“Yeah. I think so too.”
Clariette stepped forward and pet Calli’s head a little, recognizing that she was a stranger as far as Calli was concerned, before reaching up to Gio. “Thank you so much for bringing them to me.”
Gio smiled. “Of course.”
“Well come in! Come in!” She ushered us into the house a few steps before bellowing out, “Verne! Verne, come down here right now!”
There was some rumbling and clattering before we could hear the pounding of footsteps on the floor above. A wrought iron, spiral staircase connected the main floor to the upper and eventually a squat, elderly man came bumbling down. His hair was almost gone, save for a small, white patch right on top of his head, and layers of wrinkles laid in front of a pair of calming, welcoming green eyes.
“What? What is it?” he huffed, then he looked over at Gio, Calli, and me. “Who are you?”
“Look at her, Verne,” Clairette said. “You know her.”
There was a pair of thick glasses folded and hanging from Verne’s shirt, and he lifted them off, unfolding them as he did so, before setting them on his face. His mouth parted slightly as he looked me over, and then the same, wonderful look of realization illuminated his expression.
“You… You’re Avion.”
I nodded. “Hey grandpa.”
“Oh!” He quickly crossed over to me and took my face in his hands, the same as his wife did. He pulled me down to him and gave me a shuddering kiss on the lips. His hands were shaking violently as he pulled them away from me, so I quickly clammed my hands around them and held him tight. “I’ve dreamed of this day.”
“You aren’t the only one,” he replied.
“And look! Look Verne!” Clairette danced around me and up to Calli, where she timidly held out her hands. Calli, always a social baby, reached out for her and Clairette bubbled with excitement as she held her great-granddaughter in her arms for the first time. “Look at this angel.”
Verne turned and looked down at Calli, a wide smile growing on his face. “She looks so much like Evelyn when she was that age.” He held up a finger and folded and unfolded it at Calli. “Bonjour mon petit ange. Je suis ton arrière-grand-père. Je t'aime déjà.”
“What’d he say?” Gio whispered into my ear.
I smiled, more of my tears falling. “He introduced himself to his little angel. Said he loves her already.”
Gio rested his arm across my back and smiled. “Ah.”
Suddenly, Verne turned and walked around me and Gio and grabbed a small hat and bag off a coat rack near the door.
“Verne?” Clairette said. “Where are you going?”
Verne only exclaimed, “I must buy them things!” before leaving
Gio snickered. “I understand that impulsesowell.”
Clairette waved her hand after her husband before motioning us further into her home. The living room was a wide, open space illuminated beautifully by tall windows, and they’d allowed some greenery to grow through the wood in places, giving the entire home a rustic, almost fairytale look to it. We sat down on one of the couches, and Clairette handed Calli back over so that she could flutter out of the room.
“See?” Gio said. “Nothing to worry about.”
I nodded. “You were right. Thank you.Somuch. For making me do this.”
In lieu of a verbal response, Gio kissed me on the cheek, and then Calli, who squealed with delight. Clairette came back into the room with a tray of tea and cookies, which she then immediately began pouring into cups for Gio and I and placing the cookies each on one of the plates.
“They’re very soft, so they should be okay for Callista,” Clairette said.
Calli was nearing the six-month mark, and had recently discovered the joy of cookies thanks to her father giving her pieces despite her mother telling him repeatedly that she wasn’t ready, so when Gio lifted a cookie from the plate, Calli’s eyes went as wide as soccer balls. Part of me wanted to reach out and stop him, but then I remembered that my grandmother had raised two children of her own, and probably knew better. Gio broke off a piece of the cookie, a madelaine type that did seem to melt in his hand, and gave it to Calli, and she immediately went to sucking and gumming it down, her face lit up like Christmas.
“Oh my god,” Gio said. “My daughter is so cute.”
Clairette laughed. “She certainly is.” Then she folded her hands in her lap, quickly pulling in a ‘let’s get down to business’ kind of look. “So, Giovanni was it? What do you do?”
Gio and I exchanged a quick look that was more amused than anything else. “I’m in architecture,” he replied. “In fact, I own my own consulting firm with my two best friends.”
