The Home - 31. Chapter 31

Brad and Tom took Amado under their wing while he was here. I took him on a tour of the University. He was impressed with the University. “Tony, do you think I could attend this University?”

“Yes, you will need to pass an entrance exam, which will be in English.”

“I’ll need to study English. Maybe I can start learning more English while I am here.”

“Yes, if you want to do that, I can hire someone to teach you English. We should speak English all the time when you are here. If there is a word you don’t understand, ask me, and I’ll explain it to you in Italian.”

And so it was decided we would speak English all the time. I informed Brad, Tom, and Charlie. The problem was Mom. She kept slipping into Italian when she talked to Amado. I started to call Amado Amo. He would smile when I first started to do that.

The semester was coming to an end, and I was busy preparing for finals.

At dinner, “Amo, ask him.”

“Ask me what?”

“Tony, why don’t you have goats?”

“Okay, which one of you put him up to ask ?”

The boys laughed, “He asked me why we didn’t have goats. I told him to ask you.”

“Tony, goats are easy to take care. I could show you how.”

“Amo, if we get goats, you will have to stay and take care of them. The boys have enough work, and soon they will be starting their senior year at the University. They will need to spend a lot of time on their studies.”

He smiled, and I knew what his answer would be. But I’m not sure his parents would approve.

Amalia arrived for the Christmas break, along with her mother and father. They stayed with Mom and Dad, Amalia stayed with Camilla and Luis. That was when she didn’t stay with me. That arrangement lasted three days when Amalia’s father stayed with me, and Amalia stayed at Mom’s.

Christmas dinner was at Mom and Dad’s. The following day, my house entertained my relatives, as usual. My wine always took a hit on that day. It did allow me to introduce Amalia as my intended to those relatives I hadn’t seen since last Christmas.

I noticed Amo talking to his parents. I wasn’t sure what was said, but I think he spoke to them about going to school here. At first, it looked like that wasn’t going to happen. I watched Amalia as she became involved in the conversation. I’m not sure what she said, but I did see a smile on Amo’s face.

Luis and Camilla had an announcement. She was pregnant. Everyone congratulated them, toasting them with a glass of my wine. I held up my glass to Tom, and he knew what I meant. He went and brought up another case of wine which he set in the kitchen.

He came in with a tray of cookies that Mom brought over, and as he passed them around, he whispered to me, “I put a case in the kitchen.”

On the pretense of getting another tray of food, I nodded to Amalia to come with me. In the kitchen, we prepared a platter of chicken burgers. “Amalia, have you given any thoughts as to when we should get married?”

“This summer would be best. School would be over, and I’ll notify them that I’ll not be returning.”

“When is school over for you, and where should we be married, here or in Italy?”

“School is over at the end of May. We could have a June wedding.

“Is there a possibility of having the wedding here?”

“I’ll have to discuss that with my mother. I don’t have that many relatives, so that might be possible. We will need to fly them over and back. That could be expensive.”

I thought a few more coins sold might be the answer there. “If that is possible, let’s plan on that. I’ll pay for them to fly over and back. We’ll have to plan on where they will stay, and they will need passports. You can pick the date in June.”

We walked in with a tray of miniature chicken burgers, holding hands. Mom looked and smiled. She said something to Amalia’s mother, and then she smiled. I just looked at Mom and shook my head.

The following day, we had dinner at Mom and Dad’s. We announced that we were getting married on June 16th. Amalia told them we would be married here in the US, and we would fly everyone here.

Amalia’s mother said she was hoping she would be married in Italy. Then I tuned out of the discussion as she and her mother talked about the wedding and who would come. Costs were mentioned that I caught. By the time I was ready to go home, they had reached a decision. The wedding would be here, and I would pay to bring any guests here.

On the way home, I asked Amalia’s father to give me a list of relatives who would be attending. He asked about the priest. “If you want your priest to officiate at the wedding, then I’ll bring him as well.”

For the rest of the time Amalia was here, we spent entertaining until it was time for them to return to Italy. Want to guess who didn’t go back to Italy? Amo told them he wanted to go to the University where I taught. He needed to become proficient in English.

I don’t think his mother was in favor of that decision. She was losing her family, as she viewed it. His father thought it was a good idea, and he wouldn’t be a goat herder if he stayed. I got the impression that he didn’t think his father should be raising goats.

When it was time to leave, there were tears. Not from Amalia’s father, but her mother who continued to say she was losing her family. Her father said maybe they should start over. He got a slap on the head for that comment.