, which Luca spent his time throwing up on when he got colicky.
Then they were off. Sarge took his personal car to drive them to City Hall, and they got there smoothly. Coleen was waiting. She had chosen just a very simple green dress. She kissed them both. "Auguri. Auguri . Auguri." She had learned the words from the mothers. Stuffed in her bag were.. well, you'll find out.
"They're late." chris said to Sal as they stood on the steps of City Hall. "Does that surprise you? OH WAIT. Here they come. " He saw the entourage. How many cars? Twelve? Thirteen? Where the hell were they gonna park. "We're gonna be here a while love" he turned to chris. chris was looking at the cars, and smiling. He grabbed Sal's hand. "Would we have it any other way?" So, ok, they finally found parking for everyone, and there were at least 90 people on the steps of City Hall. "COME ON. Let's get this going. We have a reservation at Ernesto's. " They got to the door, and... "Sorry folks. Too many. The chapel holds 20, but not... GEEZ are there a hundred of you?" "WHAT? WHAT? You're saying we can't...." Evie began to sweat even though she wasn't wearing red: and BOY, was she pissed at Pindy for wearing HER color. "We got this ladies. We got this. " Sarge came over. Meet your minister." Coleen came over. She had registered as a minister some years ago, when two of Sarge's officers wanted to get married quickly. She kept her credentials valid. "Sal. Chris. In front of me . NOW" Her school teacher training was coming out. She turned to Maria. "Who's got the rings?" "Uh... Frankie, Beppe, you got em don't ya?" They hunted around. A few curse words came out. Sal laughed. "I got this." He reached into his suit pocket. "I figured better to hold them than trust someone." "Ok, let's get this show on the road," Coleen was enjoying her role but she knew: she saw how Evie was glaring at Pindy. She knew. There was the possibility of an explosion at any time. Sal and chris joined hands. They said the words we all know, and then, between tears and smiles... the kiss. To applause. And then... something Sal had learned about when he was young, and never forgot. He didn't let chris' hand go. Rather, he took both of them, and kissed them both. "OH. He's keeping the tradition. Pindy smiled and felt her mascara begin to run. The kissing of the hands was something very regional . The thought was: we'll work together, and I'll always honor your hands. chris did the same to Sal's hands. And then, in a blink, it was finished. The only one who wasn't clapping was Luca.
Ernesto's was, well, a scene. Sal and chris had their dance, and brought in their mothers, and then the dancing began to get serious. Pindy and Evie started dancing a tarantella with each other. At one point, Evie brushed past Pindy and whispered "BITCH. I'll get you for wearing red." Pindy smiled. "We'll see." When the dinner was over, no one stopped Pindy or Evie from grabbing sugar packets and stuffing them in their purses. We are what we are.
When they got back home, chris looked at Sal. "Hey hubby. Whatcha think?" Sal smiled. "What I think is I love you very much and I can't imagine being with anyone other than you." They embraced and the kiss was long. "You think we're gonna put off consummating this until, well, we're a little less stressed." "You read my mind sexy. You read my mind. Just some sleep. We gotta pick up Luca tomorrow." And yes, the next day, they went over to Evie's to get their new son. They were delayed for two hours because Evie had cooked "just a little something," and got put out when her son turned down a third plate of peppers and eggs. They went in the bag with the other left overs - including the cookies from Ernesto's. They each took photos of the other holding their son and feeding him, before they set him to bed in the nursery right next door to their bedroom. It was another night of "celibacy." That would end soon
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx And as we end with the wedding, let's look forward five years. Not much has changed for our heroes. Sal's business is doing well, and he's continuing to gain a bigger and bigger name. chris had become senior detective at the precinct, and is the conduit for bias crimes. And when they do manage to get out, chris has no problem with being seen at the BDSM clubs they frequent. Sal never found another assistant as good as Maria was, and when she finished college and asked if she could come back, there was no question, except.... she wanted Sal to be the first to know: she and Frankie were gonna get married. They needed to because, well... on graduation night.... Sal and chris did for Maria what she had done for them, and there was never any question of when things happened.
Now, some of you will have a question: honeymoon? Well, here's what happened. The fellas didn't want to leave on a trip right after they had adopted a son, so they decided to defer it. There were plans to go, and then Maria announced that she and Frankie were getting married. There was no question: Sal and chris gave Maria and Frankie open ended tickets for a trip to Italy. They'd put theirs off. And they did until they felt Luca was old enough to go with them. And when Luca turned ten, away they went: a month in Italy, never going north of Rome. It was that trip that led Luca to major in Italian when he got to college. And arguments when he, as the young snot we all were once, tried to correct his "bisnonnas" when they mispronounced words. Jumping even more forward in the story, one day, Luca met Christina. And the cycle began because, well, you see, Christina was a woman of color.
But it worked. And we'll leave things here, folks. Thanks for following along. This writer hopes everyone is coming out of the pandemic safe and healthy and wishes everyone a good life. A presto.